WhiteSmoke, Inc. - Wilmington, DE. Sept. 15th, 2009 – WhiteSmoke announces the immediate availability of WhiteSmoke Writer 2010, the upgrade from WhiteSmoke 2009. The launch of WhiteSmoke Writer is accompanied by a huge competition, with a round-the-world plane ticket for the winner.

WhiteSmoke Writer 2010 is a complete software solution for editing and enhancing English texts. Features include a grammar checker, writing style checker, writing review, dictionary-thesaurus, and more. This release introduces a name change (“Writer”) in preparation for a number of new software solutions for language and writing from WhiteSmoke. A major new feature, Writing Review, is introduced, as well as a number of updates and fixes.

New Features and Enhancements

Writing Review

The major new feature introduced in this release is Writing Review. Liran Brenner, VP of R&D at WhiteSmoke, explains, “Writing Review is a new way of getting feedback from WhiteSmoke about the quality of your text. Working alongside WhiteSmoke Writer's grammar, spelling, and style suggestions, Writing Review gives an analysis of other text-wide factors, such as passive verb frequency, average sentence length, complex word use, and more. Based on these factors and grammar, spelling, and style issues, the text is given an overall score.”

Revamped GUI

WhiteSmoke Writer features a complete revamp of the GUI, with several work-flow improvements. It is now easier than ever to check your writing with WhiteSmoke Writer, and return the corrected text back to the original application you are working in.

Other Enhancements and Fixes

The application now features faster performance and all-round improvements to the precision of the checking algorithms. Improvements have been made for better compatibility with Word Perfect and Open Office, as well as with all 64 bit versions of Windows operating systems.

“After several years of increasing our user base and enhancing our text analysis technologies, we are in a strong, market-leading position with WhiteSmoke Writer, and this latest release consolidates this. With these latest features and enhancements, WhiteSmoke Writer users have the best tool available to edit and enhance their English writing,” claims Amit Greener, VP of Marketing at WhiteSmoke.

Product Launch Competition – Round-the-World Ticket

Accompanying the launch of WhiteSmoke Writer 2010, WhiteSmoke is running a competition on its website. Anyone who registers at the WhiteSmoke shopping cart is eligible to enter. Entrants are requested to send a 1-2 minute video, or a text, detailing a humorous or interesting story related to language miscommunication. Eligible entries will be published on the WhiteSmoke.com website. WhiteSmoke staff will then select a winner who will receive a round-the-world plane ticket from their country of origin. Entry to the competition closes on October 15th 2009, and the winner will be announced on October 20th 2009.

Enter the competition here:
http://www.whitesmoke.com/competition-entry

WhiteSmoke Language Solutions

“The latest version of WhiteSmoke Writer is the best yet, with significant performance enhancements and great new features,” claims Hilla Ovil-Brenner, WhiteSmoke CEO. Hilla continues, “We are very excited about the new possibilities this version brings to our users, and also about the competition – let's see all those stories that everyone knows – misunderstandings and funny moments due to communication breakdown.”

WhiteSmoke, Inc. - Wilmington, DE. November 25th, 2008 - Today WhiteSmoke released an update to its English writing software, WhiteSmoke 2009, providing additional writing style suggestions. WhiteSmoke 2009 is an advanced tool for checking grammar, spelling, and writing style. WhiteSmoke hopes the update will bring a competitive advantage to users whose writing performance at the workplace is crucial. As stated in the National Commission on Writing: “Writing is integral in nearly every job. It’s really not a promotion issue since you’d never get to the point of promotion without good communications skills. You can’t move up without writing skills.”

A survey of WhiteSmoke 2009 users showed that 47.1% purchased the program on the strength of its writing style enhancements alone, which drove further development in this area. “Based on the needs of our users in the workplace, this latest update expands the range of writing style enhancements WhiteSmoke 2009 makes by adding specialized suggestions to clean up redundant phrasing ,” states Liran Brenner, VP R&D at WhiteSmoke. “The result is more varied and readable writing, without redundant wording, and a reduction in the use of the same phrases in a text over and over again.”

Examples

1. “There was a broad consensus of opinion at the meeting about the new deal.” becomes “There was a broad consensus at the meeting about the new deal.”

2. “Currently at this time we employee 58 workers.” Becomes “Currently we employee 58 workers.”

3. “It is clear that the investment strategy is working.” Becomes “Clearly, the investment strategy is working.”

“The majority of WhiteSmoke users correct and enhance their writing at the workplace. Considering the current job market, there are indications that this could give them a significant advantage as writing becomes a crucial skill to employers. Surveys have indicated that up to 50% of companies take writing skills into consideration during promotions,” says Hilla Ovil-Brenner, WhiteSmoke CEO. As one business leader stated in the National Commission on Writing, “Writing skills are fundamental in business. It’s increasingly important to be able to convey content in a tight, logical, direct manner, particularly in a fast-paced technological environment.”

