[access-uk] Re: Victor Reader Stream: Response from Humanware
- From: "Jackie Brown" <jackieannbrown62@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 10:37:16 -0000
Hi Pele
Thanks very much for all the information you supplied in your Email below.
What I can't quite understand though, and forgive me if I am missing
something here, is how to update the VRS to take account of these amendments
by HumanWare if it is already up-to-date. According to our software, we
both have the latest update, so if HumanWare has made amendments, how do we
get them?
Kind regards,
Jackie Brown
Emails: thebrownsplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jackieannbrown62@xxxxxxxxx
jackie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Website: www.thebrownsplace.info
Twitter: @thebrownsplace
Skype: thejackmate
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Pele West
Sent: 17 February 2015 09:35
To: victorstreamuk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Access UK; BCAB Discussion List; Uk
Radio Listeners
Subject: [access-uk] Victor Reader Stream: Response from Humanware
Hi Everyone
Apologies for the cross-posting, but I think there has been discussion about
the problems with the new BBC MP3 Shoutcast streams on all these lists.
I wrote to Humanware yesterday to find out if they have any plans for
accessing the Audio Factory streams in the future. As you will see from the
conversation below, I am particularly concerned about the lack of sports
commentaries.
I have edited the e-mails so that they appear in the correct order. The
whole conversation took place yesterday.
I have also contacted Wireless for the Blind about the Sonata radio and
spoken to the BBC, but have had no response as yet.
Pele West
From Pele West to Humanware Technical Support
Hi
As you know, the BBC have recently changed their radio streams from WMA to
MP3. The new victor reader stream's playlist has been amended to cope with
this change. I understand from reading various blogs that this is only a
temporary measure and these Shoutcast streams will be deleted as well.
Smartphones and tablets and PCs will be able to use the Audio Factory
streams.
Unfortunately, the new streams for Radio 5 and Sports Extra do not allow the
BBC to broadcast most sports commentaries. This is rather sad as I often use
my VR stream for this purpose. I am particularly concerned that we won't be
able to hear next season's Cricket County Championship.
Last year the BBC used their Event Streams to broadcast these matches.
At that time the VR stream could not receive them, but there was an update
in September, just before the end of the season, that meant the broadcasts
were available.
Do you know if there are any plans to update the VR stream so that it can
receive the Audio Factory streams used by smartphones and tablets?
Will they be available on Ootunes?
Pele West
From TomBurton to Pele West
Hello Pele
Hope you're keeping well. Thanks for your email.
I can indeed confirm that our development team have been maintaining and
updating the HumanWare Playlist links to accommodate for the recent changes
to the BBC Radio station links. I am not sure about the Audio Factory
streams, so I will pose your question to the developers today and I'll let
you know what they say. I'll get back to you as soon as possible on this.
Kind Regards
Tom
From Tom Burton to Pele West
Hello Pele
As mentioned, I asked the developers about this and they came back to me
with an answer, see below where I have copied in the information that they
sent to me:
"BBC has indicated that those MP3 links will be available for a year or two
which satisfy us for now. (Actually this is longer than any links they have
used so far). Of course, we will be modifying the list as needed. We have
tried to find detailed technical information about AudiioFactory without
success, so it's hard to know for now how we can do something different on
the Stream. OOtunes is only a data base so it will not make any Station more
accessible (and if it does, it means they have another link which we can use
as well in our list)."
I hope this information is helpful. To summarise, I think the current BBC
playlist links will be fine for at least a year or two. Audio Factory is
something that will probably become more relevant in time.
Kind Regards
Tom
From Pele West to Tom Burton
Hi Tom
Thank you for writing.
Whilst I appreciate that the BBC MP3 streams will be around for some time,
this does not address the problem of the live sports commentaries, which are
no longer available. Will we just have to do without them?
Pele
From Tom Burton to Pele West
Hi Pele
Thanks for your email. For the moment, unfortunately, I think it will be the
case that the live sports commentaries, or any other streams that use the
new Audio Factory format / protocol, will not work on the Stream. I am sure
that once the developers are able to obtain more technical data about the
Audio Factory system, they can then look into implementing support for the
format into the Stream.
Sorry that I can't give a more positive answer at this time. This is
unfortunately one of the limitations of relying on content that is hosted
externally, as is the case with the Stream, as well as other devices. I
shall certainly let you know if I hear of any news in this area on the
Stream.
Kind Regards
Tom
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