[talks-uk] Re: Nuance Talks v5 Release Notes
- From: "Neil Barnfather - TalkNav" <forums@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <talks-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:41:05 +0100
Dear All,
Just for reference, the use of the word draft in the release notes, was that
of Nuance's and not ours, this is the official release notification from
Nuance delivered this evening.
Regards.
-----Original Message-----
From: talks-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:talks-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Neil Barnfather - TalkNav
Sent: 31 March 2010 22:32
To: 'Talks Mailing List'; talks-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; 'Access e-mail forum';
'The Accessible Phones Discussion List'
Subject: [talks-uk] Nuance Talks v5 Release Notes
Dear All,
As per my earlier message, please see below for the plain text version of
the release notes for talks v5:
TALKS&ZOOMS Version 5.00 - Release Notification (Draft)
1. Introduction
We proudly announce the release of the Nuance Accessibility Suite - Nuance
TALKS and ZOOMS - Version 5.00 supporting Series 60 3rd Edition / 5th
Edition for March 31st, 2010.
This release uses the same version of Eloquence as the previous one
(6.1.123). The TTS installation files for Eloquence have only been updated
to mark them as supporting 5th Edition, and the user dictionary for US
English has been extended.
RealSpeak Mobile is no longer included in this release, as there are some
compatibility issues with the built-in TTS software on several recent phone
models. Instead, the release now also includes a choice of male Vocalizer
voices for English (US and UK), German and French.
Please note that the ZOOMS functionality is not yet available on 5th Edition
phones.
Version 5.00 is a free upgrade for all Premium Edition licenses generated
after November 13th, 2007. In particular, this means that it can be
installed by any customer who is currently able to run version 4.11 without
requiring a new license.
2. The new handsets
2.1. Changes to the list of supported phone models
The following handsets are newly supported (please see section 4 "Known
Issues" about some limitations):
. Nokia 5630 XpressMusic
. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
. Nokia E72
. Nokia N97
. Nokia N97mini
. Nokia X6
We also assume the following phones to work without major problems. However
we have not got enough test results yet to definitely confirm this:
. Nokia 5230 Xpress Music
. Nokia 5235 Xpress Music
. Nokia 5530 Xpress Music
. Nokia 6700 slide (but not 6700 classic!)
See section 6 for a full list of compatible handsets for this version.
3. What's New?
This section lists the improvements of TALKS 5.00 compared to the previous
version (4.11).
3.1. Support for 5th Edition, including touch screens
The most important new feature of TALKS 5.00 is its support for Series 60
5th Edition phones using touch screens. It can be used both on phones that
combine touch with a physical keyboard (e.g. the Nokia N97), as well as
touch-only phones (such as the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music).
Overall, TALKS aims to preserve the experience of the sighted user when
working with a touch screen as much as possible, so that a phone can easily
be shared, and support effort is kept low
There are two main additions to the standard Symbian user interface to make
touch screens accessible to blind and partially sighted users:
. "Explore Mode", which allows identifying features on the screen
through touch without clicking them
. Support for single-handed operation of the phone using the side
keys, allowing menus and lists to be operated reliably without using the
touch screen
"Explore Mode" is automatically entered when the finger is held on the touch
screen for more than about half a second without moving. As long as the
finger is kept on the display afterwards, it can be moved around, and TALKS
announces the names of objects as they are touched. If the finger is then
lifted, followed by a brief tap anywhere on the screen (within about 1.5
seconds), the object that was under the finger when it was lifted is then
clicked.
At the same time, if the finger is moved quickly across the display, or used
for a brief tap, without waiting for Explore Mode to be activated first,
TALKS does not interfere, and the phone works as it would without TALKS.
This means that "gestures", such as flicking across a list to perform
"kinetic scrolling", can still be used as designed by the phone
manufacturer.
The only exception to this principle is the web browser, where TALKS
overlays the web page with an invisible "virtual keyboard" that can be used
to browse various elements of the page, e.g. between headings or between
links (similar to the approach used under 3rd Edition), rather than relying
on direct exploration of a web page's contents.
In addition, TALKS redefines the side keys on 5th Edition phones (normally
used only to control volume) to allow navigation through lists and menus
without using the touch screen. In addition, pressing and holding the "Down"
key selects the currently focused element, while pressing and holding the
"Up" key accesses different areas of the screen, such as the list of tab
sheets or soft keys.
After pressing the [Talks] key (which continues to be the [Menu] key on 5th
Edition phones by default) an invisible virtual keyboard on the screen can
be "explored" for access to most screen reader functions that are available
through numeric keys on non-touch screens. [Talks],[Key lock] /
[Talks],[long Key lock] can be used for muting/unmuting speech, or for
changing the TTS engine.
