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What's New in Mobile Speak 4

What's new in Mobile Speak 4 for Windows Mobile

LICENSING

  • Brand-new licensing system.

To read the highlights visit http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=349
To read the full information visit http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=392
To read the FAQ visit http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=350

TOUCH

  • Brand-new touch interface. To learn more, click here.

COMMANDS

  • New Command Structure. To learn all Mobile Speak commands, read the manuals at http://www.codefactory.es/en/manuals.asp?id=89#family_0
  • The Command Key (previously known as the Home Key) can now be configured.
  • Pressing Command Key twice quickly will mute speech, without saying "Command"
  • Added shortcut keys to the Windows Mobile 6.5 Start Menu. For example if you press S, when in the start menu, you will move to each of the elements of the Start Menu which begins with an S.

INTERNET EXPLORER

  • It is far easier, now, to navigate through a web page. The new Internet Explorer support allows you to:
    • Navigate through headings, links, forms, etc.
    • Search for text
    • Add bookmarks to web pages.
    • Hear the download progress when a web page is being downloaded.
  • If you have a device with a keypad you can use its keys to perform the Internet Explorer commands, if your device doesn’t have a keypad but a QWERTY keyboard then you can use some keys from the QWERTY keyboard, and if you don’t have any keys, only a touch screen you can use touch screen gestures. For example, to move to the end, or the beginning, of the page:
    • Press 0 if you have a keypad
    • Press S if you have a QWERTY keyboard
    • Tap 4 and hold if you want to use the touch screen

READING

  • Advanced Reading Layout: Added clipboard and text selection commands:
    • Command Key + Up Arrow Hold: Copy
    • Command Key + Down Arrow Hold: Paste
    • Command Key + Left Arrow Hold: Cut
    • Command Key + Right Arrow Hold: Toggle Selection Mode
  • While in selection mode, text navigation commands (such as move to next/prev word) will select or unselect text. Also, Command Key + Left Softkey will read the current selection only if selection mode is on.

TEXT EDITORS

  • Outlook: Messaging will now speak the account name when pressing the left and right arrows to move through the accounts.
  • Outlook: When entering an e-mail that is partially downloaded and you activate the "Get rest of this message" link, you no longer have to exit the message and enter it to read the new contents.
  • Outlook: While reading messages, you can press 1 (or A) in order to jump by messages using the left and right arrow keys without having to open them from the Inbox.
  • SMS: Improved support for the SMS conversation view. The virtual buffer is updated (and moves to the last message) when you receive a new SMS. If you're reading through the conversation you can press the left and right arrow to move through messages (if you're sitting on a link). *(I don't understand the reference to a link).
  • SMS: Read screen command will now speak the number of entered and remaining characters when composing a short message.
  • Added support for the XT9 input method.
  • Control + left/right on an editor will now speak the word in focus.
  • Spell check announces the misspelled word when checking a text message or word document.

SPECIFIC FEATURES FOR BUILT-IN Applications

  • Tasks Application: It is now possible to press enter on an item in the Task List in order to open it. Pressing space will check/uncheck it.
  • Dialing application: It is now possible to use the arrow keys in the dialing application in order to reach and type numbers.
  • Dialing application: Added an option in Control Panel > Phone to turn off manufacturer customizations in order to make the phone's dial pad more accessible.
  • Call log: When reviewing calls in the call log, Mobile Speak will indicate the type of phone number of the call ("w" for work, "h" for home, etc.) and the date and time of the call. If the call was done / received today it will only speak the time.
  • Contact: Mobile Speak will now say the phone number type ("m" for mobile, "w" for work, etc.) when moving through the contacts list if a contact has more than one phone number type. Pressing the left and right arrow keys will move through the different numbers available for this contact. Note that this feature is only available in Windows Mobile 6.1 and above.
  • Added tutor messages to Appointments, Tasks, and Contact edit forms.

TODAY SCREEN

  • The Today Screen, also referred to as Home Screen, is displayed when the device starts. Mobile Speak 4 incorporates a brand new Today Screen plug-in which will allow you to access in a single place the most important information on your device such as the battery status, missed calls, new messages and recent applications.
  • Navigation through the Mobile Speak Today Screen is easy: press the up and down arrows to navigate through the various items and left and right arrows to move through the pages in the selected item.

