Code Factory releases DAISY reader for Symbian mobile phones, includes 30-day free demo

Wow! The tech staff at Code Factory never slow down. They've released a DAISY reader for mobile phones such as those from Nokia that are running the Symbian operating system. They promise that a version is on the way for Windows Mobile as well.

This news is a great innovation in several aspects.

1. Allows people with print disabilities the ability to access DAISY documents and books on their mobile phone without needing to purchase some other, free standing hardware device


2. one of the most usable features the product offers students is it allows them to place bookmarks for specific locations, including the ability to include voice annotations to accompany the bookmark


3. Does not require a screen reader to operate, but does work in conjunction with either the Mobile Speaks screen reader or those produced by other companies
4. Includes adjustable font and color configurations, maximizing usability by users who are dyslexic


5. Automatic unpacking of books from Bookshare.org, eliminating the need for a seperate unpacking utility.

Below is the Code Factory press release which I've copied from the email announcement. Or, go to the
Code Factory page
for a version that includes working links.


--
Caroline Ragot - Marketing Director
Tel. +34 93 733 70 66 - marketing@codefactory.es
Mobile DAISY Player V2.0
Mobile DAISY Player V2.0, the only DAISY Book reader for Symbian 9 Phones is available!
Download the free trial
Barcelona (Terrassa), August 8th, 2008
Code Factory, the world's mobile accessibility provider, today announced the release of version 2.0 of Mobile DAISY Player, the only DAISY reader to work with mainstream mobile phones.

This release is just one more way in which Code Factory shows its commitment to enabling reading on a mobile device as an easy and pleasurable experience.

"We at Code Factory have always realized that mobile devices have the potential to give blind and visually impaired users unprecedented access to reading material wherever they are”, explains Eduard Sánchez, Code Factory's CEO. "Mobile DAISY Player has a unique role to play in allowing access to books from many different sources on many different mobile phones. A short time ago, a blind or visually impaired user was at a distinct disadvantage in that he/she had to carry large Braille volumes, many cassette tapes, or a specialized player if he/she wished to read on the go. With Mobile DAISY Player, however, a blind or visually impaired user, with a DAISY book, has an even more portable method of reading than his/her sighted colleagues, since he/she can carry many books on a mobile phone which he/she would be carrying in any case."



Why is Mobile DAISY Player unique?


• Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 is the only accessible application which reads DAISY books on Symbian Mobile Phones. A version compatible with Windows Mobile devices will soon be released.

• Reading books in Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 is very easy: simply create a folder on the memory card, usually known as (E:), called "books", and copy each of the books into a subfolder of that books folder. Book content is generally either downloaded from the web or available on CD, in either case, copy all of the book contents into the destination folder.

• Includes support for DAISY 2.0 and 3.0 formats, allowing access to a wider variety of content and providers.

• Automatic unpacking of Bookshare.org books, making it unnecessary to install and run a separate application just to decompress Bookshare files.

• You can record your own voice annotations as bookmarks within the content. These voice notes will appear in the bookmark list, and the sound recordings will be heard automatically when the book is in normal playback mode.

• Configurable font sizes and screen colors have also been implemented to provide maximum readability of on-screen text, especially for dyslexic persons.

• Mobile DAISY Player can be used with or without Code Factory’s world-leading screen reader, Mobile Speak. When combined with Mobile Speak, Mobile DAISY Player becomes a fully-accessible e-book solution, providing speech feedback of the screen prompts and menus as well as speaking the book contents. For those users who do not need a full-fledged screen reader, Mobile DAISY Player can still take advantage of the Nokia’s built-in text-to-speech support on S60 phones to read text content. In either case, Mobile DAISY Player is an independent product, and is licensed separately from Mobile Speak.

• Two modes of navigation: the normal reading mode and the virtual cursor mode. The normal reading mode is active when the book is in continuous playback mode, and is playing either audio or text content. When playback is paused, the virtual cursor mode is active, allowing you to navigate the text content of the book, if any, using the screen reader.

• Rewind and forward in cassette or digital mode.

• Mobile DAISY Player can be used with other screen readers, although other screen readers may not offer the same level of integration as Mobile Speak, particularly when reading text books. For example, all of the normal screen prompts and menus will be accessible within Mobile DAISY Player. However, other screen readers may not recognize the book text as a special type of content, and may attempt to read it at the same time as Mobile DAISY Player. For this reason, we recommend that users of other screen readers temporarily mute speech while in book reading mode, and then resume speaking when switching to other applications or when using the application menus. Mobile Speak does recognize the book contents and will mute itself automatically during playback.



Apart from all these unique features, Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 also includes:


• Variable playback speed allowing audio content to be reproduced faster or slower than the speed at which it was recorded without changing the sound’s pitch.

• Variable navigation levels (e.g.: by chapter and/or by page).

• Quick and easy navigation to any point in the book.

• Support for text-only, audio-only, or mixed-mode books.

• Ability to set bookmarks to favorite places in the content.

• Auto-bookmark and resume to last point in the book.

• Variable volume level.

• Customizable Text-To-Speech support via Mobile Speak.


Mobile DAISY Player 2.0 supports the following Nokia Symbian 9 phones: 3250, 5320, 5500 Sport, 5700 Xpress Music, 6110 Navigator, 6120 Classic, 6121 Classic, 6124, 6210, 6220, 6290, E50, E51, E60, E61, E61i, E62, E65, E66, E70, E71, E90 Communicator, N71, N73, N75, N76, N77, N78, N80, N81, N82, N91, N92, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, N96.



Visit http://www.codefactory.es/downloads and install Mobile DAISY Player on your mobile phone and it will automatically work free for 30 days. While using a trial license, you cannot change the date or the time of the phone. Changing the date or time will automatically lock the trial license, without any chance to recover it. Please make sure that the time and date are set correctly on the phone before installing the software.


To buy Mobile DAISY Player, contact your closest distributor:
http://www.codefactory.es/en/purchase.asp?id=54


Don’t miss the Reading on the go competition, more than $20000 worth of prizes to be divided among ten winners. To learn more go to http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=251. To join the competition, go to
http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=251. To join the competition, go to http://www.codefactory.es/contest .
http://www.codefactory.es/contest .



About Code Factory
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Terrassa/Barcelona, Spain, Code Factory is the global leader committed to the development of products designed to eliminate barriers to the accessibility of mobile technology for the blind and visually impaired. Today, Code Factory is the leading provider of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and Braille interfaces for the widest range of mainstream mobile devices including Symbian-based and Windows Mobile-powered Smartphones as well as Pocket PC phones and PDAs. Its product line is the only one to support phones working on the GSM, CDMA and WCDMA networks. Code Factory's success lies in giving excellent customer support and in responding immediately to the needs of its end users.

Among Code Factory’s customers are well known organizations like ONCE, and carriers such as TMN, Vodafone, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and AT&T. The company also collaborated with leading TTS providers and Braille manufacturers, thus enabling Code Factory to provide excellent text-to-speech technology in many languages for Mobile Speak products, and to incorporate support for over twenty wireless Braille devices into the software.





For more information, feel free to contact Code Factory S.L.:


Code Factory, S.L., Rambla d'Egara 148 2-2, 08221 Terrassa (Barcelona)
Tel. +34 93 733 70 66, info@codefactory.es, www.codefactory.es
Code Factory, S.L. - 2008