When the Apple iPad case arrived a little while ago, I was not initially impressed. It is rather thin, gets in the way of docking the device, and the edges are a bit on the sharp side. Moreover, I am not in love with the overall “feel” of the material they used. That noted, I didn’t immediately box it up for return because it is nice to finally have a way to protect the device a bit.
Then I tried the case propped up in landscape mode.
I was impressed. The case holds it at a perfect angle for typing. Mix in the new ability to use Dragon Dictation for 60 seconds at a time, and add to that the ability to type in any corrections to my transcription mistakes, and you have a pretty good idea of why this will be sitting on my office desk most days. The combination works well, and it is – more importantly, comfortable to use.
The Apple iPad case has an MSRP of $39.00 and is available from Apple.
The Dragon Dictation app is available in the App Store and is currently free.
RT @GearDiarySite: iPad + Dragon Dictation + Apple iPad Case = Mobile Desktop http://goo.gl/fb/oygDM
So why is Dragon Dictation US only? Can they not handle a UK accent?
I didn’t realize it was limited to the U.S., but I confirmed that their website said it’s in the U.S. and Canadian stores only (and that it only uses U.S. spellings), so I’m suspecting that’s at least part of it. I’m a native U.S. speaker and it regularly has a lot of trouble understanding certain kinds of sounds/words even though my diction is very good. Dan has had excellent luck with the product and always speaks very highly of it, but I have not had nearly as much luck, so I would imagine that yes, if you are outside of it’s parameters of its understanding it is likely to have some problems which may be why it wouldn’t be available outside of the U.S. and Canada.
That said, Nuance offers their desktop apps in other countries and even in a couple of different languages, so I know it can be done and I suspect they will release other versions at some point. Nuance seems to be very good about keeping their products up to date and the iPhone/iPod Touch / iPad app is free so it definitely doesn’t hurt to try it if you have a U.S. or Canadian iTunes account!