This is a very relevant topic for everyone.
The writing aspect of the iPhone is its weakest link. Every piece of
technology has its trade offs and this is the issue with the iPhone.
Like all trade offs, there are some work arounds. You will get better
at
writing with practice, not without some frustration. How good you get
really depends. Some people are quite fast with the touch screen
keyboard.
Others hate it. I personally fall somewhere in between. I am still
way
faster texting on a keypad on the N86 than I am writing a text
message
on
the iPhone. Forget about writing any long emails.
You can also acquire an external wireless keyboard to use for
writing.
You
can also interface with the Apex and other Braille devices. I find
this
the most exciting combination. It is very cool to be able to read
everything that the iPhone speaks on the Apex Braille display and
then
to
be able to respond to emails using the Apex keyboard.
I consider the iPhone my media center and my N86 my phone for calls
and
text messages. It is kind of expensive to have two phone lines so I
will
eventually bite the bullet and probably use the iPhone. Just don't
expect
prompt text messages from me if you write.
Mike
From: gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of GianniP46
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 2:33 PM
To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gps-talkusers] Re: Preview of Sendero GPS LookAround 1.1
Hey Guys,
I know this is off topic, but can someone who is using the IPhone
email
me
off list?. I am contemplating getting one, but I am nervous about
the
touch screen interface. Is texting and dialing really that efficient
with
out buttons? Or am I better off with a nokia n82 or E 73?
My email address is
giannip46@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks!
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael May
To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, October 08, 2010 7:40 PM
Subject: [gps-talkusers] Preview of Sendero GPS LookAround 1.1
We sent this updated version to Apple today. I hope it is posted
within
3
or
4 days. Not sure if the weekend impacts these things.
As you will soon see, we fixed the bugs having to do with the saving
of
settings and the country selection.
We added the ability to select a POI category and to dial the POI
phone
number.
We will have another round of small improvements after this version
gets
the
real world test.
Mike
Sendero GPS LookAround, Version 1.1 Documentation
Sendero GPS LookAround for the iPhone is available in the app store.
It
works with the iPhone 3GS and higher. It will not function with the
iPod.
No
telephone support is available from Sendero Group. There is no
turn-by-turn
navigation information in Sendero LookAround for the iPhone. There
are 5
applications powered by Sendero GPS on other platforms, which have
comprehensive navigation features. For information on these products,
visit
http://www.AccessibleGPS.com
To use Sendero GPS LookAround:
Touch the Sendero GPS icon to launch the application. You will be
presented
with a disclaimer. Touch the OK Button to accept the disclaimer.
Also,
touch
the OK Button when asked if it is ok to use your current location. If
there
is compass interference, you may find that touching the OK button
does
not
work at first. Read the screen to see if there is an error message.
Wave
the
phone in a figure eight motion to clear the compass message if
necessary.
To receive the LookAround information, shake the iPhone until you
feel a
vibration and hear a swishing sound. It may take from 5 to 30 seconds
depending on the point of interest data location. The swish will give
you
a
progress indication every 3 seconds. Once you move positions and want
to
"Look around" again, shake the iPhone to receive new information.
Remember
when you press Home and leave the application and then launch it
again,
the
previous information may still be on the screen. Shake again to get
new
information.
If you don't hear anything several seconds after shaking the phone,
touch
the top of the screen to hear what is being displayed. Perhaps the
information wasn't spoken, the request timed out or there is no GPS
position, in which case you may hear, "Limited position data. Change
location and try again."
Once you have launched Sendero GPS LookAround, a shake of the iPhone
will
cause LookAround to display the current Heading, street, city, cross
street
and nearest point of interest based on the POI category you have
chosen
under settings. It defaults to the Restaurant category. Note the
Variety
category is a combination of 8 categories containing the letter E
such
as
restaurant and hotel. Searching 8 categories at once may cause the
app
to
time-out more frequently.