SPEECH

  • If you are a user of Acapela voices or Loquendo voices, you can now use 3 Acapela voices or 3 Loquendo voices for the price of 1. Further, no matter which voices you choose to install first, you are not tied to them. As long as you don’t use more than 3 choices at the same time, you can switch voices as many times as you want. However remember that this feature is tied to the Text-To-Speech provider, so you will have to choose if you prefer to have 3 voices from Acapela or from Loquendo because you will not be able to mix voices from both providers without a license for each provider.
  • Fonix will now speak faster at higher speeds.
  • Adjusted volume of Acapela voices, since they were always too loud even at their lowest volume levels.

CONTROL PANEL

  • You can now set a Mobile Speak profile to be automatically activated on a per-application basis.
  • You can now add and delete new Mobile Speak profiles.
  • Mobile Speak 4 incorporates an easy-to-use and intuitive Control Panel to configure the screen reader and magnification settings. You can enter the Control Panel by:
    • Pressing Command Key + Right Soft Key.
    • Executing the Settings + Double Tap 3 from your Touch screen.
    • Pressing on the "Configure Mobile Speak" page in the Home Screen.
    • Opening the "Mobile Speak" option found in the Code Factory folder located in the phone's Start Menu.
  • The Control Panel has been reorganized into pages that group the major areas of configuration. One can use the left and right arrows to move through pages and up and down arrows to navigate through the items in one page. Enter activates a configuration option, which will open a screen with the various settings to configure.
  •  Beep sounds are now present when MS4 goes back to the Default command configuration. To have this working make sure that you check the "Events (warnings, system events)" option under Settings > Personal > Sounds & Notifications.

 EVEN MORE NEW FEATURES

  • Privacy Mode: Mobile Speak 4 incorporates a new feature called Privacy Mode. When activated, this mode completely blacks out the screen, turns off the device backlight and even reduces the phone's volume. This mode has various configuration settings which can be changed from the Control Panel. In order to enter or leave Privacy Mode press Command Key + the key used to disconnect a phone call, or, from a touch screen, Long Tap 3.
  • New speech rewind/fast-forward feature.
  • Screen lock feature.

BRAILLE

  • Braille tables updated: U.S. and U.K. g1/g2; German g0,g1,g2; Czech g1; Spanish g1; and Welsh g1,g2.
  • Braille tables added: Nemeth Table and UK Maths Table for mathematics; Unified English Braille g1,g2; Danish g1; and Swiss German g0,g1,g2.
  • During g1/g2 entry, translation screen now shows the text of the current word, if the word has focus. This option will not work if Uncontract Word Under Cursor is unchecked.
  • Baum commands are all now with space it does not matter whether single or double.

INSTALLATION

 SUPPORT FOR NEW DEVICES

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Mobile Speak Smartphone and Mobile Speak Pocket have been merged into a single product: Mobile Speak 4 for Windows Mobile.
  • When speech is muted a tutor message has been added to indicate how to unmute.
  • If the activation process fails due to the date and time on the device being incorrectly set, Mobile Speak will report this, giving the user the choice of changing the date and time.

What's new in Mobile Speak 4 for Symbian

V4.01

  • Newly supported devices: Nokia 6700 Slide, Nokia X6.
  • Licensing: Fixed problem that could cause a valid license to expire after 10 minutes if the user had never manually entered Configure Mobile Speak and specified the voice.
  • Licensing: Fixed problem with generation of Serial Number (SN). Note that your phone’s SN will change after installing this version. If you have a device-based license, please contact your distributor with your old and new serial numbers so that the new version can be activated correctly. If you have a phone-number based license or are using a trial, then no action is necessary.
  • Touch phones: Added support for Web browser. On phones without keyboard, web shortcuts can be performed using the virtual keyboard.
  • Touch phones: Fixed problem where body of incoming SMS messages was sometimes not able to be spoken.
  • Touch phones: Fixed problem which could cause the touch screen to be disabled when Power Saving was active.
  • Touch phones: Fixed problem where the language of the virtual keyboard was not saved.
  • User dictionary: Fixed stability problem when old v3.xx user dictionary is present on the phone. Old user dictionaries are now renamed as userdict_old.dat.
  • User dictionary: Fixed stability problem when adding new words.
  • Fixed problem in v4.0 with web browser in 9.1 and 9.2 phones, where web address was not spoken as it was being entered.
  • Fixed problem in v4.0 where localization was not done correctly in some phones with Latin American Spanish firmware.
  • Updated translations for several languages.

