NaturallyMobile Recorder

Last Modified: November 23, 1999 see updates below

Dragon Systems has been working with VoiceIt Worldwide, Inc. to design a recorder specifically optimized for speech recognition. This recorder, the Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder, was announced by Dragon Systems in the fall of 1998.

The Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder is the first recorder that was specifically designed for use with speech recognition programs. The recorder's sampling rate, compression algorithm, and microphone design were all optimized to achieve the best possible recognition accuracy (as measured by using Dragon NaturallySpeaking) without sacrificing excellent ergonomics and long recording time.

The Sony MiniDisc recorder still offers the highest possible accuracy for portable speech recognition. However, the Sony MiniDisc recorder is both expensive and difficulty use since it was never designed as a portable recording device.

Other recorders, such as the Olympus D1000 and the Norcom 2500, are easier to use but do not offer the best recognition accuracy because of a combination of their sampling rates, compression algorithms, and microphone design. The Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder combines excellent ergonomics with high accuracy for speech recognition. The Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder is more accurate than the Olympus D1000 and the Norcom 2500.

You can see a picture of the Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder on the VoiceIt Web page (www.voiceit.com). The Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder looks almost exactly like the VoiceIt VRT series recorders.

updated source for new breed of digital recorders 2003

The recorder is light and easy to use. To record something, all you have to do is click the record button and talk into the microphone. When you're finished recording, click the record button again. If you're not going to be using the device for a while, there is a power button which you must hold in for one second to turn the recorder either on or off. This prevents the recorder from accidentally turning itself on in your pocket.

The recorder includes a built-in microphone and a built-in speaker. You can play back recordings at normal speed, slow speed, or fast speed. You can also perform some limited editing including an appending previous recordings, deleting sections of previous recordings, or inserting new recorded data. However, I find the editing features to be unnecessary for normal dictation especially since you can correct any accidental misspoken utterances using the Resume With feature first introduced in Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 3.0.

The Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder transfers information to your computer using the serial port. You do not have to remove its flash memory like with the Olympus, or connect a cable between the recorder's earphone output and your computer's microphone input like with the Norcom or Sony recorders. Because the Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder transfers information digitally, you do not have to have a sound card on your computer.

The recorder comes with a piece of software which allows you to browse through the messages on the recorder, and transfer individual messages to your computer in either compressed or uncompressed format. In addition, there is a button which allows you to select a recording and have that recording transcribed directly into Dragon NaturallySpeaking with a single button click.

Currently, the Dragon NaturallyMobile pocket recorder is sold in a bundle with Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred at a suggested retail price of $299. Dragon has not announced any plans to sell the recorder separately at the present time.

This web page (http://www.synapseadaptive.com/joel/NaturallyMobileRecorder.html) was last modified on November 23, 1999. The contents of this page are (c) Copyright 1998-1999 by Joel Gould. All Rights Reserved. See Copyright Information for more details.