MacSpeech has released MacSpeech Dictate 1.5, a significant update to the speech-recognition and dictation software for the Mac. Most notable in MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 is the new Vocabulary Editor, which enables users to add, delete, manage, and train words. It also lets users customize how MacSpeech Dictate works with words in a user's profile, enabling tweaks to capitalization, pronunciation, and spacing behaviors.

MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 also promises to increase recognition accuracy, with the company claiming improvements of up to 20 percent over previous versions. That's due to technology improvements in the underlying recognition engine, and further improvements may be possible as well due to new profile options for regional accents: Inland North American, Southern North American, and Latino North American.

The update also brings additional compatibility with other applications, interface refinements, and significantly improved documentation.

The update costs $54.95 for current owners of MacSpeech Dictate, or $199 for new copies; anyone who registered MacSpeech Dictate after 01-Apr-09 will receive a free upgrade notice via email. MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later running on an Intel-based Mac.