In addition, we have also released a new version of Mobile Daisy Player (v4.0.11). This version fixes several stability issues and problems with loading books that occurred in the last public release. It is recommended to uninstall any previous version of Mobile Daisy Player before upgrading to this version. The direct link to this new version of Mobile Daisy Player is here:
http://www.codefactorydownload.com/family_8/product_21/version_97/MobileDaisyPlayer_S60_v4.0.11.sis

Installation instructions for Mobile Speak v4.01:

If you already have Mobile Speak v4.0 installed on your phone, then you should stop Mobile Speak and then install this version. None of the TTS packages have changed in this version, so there's no need to update TTS packages if you already have are using the TTS packages from v4.0. The direct link to this new version of Mobile Speak for Symbian is http://www.codefactorydownload.com/family_4/product_18/version_91/MobileSpeak_S60_v4.01.sisx

However, if you are upgrading from v3.xx of Mobile Speak, make sure to FIRST UNINSTALL all the Code Factory packages you have installed and then RESTART the device. For more information, follow the instructions at http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/family_4/MS4_Manual_Symbian.html#_Toc252274144

To read the full instructions to upgrade to Mobile Speak 4 from a previous version of Mobile Speak, visit http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/family_4/MS4_Manual_Symbian.html#_Toc252274147

To learn how to install Mobile Speak 4 for the first time, follow the instructions at http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/family_4/MS4_Manual_Symbian.html#_Toc252274141

V4.0

LICENSING

  • Brand-new licensing system.

To read the highlights visit http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=349
To read the full information visit http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=392
To read the FAQ visit http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=350

TOUCH

  • Brand-new touch interface. To learn more, click here.

COMMANDS

  • The Mobile Speak Function key, which in older versions was called the Edit key, is now called the Command key.
  • The Command Structure has been redesigned. For example we added 3 layouts (Default, Reading and Magnification) to increase the number of commands available. There are also now some commands which can be activated by long presses. Layouts can easily be switched by entering Command + 5. To learn more read the manual at http://www.codefactory.es/descargas/family_4/ms4_userguide_symbian.html
  • Feature to toggle layouts in an intelligent way, so that unused layouts are not entered. It works like this: if Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier are active, allow all three layouts. If only Mobile Speak is active: allow default and reading layouts. If only Mobile Magnifier is active: allow magnification layout. If neither Mobile Speak nor Mobile Magnifier are active: allow default and reading layouts (Braille users may want this). 
  • Spelling last item with Command + 8 now uses phonetic spelling when it is selected.
  • Toggle User Dictionary (Command + 4) shortcut is now available. The setting is reflected in the new "User dictionary" setting in the Reading tab in Configure Mobile Speak.
  • When moving to start or end of text with Command + Long 2/8, some informational text ("Start/End of text") is first spoken, followed by the current line. 
  • Mobile Speak Command shortcuts can be performed now if phone if off and battery is charging (e.g. check battery, check time, launch Configure Mobile Speak and even change the autostart Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier options).
  • In Keyboard Help mode: it will now say "Command not used" if an unused command is tried.
  • In Keyboard Help mode: many additional keys are now spoken, including QWERTY keys.
  • When doing a command shortcut that is not valid, the keypress is consumed and command mode is exited. 
  • All long press commands can be repeated a second (and subsequent) time by doing a short press of the key. 
  • On keys where it doesn’t make sense to press multiple times, the command key timeout will not be reset after performing the command. 
  • Added user-selectable Command Key timeout option (in Configure Mobile Speak > Options > Command Key > Command Key Timeout). This controls the time that the user has available to press a command after pressing the Command key, before the Command Key mode times out. Choices are: 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 6 and 10 seconds (default is 3 seconds).

SPEECH

  • Updated for v7.601 of Acapela (which includes: updates and specific improvements for most HQ voices; 22kHz voices; improved responsiveness; improved performance as high speeds).
  • Updated to version 9.5 of Galop TTS.
  • Latest version of Loquendo TTS.
  • Fixed problem with Acepela voices at speeds less than 0, where the speed of the voice was not working correctly.
  • Increased maximum speed of Acapela voices.

MORE NEW FEATURES

  • Words are added to user dictionary as soon as they are added in UI now, so no need to restart TTS when adding a new word.
  • Phonetic spelling: characters from specific languages (e.g. Scandinavian vowels) are now sent to be spoken by TTS instead of being folded to their basic character.
  • Web browser now working in new phones like N86, E52.
  • Fixed problem where it was not possible to enter alphabetic characters in the address book when adding a contact directly by dialing a number from the standby screen.
  • Feature to stop Mobile Speak while speaking
  • Modified number processing so that numbers with spaces like "503 627 2032" can be spoken as digits by all TTS
  • Added a new 'Power saving' option. If enabled, backlight is always disabled, improving battery life up to 20%.
  • Added option to speak "Marked" before speaking the item's text (instead of after) for marked items in lists and grids (default is On).
  • Speaks battery level while battery is charging now (in 9.3 and later phones).