TALKS provides speech feedback for using most of the standard on-screen
keyboards for text input (except for mini-Qwerty and handwriting). Please
note that TALKS lets you open the on-screen keyboard in most places through
pressing [long Vol Down] when a text area is focused (in addition to the
normal way of tapping again into a focused text field).
3.2. Support for new 3rd Edition e-mail and calendar
This version is the first to support the new e-mail application that is
found on all recent 3rd Edition phones (e.g. E52, N86, 6710 etc.), as well
as the new calendar application that is used on recent E-series models (E52,
E72). Both applications were previously completely inaccessible. Please note
that current 5th Edition models use different e-mail clients.
In the e-mail client, the Inbox view and associated menus are read
completely (with exception of the list index). Once an e-mail is opened, it
is displayed in a mode that is somewhat similar to the old WAP browser.
Therefore, functions such as [Talks],[Down] to read the full text of an
e-mail are not supported, and the message is instead read line-by-line when
it is scrolled with the cursor keys. Links in e-mail messages are not yet
supported, but will be in a future version - for now, the selection of a
link can be detected by a change in the middle soft key.
Calendar support is currently more limited, but should still give access to
most essential information, in particular the currently focused day or
event. However, future versions will improve this to reduce the amount of
speech produced when the screen contents change.
3.3. Additional audio settings
It is now possible to define a large portion of audio settings as
application-specific settings. This lets the user define, for example, a
special TTS engine to be used only for reading incoming messages. A new
"audio priority" option also lets fine-tune the way in which conflicts
between TALKS speech and other audio (e.g. music playback) are handled in
each application. This possibility is already used by TALKS in some places,
such selecting a ringtone in the "Profiles" application.
In addition, you can now define options such as volume and speech delay
separately for speaker and headset use, and also have TALKS speak with a
different volume while a call is in progress. This is controlled by the new
"Audio settings" feature in the Options menu of the TALKS application, and
replaces the global "Volume factor" and "Speech delay" settings on the
Speech tab.
3.4. Various compatibility improvements
As usual, TALKS 5.00 further increases compatibility with 3rd party
applications and features of specific phone models:
. Improved access to chat window and some of the lists in the "fring"
messaging and VoIP application
. Voice labels for icons are now independent of graphic sizes: easier
exchange of user-generated icon labels, and more reliable detection of 3G
status etc.
. Status indicators on Feature Pack 2 can be read also when the
keyboard is locked.
. TALKS no longer prevents the "Received SMS" signal tone from being
played.
. Fixed some stability issues, such as partial hangs of the phone when
pressing [Exit] in certain system dialogs (e.g. the "1 new message"
notification or the Power menu).
3.5. Other changes
This section lists some changes to TALKS that are mostly related to the
screen reader-specific aspects of the product:
. Enabling/disabling Braille and Magnification have been moved to
[Talks],[long Call] and [Talks],[long Exit], respectively, to provide
consistency with the [Talks],[long Clear] option for enabling/disabling
speech, and to free up the easily accessible [Talks],[Exit] shortcut for
future use.
. Current date/time can be read more easily using [Talks],[Call]
hotkey that is also accessible on a touch or slider phone.
. Prevents accidental triggering of TALKS functions while keyboard is
locked.
. More reliable detection of keyboard lock (so TALKS can mute itself
properly).
. New option to automatically un-mute TALKS after a certain time while
a phone call is in progress.
. Training mode is automatically disabled when screen saver is
actived, or in the event of an incoming call.
. Improved spelling of individual letters with some Vocalizer voices.
. Some fixes to Braille-specific issues, e.g problems entering SMS and
controlling the web browser on some phones.
4. Known Issues on specific handsets
. 5th Edition: currently, there are some limitations to the use of the
on-screen keyboard for text entry. In particular, the menus for switching to
other keyboard layouts are not read, and opening the symbol table can lead
to the on-screen keyboard stopping to take input until you press [Exit] to
return to the main menu, and then return to the application where you were
entering text. Switching to other keyboard layouts is not recommended, as
some of them (e.g. mini-Qwerty or handwriting) are not yet supported by
TALKS, and can be difficult to exit.
. N97: training mode will read the digits, rather than the letters,
for the keys in the top row of the QWERTY keyboard.
. Some keyboard functions, such as [Talks],[digit] shortcuts on the
Idle screen and the use of the side keys to navigate through menus on 5th
Edition, are only supported after the phone has been rebooted once after
installing or re-enabling TALKS.
