 | This is an example of using voice-dictation on a Facebook post: Click on the first screenshot to see where the microphone icon is. The second one shows the screen during dictation, and the 3rd one shows the completed comment to Facebook. |  |  |
Kindle Fire's Built-in Voice Dictation for tablets with Fire OS v3.1 (See Updated entry at bottom.)
This capability is available, per Amazon's Language and Keyboard Display help page on the following Amazon tablets:
"For Kindle Fire HDX (3rd Generation), Fire HD (4th Generation), or Fire HDX 8.9 (4th Generation) devices, tap the microphone icon on your keyboard to use your voice to dictate text instead of typing."
The Fire HD 4th generation would be the ones released in Year 2014 (HD 6" and HD 7" that year, still current in Year 2015).
For example, the lowest-cost Fire HD model has it, as does the Year 2014 HD 7 tablet you might have, though that one doesn't show in current tablet offerings.
The thumbnail photos above lead to larger photos for more readability. These screenshots are from a session using the built-in voice-dictation (or speech-to-text] feature to reply on Facebook to a post. (I'm using a post from Wildtiger Org's Jack Kinross in connection with their Remote Area Aid for disaster relief in Nepal. This is a photo he took of a woman carrying wood from recently cut-down trees to her home because of the now two-month-long Nepal Fuel Blockade, which prevents receipt of fuel (for cooking and transportation) and medical supplies as well as health workers for areas of Nepal that need it). The full photo by Jack Kinross can be viewed here.
Today, a report by Unicef that a Shortage of essential supplies threatens millions of children this winter in Nepal goes ignored while the mainstream news outlets ignore that story. ("200,000 families affected by the tremors are still living in temporary shelters, at an altitude above 1,500 metres") facing winter without fuel for food and transport and no medical supplies due to the mentioned blockade there.)
The first screenshot shows the voice-dictation microphone at bottom left of the keyboard; the second one shows the screen interface during the actual voice dictation with a dotted circle around the microphone and "Done" to be tapped once you've finished your dictated comment. The third one shows the comment as it appears before you press the Enter key on the keyboard to submit the comment.
According to an Amazon press release, this "Voice dictation converts your speech to text—available in all languages when online; offline support available in US English.."
(I haven't confirmed that we can use the feature offline when using US English, since my WiFi is always on when I'm working with it. Let us know what your experience is with that.)
Here's a list of some frequently used voice commands
and some numerical items the dictation-feature understands:
(SOME of the may not work in the UK-English version.)
• “Period” – [ . ]
• “Comma” – [ , ]
• “Exclamation mark” – [ ! ]
• "Exclamation point" - [ ! ]
• "New line"
• "New paragraph"
• “Open bracket(s)” – [ [ ]
• "Closed bracket(s)" - [ ] ]
• "Open parentheses" - [ ( ]
• "Closed parentheses" - [ ) ]
• "dash" - [--] {"The weather -- quite cold -- requires a coat."}
• “Nine Euros fifty” – [ 9.50 EUR ]
• “Half past nine” – [ 9:30 ]
• "Eight fifty nine AM" - [ 8:59 AM ]
• “Thirteen forty five” – [13:45]
• “Twelve hyphen 3" - [12-3] {"The Giants won 12-3."}
If the voice-dictation IS based on Nuance's "Dragon" capabilities, some have said that an "utterance" is limited to 30 seconds, but I've been able to talk on and on for well over a minute without a break and it continues and is very accurate. When I stopped, it waited for me for a short while to press the "Done" icon, having apparently 'learned' that I can be long-winded. So, this is quite good for a built-in undocumented voice-dictation feature.
Tips on getting voice commands and punctuation to work as expected
Before asking for 'new line' or 'new paragraph' it works better if a period prefaces it (though it's not usually necessary).
Also, it's best to pause slightly after saying 'period' when wanting a new line or new paragraph.
ON the other hand, don't wait too long to say 'period' to end a sentence, as it will add a space before it if you pause for more than a millisecond.
If you have used the voice-dictation feature (available since November 2013 on the mentioned Kindle Fire tablets) and you find new capabilities while trying it out, let us know in the Comments area.
NOTES on a really good audio-recording app that I tried this weekend
(This one is NOT for speech to text but to get dictated material in audio-file format to send to others or for record-keeping.)
UPDATE2: AFTER I made the demo recordings for 'medium' and "high" quality versions of the original free Easy Voice Recorder app, I found out tonight that the once $4 Easy Voice Recorder PRO is now "Actually Free" under the new Amazon Underground feature, which allows us to use, for free, apps that are normally paid apps at other major app stores.
