Philips Releases SpeechMike Air

Royal Philips Electronics today announced SpeechMike Air, the first wireless model of the company’s PC dictation device, is now available for purchase. The release of SpeechMike Air expands Philips’ line of digital dictation devices and provides users with the flexibility to dictate wirelessly.

The latest product in Philips’ SpeechMike line improves user experience by including new features such as a high-end microphone that is sensitive to background noise in the recording; an ergonomic design that reduces thumb movement and strain; a metallic slide switch button created to sustain more than 1 million movements to increase durability; and the ability to receive voice data wirelessly from up to 33 feet.

“SpeechMike Air is an efficiency tool that can help organizations with a high volume of documentation to be more productive and experience higher quality dictation,” said Thomas Brauner, category leader for Philips Speech Processing. “Since we are constantly working to develop new products and technology to ensure that companies receive superior dictation results, this new device provides users with the ability to dictate without the worry of sound quality and without having to be confined to a single space with the device.”

In addition to improved dictation recording and design, SpeechMike Air is built on Bluetooth technology, which provides a stable connection for constant dictation and proven wireless connections. The Bluetooth platform also stores dictation securely by encrypting the data and preventing other Bluetooth enabled devices from detecting SpeechMike Air.

“Since interruptions are unacceptable in the digital dictation environment, we wanted to develop a product that ensured that no dictation is lost,” said Wolfgang Spannlang, product manager at Philips Speech Processing. “That is why we selected Bluetooth as a technology platform – Bluetooth connections are known for their resistance to radio interference, thus ensuring clear sound quality.”

The full potential of the SpeechMike Air can be experienced in conjunction with the SpeechExec Pro and SpeechExec Enterprise dictation management solutions, or when integrated with industry systems. Created with a standard HID USB device, SpeechMike Air can be integrated with the use of a separate Software Development Kit (SDK).

Two versions of SpeechMike Air are currently available – one version is the standard device and the second version includes SpeechExec Pro Dictate software. The products are priced at $499 and $599, respectively.