“The current economic situation requires employees to look for competitive advantages in the workplace – skills that set them apart as workers. Employers have strongly indicated that writing has become a vital skill for promotion, and herein lies an opportunity for WhiteSmoke users. WhiteSmoke 2009’s new style features, combined with its highly advanced grammar checking algorithms, can help improve this important skill. ” claims Amit Greener, VP Marketing at WhiteSmoke.

About WhiteSmoke

WhiteSmoke is a world-leading company in the field of English writing technologies, with products that enhance and correct grammar, spelling, and writing style. As well as a desktop application, WhiteSmoke makes its technologies available through various channels, such as a browser-based text editor, and specialized OEM versions designed for integration with 3rd party service providers.

See the WhiteSmoke website for further information:
WhiteSmoke Writing Software

Wilmington, Delaware 20th May, 2009 – WhiteSmoke announces the immediate availability of an upgrade to its desktop English writing software. WhiteSmoke 2009 is the leading software solution for the correction and enhancement of English grammar, spelling, and writing style. The latest upgrade follows the announcement of new server-side features last month, and completes a substantial upgrade cycle for WhiteSmoke 2009.

New features include the much requested preservation of text formatting when checking texts in MS Word and MS Outlook, and bi-directionality in the multi-lingual dictionary. A wealth of other optimizations to the functionality and user experience of the product are also included in this upgrade.

Text Formatting Preservation

“The new release features a milestone in the development of WhiteSmoke – preservation of text formatting in MS Word and MS Outlook,” claims Liran Brenner, VP of R&D at WhiteSmoke. “This feature has been requested time and time again, and we are proud to say that we now have an intelligent solution to checking text, and returning the corrected text back to Word and Outlook with the original formatting completely in place.”

Bi-Directional Multi-Lingual Dictionary

This upgrade also includes new bi-directional language functionality in the multi-lingual dictionary. Previously, translations could only be made from English to a target language. Now, word translations can be made from any supported language to English as well. “The bi-directional dictionary improves the usability of WhiteSmoke 2009 for many of our users who speak English as a second or even third language,” reveals Amit Greener, VP of Marketing at WhiteSmoke.

Enhancements and Optimizations

A wealth of smaller enhancements and optimizations have made it into this upgrade. These include improvements to the text editing screen in WhiteSmoke itself, improved graphics and functionality in the Notifier, and further tweaks to the graphical interface to improve workflow and ease-of-use for users.

Check Your Grammar Everywhere, Anytime

“Improvements in text formatting helps us get closer to our goal of offering a full writing solution that can be used everywhere, and at anytime,” says Hilla Ovil-Brenner, WhiteSmoke CEO. “Even in the final stages of document preparation, a user can check a text with WhiteSmoke and still retain all formatting and styling along with automatic grammar correction. The amount of requests we have had for this tells us our users are going to love it!”

About WhiteSmoke

WhiteSmoke is a world-leading company in the field of English writing technologies, with a focus on products that enhance and check grammar, spelling, and writing style. WhiteSmoke makes its technologies available through various channels apart from its desktop application, such as a browser-based text editor, and specialized OEM versions designed for integration with 3rd party service providers.

We hope you enjoy the new layout and features.

Online Checker for Writing (Grammar, Spelling, and Style Checker)

The Online Checker for Writing brings you the core features of the WhiteSmoke 2009 desktop application - grammar checking, spell checking, and style checking. There is a limit on the amount of text you can check at any given time, and it does have the convenience of taking your corrected text back into the application you are writing in, but it gives you a good test ground for the WhiteSmoke technologies, and a handy little tool for checking smaller texts.

http://www.whitesmoke.com/free-online-checker/

Free Online Dictionary

The Free Online Dictionary is a great tool for those moments when you are stuck on a word. Simply enter any word and immediately receieve its definition, relevant synonyms and antonyms, and a modul for translating that word into a number of target languages.

http://www.whitesmoke.com/free-online-dictionary/

Try out the tools today!

Read the full review of WhiteSmoke here, or read on for some highlights.

The reviewers chose to focus on the Business Writing version of WhiteSmoke 2009. The Business Writing version shares the core feature set of grammar, spelling, and style with all WhiteSmoke versions, and adds a business-specific text enrichment profile. The reviewers found the program to be a very useful writing tool, and specifically addressed the one point that we all know and love here at WhiteSmoke - it really does give you much more grammar editing capabilities than any word processor alone:

"If you're unsure of what you're writing, it can be a boon, offering reassurance, brief explanation or correction quickly and simply. It seems to pick up more mistakes than a word processor alone, spotting missing prepositions or sloppy usage and grammar."

