This page contains announcements and details of recent versions of SpeakOn MediaSuite.
New in this version: Alphanumeric input - text entry in SpeakOn for touch devices using any combination of Key tables and UEB Braille Grade 1 and 2 with optional use of AutoComplete and SpellCheck.
Previous features release 4.4, version 4.4.0, 26 June 2016
New features in this version include a sleep timer, battery monitoring and context sensitive access to the manual.
Features release 4.3, version 4.3.0, 15 May 2016
This version includes new features and improvements in podcast support.
In the UK, support for RNIB Newsagent has a number of new sharing features.
Sharing options and compatibility with Cloud storage services are now extended for all relevant media.
This page starts with information specific to these versions for SpeakOn MediaSuite users who wish to upgrade, followed by
introductory information
for new users who might want to give it a try.
The 'Alphanumeric input' feature's goal is primarily to enable efficient typing in SpeakOn with TouchScreen devices that do not contain a Standard keyboard. This is achieved using a novel approach by combining Key tables, Braille, SpellCheck and AutoComplete, all operated with a limited number of keys or gestures.
The 'Alphanumeric input' feature is described in the
Alphanumeric input section of the tutorial
This version is about new miscellaneous features as follows:
You can set up a sleep timer for a specific timed period. At any time you can monitor the timer's progress or set it again. When the timed period ends, if the Player is playing any media, it is stopped and depending on the settings, the device is set to sleep mode. You can wake up your device in the usual way by pressing a key or button.
Battery monitoring is provided both automatically and on-demand. Battery information includes AC Power On, charging, percentage capacity and time remaining. Automatic monitoring of the battery charge is conducted in the background continuously. You are notified if the charge drops below a certain level. With on-demand monitoring, you can find the battery information at any time.
More information on the above is provided in the page:
Time, Date, Sleep timer and Battery monitoring
The online SpeakOn MediaSuite manual provides a comprehensive tutorial and reference information. From this version, the Help context menu provides context sensitive access to this manual via a sub-menu which contains direct links to relevant sections of the manual.
More information is provided on the page:
Obtaining context sensitive information from the manual
Search for Podcast feeds from a large database is now available. Search for episodes within a feed now includes episode descriptions. This is explained in:
'Searching for new podcasts and searching for an episode in a podcast feed' page
The F2 key together with the Ctrl and Shift key combinations are used in SpeakOn everywhere for media information.
Depending on the control in focus, it is now possible to get information on the podcast author, genre, rating, feed and episode description. This is explained in:
'Streaming podcasts' page in the 'Obtaining podcast information' section
Podcast Export and Import is now available as explained in the:
'Exchanging podcasts with other applications' page
The Podcast section page in the manual
has been re-written to include all new features.
In the SpeakOn Library, the Archive directory is used to store specific articles or complete publications (newspapers or magazines), the 'Current Reading' directory is used for the downloaded publications and the 'Publications Converted' directory (not visible in the Library) is used for publications converted to HTML, optionally restructured and cleaned.
Until this version, these three directories were associated only with default folders. From this version a user can specify alternative folders on the computer to be associated with these three directories which means that the user can download directly to external devices and Cloud storage services.
Specific information on SpeakOn MediaSuite support for RNIB Newsagent can be found
here
Media in SpeakOn is located in its Library in a directory structure. Each of these directories is associated with a default folder on the computer.
From this version, for all relevant media, each of these directories can be associated by the user with any folder on the computer file system. This folder can be a folder on your computer's hard drive, or a folder that appears on your computer as part of a device connected to it; for example, a USB device such an external player. This folder can also be a folder on your computer which represents a Cloud storage service such as OneDrive or DropBox. Using the latter option, as the content of the Cloud service folder appears on both your computer and the external device, depending on the type of media, you can download and share media across devices and other computers; for example, downloading a podcast episode in SpeakOn and listening to it on your phone or perhaps downloading a book onto your phone and reading it in SpeakOn.
If you use SpeakOn already, the most elegant way to upgrade is within SpeakOn itself. From the Main menu, select
Help > 'Check for update' menu item.
If an update is found, simply follow instructions.
SpeakOn MediaSuite is a self-voicing application for finding, retrieving and playing audio and text media. All media local to your computer or remote on the internet are presented in the same simple tree-like structure. You can navigate to the media you want, select it and it is automatically downloaded or streamed and played in the same SpeakOn player which handles both audio and text. Common audio formats are supported including MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG and Real. You can either operate SpeakOn using a Standard keyboard, a Numerical keypad, a TouchScreen or a TouchPad. SpeakOn has a low footprint (the installer is only 9 Mb) and it is highly efficient, making it ideal for use with devices with limited power.
SpeakOn supports the eSpeak and SAPI5 synthesizers. In addition it supports more voices automatically when SpeechHub is installed.
SpeakOn MediaSuite is available free from the:
SpeakOn MediaSuite home page
This page contains information about SpeakOn, the types of media it supports, links to the download page, manual and mailing list.
More specifically:
Start by reading the
Installing SpeakOn and getting started section
For convenience, this section contains separate 'Getting started' pages for using the Standard keyboard, Numerical keypad, TouchScreen and TouchPad.
Instructions for upgrading from an older version are:
here
The revised manual is:
here
The step-by-step tutorial section in the manual is:
here
Enjoy - and if you like SpeakOn, please forward this announcement to any mailing lists, blogs or social networks you feel are relevant.
Regards,
Isaac
Isaac Porat
SpeakOn's author
SpeakOn home page
SpeakOn mailing list
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