[Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind

Sun Dec 24 12:50:33 UTC 2017

Yes!  When I had a phone where I could check signal strength, I found that, 
even sitting in the chair with the phone, the signal strength was all over 
the place.  It would bop up and down.  I never could understand that.  I 
thought it was my phone.  Pam.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Steve Jacobson via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 11:18 PM
To: 'Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances'
Cc: Steve Jacobson
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind

Pam,

The Alcatel phone that I wrote about is mostly used by my wife so I am not 
familiar with all of its commands.  I will try to see if signal strength can 
be spoken, assuming that it can.  While she would probably not care, I often 
check the signal strength on my iPhone, so I don't think one should have to 
justify wanting this information.  I find that the signal strength varies 
from the very same location so I need to know sometime.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

-----Original Message-----
From: Electronics-Talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
Behalf Of Pamela Dominguez via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 6:45 PM
To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances 
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Pamela Dominguez <geodom at optonline.net>
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind

When you were messing with the Alcatel, did you notice anything about how to
find out the signal strength?  Pam.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Arlene via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 6:52 PM
To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
Cc: Arlene
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind

Hi, Ashley, I have 6  button phones, the nokia 6600 that was with t-mobile
not connected now that I had with mobile speaks screen reader, the t-199 for
t-mobile from 3 years ago, samsung gusto 3 with verizon prepaid that came
out 3 years ago, the kyozera dura xv with verizon prepaid of which this
phone may have came out some time in 2016 that I got this past summer, the
sim mobile from at&t which I purchased about this past summer, and the z t e
with verizon on prepaid which I got about 3 weeks ago. The same day that I
purchased the zte about 3 weeks ago, I purchased my first iphone, the se
phone. I have a whole lot to learn with the touch screen but in time I think
I'll learn it. I feel very possitive about that, it's just a different way
of navigating with the screen. When a friend could assist us in pairing up
our new bluetooth key board and get the wifi set up with the phone that will
be good as well. I have a friend that's beginning to show us about
navigating on the screen which is helping, and through other friends on a
list I'm on they've sent iphone tutorials and the iphone books which will be
helpful as we're learning. While I'm truly possitive about learning the
iphone, to me anyway, nothing in many respects will never replace buttons on
a phone. Honestly, I say that because that's what I've been use to with
phones for the last 41 years, when I first used a button phone, of course
back then it wasn't a cell phone.  In the last 15 years of having cell
phones, the only other touch  screen phone I got 2 years ago is the android
modo g that I don't know that I'll ever learn which I did my best to learn
with instructions from the android site that has the instructions of the
gestures and swipes and so on. With a few brief experiences with getting to
see iphones in stores, I always felt more so that I could learn it, so maybe
after I learn the iphone, maybe I could go back to trying to learn my modo g
which is not connected. Back to the basic button phones, while all these
phones will never be smart phones, 2 of the phones I meantioned that I have,
the sim mobile from at&t and the zte which I have on verizon and the zte is
on some other companies such as track phone and possibly straight talk, both
these phones are a little more advanced than the samsung t-199, the samsung
gusto 3, and even more advanced than the kyozera phone. I may not do as well
as other individuals in explaining how these phones are more ad vanced
technically, and some thing that I'll mention wouldn't be important to
everyone as far as what the phone is capable and why it seems more advanced,
after all you want a phone to use as a phone so you can make phone calls
when you need and want too. There's one other phone that I don't have that
is on the same level as the sim mobile and the zte phone and that is the
acatel phone with t-mobile which I took a good look at, at the t-mobile
store when the sales guy put the speech on for me. All 3 of these phones
when making a call, while you're on the call, you could press one of the
buttons, I think it might be the right soft key or the okay button which
will tell you the phone number of the person you're talking too. I just
discovered this when I experimented with making a 3 way call with the 2
phones I have. This would be more important, let's say you were on a 3-way
call, and one person hung up, it will let you know when you press the button
which phone number left the line. Now I'm telling anyone reading this, that
you could hear it give you information such as the phone number you're
talking too, and also when you go to make a 3-way call, when you press the
left soft key the phones voice will say add a call and your press the okay
button and it said to dial the phone number to add, all of this while being
in a call with the first caller. This one advancement or what is new about
these phones, the phone's voice from the text to speech can be heard
speeking these options and instruction as i described can be heard while in
a call, which the other phones I mentioned don't have. While in a call as I
described you might be wondering if it speaks anything else from pressing
the buttons, as far as I've noticed, it only speaks the option to add a call
and I think it was to end a call, and the instruction to dial the number to
be added, again this is while being in a call. The other advancement or what
is new about these basic phones, you can go on the internet very well.
Between the sim mobile and the zte phone that I have, the sim mobile is
better with going on the internet, you can go to just about any web site, or
go to google and do a search. While I don't have the acatel I'm very sure
that the experience with going on the internet with the acatel would be just
as a possitive experience. Actually the sim mobile for at&t and the t-mobile
acatel feel like, set   up of the phone   and the way the both phone work
seem exactly the same, with the exception that the acatel has more items and
icons than the sim mobile has. With the brief time with the acatel under the
clock icon it had 3 items, which I'm not sure I'm remembering correctly
since it was during the summer I was exploring this phone. I think my sim
mobile it just as the alarm clock, and also unfortunately and this sounds
crazy we were told by the at&t sales guy that the sim mobile didn't come
with ringtones. From phone to phone sometimes it's hard to remember some of
these details, that even for myself I have to go back and check on, so i
apologize for any details I've forgotten or weren't sure of. There some more
details that I still yet have to check out with these phones. If anyone has
questions about any of these phones, I'll answer any questions that I know
the answer too, and as far as the acatel phone, Pam has this phone and she
could tell us what's under the clock icon. Ashley, I also agree with you
that I wouldn't want to depend on the voice activations because it doesn't
always hear accurately which is true on my tv and on some of the voice
activation on some of the phones such as the basic phones such as the t-199
and the gusto 3.. Th voice activation for paying bills is very good
especially with t-mobile.