. TALKS will occasionally read the names of the softkeys for the first
time only after a delay of some seconds, when an application has just been
newly opened, or been brought to the foreground.
. E71: The current time is read when typing first digit of phone
number, and when [Key 2] is pressed to listen to Caller ID.
. 3rd Edition (FP1 and FP2): the "Search" application is not
supported.
. 3rd Edition FP2 and 5th Edition: Built-in Help screens are not read
because they use the web browser in a way that is not yet supported by
TALKS.
. 3rd Edition FP2: You will notice a slow response of voice
recognition "beep" after holding [Key 2] when TALKS is not muted
. E75: When using ZOOMS, moving around the screen by holding down the
cursor keys is currently not possible. The magnified portion of the screen
always follows the current focus position.
. N96: "Photos" application (and "Photos" submenu of "Gallery") is not
supported.
. N96: Daisy2Go does not support firmware versions prior to 20.x of
this phone.
. 5th Edition: when uninstalling TALKS through the App Manager, the
process may sometimes hang. In this case, disable TALKS before unstalling
it, or use either PC Suite or the "Organize" option of the phone's main menu
to remove the software. This is not an issue when simply installing an
upgrade of TALKS over an existing version.
5. FAQ
Q: Your software does not install on my E-Series handset or branded device,
and reports a Certificate Error! Why?
A: While TALKS&ZOOMS for S60 3rd Edition itself is certified, and thus can
be installed on any supported S60 3rd Edition handset, the installers for
the TTS engines (Eloquence or Vocalizer for Mobile) are not signed. E-Series
handsets and some branded devices only accept the installation of signed
software, unless you turn of the corresponding option inside the Application
Manager:
. Open the phone menu.
. Open the App. Manager inside the Tools folder
. Press "Options", then select "Settings".
. Set "Software Installation" from "Signed only" to "All".
. Press "Back" to close the Settings dialogue, then "Exit" to close
the App. Manager.
. Now, you can install the TTS engine.
Another reason could be that the date on your phone is not set correctly -
as 3rd Edition software is digitally signed, SIS files can only be installed
if the phone is set to a valid date.
Q: Can I install the new release of TALKS&ZOOMS, while a previous release is
active?
A: Yes, if the new version is installed to the same memory location as the
previous release. If you would like to change the memory location, you have
to remove the previous release first!
Q: Why do I get an "Upgrade error" when installing the S60 3rd/5th Edition
version?
A: The most likely reasons are that you have used a beta release, or already
have the Nokia TTS driver available that was installed as a separate file
with version 3.10. Please remove any beta version, as well as the Nokia TTS
driver or the Nuance Speech2Go Reader application, before upgrading to TALKS
5.00.
6. Full compatibility list
6.1. Current models
This section lists handsets running on Series 60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2
and Series 60 5th Edition, many of which are still available at least in
some markets:
. Non-touch screen phones:
o Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
o Nokia 5630 XpressMusic
o Nokia 6210 Navigator
o Nokia 6220 Classic
o Nokia 6650 fold
o Nokia 6710 Navigator
o Nokia 6720 classic
o Nokia 6730 classic
o Nokia 6790 Surge / slide
o Nokia E52
o Nokia E71x
o Nokia E72
o Nokia E75
o Nokia N78
o Nokia N79
o Nokia N85
o Nokia N86
o Nokia N96
. Touch screen phones:
o Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
o Nokia N97
o Nokia N97mini
o Nokia X6
. Untested, but expected to work:
o Nokia 5230 Xpress Music
o Nokia 5235 Xpress Music
o Nokia 5530 Xpress Music
o Nokia 5730 Xpress Music
o Nokia 6700 slide (but not 6700 classic!)
o Nokia E55
6.2. Earlier models (3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 and older)
This section lists handsets running earlier versions of Series 60 3rd
Edition which can still be upgraded to run TALKS 5.00. However, they are
typically no longer available in most regions except as second-hand and
refurbished devices.
. Nokia 3250
. Nokia 5500
. Nokia 5700
. Nokia 6110 Navigator
. Nokia 6120C
. Nokia 6121C
. Nokia 6124 Classic
. Nokia 6290
. Nokia E50
. Nokia E51
. Nokia E60
. Nokia E61
. Nokia E61i
. Nokia E62
. Nokia E63
. Nokia E65
. Nokia E66
. Nokia E70
. Nokia E71
. Nokia E90
. Nokia N71
. Nokia N72
. Nokia N73
. Nokia N75
. Nokia N76
. Nokia N80
. Nokia N81/ N81 8GB
. Nokia N82
. Nokia N91
. Nokia N95 / N95 8GB
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