Speakables is offering its eponymous voice command software Plantronics’ CS50-USB wireless headset. It costs $299.99, and Speakables includes its Speakables for iTunes package for free.
Founded by a key developer of Apple’s speech recognition technology, Speakables optimizes voice commands for specific Mac OS X applications. The company offers Speakables for iTunes, which let you command iTunes to launch playlists, play podcasts, tune in to Internet radio stations and more using only your voice; Speakables for iPhoto, which let you similarly navigate your digital photos and albums, and Speakables for TV, which let you command your third-party Personal Video Recorder (PVR) on your Mac.
Plantronics’ CS50-USB Headset is wireless and plug and play. It broadcasts in the 900MHz range (like some cordless phones) instead of using Bluetooth, so it works up to 200 feet away from your Mac. What’s more, it supports Skype, iChat and other voice chat and Voice over IP (VoIP) services. The headset connects to an available USB port on your Mac and works in conjunction with a base unit that recharges the internal battery when the headset is not in use. Plantronics estimates that the system has about 8 hours of talk time on a single battery charge.