The only negative point that the reviewers raised is the price - $99.95 for the Business Writing version. Luckily for your, dear reader, we regularly have promotions where you can pick up WhiteSmoke software at greatly reduced prices in bundle packages. So, what are you waiting for - check out WhiteSmoke today!

It might surprise you to learn that National Grammar Day exists, but it’s true.  
http://nationalgrammarday.com/

What is National Grammar Day?

This "holiday" was set on March 4th, 2004 by SPOGG:  The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. SPOGG is a grammar-based organization that was started by Martha Brockenbrough.

There are about 6,000 members of SPOGG who will all take time on March 4th to celebrate the usage of good and proper grammar.  We are members of SPOGG over here at WhiteSmoke;  we simply cannot stand for missing prepositions, disagreement between subjects and verbs, or awkward word usage.  Confusion between “good” and “well”, “your” and “you’re”, “know” and “no” – we will not have it!  Whether it is a PhD dissertation, a business proposal or a casual e-mail to a friend, Good Grammar is a must.

How to Celebrate

This March 4th, why not be extra “grammatical”?  Here are some ways to observe National Grammar Day:

• Go Contraption-Free

  Contraptions (won’t, I’m, shouldn’t, they’re, he’s) are perfectly “legal” in the world of grammar.  They are extremely common in speech, and casual writing.  Why not challenge yourself on National Grammar Day, and omit all contraptions?  If you are careful and deliberate with your speech, it should not be a problem; no reason you cannot do it.  See?  We just did.  And we had a great time!

• Write Someone a Letter

  The old-fashioned way.  With e-mail and text messages, it’s so rare to take time to sit down and compose a hand-written letter.  (WhiteSmoke 2009 offers letter templates which could be useful, come March 4th!)

• Join SPOGG – the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar

  Writers, journalists, teachers, students, linguists, mentors, wordsmiths, and anyone whose names I didn’t mention:  Join SPOGG and show your support for the practice of proper grammar.  Signing up is free (free stuff!)  and will grant you access to periodic and entertaining updates pertaining to grammar.

Check back for pointers on how to celebration National Punctuation Day on September 24th!

WhiteSmoke, Inc. - Wilmington, DE. March 31, 2009 - WhiteSmoke announces the immediate release of a major update to the server-side component of its English writing software, the result of 8 months of intensive development, the analysis of millions of sentences, and extensive customer surveys. A client update for download onto the user’s PC will be launched in the following days. Changes include a new version of the contextual spelling algorithms, a greatly expanded dictionary-thesaurus module, and updates to the grammar checking engine.

“Our tests show that WhiteSmoke has the best error detection of any writing software on the market, and this update confirms that. By working closely with our users, we have made strong advances with the new contextual spelling algorithms and the updated dictionary,” claims Liran Brenner, VP of R&D at WhiteSmoke. He continues, “Combined with the new corrections of tricky grammar errors such as missing subjects, this update is a major step forward for all WhiteSmoke users.”

The major feature of this update is the new version of the contextual spell checker. Greatly expanded in accuracy and scope, the detection and correction of contextual spelling errors now extends to thousands of word pairs based on statistical data of common errors made by native and non-native speakers. Such errors (e.g., “pear” instead of “pair”;”they’re” instead of “their”) are often missed even at the proofreading stage, so an algorithmic solution such as WhiteSmoke’s is a boon to writers of all skill levels.

Additional changes have been made to the grammar engine of WhiteSmoke. The detection and correction of missing subjects in sentences has undergone a major update, with subjects being inserted into sentences in contexts where it could improve the intelligibility of the writing. New punctuation errors are now corrected after refinements to the punctuation algorithms. Detection of mismatched verbs when they apply to the same subject has also been improved, with increased accuracy of corrections and reduced false positives. WhiteSmoke’s grammar checker and other features work equally well for ESL speakers and native English speakers.


The dictionary-thesaurus module has also been updated. The server has been optimized for faster return of dictionary queries, and the dictionary database has been extended with tens of thousands of new and updated words and definitions.

Hilla Ovil-Brenner, WhiteSmoke CEO, states, “The latest improvements to WhiteSmoke 2009 give WhiteSmoke users an even stronger tool to help them write confidently. Contextual spelling errors make up a large percentage of common written English errors, and these latest advancements tackle contextual spelling directly. WhiteSmoke users benefit by getting an advanced ‘personal editor’ sitting right on their desktop!”

WhiteSmoke, Inc. - Wilmington, DE. July 28, 2009 – WhiteSmoke, leader in English writing technologies, announces a new tool designed specifically for people with writing difficulties – WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant. Those with family and friends with dyslexia and other writing difficulties know how hard it can be to write an email, letter, or essay without errors. WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant is the ultimate tool for these struggling writers, helping produce readable and error-free texts at home and at the workplace.