The main screen is laid out with output text displayed toward the top
of
the
screen with 3 long buttons in the lower half of the screen, one above
the
other. There are 5 small buttons evenly spaced across the bottom of
the
screen. Don't tap too hard when activating these buttons as you may
trigger
the iPhone shake feature.
The 3 main buttons are:
1. Where Am I button:
The first long button is the Where Am I button, which announces
heading,
nearest address and city. You receive a vibration and beep after
activating
it.
The LookAround software makes its best guess as to which street you
are
on
and which is the cross street. Many positioning factors go into
whether
this
information is correct. This may be particularly problematic if you
are
inside or among tall buildings. This is because of your distance away
from
the street and because the positioning indoors is worse than it is
outdoors
and out in the open.
2. Nearest Cross Street Button:
This is the second of the 3 long buttons. It announces the nearest
street
and cross street. Again, this refers to the nearest street and not
necessarily the one ahead in your direction of travel. If you are at
an
intersection, it is common for GPS systems to get confused as to
which
street you are on versus which one is the cross street. A vibration
and
beep
will confirm that you activated this button.
3. Nearest 5 Points of Interest button:
Whereas the Shake gives you the nearest single point of interest,
this
POI
button displays up to 5 nearby points of interest in the category you
choose
under Settings. The search goes out to 2 kilometers, 1.24 miles.
These
points are based on proximity, 360 degrees around you. A vibration
and
beep
will confirm that you activated this button. A swish every 3 seconds
will
indicate that a search is in progress.
Note: You can hear the distance to these various items in feet, yards
or
meters. The default is Yards. This can be changed under the Settings
menu.
Once POIs are found, a list will be shown in a separate screen with
the
name
of the POI followed by the distance and compass direction to that
POI.
These
are buttons you can click on to receive more details like the address
and
phone number. Click on the phone number to call that business. A Call
or
Cancel button will then be presented. The Back button will take you
to
the
POI list. If you do call the business, you will be taken to the phone
application and will need to launch LookAround again. It will of
course
be
in the task switching list.
The 5 buttons across the bottom of the iPhone main LookAround screen
from
left to right are as follows: There is a beep after the touch of each
button. There is no vibration.
1. The Map button takes you to Google maps and a push-pin is
displayed
on the screen to indicate your position. Voice Over will not announce
any
of
the map information. Press the Back Button to exit the Map and return
to
the
main screen.
2. The Compass button will indicate which direction the iPhone is
facing if there is no compass interference, which may come from
nearby
electronics or magnetic forces. Once you have changed direction with
the
phone, touch the Compass button. Once you receive the confirming
beep,
the
new compass direction should be spoken. If not, touch the top of the
screen
to hear the text output. If you are told there is compass
interference,
slowly move the phone in a figure eight shape while it is laying
flat.
When
the interference goes away, the error will disappear from the screen.
3. Shake on/off toggle button. If you hear Shake On button, this
means
the Shake feature is enabled as described above. The purpose of this
toggle
is so you can turn the shake feature off when you place the phone in
your
pocket or bag without closing the LookAround application. Normal
walking
will tend to make the phone shake inadvertently and keep talking
unless
you
switch off the Shake feature. Alternatively, press the power button
on
the
top of the phone briefly to lock the screen temporarily. You will
need
to
unlock the screen before LookAround will function again.
4. The Setting button will open another screen with a list of options
such as Shake on and off, Country, Metric/Imperial distance units and
Help.
The item which is enabled will say "selected."
The POI Category Button, which has a flag icon, takes you to a list
of
categories. There is a Picker list. Voice Over users can swipe up and
down
to change the category. Press the Back Button to return to the main
screen
and your new POI category will be used when you shake the phone or
press
the
5 POI button. This category list is in alphabetical order.
Note: When you touch any of the 3 primary buttons on the main screen,
the
focus is moved to the text portion of the screen and you will hear
the
text
spoken. If you want to activate one of those buttons again, you need
to
move
focus back to the button before activating it.
Secondary Sendero LookAround Screens:
Settings Screen:
There are 4 items on the Settings screen, one above the other and a
Back
button in the top left of the screen, which takes you out of Settings
and
Back to the Main screen. These settings will be saved until you
install
a
new version of LookAround.
