Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 is available for 30% off through Nuance starting Today and lasting until 11/30.

You can get the Preferred Version or the Standard version (if you are a blogger the Standard version is likely what you are looking for, if you happen to be a podcaster you might get more out of the Preferred version. If you are a business user, I’d recommend Standard.

Here’s How you can get 30% off Dragon Naturally Speaking with the Coupon Codes Below

30% off Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred

Start Date:11/26/2009 – End Date:11/30/2009

Dragon Coupon Code:giahh897e

Copy your link code below.

30% off Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard

Start Date:11/26/2009 – End Date:11/30/2009

Dragon Coupon Code: 2r22fbz7z

Copy your link code below.

About 10 days ago, we were tipped off by a reader that Dragon Naturally Speaking prices were SUPER low on Amazon.  At the time, you could get Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 10 Basic (an excellent program) for just $29.99!  Prices have gone back up (just a little bit), but that software is still only $42.99 new.  That’s less than the $89 retail price it normally sells for, and only about $13 more than it was selling at when it was the cheapest its been in years and years.

Someone asked me the other day if I thought maybe version 11 was getting ready to come out.

I do not have any inside information on this one way or another.  However, I have worked in product pricing in a past career, and I would hazard to say that it would appear that this recent price drop is either one of two things

1. Amazon is selling the product at very discounted levels with or without the permission of Nuance.

2.  Nuance is not coming out with a version 11 anytime soon. 

I think the second option is more likely.  I find it very doubtful that Nuance would sabotage the perceived value of Dragon Naturally Speaking by selling version 10 at prices one half the amount the product sold for originally.  Doing so would fill a lot of demand, demand that might not be willing to shell out more money for a version 11 upgrade.

I’m guessing that version 11 is probably at least a year away, and Nuance is simply trying to squeeze out more sales during a very tough economy for software sales.  Version 10 launched into the very start of the economic crisis last fall.  From my own experience with an extremely modest affiliate account on dragon (might get a referral per month these days) I saw sales go completely flat in October last year, only 2 months into the launch of Dragon Naturally Speaking version 10.  That didn’t pick up at all until after the beginning of the year and since then, things have been anemic at best.

Now, it would also appear that Nuance is letting their affiliate channel move forward on auto-pilot.  Pricing for Dragon Naturally Speaking through the affiliate program still sells at full retail price through the Nuance site, even with Amazon running these amazing deals.  Maybe Nuance doesn’t want to sell produt through their own site?

That may sound crazy, but if for some reason they actually packaged up a large number of units and Amazon has them sitting in a warehouse (no idea why they would have a JIT solution in place) but in that case, it might make sense for deep discounts at Amazon even at the expense of direct sales.

This is the question I recently received from a viewer on YouTube.  Can Dragon transcribe a Professor’s lecture using a pocket recorder device?

The answer is maybe, if you jump through a few hoops, but the software does not make the claim that it can do this.

Here’s my more in depth answer explaining the maybe a bit more….

This version of the program is only intended for a single voice.   With version 10, you might be able to have some level of success if you setup a profile exclusively for your teacher/professor.  You would have to record the lecture, then go through and make corrections in the program to help train dragon to recognize that voice, train it to recognize that voice through your voice recorder, and train it to recognize the voice from what ever distance you are sitting at.  (the better the sound the better the transcription, so if you sit in a different location, if people talk a lot or make noise, or if your instructors voice changes (uses a microphone/speaker system one day and not the next) you might run into complications. 

All in all this program isn’t intended for this purpose yet, but if you want to get your geek on and see how to make it work, I think there is potential there.  Expect to play with it quite a bit,  . . .  (might be more fun than taking notes and studying    )

So this would be one of those situations where if you try to make this tool work in this environment, you may waste some time and money, but if you find a way to be successful, you could save a lot of time!

Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 will receive a Vista 64 bit OS upgrade by the end of March 2009.  This is the information that we found on the Nuance website after Peter Mahoney of Nuance left a comment here following one of our articles about 64 bit os rumors. 

Now,I normally don’t copy and paste FAQ’s as there is typically not an entire FAQ that is filled with important information.  However, in this case the entire FAQ is pretty important and I’m positive will answer a lot of question for a lot of Dragon Naturally Speaking Users. 

We’ve received a lot of comments and questions about the upcoming release of Dragon 10 that supports Windows Vista 64. I’ve compiled some of the most frequently asked questions here and included the answers to those questions. If I’ve missed something, please let me know (I’m sure you will…)

Peter

Update on Dragon for Windows Vista 64 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q. When will Dragon NaturallySpeaking supports Windows Vista 64 bit operating systems?
A. Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 10.1 will start shipping by the end of March 2009. This release of the software adds support for Windows Vista 64-bit operating systems. In addition, this version fixes some bugs that were identified in Dragon version 10.

Q. Which editions of Dragon will be released first?
A. Dragon Standard, Preferred and Professional Version 10.1 will be released by the end of March in English. Other editions (including Medical and Legal) and additional languages will be released over the next few months. Please check back here for additional detail.

Q. How will I know when it is available?
A. We will update this blog and our website when Dragon 10.1 is available.

Q. How much will it cost to upgrade?
A. Registered users of Dragon 10 are eligible for a free download of version 10.1. Special upgrade pricing will be available for customers of previous versions of Dragon for a limited time.

