Dragon for Email for BlackBerry Smartphones
Have you ever found yourself trying to compose an e-mail but fumble so much with the keyboard that the text looks more like an alien language than actual words? Well, welcome to my world. Whether it be sending out messages for work or writing e-mails to friends I have no patience to type everything out. It just seems too SLOW. Well thanks to a friend from the train and my favorite blackberry blog site I downloaded a free dictation app called Dragon for E-mail. Finally, a hassle-free way of writing e-mail messages by simply speaking and having the app process and translate the audio into text.
Nuance's Dragon for E-Mail is as simple as the motto on their page: Press, Speak, Send. The app is embedded directly into each e-mail so no additional steps or clicks are necessary. How cool is that? With all the time spent reading crackberry, visiting facebook, listening to slacker and, of course, something called a job, anything that frees up time is hands down a winner in my book.
As you can see, Dragon is ready to go the instant you create a new e-mail (including replies and forwards). While in the subject or main body fields, all you have to do is press and hold the assigned side button to record and release when finished. That's all there is to it folks. Press a button, speak, and the program will do the rest. Audio is converted to text by linking to Nuance's servers which processes the information and transmits it back to the phone. Ladies and gentlemen, typing is now a thing of the past.
For those out there worried about accuracy, fear not, as the software is designed to adapt to each individual's voice over time. Therefore, no having to sit there carefully saying each word with pauses between each one. One simply talks as if having a conversation. Being a fast talking native New Yorker I must say this program flawlessly kept up with every word once it adapted to my voice. The only downside is you can't dictate contacts into the address fields. This requires you to upload your contact name information on Nuance's confidential servers.
What about punctuation and text commands you might ask? Well, a great feature of this app is its ability to recognize spoken text commands which I demonstrate on the screenshots below. One can insert new paragraphs, lines, periods and question marks by simply voicing the desired one. You can find a list of the commonly used commands at http://m.dragonmobileapps.com/bb/supportemail.html.
The best part of all is that if there are mistakes or you need to make edits and changes you can. No worries about sending a whole message filled with gobbledegook.
This is an amazing app that I highly recommend to everyone out there. Whether you're a busy professsional jotting down ideas or a consumer e-mailing friends and family, this app is certain to satisy all. Thank you all so much. Good luck to all my fellow CrackBerry Idol contestants. Alicia out.
Devices Supported
Tour 9630, Storm 9530 (OS 5.0 or higher), Storm2 9550, Bold (9000), Bold2 9700, Curve 8310, 8320, 8900.
Ratings
Pros
- Free application
- Easy to use
- Up to 5X faster than typing
- Quick transcription time
- Adapts over time to the user's voice
- Speak basic commands and punctuations
- Review text before sending
- Compatible with Bluetooth devices
Cons
- Unlimited Data Plan (New AT&T customers)
- Upload contacts to servers to dictate names
- Sacrifice a convenience key / Voice Dialing Application is default when not in use
- Only for e-mail; lacks SMS & BBM capability
Similar Apps (Payment required)
- MyCaption
- Voice to Text
- Vlingo Plus - Voice App
Download
Dragon for E-Mail is available from the Blackberry App World or can be downloaded directly from your phone at http://m.dragonmobileapps.com/index.html.
** This review was written as part of the CrackBerry Idol 2010 competition. Click for details. **
