[nabs-l] Mobile Speak and Windows Phone 7
Code Factory News (no reply)
enews at codefactory.info
Thu Sep 2 02:18:26 UTC 2010
Logo Code Factory
Caroline Ragot - Marketing Director
<mailto:marketing at codefactory.es>marketing at codefactory.es
Windows Phone 7
Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile, 5 years of successes and challenges
Code Factory products will not be compatible with
the initial versions of Windows Phone 7
Terrassa (Barcelona), Spain, September, 1st, 2010
Code Factory has always shown a great commitment
to keep up-to-date with the latest mobile phone
technology. Back in 2005, Code Factory launched
Mobile Speak Pocket. Many of our users were
asking us to make Windows Mobile Pocket PCs
accessible, because at the time they were the
only professional-oriented mobile devices,
explained Eduard Sánchez, Code Factorys CEO.
One of our top priorities has always been to
allow our professional blind and visually
impaired users to be as efficient and productive
as their sighted peers. Therefore, based on the
experience of Mobile Speak for Symbian phones
released two years earlier, we put together all
our passion, knowledge and effort and developed
Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile.
In five years, Code Factory took up many
challenges with the Windows Mobile platform,
including support for the first touchscreen
devices; support for hundreds of devices from
more than fifteen different manufacturers such as
HTC, HP, Motorola, and Samsung; support for
customized firmware from carriers from all over
the world; and support for five new operating
system (OS) versions, from Windows Mobile 2003 SE to Windows Mobile 6.5.
Microsoft has announced the upcoming release of
Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 is not an
upgraded version of Windows Mobile 6.5. It is a
brand-new OS, which means that applications built
for Windows Mobile 6.x or earlier will not run on Windows Phone 7.
As a software developer, Code Factory is facing
the same issues as mainstream companies such as
Mozilla, Adobe or Skype. Windows Phone 7 doesn't
support native code development, which means that
it is technically impossible to develop a screen
reader application without the direct help of
Microsoft, the OS maker, explained Eduard
Sánchez. Therefore Mobile Speak, Mobile Geo, and
Mobile Magnifier will not run on the initial version of Windows Phone 7.
However, Mobile Speak, Mobile Magnifier and
Mobile Geo will of course keep running on
supported Windows Mobile devices. Also, the
Windows Mobile 6.5 devices won't disappear from
the market all at once, and Code Factorys
customers should still be able to acquire them
for a reasonable period of time after the release of Windows Phone 7.
We have been talking with Microsoft for the last
few months to try to remedy the situation and
come up with an accessible solution for Windows
Phone 7 as soon as possible. In fact, we waited
until now to make this announcement because we
were hoping that together with Microsoft we could
find a solution before the release of the first
Windows Phone 7 devices, but unfortunately this
will not be the case added Eduard Sánchez.
Microsoft has always been willing to put
accessibility on its road map, however it hasn't
been possible for the first release of Windows
Phone 7. We at Code Factory are at their entire
disposal to provide our assistance and expertise.
Greg Sullivan, Senior Product Manager at
Microsoft Mobile Communications Business Group
said, "We understand that the initial Windows
Phone 7 release doesn't live up to some
expectations in specific scenarios but as we work
on future versions of the technology we hope to
learn from the Accessibility Community about what
scenarios and features will allow Windows Phone to appeal to more users."
Eduard Sánchez concluded, Developing Mobile
Speak for Windows Mobile has taught us a lot and
we are proud of our development team for those
five years of hard work. We are very excited with
the future of mobile phones and all the new
platforms which are coming out. We hope that soon
we will be able to add Windows Phone 7 to the
list of our successful challenges.
For more information about Microsoft
Accessibility, visit
<http://www.microsoft.com/enable/>http://www.microsoft.com/enable/
For more information about Code Factorys
accessible solutions, visit
<http://www.codefactory.es>http://www.codefactory.es
or submit a ticket through Code Factorys Help
Desk at
<http://www.codefactory.cat/helpdesk/>http://www.codefactory.cat/helpdesk/
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.
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
More information about the NABS-L
mailing list