Q. Is this a patch release or a full release?
A. Dragon 10.1 is a full release. That means that a full installation is required to upgrade to version 10.1.

Q. I don’t have Vista 64, do I need this release?
A. Dragon 10.1 works on both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. The primary new functionality for Dragon 10.1 is support for Windows Vista 64. In addition, Dragon 10.1 fixes a number of bugs that were identified in Dragon version 10.

Q. Can I download the upgrade?
A. Yes. The download will be available for registered users of Dragon 10. Because this is a full release, the image size is quite large (almost 2 GB), so we only recommend downloads over high-speed Internet connections.

Q. Can I get the upgrade on a DVD?
A. Yes. We will make DVDs available for upgrade customers. There will be a small shipping and handling fee for the DVD.

Q. Will Dragon 10.1 work on windows XP 64?
A. Dragon 10.1 is not supported on windows XP 64. The only 64-bit operating system that was tested during our quality assurance process was Windows Vista 64. While it may install and operate on windows XP 64, we do not recommend that you attempt to do this since we cannot support that configuration.

Q. Will Dragon 10.1 work on Windows 7?
A. We have tested Dragon 10.1 on the current beta release of Windows 7 and it appears to operate adequately. However, since Windows 7 is beta software, we cannot support these configurations.

Today, I’m publishing the fourth video demonstrating how you can mindmap with your voice.  I have Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 and MindManager 8 installed on my computer and when I add this great little tool, called VoxEnable, I can mind map with my voice.

I can say something and it creates a topic, say something more and create a sub topic, say something more and move a topic around. I can say something and a boundary is put around a set of topics.

If you missed the former video entries on this topic, I will next work with the software in a more in depth way once I have had a chance to deep dive into the software.  If you have questions about the software or suggestions on something I should/could test, let me know and I’ll try to generate a video of the result. 

Related Articles:

1. MindManager Powered by Your Voice is Here!

2. MindManager Powered by Your Voice Part 2 Navigation Demonstration

3. VoxEnable Powering MindManager 8 with Your Voice Using Dragon Naturally Speaking Part 3

I have recently asked a number of bloggers to consider how they would use Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 and how it might impact their lives.  I’d like to share with you some of the responses from parents that stuck out to me.  I was specifically seeking unique comments and insights.  Overall, almost everyone was very impressed with the benefits that DNS10 can provide as it enables people to type at 150 words per minute.  They were impressed with the accuracy and much more.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the words that you speak and it does it 3 times faster than you can type! The accuracy rate is 99%! The special headphones keep background noises from  being an issue! This would be a must at my house, between the dog barking, little one always yelling "Mama" and the work they are doing on the house next door, it can be pretty loud in my  office. – It is nap time: Let your voice do the typing…

But I wanted to know how it might directly impact their lives, how they could use the tool.  I did not want to hear marketing messages resonating in their brains, but what it was that would actually be used in the field so to speak.  J  In general, I received two areas of feedback. 

The first area highlighted the fact that Dragon Naturally Speaking can filter out other noises including barking dogs and screaming children and pick up the words that you say.  This is more of a function of the noise cancellation headphones I believe, but has something to do with the programs ability to then listen to the words you are saying and ignore any other sounds that might make it throught he microphone itself.

Mothers using Dragon

"It will only recognize my voice and not the cry of my baby." – How to be a better blogger? read this

Here is what I love the most about this product: the background noise doesn’t affect the program! As a mother, that is awesome news because I usually have noise all around me most of the day. Three kids and a dog can be a loud  combination! – Dragon Naturally Speaking

Fathers using Dragon

So they like to sit on Daddy’s lap and watch him work, which makes it difficult to type, because my arms aren’t that long.

And because they help me type and it comes out like this:reklmef09ruew .

Plus, I’m not exactly the fastest typist in the world. I do okay, but I think a lot faster than I type, and I talk a lot faster than I type. I was therefore very interested in Dragon Naturally Speaking  10 Preferred, a computer program that automatically transcribes what you say and puts it onto the screen. – The Best of Everything: With this program, I can avoid this: reklmef09ruew

The second area then focused on parents that thought that they could use the tool to multi-task while doing household chores.  I personally, like to listen to audiobooks when I’m doing the dishes or laundry or even mowing the yard.  Many of the bloggers that I received feedback from indicate they would like to write and type while they did these chores.  Plus a few even thought that Dragon would be great for capturing recipes while they cooked, noting down all those simple meal customizations that you never quite have time to write while you are cooking or those healthy cooking tips you think of as you perform substitutions.

"I can dictate my post and do laundry at the same time. Now we all know that folding clothes takes the longest time and it is impossible to do it along with blogging. With this software, my problem is solved." – Clean and Blog by Using Dragon Naturally Speaking

I could certainly use this one! Just to think about being able to clean the kitchen, do laundry and blogging at the same time makes me want to get this software right now at this very moment.  I could just set my laptop close by, use a bluetooth microphone and bingo! As an added benefit, Dragon Naturally Speaking would free me from all the body aches and pains that come  along with sitting and "computering". – Live Laugh Love: Dragon Work and Health Benefits