Nuance Dictation Referenced In iOS 5 - System Wide Dictation Feature, Activated By Keyboard?
by Joe White
July 25, 2011
For a while now, we've been wondering whether Nuance technology is going to premiere with iOS 5. Now, it would appear that a system wide Nuance Dictation feature is going to launch in iOS 5, which users will be able to activate via a specific virtual keyboard button.
The news was first published by Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac, in an article that hit the Web recently. The article references a section of code (below), which appears to outline a dictation feature that's embedded within iOS 5.
The code suggests that users will be able to activate a dictation feature from the system wide keyboard. As you can see, "dictation.key" activates dictation, which will allow users to speak to their iPhone, and a "Two-finger double tab" appears to end the dictation process. Obviously, nothing has been confirmed by Apple, and even if this is a genuine find there's always a chance the feature won't make it into the final version of iOS 5.
(Furthermore, there's no way we can be sure that this is Nuance technology. However, based on the rumored discussions between Apple and Nuance, it's a fair assumption to make.)
A few days ago, we told you about a similar feature ("Assistant") that iOS 5 code appeared to reference. This feature provides users with a Siri-like personal assistant feature, which can provide answers to questions based on users' personal information. Could it be that both features will premiere in iOS 5, or at least with Apple's fifth generation handset?
We'll keep you posted.
