Philips today announced the launch of its new USB Smart Key, a unique licensing tool that allows dictation software licenses to be uploaded to any computer.

Philips is the first company to offer such a tool, which replaces current dongles and older security codes that had to be manually typed in. The USB Smart Key is now packaged with Philips SpeechExec Pro Dictate and Philips SpeechExec Pro Transcribe, as well as Transcribe software packages.

The USB Smart Key can simply be inserted into a USB port and the software will automatically access the license stored on the key. The license can then be easily transferred to a computer with the touch of a download button and, after download is complete, the key is no longer needed for licensing and users can work on that computer without having to keep and carry a dongle. If a user wishes to work with the dictation software on an office computer as well as a computer at home, the USB Smart Key allows him or her to switch from one computer to another without having to purchase a second license.

The licensing tool continuously indicates the license status with a smart color program. If the tool?s integrated LED is green, the USB Smart Key contains a full license that can be used either directly from the key, or after it has been downloaded to a computer. An orange LED indicates that the tool includes a 30-day license that can be used once it has been downloaded to a computer. If the USB Smart Key no longer contains a valid license, the LED will be red.

The USB Smart Key also contains a 30-day crash recovery license. If a user has downloaded the license to a PC that later crashes, he or she can immediately continue working with the digital dictation software on another computer.