Apple Chinese Dictation Kit

For years, Chinese text input has been a bottleneck for computer users. Hundreds of different keyboard input methods have been developed, but invariably they are either difficult to learn or slow to use.

Dictation is the fastest and most natural way to input

Chinese text for most users. However, until now, large vocabulary dictation software typically required expensive highend workstations and hardware addone.

Apple Computer is pleased to announce the Chinese Dictation Kit (CDK), the worlds first low cost high performance Chinese dictation software. With Apple's Chinese Dictation Kit, the users no longer need to suffer through extensive training or the inefficiency of current keyboard input methods. The user can also concentrate more on what he/she is writing, rather than how to input it. We believe that Apple's Chinese Dictation Kit represents again Apple's determination to make the best ease ofuse personal computers for users. Chinese Dictation Kit heralds the start of a revolution for Chinese computing.

What Chinese Dictation Kit Can Do For You

Apple Chinese Dictation Kit is a high performance large vocabulary dictation software that can dramatically increase your productivity when inputting Chinese text, particularly if you're a poor typist. It's like having your own secretary to take dictation and do your typing!!

Vocabulary

CDK provides a standard vocabulary of over 3,500 single characters and over 12,000 Multicharacter words. Using a flexible phrase construction system, these words and characters can be combined into over 350,000 different phrases. Using the phrase adding feature, you can add any additional phrases not already covered by the standard vocabulary.

Features

Through a sophisticated training process, CDK is able to recognize your voice and even your own accent.
In contrast to most other Chinese dictation software, CDK allows you to speak a phrase at a time, instead of a character at a time. This increases the throughput of the system which can achieve about 4060 characters per minute.
CDK uses a very large flexible vocabulary, so users can speak many flexible phrase patterns. The total number of different phrases users can say for the default system exceeds 350,000.
A phrase adding feature allows you to customize CDK's vocabulary. Add names of friends and family, specialized technical terms, etc.
Adapts to your word patterns to improve the longterm performance.
The Lexicon Optimizer utility scans your text files to find what words you use and adds them automatically to the system.
Powerful Voice Macro feature allows you to input long addresses or aphorisms by speaking a single word.
Voice commands for frequently used functions.
Most misrecognized characters can be corrected easily and quickly with a click of the mouse.
Dictation of numbers and punctuation.
Support for multiple users on a single machine.

Training

Like most high performance dictation systems' CDK is speakerdependent. You teach it to recognize your voice by reading a few pages of easy, fun/ informative text, while COK records your voice. Most users can finish the training in about 2 hours. After you've finished recording' CDK must then process your recordings to produce "models" of your voice that it uses for recognition. The processing typically takes under 1 hour (the exact time depends on the machine).

Performance

Up to 60 characters per minute input speed

Up to 95% character accuracy

System Requirements

Any desktop Power Macintosh with 16 bit sound input Chinese System 7.1.2 (or later ) or any System 7.1.2 with Chinese language Kit 1.1 (or later )

RAM Requirements

4 MB available application RAM

Disk Requirement

MB to install (5 MB to install Simplified and Traditional versions)

25 MB to train (Of which all but 800 KB is recoverable after training)

Chinese Software Digest
For further information, please send e-mail to :comstar@gy.com