[nabs-l] iPhone 3Gs

[T. Joseph Carter]

Okay, first, who's in this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRZuBe3TZyU&feature=related

I have several answers on the iPhone 3Gs, and will have more in a few 
days (and still more in a few weeks..)

Q: Will the older iPhones see VoiceOver, Zoom, or other accessibility 
features?
A: In short, no.  The iPhone began with a small, fast operating 
system, but the features that have been added over the past two years 
really are pushing the limits of the hardware.  The 3Gs is clocked 
50% higher than the older phones and has a generally more advanced 
processor.  More advanced mobile screen reader users are well aware 
of how much of a performance hit their devices take to use a screen 
reader.  The older iPhone would just be frustrating with that much 
extra load.

Q: What speech engine does it use?  Eloquence?  Apple's Alex?
A: The 3Gs uses the same Nuance Vocalizer Samantha voice you find on 
the Victor Reader Stream.  I do not believe Apple intends to offer a 
choice of speech options as they do on the Mac.  It would likely 
require a separate firmware as on the Victor Reader Stream, and I 
don't picture Apple doing that.

Q: How accessible is it?
A: So far, all functions using the iPhone's native user interface 
work great.  It's basically tap to read, double-tap to do a regular 
tap.  That's got to make the keyboard crazy unless Apple's got 
something else going for that—I'll be able to try one out before I 
head to Detroit for convention, and I'll be sure to offer an update 
when I get a chance to have a look.  So far it's promising.

Q: Can you edit MS Office documents with it?
A: There are three solutions for editing documents on the go with the 
iPhone at present:  Documents to Go, QuickOffice, and Google 
Documents.  They are at various states of useful, and mobile device 
users may recognize DataViz DocumentsToGo.  The future is promising 
in this area.

Q: What about external keyboards?
A: So far as I can tell, there is still no Bluetooth keyboard support 
for the iPhone.  Apple touts their soft keyboard as far better than 
the integrated mechanical keypads on most phones that force people to 
lug around a separate keyboard, and it is indeed a wonderful thing 
for sighted people once they get used to it, but the lack of a 
hardware keyboard is a disadvantage to us.  One way or another, there 
will be Bluetooth keyboards on the iPhone, but no word that Apple 
supports it out of the box yet.

Q: Is the iPhone going to replace a note taker?
A: Not yet.  The signs are promising, and the iPhone is easily a 
giant step in the right direction.  That said, it's a first step, and 
time will tell if Apple's notorious secrecy and control will wind up 
hobbling the effort, or if AT&T's stranglehold on their exclusivity 
contract (they won't unlock the phone for international business 
travelers!) is going to interfere.

Q: Will we see kNFB Reader on the App Store soon?
A: Yeah, and it'll be $4.99 too.  *grin*  Seriously though, no, the 
kNFB Reader software requires a 5 megapixel camera of decent quality.  
The iPhone 3Gs camera is only 3 megapixels, so kNFB Reader is not 
possible on this generation of iPhone.  The camera's macro photo mode 
might make a note teller application possible, though!


I have something a little more personal about the iPhone 3Gs as well.  
I've been part of the iPhone "jailbreak" community for two years now.  
Without the community, there would never have been an App Store or 
50,000 applications out there, because Apple originally said web 
applications only for the iPhone.  I've helped probably a thousand 
people apply the hacks, fix "bricked" phones, and generally use the 
device they paid for how they wanted to.  I helped others gain full 
access to devices that I could not fully access myself.

If I want a 3Gs, I need to get it SIM-unlocked, and you just can't 
get that in the United States.  I had no plans to upgrade, since I 
would have to import a device from a reputable source at a cost of 
$700 or more.  I'm a student, so that wasn't going to happen!

One member of the community, using the alias Octothorpe, started 
talking to others.  He said that if anybody should have an accessible 
iPhone, it should be me.  The community has agreed to the tune of 
over $1000.  Shortly after the iPhone becomes available in a factory 
unlocked market, I'll have one.  The remainder of the contributions 
are going to the Imagination Fund, on behalf of the community.

I'm also going to be working with the dev team to make the tools we 
use accessible to screen readers.

Joseph