Arlene
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ashley Bramlett via Electronics-Talk" <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: "Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances"
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2017 12:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind

> Arlene,
> I agree with you and Sandra.
> I prefer buttons and voice commands have their downfalls especially since
> its not an exact science and the machine can misunderstand you.
> It’s a nice option but I would only feel comfortable using voice commands
> in certain environments.
>
> What type of phone do you have? From your message, I assume you also have
> a phone with buttons.
> Ashley
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Arlene via Electronics-Talk
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 3:03 PM
> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
> Cc: Arlene
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind
>
> Sandra, I'm with you, I don't want to talk to anything. If all the menues
> and buttons talk that's what I'm looking for especially in a button phone.
> Also I don't like to buy anything right way either. Give it time for bugs
> to
> be worked out of it, and as in this new phone possibly in time the price
> will go down to some extent.
>
> Arlene
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Sandra Streeter via Electronics-Talk" <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> To: <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Sandra Streeter" <sandrastreeter381 at gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 9:32 AM
> Subject: [Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind
>
>
>>I am not scared of it being Android. I am scared, however, of it becoming
>>a paper-weight, as some have pointed out. Now, for those who know more
>>than I: I would be interested in this aspect of deaf history: How did the
>>deaf get closed-captioning, TTY’s, etc., so mainstream? It seems that we
>>struggle a lot more to get blind-friendly things to happen, to be
>>affordable, and to stick around. It’s even worse if, like me, you have
>>other issues than blindness that make using a touch-screen untenable, and
>>you need something like the Envision 2 to even be able to get on the
>>learning curve for mastering a ‘'new smartphone. Before anyone brings up
>>the idea of voice commanding, I also would prefer not to talk; I know I’m
>>a whiner and complainer, and you have all see my wish list for the perfect
>>smartphone, but sometimes, it bears repeating. If I had the money to get
>>the Envision, I probably would, except for that one problem of how long it
>>would be supported; I’d be inclined to wait a couple years to make sure
>>any bugs were worked out and that it still had some longevity, and maybe
>>even to wait for the price to drop a bit—as tempting as it is to be hasty.
>>So, in the interim, I may end up with a feature phone, which I could at
>>least use for texting and phone calls on the road, and at work, where you
>>really need something you can function with.
>>
>>
>> Sandra
>>
>> “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because
>> he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however
>> measured or far away.”
>> (Henry David Thoreau)
>>
>> ---
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>
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