@dictates | iDictate - Digital Voice Blog

MacSpeech Dictate Announce Medical Version

July 2, 2009June 20, 2009 by @dictates

At 1am on Friday 19th June, 2009 Sydney time I set my alarm clock for an announcement coming out of the MacSpeech tower of power in the USA. I heard through twitter (@macspeech) that an announcement was coming and so close to the release of version 1.5 it could only be something else new, I was hanging in there for digital voice recorder support but alas it was something bigger, the MacSpeech Dictate Medical version. Official MacSpeech Press Release

Based on the very new 1.5 version (so the latest greatest Dragon voice recognition engine from Nuance), MacSpeech Dictate Medical version will be available as a stand alone product or if you have MacSpeech Dictate already a reduced price cross grade will be available. We have no info on avialability or pricing for Australia as yet, as soon as we do we will post.

News Flash: Australian Price Drop On The Olympus DS-40

June 20, 2009June 15, 2009 by @dictates

As we discussed in our last post the Olympus DS-40 is on its way to being discontinued in Australia, to help things along Olympus Voice Australia have announced an immediate price cut for the DS-40 from RRP $695 incl. GST to RRP $595 incl. GST, in effect cutting its price to the same as the … read more

Olympus Australia Discontinue The DS-30 & DS-40 Digital Voice Recorders

June 13, 2009 by @dictates

It is with deep sadness that I bring to you the news of the demise of the Olympus DS-30 digital voice recorder. Here we go again, yet another recorder dumped by Olympus Australia this year. This model discontinued will very soon also be followed by the DS-40, Olympus are running out their remaining stock, so … read more

Welcome to Australia – New Olympus DS-3400 Digital Dictaphone

June 4, 2009 by @dictates

News filtered through this week that on a flight from Japan a load of new Olympus digital voice recorders has arrived at the Melbourne headquarters for Olympus Voice, the Olympus DS-3400. This makes the past few weeks busy ones for the Olympus folks as they also took delivery of the DS-50 replacement the DS-65 (see this post).

New Olympus DS-65 Digital Voice Recorder Launched In Australia – DS-50 Replacement

May 9, 2012May 28, 2009 by @dictates

Olympus DS-65 Digital Voice Recorder Stereo Mic

Some surprising news out of Olympus Australia yesterday, the Olympus DS-50 digital voice recorder which was perfect for large meetings and focus groups has been discontinued in Australia and replaced with a new model the Olympus DS-65.

With the demise of the DS-50 I would assume that the days are numbered also for the popular DS-30 and DS-40 recorders, likely they will both be replaced when the DS-55 comes down under in the near future.

From the outside the blue DS-65 looks the same as the DS-50, same size, same fantastic stereo mic tagged on the top. The difference between the models lies in the internals. Some of the key differences with the Olympus DS-65 are:

2Gb of internal memory (double that of the DS-50 which had 1Gb)
Max. recording time of 33hours 50mins on the highest quality recording mode STXQ
Support for Audible .aa audio format for audio books

The Olympus DS-65 comes in at the same RRP as the DS-50 which is currently $795 incl. GST and is available now from Dictate Australia and other official Olympus Australia distributors.

Olympus DS-65 Digital Dictaphone

Here are the full specifications for the Olympus DS-65…

Review: Philips 2310 & 2320 USB Foot Control – Express Scribe Compatible

May 21, 2009May 21, 2009 by @dictates

In the dark and mysterious world of transcription, well not really dark and mysterious just needed to make it a little more exciting than it really is, the most common software used by transcription typists is Express Scribe from NCH SwiftSound. This is great software for two key reasons, 1) it is free $0 2) it is Australian made, NCH Swift Sound are an Australia company based in Canberra.

Ergonomic design of the Philips 2310 and 2320 USB Foot Control - Express Scribe Compatible

Primarily because of key reason 1 above this makes it very popular with the army of Virtual Assistants (VAs) around the world who like to include transcription in their portfolio of services offered. Sure on its own Scribe works really well and for some, especially those with no transcription experience, having no footpedal is not a big deal. But for the serious transcriptionist or for people converting from analogue transcription kits (ahh those trusty Pearlcorders), a good reliable foot pedal is a must.

MacSpeech Today Announce Dictate Upgrade v1.5 – Paid Upgrade For Some In Australia

May 19, 2009May 15, 2009 by @dictates

So there I was, on my early morning commute down to Sydney on the train, checking my email in between games of FlightControl when BAM! this graphic jumped out at me from an email:

MacSpeech Dictate Upgrade to Version 1.5 Announced

Being a reseller for MacSpeech Dictate since its release back in February 2008 I thought I might have, you know, been told it was coming. So as a reseller and user of MacSpeech Dictate I was just a little surprised. MacSpeech Dictate is the worlds leading voice recognition software for Mac OS X. Launched at MacWorld in 2008 it won Best In Show that year.

read moreMacSpeech Today Announce Dictate Upgrade v1.5 – Paid Upgrade For Some In Australia

Philips Australia Digital Voice Tracer Price Hike Coming 1st June

May 18, 2009May 14, 2009 by @dictates

Philips Dictation Australia recently advised that their hugely popular and successful revamped Digital Voice Tracer (DVT) range of digital notetakers will be subject to a price increase starting 1st June, 2009.

The price rise has been attributed to a slide in the Aussie dollar against the Euro, Philips Dictation’s head office is in Vienna, Austria.

Philips Digital Voice Tracers — Philips Digital Voice Tracer Range

So what are the new Australian dollar RRP’s including GST for the DVTs: