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New Toshiba Ultrabooks Feature Voice Recognition Technology

By Leo Boon Yeow - on 2 Aug 2013, 11:05am

New Toshiba Ultrabooks Feature Voice Recognition Technology

 

Toshiba has just introduced two entry-level Windows 8 Ultrabooks, the Satellite E45t pictured above, and the Satellite E55, aimed at budget conscious consumers. These two notebooks are designed to look and behave like conventional notebooks, but they also have a trick up their sleeves -- voice commands. 

According to Computerworld, the voice command feature is enabled by Nuance's Dragon Assist software. If you're wondering why that name sounds familiar, that's because Apple's Siri uses voice recognition technology from Nuance as well.

Each notebook also has dual microphones that work together to capture your voice, while removing unnecessary ambient sound. With this setup, the notebooks are able to recognize voice commands from up to one meter away. 

The Ultrabook will recognize voice commands from a radius of three feet (0.9 meters), said Carrie Cowan, senior product marketing manager of Toshiba America's Digital Products Group. "With touch and voice, we're headed in the path of a natural interface," Cowan said, adding that reliance on keyboards and mice is lessening.

Computerworld also added that Toshiba's voice recognition software tests showed that the voice command features will work on commonly used software like browsers, media players and productivity software.

The new notebooks will be available in the US for US$799 (E45T) and US$579 (E55) in early August. While it seems that both notebooks are slightly pricier than other similar tier notebooks in the market, they will both feature aluminum chassis instead of the usual plastic found on cheaper notebooks. 

For now, there isn't any word on when the new Toshiba notebooks will arrive in Singapore (if at all), but once we find out, this article will be updated.

Source: Computerworld. 

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