Checking Out Leopard Compatible iListen 1.8 - OS X Odyssey 902
iListen 1.8 includes new commands to support the new TextEdit and Finder in Mac OS X 10.5, and Safari 3 as well as significant enhancements to the Voice Launcher, a few of which are Leopard-only, and to the Web Favorites command sets are included in version 1.8. For a full summary of the new features and changes in version 1.8, see the Appendix below.
The iListen 1.8 update is also a maintenance release that fixes reported issues and adds other refinements to the previous iListen version 1.7. The iListen 1.8 update is available free of charge to all registered iListen 1.7 (and higher) customers, directly from the MacSpeech web site:
http://www.macspeech.com/updatecenter/
As a longtime and regular iListen user, the program's compatibility was an important element in my transition from OS 10.4 Tiger to OS 10.5 Leopard, and after downloading and installing the iListen 1.8 update I'm happy to report that it works just great with the new cat.
Installation of the update couldn't have been simpler, and is now accomplished by a simple drag & drop from the mounted disk image folder rather than having to go through the tedium of running an installer. Slick.
Aside from that, iListen 1.8 has no interface changes from version 1.7 that I'm aware of. It seems to offer about the same level of performance on my aging PowerBook G4, which is to say pretty lively as long as I've rebooted the system fairly recently, although it does bog down significantly once the swap files begin to accumulate. Speech Recognition is very processor-intensive, more so than anything else I routinely do with my computer, and while I've found that running with the processor speed "Reduced" in the Energy Saver Preferences works pretty well most of the time and keeps the laptop's cooling fans spun down, iListen needs all the processor power the old G4 can muster, although I expect that a Core Duo Mac can run this program without even breaking a proverbial sweat.
Beyond dictation, iListen also lets you navigate the Mac and control it with their voice using familiar commands like print, cut, copy, paste, etc. While I'm not a heavy user of those iListen capabilities, many MacSpeech customers do depend on iListen for helping them control their Macs as well as dictating text.
As noted, the iListen 1.8 update is free for currently registered customers of iListen 1.7 (and higher). Upgrades from earlier versions are available for US$39.95.
New iListen 1.8 solutions are available, with a choice of headsets, starting at US$149. iListen 1.8 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. I've been using iListen lately with the Revolabs xTag USB Wireless Microphone which is being marketed by MacSpeech for use with the program, and I like it a lot better than I had anticipated. To read my full review of the Revolabs xTag USB Wireless Microphone, click here.
iListen 1.8 is available for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and later only. MacSpeech no longer sells, ships, or supports a version of iListen for Mac OS 9.
For my review of iListen (version 1.7), click here.
Appendix
Summary of Changes iListen 1.8 from iListen 1.7
:
- Version 1.8 is compatible with Mac OS X version 10.5 ("Leopard") and Mac OS X version 10.4 ("Tiger"). It is NOT compatible with Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier.
- All bug fixes included in the 1.701 through 1.706 "fixers" and the 1.7.1 update are included in this release.
- iListen is now installed by dragging the iListen folder to your Applications folder instead of via an installer. This addresses a rare permissions issue that occurred on a small percentage of Macs.
- The Voice Launcher command set has been enhanced. Support for opening many additional applications has been added.
- The Web Favorites command set has been enhanced. Links to web sites that are no longer active have been removed, while many new links have been added for sites that have become popular since the release of 1.7.0.
- New commands have been added for the version of TextEdit that ships with Mac OS X 10.5.
- New commands have been added to support the new Finder in Mac OS X 10.5.
- The Safari command set has been completely revamped to support Safari 3.0.
Changes to Voice Launcher
The following programs were added to the Voice Launcher command set for Mac OS X 10.5. They will only be available if you are running Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard"). Each of the applications below can now be opened by saying "Open" followed by the application's name:
Airport Utility
Alarm Clock Pro
AOL Desktop
Directory (10.5 only)
Directory Utility (10.5 only)
eFax Messenger
Exposé
EyeTV
Front Row (10.5 only)
Google Desktop
Google SketchUp
iMovie (older iMovie changed to iMovie HD)
iRemember
MacJournal
MacPractice 2020
MacPractice DC
MacPractice DDS
MacPractice MD
MindJet Manager
NeoOffice
Notebook
Numbers
Parallels Desktop
PhoneValet
Podcast Capture
Raid Utility
RouteBuddy
SOHO Notes
SOHO Organizer
SOHO Print Essentials
Spaces (10.5 only)
TaxCut
Time Machine (10.5 only)
VMWare Fusion
TopXNotes
TopXNotes iPod
TurboTax
The following commands are no longer available if you are running Mac OS X version 10.5 (they are still available if you are running a version of Mac OS X older than 10.5):
Directory Access
Internet Connect
NetInfo Manager
Printer Setup Utility
Sherlock
Changes to Web Favorites
The following changes were made to the Web Favorites command set:
Added "Jump To Apple Insider"
Added "Jump To Ask Dot Com"
Added "Jump To Best Buy"
Added "Jump To Blogger"
Added "Jump To Bloomberg"
Added "Jump To Craig's List"
Added "Jump To Delicious"
Added "Jump To Digg"
Added "Jump To Drudge Report"
Added "Jump To Expedia"
Added "Jump To Face Book"
Added "Jump To Flickr"
Added "Jump To Fox News"
Added "Jump To Go Dot Com"
Added "Jump To Google Portfolio"
Added "Jump To Google Video"
Added "Jump To iGoogle"
Added "Jump To Linked In"
Added "Jump To Live Journal"
Added "Jump To Macworld"
Added "Jump To My Space"
Added "Jump To New York Times"
Added "Jump To PayPal"
Added "Jump To Photo Bucket"
Added "Jump To Reference Dot Com"
Added "Jump To Think Secret"
Added "Jump To Travelocity"
Added "Jump To Twitter"
Added "Jump To Washington Post"
Added "Jump To Word Press"
Added "Jump To You Tube"
Changed "Jump To Apple Computer" to "Jump To Apple"
Changed "Jump to Mac Addict" to "Jump to MacLife"
Removed "Jump to MacCentral"
Removed "Jump to MacHome"
Removed "Jump to Macromedia"
Charles W. Moore
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