Now You're Talking on the Web 2.0 - software from Lernout & Hauspie - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, May, 2000 by Victoria Hall Smith

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HOC RATING 7

* Requirements: Win 95/98/NT, 200MHz Pentium II, 200MB of hard disk space, CD-ROM drive * List Price: $50 * Manufacturer: Lernout & Hauspie, 800-380-1234, www.lhsl.com

IF THE INTERNET HAS BECOME A BIG PART of your day, Now You're Talking on the Web 2.0 speaks to your need for increased efficiency. Instead of typing in URLs and clicking on links, Now You're Talking lets you navigate the Web, send e-mail and instant messages, and participate in chat sessions with just the sound of your voice. This latest version has been beefed up to work with most things Microsoft and with a few competing products.

After telling Now You're Talking to open your browser, simply say the name of the site you want to visit, and your browser takes you there as usual--though we found it a bit faster and far more accurate if the site is in your Favorites list. The program also superimposes numbers over links onscreen, so you can jump to one simply by saying its number.

A Chat 2 Chat feature lets you speak aloud in most chat and instant messaging programs, including AOL's and ICQ as well as Microsoft Chat and Yahoo Chat. Heavy e-mail users will appreciate the support for popular e-mail clients; we were able to dictate and send an e-mail message in about half the time it took us to complete the same task manually.

Though no substitute for L&H's full-powered VoiceXpress, Now You're Talking isn't an Internet-only application--in addition to its own modest personal information management (PIM) tools, it also supports standards like Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, and can synchronize with Palm organizers (though if you prefer Act, Maximizer, or GoldMine, you're out of luck). It even lets you dabble with dictating to Microsoft Word.

A noise-canceling headset is included with the software. The half-hour we spent training Now You're Talking exceeded the manual's claim of 5 minutes, but you'll easily make up that time and then some once the program's up and surfing.

[up arrow] Drop-down menus cut learning curve

[down arrow] Web-links feature snubs Netscape users some desktop PIMs

RATINGS

HOME OFFICE COMPUTING rates products on a scale of 1 to 10--with few 9's or 10's--based on value, performance, innovation (medals go to rare standouts in these areas), ease of use, and suitability for home offices. The [up arrow] and [down arrow] symbols indicated pros and cons.