World-Leading Technology for Struggling Writers

“With WhiteSmoke 2009, we already have a strong presence in the market for English writing technologies,” states Hilla Ovil-Brenner, WhiteSmoke CEO. “Our technologies bring world-class grammar, style, and spell checking to any user. However, over the years we have gathered a lot of requests for a tool that specifically aids people with dyslexia and other writing difficulties. WhiteSmoke 2009’s contextual spell checker is advanced, but doesn’t always cover the ground required for these writing difficulties. The new WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant allows people with learning difficulties to produce error-free texts of unprecedented accuracy, bringing confidence to their written communications.”

WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant has several pricing options. A subscription service is offered at $20 per month, or $129 yearly. A bundle package is also available, combining WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant with WhiteSmoke 2009, the professional writing solution for full grammar checking, style checking, and more. The bundle offers the greatest suite of writing tools for struggling writers – Writing Assistant to fix serious spelling errors, and WhiteSmoke 2009 to correct and enhance the overall text.

Features of WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant

WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant features a streamlined interface that enables to user to quickly correct spelling in a text. A range of possible word choices are given, arranged according to the probability of a word being the correct word. Once the user has finished correcting the text, a simple click sends it back to the original application.

The Facts about Dyslexia

WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant fills a real need for people with reading and writing difficulties. According to the National Institutes of Health in the USA, anywhere from 2% to 15% of the entire US population has dyslexia. Dyslexia is considered the most common cause of English reading, writing, and spelling difficulties in children and adults alike. Unfortunately, common spell checkers are incapable of correcting spelling errors made by dyslexics, being more suited to typos where the misspelled word bears strong resemblance to the correct word.

An example sentence from a dyslexic person:

“awnly onse I sod axin him fer kawfee”

Normal spell checkers cannot understand the relationship between the “words” as they are spelled, and the words that the writer is trying to use. WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant can, correcting the sentence to:

“only once I said asking him for coffee”

Availability

“The first launch of WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant is as a free online service,” states Amit Greener, VP Marketing at WhiteSmoke. “However, we want to get this product out there to the people who need it in as many ways as possible. Within a month, a full desktop version will also be available with additional features.”

Try WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant Now:
Writing Assistant for Dyslexia

About WhiteSmoke

WhiteSmoke is a world-leading company in the field of English writing technologies, with products that enhance and correct grammar, spelling, and writing style. As well as a desktop application, WhiteSmoke makes its technologies available through various channels, such as a browser-based text editor, and specialized OEM versions designed for integration with 3rd party service providers.

Download today and get instant translation and proofreading straight from your browser!

WhiteSmoke Writing Toolbar

WhiteSmoke, Inc. - Wilmington, DE. February 3rd, 2009 – Today WhiteSmoke released a new grammar engine for its world-leading English writing software. The 4th generation engine brings a wealth of improvements, including additional error detections, improvements to grammar algorithms, and faster server response times. The release pushes WhiteSmoke technology even further in the correction of English grammar and spelling, and intelligent suggestions on English writing style.

“The new grammar engine delivers on our goal to be the ‘first word’ in software for English writing. We are continuing to expand the net of WhiteSmoke’s detections and corrections, to the point where we now have an impressive, and unparalleled, feature set,” claims Liran Brenner, VP R&D at WhiteSmoke.


A new feature of the 4th generation grammar engine is the correction of “glued verbs”. A common error made by native and non-native speakers, WhiteSmoke now detects many glued verbs and separates them into their proper forms. For example, “I want to pickup [pick up] my luggage this afternoon.” Other changes include improvements to the subject-verb agreement algorithms, and new style corrections for informal writing. A wider range of run-on sentences are now detected and corrected accordingly, and further refinements have been made to the spell checking algorithm. The update is effective immediately for all WhiteSmoke users.


 “Our customers tell us, time and time again, that they want a grammar checker they can trust their writing with,” says Hilla Ovil-Brenner, WhiteSmoke CEO. “People want a program that will fix their grammar, punctuation, and spelling with minimal user interaction; they want to know that they can trust the corrections that are made.” Amit Greener, VP Marketing at WhiteSmoke, continues, “WhiteSmoke is providing writers everywhere with a tool that meets their needs – a tool that works with all text-based applications, and ensures a high standard of English, wherever they write.”


About WhiteSmoke
WhiteSmoke is a world-leading company in the field of English writing technologies, with products that enhance and correct grammar, spelling, and writing style. As well as a desktop application, WhiteSmoke makes its technologies available through various channels, such as a browser-based text editor, and specialized OEM versions designed for integration with 3rd party service providers.