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

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

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-3400 Digital Dictaphone
New Olympus DS-3400 Digital Dictaphone

 

read moreWelcome to Australia – New Olympus DS-3400 Digital Dictaphone

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

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…

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

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

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.

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

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

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
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

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:

read morePhilips Australia Digital Voice Tracer Price Hike Coming 1st June

Where Did That Come From – Olympus DS-3400

On a quiet Tuesday evening, nothing much to do, thought I would do some surfing on the web. Called into one of the most static sites you will find, the Olympus Voice Australia website. Clicked on the what’s new link and boom – DS-3400 Coming Soon ! Why was I surprised by this? Well, apart … read more

Philips Dictation Australia Announces Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Voice Recorder Edition

Philips Dictation Australia continue there surge forward in 2009, hot on the heals of their awesome new DVT (Digital Voice Tracer) range of digital notetakers (did I mention that they are now finally Mac compatible, only several times) they have just announced out of their Worldwide headquarters in Vienna – Dragon NatutrallySpeaking 10 – Voice Recorder Edition. I know, makes you want to say “wow” loudly.

Philips Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 DVR Edition - LFH0660/10
Philips Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 DVR Edition - LFH0660/10

It is fantastic to see some more innovation from Philips, taking the initiative to work globally with Nuance, the Dragon NaturallySpeaking people to provide an affordable package for people looking to get into the voice recognition. We have seen huge growth in the voice recognition software, both Mac and Windows over the past year as professionals, students, authors etc give up on the need to type for hours. Most people talk around the 120 words per minute mark, way faster than most can type so why not let your computer do it for you.

read morePhilips Dictation Australia Announces Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Voice Recorder Edition