The first item is Shake Gesture. To its right is its on/off status.
You
will
hear Selected for the active status.
If you select the Off status, the Shake button will be removed from
the
main
screen. This is different than the function of the Shake button on
the
main
screen, which turns it off temporarily.
The second button allows you to select the map region and you will
hear
which one is selected to its right. The current options are North
America
for the US and Canada and the other is Europe, which contains most
but
not
all maps for the region. We hope to add other countries in future
versions.
The third button is Distance unit, Feet, Meters or Yards. The active
unit
will say selected. The default is yards.
The fourth button will take you to the Help screen.
This screen has hints and tips for using the iPhone. There is a link
at
the
bottom to the Sendero iPhone page, which has more details. The Back
button
is in the top left corner. The disclaimer button is in the bottom
right
corner.
POI Category Screen
This screen starts with a Back button in the upper left corner
followed
by
the title text, Select POI Category.
Below that is the currently selected item. Touch this item and then
move
up
and down through the list of categories. Whichever category is
highlighted
is the one that will be used once you return to the main screen.
There
is
no
Save or Done button. Just press Back to return to the main screen.
Known Issues:
There may be locations where you hear a POI label spoken but no data
reported. Please email us with the city and state or lat/lon to
GPS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx if you come across this.
There may also be situations where the POIs are far away or for some
other
reason the swishing goes for a long time. It should time out after 2
minutes.
Operational items to be aware of:
Map data for most countries is from Tele Atlas with POI content from
Info
USA. The data resides on a server so if phone connectivity is lost,
the
data
cannot be accessed. There is no data resident on the phone.
The iPhone performs its positioning based on triangulation of the
nearest
cell towers as well as with GPS. This means that if you are indoors,
you
can
still receive rough location information even without GPS reception.
It
depends how far away these cell towers are as to the accuracy you
will
receive.
When you are outside, the built-in GPS receiver and antenna can
improve
accuracy to the typical 30 to 50 feet range. For maximum accuracy,
give
the
phone some time to acquire a GPS fix outside and away from tall
buildings
if
possible. See the Sendero "GPS Accuracy" document for a comprehensive
explanation.
The iPhone compass direction within Sendero LookAround helps to
indicate
which way you are oriented but it does not synch up with the
direction
of
the street it says you are on. It may be that it says you are heading
West
and announces a street that only goes North and South. There is
currently
no
way to corroborate this information. Magnetic fields in the
environment
such
as electronics, elevators and large masses of metal can influence the
compass.
It almost goes without saying that map and POI data can be out of
date
as
soon as published. We encourage users not to take it personally if
their
street or favorite business is not in the database. Amazingly, most
are.
When you press Home and leave the Sendero LookAround app, it remains
running
in the background but the GPS position is not active. When you open
it
again, the last function you performed will display its information
on
the
screen.
The Sendero LookAround app works with the iPhone 4 and 3GS but does
not
work
with the iPod Touch or the iPhone 3G.
If you encounter a problem not listed here, please let us know as
well
as
feature requests. Send to iPhone @SenderoGroup.com or join our Email
Lists (http://senderogroup.com/social_media/email.htm)
Copyright 2010 Sendero Group, LLC.
Michael May, CEO Sendero Group
Developers of accessible GPS and distributors of technology for the
blind
Voice, 530-757-6800
MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.senderogroup.com
http://www.AccessibleGPS.com
http://www.CrashingThrough.com
429 F Street, Suite 4
Davis, CA 95616
Michael May, CEO Sendero Group
Developers of accessible GPS and distributors of technology for the
blind
Voice, 530-757-6800
MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.senderogroup.com
http://www.AccessibleGPS.com
http://www.CrashingThrough.com
429 F Street, Suite 4
Davis, CA 95616
To change your email settings (unsubscribe, digest only, or vacation
mode):
http://senderogroup.com/social_media/email.htm
Additionally, to unsubscribe send an email to
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