[nabs-l] Mobile Speak 4.5 for Symbian is Now Available!

David Andrews dandrews at visi.com
Thu Jul 1 16:19:21 UTC 2010


>
>Caroline Ragot - Marketing Director
><mailto:marketing at codefactory.es>marketing at codefactory.es
>
>Mobile Speak 4.5 for Symbian
>
>
>Mobile Speak 4.5 for Symbian is Now Available
>
>
>
>
>
>Touch Screen, Web Browser, Calendar, TweetS60, Nokia C5, C6, E5 & 
>E73 Mode, and More!
>
>
>
>
>Terrassa (Barcelona), Spain, July 1st, 2010
>
>
>
>Mobile Speak 4.5, a free update for all users of Mobile Speak 4.0, 
>is now available! Since the release of Mobile Speak 4.1, Code 
>Factory's Symbian development team has focused its efforts on two 
>main areas: Touch Screen and Web Browser support.
>
>
>Using a Touch Screen Becomes as Easy as Using a Phone with Physical Keys
>
>
>
>Mobile Speak 4.5 includes two new touch screen interaction modes, 
>based on the concept of a standard joystick and a standard numeric 
>keypad. All of the physical keys used to control the screen reader 
>and phone in non touch screen devices have now been converted by 
>Mobile Speak into very intuitive virtual touch keys. It is therefore 
>easier and faster to enter text, dial a number or navigate through 
>the menus of your touch screen device
>
>The two new touch screen input methods are named Keypad mode and 
>Joystick mode. The Keypad mode is the default touch mode. You can 
>switch to the Joystick mode with command + volume up key, and then 
>use command + volume down key to go back to the Keypad mode.
>
>In Keypad mode, the touch screen is divided into 12 virtual keys, 
>arranged just like a phone keypad (1, 2, and 3 at the top; 4, 5, and 
>6 in the second row; 7, 8, and 9 in the third; and the star, 0, and 
>hash keys in the bottom row). By accessing the Keypad mode, you can 
>type numbers and letters just as with a physical keypad, including 
>using predictive text to compose text messages and email. This input 
>method allows you to enter text faster than either a virtual 
>keyboard or a review cursor with an onscreen keyboard.
>
>In addition, you can combine these virtual numeric keys with the 
>command key to perform command shortcuts, just as in previous 
>(non-touch) versions of Mobile Speak. For example, to mute Mobile 
>Speak, press the command key followed by the virtual 0 key at the 
>bottom center of the screen. Long-time users of Mobile Speak will 
>find this method of accessing commands familiar, and new users will 
>also find it a convenient alternative to the standard touch gestures.
>
>To access the left and right softkeys, delete characters, or press 
>enter, you can use a gesture called a "slide back" in one of four 
>directions. For example, to access the left softkey, you can perform 
>a "slide left and back" by sliding your finger right-to-left and 
>then left-to-right without releasing your finger or pausing between 
>the two motions. This gesture may take a few tries to be able to 
>perform it smoothly, but once you familiarize yourself with it, it 
>provides a quick and easy gesture to access common functions.
>
>Tip: To quickly become familiar with the virtual touch keys, 
>gestures and commands in Keypad mode, use the Keyboard Help mode. 
>This is activated and deactivated by pressing the Command key + long 
>press on the virtual key 5.
>
>Besides this Keypad mode, Mobile Speak 4.5 also features a Joystick 
>mode in which the touch screen is divided into 9 virtual keys, 
>arranged in a 3 x 3 grid. This touch input mode is intended for 
>users who prefer to interact with the phone using taps rather than 
>by slide gestures. The central key is joystick Enter, while the 4 
>keys directly above, below, left and right of the joystick 
>correspond to the joystick up, down, left and right keys. The bottom 
>left key is the left softkey, and the bottom right key is the right 
>softkey, and the upper right key is the delete key (upper left is 
>unassigned). Therefore if you are scrolling a list, you only have to 
>make taps on the top center or bottom center of your touch screen to 
>scroll up and down the list.
>
>
>Improved Web Browsing Experience
>
>
>
>Based on the extensive feedback of Mobile Speak's users and beta 
>testers, many bugs have been fixed in order to provide a much more 
>advanced web browsing experience. These include:
>    * Fixed problem that prevented some pages from being accessible 
> on certain devices.
>    * Fixed problem where reading whole screen by pressing 9 would 
> sometimes finish before the end of page is reached.
>    * Fixed problem on many newer devices where the amount of 
> kilobytes downloaded and remaining was not being spoken when 
> pressing joystick up (or down) while a page is loading.
>    * Fixed problem when entering text in Text Area field on some 
> web pages. Pressing joystick enter will now open the Text Area so 
> that text can be entered.
>    * Fixed problem where Combo boxes were not always selectable. 
> Pressing joystick enter will now open Combo boxes so that the 
> selection can be modified.
>    * Fixed problem on some newer phones which could cause a combo 
> box to open unintentionally when passing over the element with joystick moves.
>    * Fixed problem where a Combo box's contents were not 
> immediately refreshed with the new data after changing the combo 
> box selection.
>    * Fixed problem where some in-page links were not being jumped 
> to correctly.
>    * Fixed problem where the text of some elements was not being 
> spoken (affected some images, links or headers).
>    * Fixed various problems when moving up with joystick up, such 
> as: End of lists/tables was not spoken; all elements of combo box 
> were spoken; not symmetric to moving down with joystick down.
>    * Fixed problem when entering web address with T9 predictive 
> text active: it is no longer repeating full address each item a new 
> character is entered if the address starts with "http".