CONTROL PANEL

  • Settings have been reorganized into 6 new tabs: Speech, Reading, General, Verbosity, Braille and Magnification if available.
  • Added "Spelling speed" setting in the Speech tab in Configure Mobile Speak . This speed is applied when spelling a word with the spelling commands, e.g. Command + 8. 
  • Added "Reduce Minimum Volume" and "Increase Maximum Volume" settings in the Speech tab in Configure Mobile Speak . Setting "Reduce Minimum Volume" to values lower than 100% will reduce the volume at low volume levels (1-3). Setting "Increase Maximum Volume" to values higher than 100% will increase the volume at high volume levels (8-10). Note that this feature does not have any effect when using Loquendo or Nokia TTS.
  • Added "Minimum number-processing digits" setting in the Reading tab in Configure Mobile Speak. This reflects the minimum number of digits that a number must have before the current Number Processing option is applied. This value had been fixed to 5 in v3.82 and earlier of Mobile Speak. Users can now specify their desired level. 
  • The voice "None" can now be selected in Configure Mobile Speak (it is always the last option in the list). This is useful for deaf-blind users or Magnifier users who never want to have speech active. Also useful if you would like to avoid speech output in a particular application, since you can now define an application-specific profile and set the voice to None in that profile.
  • Profile support has been expanded in Mobile Speak 4. You can now add or delete as many Mobile Speak profiles as you wish, allowing you to create specific profiles for any situation. You can even assign a given profile to automatically open whenever you enter a specific application. For example, you may want your text messages to be read in a natural-sounding voice at a slightly slower speed, but use a faster voice setting for normal menu navigation. You can add or delete profiles via the Configure Mobile Speak application’s Options menu. The only restriction is that you cannot delete the active profile at any given time. The Mobile Speak profile contents have also been reorganized to be easier to understand. For example, verbosity options are now configured directly as part of the profile, rather than as a separate “verbosity level”.
  • Added option in Verbosity tab to allow user to choose whether to speak "marked" at start or end of any marked list or grid items (default is the start).
  • Added option to magnify at 1x. This is useful for Mobile Magnifier users who don't want to magnify in a particular application. They can now do so using app-specific profiles.

SUPPORT FOR THIRD-PARTY APPS

  • Added support for Quickword: 6.0.270.
  • Added support for Fring, even when writing and receiving IM messages.
  • Added support for Backup and Restore in Mobile Speak. 
  • Added support for Vocale Presse.

BRAILLE

  • Added new Braille tables for German, Swiss German, Danish and Unified English.
  • Updated Braille tables for many other languages.
  • Added Lithuanian Computer6 and Computer8 Braille table
  • Fixed problem where it was not possible to read past the first page in long SMS messages (and other editors).
  • Braille status is not spoken anymore when Mobile Speak is muted.
  • Fixed problem where a Braille typed character could be written several times on certain editors.
  • When fully stopping Mobile Speak, if a Braille connection was already established, it now closes correctly. Additionally, if 'Auto turn off Bluetooth' option is enabled, Bluetooth is also disabled.
  • Fixed a rare problem with Braille not reconnecting at startup regardless the "Reconnect at startup' setting.

SUPPORT FOR NEW DEVICES   

Touch Devices:
  • 5230
  • 5530
  • 5800 
  • N97 
  • N97 Mini

Note that Mobile Magnifier is not yet supported on Touch devices. Note also that Mobile Speak doesn't support yet the web browser on the Nokia Touch devices.

Non-touch Devices:
  • 5730
  • 6710 Navigator
  • 6720 
  • 6730 
  • 6790  
  • E52 
  • E72 
  • N86

Note that Mobile Magnifier is not yet supported on the 5730 and N86 devices, and that the built-in email application is not yet accessible on the 6710, 6730, E52, E72 and N86 (you can use the third party Emoze application as an accessible email alternative).

Other new devices may also work well with Mobile Speak. However, they have not yet been fully tested so they have not yet been added to the supported devices list.

MISCENALLEOUS

  • Installing all products to "Code Factory" folder now.