I heard a demonstration of one of the Ivona voices when Mr. Corona was interviewed by one of the gentlemen from BlindBargains.com at the CSun convention. The particular voice that was sampled sounded like one of the voices in my Victor Reader Stream, which actually doesn't sound so human. I don't mean to be rude or disrespectful, and I do understand the reason that LevelStar and APH can no longer use the Eloquence speech engine, but if the voices of Ivona are like the ones I have on my reader stream, then I would respectfully observe that the voice quality may not necessarily be less mechanical. This doesn't diminish the improvements that Orion would bring to the PDA market, like the ability to use it in conjunction with regular Android aps, not to mention the ability to use it without having to go through stressful and time consuming processes of learning to work with touch screens. But if we want an accessible PDA to be more or less cost effective, we might have to wait on those more human sounding speech engines.
Marta Marta Marta----- Original Message ----- From: "Levelstar Support" <support@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 2:01 PM Subject: [icon-discuss] Re: New product management
Means the Orion voice will sound almost like a human, not like a robot. Guido D. Corona Levelstar LLC. 685 S. Arthur Ave. Unit 1A Louisville, Colorado 80027 Email: support@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Phone: (800) 315-2305, x.1 -----Original Message----- From: icon-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:icon-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of david Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 12:52 PM To: brandonboy13@xxxxxxxxxxx; happytrails@xxxxxxxxxxxx; icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [icon-discuss] Re: New product management what do you mean it will not have A mecanical voyce so are people going to use it then On Tue, 24 May 2011 08:12:32 -0700, Brandon Keith (Biggs) wrote:Yep, so the new device will be coming out end of July beginning of August and the price should be below $3100, probably somewhere between 1400 and 3000. And this new product is expected to "take the blind world by storm!" :D It will have an Android platform, which means any programmer who works for Google could essentially write Aps for the Orion, although I think Androidis a pretty simple language compared to Python, so more people will be ableto program aps for it. It should be about as long as 1.5 Braille+es and thinner. And it will have all the capabilities of the Braille plus, plus some! The only things a switch-over user will have to deal with is not having a mechanical voice on the Orion and the long size. (And based on its name it will be red!)These are conclusions based off of Levelstar's tendencies and info that hasalready been given on the Orion. Thank you, Brandon Keith Biggs Check out MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/brandonkeithbiggs Also add me on facebook! brandonkeith http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=675097942 And for my resume go to: http://www.sfcasting.com/brandonkeith -------------------------------------------------- From: "Snow Bunny" <happytrails@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 7:56 AM To: <icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [icon-discuss] New product managementHi, this is to address listers' complaints regarding Levelstar's policy ofnot sharing features and price points prior to Orion's release. This isto be expected! Mainstream companies do the same. Also, as Guido stated,a 5 year lifespan is almost unheard of these days for computer tech, hardware and software. Think how different Windows 7 is from XP and I have already heard general rumblings about Windows 8. I suggest that we use our energy constructively on this list, anticipating and excitedly awaiting Orion. Beth -- Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network. Visit www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere. If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to LevelStar or APH then consider sending your message to icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Icon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discuss To unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to: icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx For answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +, Visit the LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page at http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.htmlIf you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original senderonly.If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is relatedtoLevelStar or APH then consider sending your message to icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Icon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discuss To unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to: icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxFor answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +,Visit the LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page at http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.htmlIf you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to LevelStar or APH then consider sending your message to icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxIcon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discussTo unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to:icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxFor answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +, Visitthe LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page athttp://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html
If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to LevelStar or APH then consider sending your message to icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Icon Discuss Mailing List icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx //www.freelists.org/list/icon-discuss To unsubscribe from the list send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject line to: icon-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To post to this list, send your message to: icon-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx For answers to the most frequently asked questions about Icon and Braille +, Visit the LevelStar and APH FAQ pages: Visit the LevelStar FAQ page at http://www.levelstar.com/support-faqs.php Visit the APH FAQ page at http://sun1.aph.org/webcast/brailleplus2/faq.html