>    * Editor state is now spoken correctly (e.g. T9, alpha, number).
>    * After entering a password, its value is now displayed as 
> "****" when passing over the element with joystick moves, to improve privacy.
>
>
>
>  More New Features
>
>
>
>    * Support for the Nokia calendar application in several new 
> devices where it was not yet supported (e.g. E52, E72, E75, 6730, 
> C5) when in Month, Agenda or To-do views.
>    * Support for <http://www.tweets60.com/>TweetS60, the popular 
> 3rd party Twitter client.
>    * Support for the 
> <http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/focus-40-blue-product-page.asp>Focus 
> 40 Blue Braille portable device from Freedom Scientific. Listen to 
> Jonathan Mosen's demo at 
> <http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/Audio/focus_40_blue.mp3>http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/Audio/focus_40_blue.mp3 
>
>    * Support for new phones: Nokia C5, Nokia C6, Nokia E5 and Nokia 
> E73 Mode (for T-Mobile USA).
>    * Changed T9 predictive text functionality so that, when 
> entering text in predictive mode and with Keyboard Echo set to 
> Characters, the whole word it spoken (just like it currently is 
> when Keyboard Echo is set to Characters and Words). Also speaking 
> the whole word when typing a space in predictive mode with keyboard 
> echo set to "Characters".
>    * Added feature to the user dictionary to allow the copying of 
> dictionaries between different voices.
>    * Added "Include in Toggle Profile command" setting in General 
> Tab. When set to Off, the Mobile Speak Profile is not included when 
> toggling profile with Command + Clear. Default is On for all profiles.
>    * Touch devices: Added new commands: Command + volume up and 
> Command + volume down. These allow you to easily cycle through 
> Mobile Speak's touchmodes : Keypad, Joystick, Quadrant, Review 
> Cursor and Stylus mode.
>    * Touch: Added Configuration option in General tab called "Touch 
> mode on startup" which allows you to select the Mobile Speak touch 
> mode that will be first active when Mobile Speak is launched.
>    * Activation: issues with SMS and Internet activation that 
> existed with some operators (e.g. AT&T) have now been resolved.
>
>Don't forget that Mobile Speak 4.5 is Cross Platform! Visit 
><http://codefactory.es/en/press.asp?id=388&y=2010&n=84>http://codefactory.es/en/press.asp?id=388&y=2010&n=84 
>to read the Mobile Speak 4.5 for Windows Mobile press release.
>
>If you are a new user, download Mobile Speak 4.5 now at 
><http://codefactory.es/en/downloads.asp?id=347>http://codefactory.es/en/downloads.asp?id=347 
>and try it for 30 days for free.
>
>If you are a user of a previous version from Mobile Speak 4.0 and 
>wish to upgrade to Mobile Speak 4.5, contact your distributor to 
>purchase an upgrade license. In addition to all the improvements and 
>new features of Mobile Speak 4.0 and 4.5, if you purchase an upgrade 
>license, you will also get 
><http://codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=312>Mobile Magnifier, 
><http://codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=314>Mobile DAISY 
>Player,<http://codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=315> Color 
>Recognizer  and the Games for free! To consult the complete list of 
>Code Factory's official distributors, visit 
><http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=351>http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=351 
>
>
>To learn how to install Mobile Speak 4.5 for Symbian for the first 
>time, follow the instructions at 
><http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/family_4/ms45_userguide_symbian.html#_Toc265236570>http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/family_4/ms45_userguide_symbian.html#_Toc265236570 
>
>
>If upgrading from version 3.XX of Mobile Speak, make sure to FIRST 
>UNINSTALL all the Code Factory packages you have installed and then 
>RESTART the device. However if you already have  version 4.XX 
>installed, just stop Mobile Speak and install v4.5. None of the TTS 
>packages have changed since v4.0, so there is no need to reinstall 
>them. For more information about upgrading, follow the instructions 
>at 
><http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/family_4/ms45_userguide_symbian.html#_Toc265236574>http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/family_4/ms45_userguide_symbian.html#_Toc265236574 
>
>
>To read more about Mobile Speak 4.0 visit 
><http://codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=318>http://codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=318 
>
>
>
>About Code Factory
>
>
>
>Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Terrassa (Barcelona), Spain, 
>Code Factory is the global leader committed to the development of 
>products designed to eliminate barriers to the accessibility of 
>mobile technology for the blind and visually impaired. Today, Code 
>Factory is the leading provider of screen readers, screen 
>magnifiers, and Braille interfaces for the widest range of 
>mainstream mobile devices. Among Code Factory's customers are well 
>known organizations for the blind such as ONCE, and carriers such as 
>AT&T, Bouygues Telecom, SFR, TIM and Vodafone. Code Factory has also 
>built strong partnerships with mainstream multinational companies 
>like RIM, Nokia, Microsoft, and Hewlett Packard as well as leading 
>assistive technology companies such as HumanWare, Optelec and Sendero Group.
>
>For more information, feel free to contact Code Factory S.L.:
>
>
>Code Factory, S.L., Rambla d'Egara 148 2-2, 08221 Terrassa (Barcelona)
><http://www.codefactory.cat/helpdesk/>HelpDesk, www.codefactory.es
>Code Factory, S.L. - 2010
>

         David Andrews and long white cane Harry, dandrews at visi.com
Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920



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