Daniel Eran Dilger
MacSpeech at this week’s Macworld Expo unveiled Dictate, its new speech recognition and voice command software currently in beta and slated for release mid February. The new product replaces and improves upon the existing iListen.

Dictate is now based upon the highly accurate speech recognition engine developed by Naturally Speaking; iListen was based upon technology licensed from Philips. MacSpeech supplies the user interface and rich integration with AppleScript and other Mac technologies. It is offering a preorder special of $149 on the $200 regular price, and also offers a $99 cross-grade price for existing users of iListen.

Speech Recognition Accuracy.
Representatives demonstrated the accuracy and intelligence of the new system by dictating live into the system. After being switched on, the system allows the user to both dictate and issue voice commands. It determines which you are doing by analyzing the context of words. Dictate only requires a 5 minute profile creation session, which profiles the mic used and then analyzes the speaker’s speech patterns and diction. In addition, the user can supply text that the software will analyze for unfamiliar words, and then speak those words to expand the system’s dictionary.

Continues: AppleInsider | MacSpeech’s Dictate: high quality voice recognition for the Mac

Technorati Tags: Apple, Mac, Software

Daniel Eran Dilger
Parallels, maker of the popular Parallels Workstation software that enables Intel Mac users to run Windows or Linux within a virtualized environment, introduced its new Parallels Server at Macworld. The new product, intended to enter beta in the next couple months, is designed to virtualize and manage multiple server operating systems on any Intel-compatible hardware.

When running on Apple’s Xserve or other Intel-based Macs, Parallels Server also allows users to virtualize Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server. That feature required a change to Apple’s license agreement for Server, which formerly required that the software could only be run on a single system and only on Mac hardware. Apple relaxed the limitations to enable Parallels to develop the new server virtualization software. Leopard Server still requires that users acquire a license for each instance of Leopard Server running, and further requires that Leopard Server run only on Apple branded hardware.

Why Virtualize?
While most desktop users are familiar with the benefits of running Windows software on the Mac desktop, the Parallels Server product addresses an entirely different market. Virtualization in a server environment is typically used to test multiple instances of the same setup with a single changed variable. For example, a IT department could run multiple virtualized copies of Leopard Server, each with a different selection of System Updates, patches, or alternative configurations, in order to test for compatibility problems or conflicts. This can already be done by simply throwing hardware at the problem, but virtualization allows all of the different systems to run in parallel on the same hardware, dramatically saving the amount of hardware required to test different configurations.

The other obvious benefit offered by Parallels Server is the capacity to run multiple, different Server operating systems on the same hardware. This is of particular interest to Apple, which is clearly excited by the prospect of selling its Xserve hardware to IT shops that need to run a combination of Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Server, and other server operating systems.

Continues: AppleInsider | Parallels aims to virtualize Leopard Server and help sell Xserves

Technorati Tags: Apple, Development, Mac, Microsoft, Software

Daniel Eran Dilger
After hoisting teaser Macworld Expo banners of “something in the air,” it seemed likely that the slogan would be an allusion to wireless networking. Instead, Steve Jobs exhaled the MacBook Air, a new ultra light laptop widely rumored in advance to be the star of the show.

Echoing the drama of the iPhone presented last year in a glass capsule, Apple suspended a series of MacBook Air units on a cable stretching from the floor to the ceiling at the show.

Apple security first reprimanded anyone touching the models, but by the end of the day people were casually grabbing and commonly spinning the units. If handling the merchandise is any prediction of sales, the MacBook Air should blow off the shelves in gale force winds. The constant, enraptured pawing made it nearly impossible to capture any shots of the new laptops.

Continues: AppleInsider | First Look: Apple’s new MacBook Air (with photos and video)

Technorati Tags: Apple, Mac