MacSpeech Dictate!
The main news for this issue is no doubt the launch of MacSpeech Dictate, announced in our previous news letter, the much anticipated voice recognition software for Macs. This has had a very positive effect on prices of all our Mac computers.

Voice Recognition on Macs
Until now there hasn't really been any good voice recognition software available for Macs. PC users have had the Dragon range for a very long time, but Mac users had the choice between a no-longer-supported IBM ViaVoice or the rather poor iSpeech. As soon as Intel-powered Macs came along, this changed: We installed a copy of Windows with Dragon, both happily living alongside MacOS X, finally allowing users to have proper voice recognition on their Macs. It was a huge improvement, but still had some issues. The user needed to switch between MacOS and Windows whenever he or she wanted to use a Mac-specific program or Dragon (Windows). Moreover there were limitations in sharing work between the 2 operating systems, even though they co-existed on the same Mac.

What was really needed was proper voice recognition software for MacOS X. That's finally arrived. Launched by MacSpeech, it uses the same engine that Dragon users have already been accustomed to and raved about for years. With a look and feel that will not alienate MacOS users, it's bound to take the Mac market by storm.

We are now ready to offer MacSpeech Dictate for £110 (no Vat for DSA-funded students), and this even includes a suitable USB headset microphone, which should work for most speakers. There is even a version with a wireless headset! The availability of MacSpeech Dictate has had a

huge knock-on effect, a very positive one, I might add. Since voice recognition software was potentially the last package that necessitated the use of Windows on Macs, there is now no longer a need for our Macs to offer dual-boot capabilities, no more need for an extra copy of Windows XP, our installation costs, or even a virus scanner. We have therefore drastically cut the prices of all our Macs!

New Lower Prices for Macs
Visit our on-line quotation system here: www.reachdata.co.uk/products.htm and see for yourself, how Macs have come down in price as a result of us not having to bundle in a copy of Windows XP.

Almost all software titles have Mac-compatible versions with the exception of Jaws and Lunar. The latter 2 can still be used on Macs, but then require a copy of Windows to be installed (this is also mentioned in our on-line quotation system, and you can also order a copy of Windows where needed on the Mac pages).

New Adobe Software available for Macs
Who uses Macs? Usually designers and other people who are into graphics and photography. That's why we've added the most common tools used by these users onto our Mac pages in our on-line quotation system. You'll now be able to select Adobe CS3 Design Standard Student Edition (which includes Photoshop and Illustrator) for £175 ex VAT, Adobe CS Web Standard Student Edition (which includes Dreamweaver and Fireworks) for £165 ex VAT.

Thinkmap Virtual Thesaurus
Here's a useful tool, a great addition to the TextHELP! Read&Write built-in Word Wizard: Thinkmap's Visual Thesaurus creates an animated display of words and meanings — a visual representation of the English language.

Digital Notetaking
Finally! How many times would you have wished for a device that could recognise your handwriting? You made handwritten notes whilst on the move, in a lecture, meeting, come back to your computer and want to transfer the lot into your computer. Well that's now possible thanks to a few devices that recognise handwriting. More accurately they store your scribbles and then using handwriting recognition software on a computer cionvert the scribblings into type-written text inside of something like Word.

Of the various devices we have found the Digiscribble to be the best in terms of price/perfomance. This unique little device can be used both off- and on-line, i.e. when away from or at your computer. The Digiscribble is clipped at the top of a conventional paper notepad. Using its special pen you write whatever you want to write, the text appears as if written with any old pen on the notepad (the special pen uses conventional ink), but the trick lies in the fact that the special pen records all hand movements and sends these to

the Digiscribble unit, which stores these movements. This way you can store several 100 pages of handwritten text.

Later on you then connect the Digiscribble to a Windows computer, and using the bundled MyScript software you can see your handwriting being converted into type-written text! Brilliant! There's no need for training it your handwriting. The Digiscribble can also do this magic when it's connected to the computer, but it's most handy for those notes that you've taken away from your computer. All this for £50 ex VAT! Now why didn't this exist when I was a student?

SpellEx Portable Spellchecker - Update
Although this was due towards the end of March 2008, no signs have been given yet as of a realistic release date. It may arrive towards the end of this month, it may not, is the latest news we've received. That's unfortunate, we appreciate that, since this device, which was originally designed, manufactured and sold under the Franklin brand, was quite useful to any student on a medical course. SpellEX have committed themselves to taking over the product from Frankliun, but as is usually the case with such deals, there are numerous issues to be resolved that stay well away from the prying public eye, i.e. us.

Docupen R700 scanner pen
A handheld scanner that operates on batteries for full portability purposes. The DocuPen is capable of storing up to 100 pages into memory and takes approximately 4 to 8 seconds per page. The DocuPen is different from other pen scanners in that it scans a FULL PAGE width and therefore scans the entire page including text and g1/raphics in just 4 seconds. Other handheld and pen scanners only scan single lines of text or records handwriting and cannot scan graphics making them much less practical. Available from us for £126.00 ex VAT.

Wrap Up
That's it for this issue. Hope you enjoyed reading it. Almost a habit, we'll leave you with this thought by Beatrix Potter: "Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality."