[access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release 30 January 2009

Hi Chris,

If SpeakOn was a product that everyone could use, I would definately take a 
look at it and consider using it.

-----Original Message-----
Sent by Chris Hallsworth on Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 07:56 PM

Well that would be great. If a version of SpeakOn can be produced for the 
general public then people like James and myself may use it more often. I'll 
certainly keep it on my system though.

--
Chris Hallsworth
e-mail: christopherhallsworth71@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MSN: ch9675@xxxxxxxxxxx
Skype: chrishallsworth7266
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Isaac Porat" <isaac@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2009 7:52 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release 30 
January 2009


> These are relevant points Chris.
> Interestingly, a large media provider approached me recently asking if I
> could make a cutdown version of SpeakOn for the general public.  What they
> are saying is that many people are in situations that they don't want or 
> can
> not have a screen in front of them.

> So a concept of a product for the blind may go the other way; to the main
> stream.

> Regards
> Isaac

> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf 
> Of
> Chris Hallsworth
> Sent: 31 January 2009 19:31
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release 30
> January 2009

> I think what James is basically saying, and in no way am I bashing Isaac 
> for
> his hard work and extensive training he did with me last year on how to 
> use
> SpeakOn, however I'll say this anyway. I think it boils down to the fact
> that we'd rather use products that the sighted can equally use. Foobar2000
> is one of them, Winamp is another, etc. SpeakOn, no way can a sighted 
> person
> use it because there's no visual layout for them to use and therefore they
> won't be able to click on anything but the title. What I will say Isaac is
> thanks for a good release, it seems to work better on my system than
> previous releases, and please keep up the good works.

> --
> Chris Hallsworth
> e-mail: christopherhallsworth71@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> MSN: ch9675@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Skype: chrishallsworth7266
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Isaac Porat" <isaac@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2009 7:24 PM
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release 30
> January 2009


>> Hello James

>> You may like to have a go at actually using SpeakOn - a lot has
>> changed since the early days. This version is a big step in usability
>> compared to early versions and one own music is for the first time 
>> handled
> properly.
>> Foobar2000 has some overlap with what SpeakOn can do - namely music
>> but there is a lot which is not overlapping at all.
>> It will probably take you a good week going through the manual to take
>> a full advantage of what SpeakOn can offer.

>> There are people using it for everything other are using it for some
>> types of media, it is modular; you can choose what you want to use
>> (and not at all if you wish).

>> Regards
>> Isaac
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
>> Behalf Of James Scholes
>> Sent: 31 January 2009 15:09
>> To: Isaac Porat
>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release
>> 30 January 2009

>> Hi Isaac,

>> This will be my last message on this subject, however I will say that
>> most of the features I would use in SpeakOn I already have in
>> Foobar2000. Again this is just my personal opinion, and I'm definately
>> not saying that Foobar can do as much as SpeakOn. But I'm saying for
>> me, Foobar2000 will always be much better than SpeakOn.

>> -----Original Message-----
>> Sent by Isaac Porat on Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 09:50 AM

>> I will not repeat the points in Steve's reply.
>> Netbooks are great (I use one myself) they are cheap because a lot of
>> shortcuts have been taken in their design.  Granted, they are probably
>> as powerful as a top laptop of five years ago  but software is now a
>> lot heavier as well.
>> It is not only about disk space; it is cheap it is a lot about other
>> resources as well.

>> So the SpeakOn installer is 3.7Mb expanded to 10 Mb iTunes is about 57
>> Mb expanded to over 200 Mb.  Can SpeakOn do everything that iTunes can
>> do? Of course not for a start it does not handle video and does not
>> rip or burn CDs. It has no store either.  However it can do many other
>> things that other players can not do for example handle Daisy and
>> eText publications Last.FM music www.last.fm which is the biggest
>> jukebox in the world and its radio facility uses the Radio Time
>> database which is one of the finest there is www.radiotime.com Also
>> efficient skipping, Remembering where you left off and bookmarking is
>> built in.

>> So not everything for everybody but plenty for some.

