[gps-talkusers] was Preview of Sendero GPS LookAround 1.1 now i phones

  • From: TBrownGriffin@xxxxxxx
  • To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:20:33 EDT

Hi 
Finding this topic really interesting as I have recently got funding (£1000 
 sterling) to get a new phone with  talks and KNFB, but the company  
supplying are saying the phone they can supply at present is the N82, however  
this is getting older, would I be able with aps to do the same and more with 
the  i phone?  Is there an i-phone list relevant to blind people? Would it  
interface with a braille note PK? have had a little play with an i phone  at  
the guide dog gala day here back in summer as the chap was singing its  
praises!
 
Are there different models of i phone, which would be the best to go  for?
 
many thanks
 
Tony
 
 
In a message dated 12/10/2010 04:25:01 GMT Daylight Time,  
kevinchao89@xxxxxxxxx writes:

I have  used a variety of Nokia/Symbian and Windows Mobile devices and for
past  year have been using an iPhone.

Yes, touch screen is different, it will  take some time getting use to.
However, it is not impossible. Text input  speeds will not be same as
T9 on Nokia or keyboard on Windows Mobile. But,  speeds will be ok. There is
possibility of getting Soloana screen  protector, which have tactile
markings at key areas on touch screen, which  assist in orientation.
There's also Dragon Dictation, which is a free app,  which allows one
to dictate information into  email,  text  message, FaceBook, Twitter
or clipboard.

Things are about  trade-offs. For me, I prefer the out of box
accessibility, great way of  navigation, wealth of apps. Essentially,
I have 1000 times the power with  iPhone then I did with Nokia N82,
with a slight drop in text input speed,  which is easily made up by a
bluetooth Keyboard or Braille display. I use a  keyboard for note
taking, long emails and for rapid text  entry.

Apps, such as Noogle Noggles, which allows one to take a picture  and
have item identify it based on bar code, text label, or logo  is
amazing. Please check out audio demo:   http://twaud.io/Qrs

There are navigation apps, such as Skobbler, free,  uses OpenStreetMap
and Google POIs. Sendero LookAround to find out heading,  address,
cross street, city and POIs. Where, which integrates with  Where.com,
which is a free service that allows one to check in, give  ratings,
reviews, search for places by all POIs around, specific categories  or
names and have very nice and good information about various  places,
such as gas prices, reviews etc, which are all based on human  crowd
source or user generated data.

This really was the best buy  and do recommend it. Talk about getting
so much functionality for ones  money.

Kevin
http://twitter.com/kevinchao89


On 10/11/10,  Michael May <mikemay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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 <mailto:mikemay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
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  • » [gps-talkusers] was Preview of Sendero GPS LookAround 1.1 now i phones - TBrownGriffin