(30/05/2007) Providing the Most Comprehensive Access to Windows Mobile 6

Release of Version 1.10 of Mobile Speak for Pocket PCs and Version 1.3 of Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile Smartphones.

Terrassa, Barcelona, May 30th, 2007

Code Factory partners with Microsoft to make Windows Mobile 6 Pocket PCs and Smartphones accessible through world-class screen readers that support more than a hundred mainstream mobile devices, more than twenty different languages with text-to-speech technology from leading providers, and more than fifteen Braille input and output devices. With the most comprehensive support for the Windows Mobile operating system, Code Factory remains the unchallenged leader in mobile accessibility.

“We have always been committed to innovation that benefits the blind and visually impaired because we believe the accessibility we provide through our products should not be limited in any sense,” explains Eduard Sánchez Palazón, Code Factory CEO. “So with each new version of our screen readers, our customers have access to more devices and applications than ever before, especially now that we fully support Windows Mobile 6.”

Indeed, Mobile Speak for Pocket PCs is the only screen reader that gives full access to a Pocket PC phone or PDA, including the use of the touch screen to easily perform the most important functions. It also comes with a plug-in for the only screen magnifier available for the Windows Mobile Pocket PC platform that can be used with or without speech. Similarly, Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile Smartphones is not only the first ever screen reader for Windows Mobile Standard devices available since September 2006, but is also respected for having an intuitive user interface and being more than just software that reads the contents of the screen.

“Windows Mobile 6 is the newest version of our mobile software platform designed to meet the needs of work and life while on the go,” says Dan Hubbell, Technical Evangelist from Microsoft’s Accessible Technology Group, “And we are very pleased that the blind and visually impaired are able to access the latest cutting-edge Windows Mobile-powered devices through Code Factory’s line of products.”

Users who helped with the rigorous testing of these product releases agree, saying that it is “refreshing to work with a company that understands the importance of being responsive to its users, and chooses to invest its time and resources in innovation and producing quality products.”

Version 1.10 of Mobile Speak for Pocket PCs and Version 1.3 of Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile Smartphones provide, among many other new and exciting features:

• Support for Windows Mobile 6 Office Mobile (Word, Excel and Power Point). Take advantage of the time while you are traveling to work and review your PowerPoint presentation, write a report in Word, or analyze data on an Excel spreadsheet. Note that PowerPoint support is also available for Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PCs.
• Support for Windows Mobile 6 Live Messenger. Easily communicate with your colleagues and friends by chatting with them wherever you are. Mobile Speak reads the name and status of a contact, the input and conversation fields of the chat window, and even speaks graphical emoticons.
• Bookmarking commands in Windows Media Player. Now you can bookmark places in a media file you are listening to, so that you can easily browse this file later by jumping to marked positions.
• Support for the SlovoEd Explanatory and Multilingual Dictionaries. Enjoy the convenience of having an electronic pocket dictionary with you when traveling or taking classes in foreign languages.
• Four New Games primarily to promote Braille literacy: Braille Brain, Cryptic Crazy, Touch Type and Word Wizard. These games can be played even by speech-only users.
• New user-configurable speech options. Change the verbosity level while typing in password edit fields or dialing numbers, and toggle an auto-mute feature when locking the Smartphone keypad.
• Speech Emulation mode for Braille output. Read in Braille exactly everything that is provided through speech feedback. This is in addition to the default Braille format mode, allowing people who are deafblind to know how contents of an application screen are rendered in speech.
• Support for new devices such as the HTC S710/Vox, HTC X7500/Athena/Advantage, and the AT&T Palm Treo 750, extra applications available only on the Samsung SGH-i600 and AT&T Blackjack, and new ROMs including AKU 3.5 for Windows Mobile 5 as well as WM6 ROM upgrades for the HTC Wizard, HTC Tornado, HTC S620, T-Mobile Dash, and more.
• Support for new Braille input/output devices from Eurobraille including the ESYS12, ESYS40, and IRIS models.
  

To read the complete list of new features and enhancements in Mobile Speak for Pocket PCs, go to: http://www.codefactory.es/en/manuals.asp?id=197.

To read all the new and exciting things available in Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile Smartphones, go to: http://www.codefactory.es/en/manuals.asp?id=192 .

The new versions of these powerful screen readers are available free of charge to current users. If you are new to the world of Windows Mobile-based devices, you are invited to use the software for free on the Pocket PC or Smartphone of your choice for 30 days.

Please download Mobile Speak for Pocket PCs from http://www.codefactory.es/en/downloads.asp?id=108 , or Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile Smartphones from http://www.codefactory.es/en/downloads.asp?id=111

About Mobile Speak for the Windows Mobile Operating System

Mobile Speak for Pocket PCs and Mobile Speak for Windows Mobile Smartphones are full-fledged screen readers that enable you to:

• Access Windows Mobile-powered devices from hardware manufacturers such as High Tech Computer (HTC), Hewlett-Packard (HP), Motorola, Samsung, Palm, Asus, Qtek, Dopod, O2, i-Mate, Dell, Fujitsu, Siemens, Audiovox, UTStarcom, E-TEN, Pantec and MIO Technology, as well as phone carriers including AT&T/Cingular Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Alltel, Rogers Wireless, Bell, Orange, Vodafone, and many more.
• Make and receive calls; write and read SMS and e-mail; manage your appointments, tasks, contacts and call lists; handle Word, Excel and PowerPoint files; browse the internet and computer networks; create text and voice notes; play media files; perform arithmetic calculations; communicate through instant messaging; connect to mobile device accessories like headsets and external keyboards; and share data with PCs, PDAs and phones, among others.
• Use third-party applications such as Microsoft Voice Command, AvantGo, Skype, Audible Player and Audible Air, Pocket XPDF, Resco File Explorer and Registry Editor, Sprite Backup Utility, and SlovoEd Multilingual Dictionaries, just to name a few that are made accessible through the LUA scripting language.
• Use a mobile device with clear, high-quality text-to-speech voices supporting several languages including US and UK English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish, Polish, Czech, Russian and Greek.
• Enlarge and enhance the visibility of screen text and icons with a Magnifier plug-in that features 1.25x to 16x zoom levels, font smoothing, cursor tracking, several color schemes, and more.
• Control your mobile phone or PDA with a Braille input/output device from Optelec, BAUM, Handy Tech, HumanWare, Eurobraille, and ONCE.
  

To check out the more than 90 Pocket PC devices currently supported, go to http://www.codefactory.es/en/phones.asp?id=100. For a list of more than 40 compatible Windows Mobile Smartphones, visit http://www.codefactory.es/en/phones.asp?id=38.

To view the list of distributors and resellers, check out http://www.codefactory.es/en/purchase.asp?id=109 if you are interested in a Pocket PC, or http://www.codefactory.es/en/purchase.asp?id=112 if you want an accessible Windows Mobile Smartphone.

About Code Factory

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Terrassa/Barcelona, Spain, Code Factory is a software company committed to the development of products designed to break down 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 including Symbian-based and Windows Mobile-powered SmartPhones as well as Pocket PC phones and PDAs, and it is the only one to support phones working on the GSM, CDMA and WCDMA networks. Code Factory's success lies in giving excellent customer support and to respond immediately to the needs of the end users. Among our customers are well-known companies and organizations like ONCE, and carriers such as TMN, Vodafone, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and many more. Good partners help us to provide excellent text-to-speech technology for our products and to incorporate support for braille devices into our software.