Amazon offers these for free when the app developer is paid based on usage (which means that how often you use the app IS tracked for the developer's revenue), and apparently this developer has confidence in the app's usefulness. I can see why.
The *now FREE* Easy Voice Recorder Pro (EVR Pro)
.For the Easy Voice Recorder Pro app, I added two sound files in WAV format from the original free non-Pro app. The first audio file is an EVR Medium Quality WAV sample.
The second audio file uses the "high" quality setting and is my EVR High Quality WAV sample.
The third file is an EVR Medium quality M4A sample. The second audio file uses the "high" quality setting and is my EVR High Quality M4A sample.
Since I recorded these two audio files before finding that the "PRO" version is now free and offers stereo recording, my wording in these files should be ignored.
While these older free-version samples are in mono, they still give an idea of the clarity you'll hear in the Pro app files (newer version that's free only at Amazon).
Since Easy Voice Recorder Pro records and STORES, on the tablet, the considerably larger WAV format file, to keep highest quality available (while also offering compressed versions in M4A format when sending the file to others), I've linked the medium and high quality WAV as well as the two compressed M4A files for anyone curious about the differences.
These should give you an idea of which might work better for you if you're interested in a voice-recorder with sound-file output for sending or sharing. I noticed that several customer reviews mention that these apps work pretty well for singing as well :-)
Apologies for sounding so sleepy in them, but that's because I was!
BONUS feature. I saw that Easy Voice Recorder Pro allows you to Play a recording WHILE Recording on top of that, which means you are "layering" tracks and can do a duet with the output from the first file to make the 2nd file. Unfortunately, it is picking up the speaker output of the first file, so the quality of the first sound-file's audio is not good. But if you're recording music, it's a good way to practice with another part.
An alternate fully-featured voice-recorder app, with a great interface:
Another very flexible voice recorder app: Hi-Q Audio Recorder also allows you to pause a recording, has several additional, interesting features, and makes files in M4A, WAV, OGG or Flac. ($4~) (m4a sample). This app doesn't offer an mp3 output file because Hi-Q also offers a very very good, free mp3-recorder app, Hi-Q MP3 Recorder, but this free one does not have a Pause option, which is an important lack (mp3 sample). The sample from from the $4~ "audio" app is better for sibilants while the sample from the free "mp3" app has better presence. The Hi-Q apps, like the Easy Voice apps, do allow you to Play one recording WHILE recording on top of that.
TIP on making recorded notes when away from WiFi or 3G and then later converting these sound files into text
I was asked about how to save notes, when using Voice-Dictation (to text) during times that we don't have a WiFi or 3G connection for sending a note or email somewhere.
The first thing I found was that the voice-dictation-to-text offline is, for all expected purposes, useless. Apparently the data set that is on the tablet system has to be very pared-down and therefore the app can understand VERY LITTLE of what I say when offline and not connected to the Net's large data servers with the full data sets. What it typed for me, then, was not understandable by me. This was not unlike some human-to-human conversations.
So, don't bother with trying to use Voice to Text when WiFi or 3G are not available. The Voice Dictation feature is very accurate and capable when you have a fast WiFi connection. I have Comcast Cable and am unable to test how it would be under slower DSL connections.
BUT, what you can do when in a space without WiFi or 3G is to use a simple voice-recorder app like Easy Voice Recorder or Hi-Q's two apps described above, which all save automqtically to sound files on your device.
When you're back on WiFi, you can send the sound files you want, to your computer (via EMail, WiFi transfer, or USB) and then play the audio on the computer while using the tablet's built-in Voice Dictation-to-text to convert it to text for emails or text notes. The conversion-to-text won't be quite as accurate as when you're actually talking to the microphone, but it's workable with more post-editing required. Using speakers with good treble output to project sibilants will improve the accuracy of the voice-dictation conversion to text.
Reminder for Nov 30: Amazon has extended the "extra 30% off" for PRINT books deal through the end of Nov 30 (11:59 PST) -- you can get any PRINT book at Amazon for an extra 30% off -- just enter "HOLIDAY30" at Checkout time in the promo code field. HOWEVER, it's restricted to a maximum $10 off. This was extended to 11:59pm PST Monday, Nov. 30. See Amazon's "terms and conditions" here.
Also, Amazon's aggressive-pricing continues during its CyberMonday Week that started today.
(This blog article was first posted Nov 28 and has been revised Nov 29-30.