>> Regards
>> Isaac

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
>> Behalf Of Steve Dryden
>> Sent: 30 January 2009 21:52
>> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release
>> 30 January 2009

>> Um... I think not...  have you seen a netbook with 4 or 8 GB RAM, Dual
>> cor or quad core processor with a dedicated audio and graphics card
>> along with shall we say, a 320 or 500 GB hard drive.  I think possibly
>> not the top end laptops which nowadays are quite comparrible with
>> their desktop counterparts.  Low end and even, the odd middle range
>> laptop maybe.

>> I think the comment was quite logical really.  If you do a lot of
>> searching and checking out yes, you can get some very good netbooks
>> but remember, they are designed to be portable and reliable, they are
>> not designed to be replacements for a high performance laptop.

>> Some of the netbooks with low capacity drives are actually solid state
>> drives and therefore will be extremely fast as access time is reduced.

>> Steve

>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "James Scholes" <james@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: "Isaac Porat" <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 6:27 PM
>> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release
>> 30 January 2009


>>> Hi,

>>> I wonder why you wrote the following:
>>> "making it ideal for use with netbooks"
>>> Netbooks these days are as powerful as low and middle end laptops, or
>>> even high-end laptops if you upgrade some components like the RAM.
>>> People still seem to be stuck in 2008 when netbooks had 256 MB of RAM
>>> and a 4 GB hard drive.

>>> Also, a note about SpeakOn, let me know if anyone uses it
>>> successfully, its always been painfully slow for me and pretty much
>>> useless compared to Winamp, Foobar2000, or especially Klango.

>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> Sent by Isaac Porat on Friday, January 30, 2009 at 05:23 AM

>>> Hello All,

>>> A new features release of SpeakOn 2.1, 30 January 2009 is now available.

>>> In this version, the user interface has been simplified and improved.
>>> New features have been added for playing your music.  You can now
>>> quickly and easily play folders, combine a number of folders and
>>> individual files for immediate play in your own playlists which can
>>> be easily edited.  The media library is now expandable and podcast
>>> support has been improved.

>>> For those who are new to SpeakOn, it is a self-voicing software
>>> environment for finding, retrieving and playing audio and text media.
>>> All media local to your computer or remote on the internet is
>>> presented in the same simple tree-like structure.  You can navigate
>>> to the media you want, select it and it is automatically downloaded
>>> or streamed and played in the same SpeakOn player which handles both
>>> audio and text.  Common audio formats are supported including MP3,
>>> WMA and Real.  You can either operate SpeakOn using a standard
>>> keyboard or an external low cost numerical keypad using one hand from
>>> the comfort of your armchair.  SpeakOn has a low footprint (the
>>> installer is only
>>> 3.7 Mb) making it ideal for use with Netbooks.

>>> SpeakOn is available free from:
>>> www.a-technic.net/speakon.htm

>>> This page contains information about SpeakOn, links to the download
>>> page, manual and mailing list.

>>> In the simplified user interface both Player and Library controls
>>> have been combined in one task.  User interaction involves mainly
>>> operating these two controls with a minimum number of keys, tabbing
>>> between these control as necessary.  All operations are also
>>> available from the menu - useful for newbies.  The function keys are
>>> used to adjust audio and speech as well as getting context sensitive
>>> (new) media information and help.

>>> For an overview and comparison between Windows and the SpeakOn user
>>> interface see:
>>> http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-r-0101.htm

>>> The 'What's new' page is at:
>>> http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-r-0079.htm

>>> Instructions for upgrading from an older version are at:
>>> http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-r-0103.htm

>>> The download page for new users is at:
>>> http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-r-0016.htm

>>> If you experience slow download, this is probably because of demand
>>> for this new version so you may like to try again in a day or so.

>>> The manual is at:
>>> http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn.htm

>>> The new context media information keys are explained here:
>>> http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-s-0009.htm

>>> The new music features are explained here:
>>> http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-s-0012.htm

>>> Improvements in podcast support are explained here:
>>> http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-s-0013.htm

>>> Enjoy - and if you like SpeakOn, please forward this announcement to
>>> any mailing lists, blogs or bulletin boards you feel are relevant.

>>> Regards,
>>> Isaac

>>> Isaac Porat
>>> SpeakOn's author
>>> email: speakon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Website: http://www.a-technic.net/speakon.htm

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>> Message sent at 03:07:31 PM GMT on Saturday, January 31, 2009

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