BlackBerry Bold 9700

The BlackBerry® Bold™ 9700 smartphone has a large, hi-res screen that displays over 65,000 colors; creating a vivid viewing experience for all your photos¹, videos¹, files¹ and websites.

Access what's important with
trackpad navigation based on
how laptops are designed. Glide
your finger over the trackpad to
scroll through menus and icons.
A slight press and click lets you
select an item to navigate where
you want to go.

Enjoy music, videos, photos and documents in great color and sound. Easily sync data and audio files from your desktop to the BlackBerry Bold 9700, and get up to 35 hours of music playback time.

Enhance the 256 MB of on-board
flash memory by easily inserting
a microSD card². Create extra
room for emails, messages, apps,
multimedia files, documents and
all the other important things
that you want to take with you.

Along with a 3.2 MP camera, the
BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone
features video camera
functionality³. Record and view⁴
videos on the hi-res screen, and
share them through email, text
messages or social networking
sites.

 Hi-speed 3G network connectivity
lets you browse the web or view
email attachments faster. While
Wi-Fi® support enables your
BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone
to access available hotspots⁵.

1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command

Video: 1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command

1 Video: 1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command!

Device Used: Motorola Droid on Verizon

Speech interface designers often express surprize at the the factthat the average blind user rarely if ever uses spoken input. Butwhen you come down to it, this is not too surprizing --- giventhat the eyes-free user has speech output active, the overall system ends up talking to itself!

To show that these conflicts can be avoided by careful user-interface design,we demonstrate 1Vox --- our voice-search wizard for the Marvin Shell.

1. You activate 1Vox by stroke 9 on the Marvin screen.
2. You hear a spoekn prompt Search
3. You hear a little auditory icon when the system is readyfor you.
4. You speak oft-used queries e.g., Weather Mountain View.
5. You hear a short spoken snippet in response.

We called this widget 1Vox --- in honor of the Google onebox foundon the Google Results page.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command

Video: 1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command

1 Video: 1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command!

Device Used: Motorola Droid on Verizon

Speech interface designers often express surprize at the the factthat the average blind user rarely if ever uses spoken input. Butwhen you come down to it, this is not too surprizing --- giventhat the eyes-free user has speech output active, the overall system ends up talking to itself!

To show that these conflicts can be avoided by careful user-interface design,we demonstrate 1Vox --- our voice-search wizard for the Marvin Shell.

1. You activate 1Vox by stroke 9 on the Marvin screen.
2. You hear a spoekn prompt Search
3. You hear a little auditory icon when the system is readyfor you.
4. You speak oft-used queries e.g., Weather Mountain View.
5. You hear a short spoken snippet in response.

We called this widget 1Vox --- in honor of the Google onebox foundon the Google Results page.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

YouTube And TalkBack --- Entertainment On The Go

Video: TalkBack And YouTube

1 Video: TalkBack And YouTube

Device: Motorola Droid on Verizon

This video demonstrates searching for and playing YouTube videos with TalkBack providing spoken feedback at each step in the interaction.

1. Launch YouTube from the Marvin Application launcher.
2. The trackball can be used here to move through the list of videos.
3. Pressing down on the trackball launches the selected video.
4. Press menu key to enter the YouTube application menu.
5. Click on Search with the trackball.
6. Type a query into the edit field. TalkBack speaks as you type.
7. Press Enter to perform the search.
8. Scroll the results list with the track-ball.
9. Click a desired result to start playing the video.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

YouTube And TalkBack --- Entertainment On The Go

Video: TalkBack And YouTube

1 Video: TalkBack And YouTube

Device: Motorola Droid on Verizon

This video demonstrates searching for and playing YouTube videos with TalkBack providing spoken feedback at each step in the interaction.

1. Launch YouTube from the Marvin Application launcher.
2. The trackball can be used here to move through the list of videos.
3. Pressing down on the trackball launches the selected video.
4. Press menu key to enter the YouTube application menu.
5. Click on Search with the trackball.
6. Type a query into the edit field. TalkBack speaks as you type.
7. Press Enter to perform the search.
8. Scroll the results list with the track-ball.
9. Click a desired result to start playing the video.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Using TalkBack With Google Maps

Video: TalkBack And Google Maps

1 Video: TalkBack And Google Maps

Device Used: Motorola Droid On Verizon

TalkBack provides spoken feedback as you use Google Maps.In this video, we will demonstrate typical maps tasks such as:

1. Launch Google Maps using the Marvin application launcher.
2. From within the Maps application, press the menu key.
3. Select Search and type a query into the search field.
4. Notice that I can type a partial query and haveauto-completion based on previous searches.
5. Press Enter to perform the search.
6. Bring up the result list in ListView by touching thebottom left of the screen.
7. Scroll through this list using the D-Pad.
8. Click with the D-Pad (or enter) to select a business.
9. Scroll through available options, and click Get Directions.

10.Click the Go button to get directions.

1. Scroll with the trackball to hear the directions spoken.

In addition, you can also use Google Latitude to locate yourfriends.

Note that other Map tools such as Google Latitude are accessiblefrom within the set of options that appear when you press themenu key.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Using TalkBack With Google Maps

Video: TalkBack And Google Maps

1 Video: TalkBack And Google Maps

Device Used: Motorola Droid On Verizon

TalkBack provides spoken feedback as you use Google Maps.In this video, we will demonstrate typical maps tasks such as:

1. Launch Google Maps using the Marvin application launcher.
2. From within the Maps application, press the menu key.
3. Select Search and type a query into the search field.
4. Notice that I can type a partial query and haveauto-completion based on previous searches.
5. Press Enter to perform the search.
6. Bring up the result list in ListView by touching thebottom left of the screen.
7. Scroll through this list using the D-Pad.
8. Click with the D-Pad (or enter) to select a business.
9. Scroll through available options, and click Get Directions.

10.Click the Go button to get directions.

1. Scroll with the trackball to hear the directions spoken.

In addition, you can also use Google Latitude to locate yourfriends.

Note that other Map tools such as Google Latitude are accessiblefrom within the set of options that appear when you press themenu key.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

TalkBack: An Open Source Android Screenreader

Video: Introducing TalkBack, An Open Source Screenreader

1 Video: Introducing TalkBack, An Open Source Screenreader

Device Used: Motorola Droid On Verizon

We briefly introduced TalkBack in the previous video while enabling Accessibility from the settings menu.Here, we show off some of this screenreader's features.

TalkBack is designed to be a simple, non-obtrusivescreenreader. What this means in practice is that you interactdirectly with your applications, and not withTalkBack. TalkBack's job is to remain in the background andprovide the spoken feedback that you need.

TalkBack works with all of Android's native user interfacecontrols. This means you can configure all aspects of the Androiduser interface with TalkBack providing appropriate spokenfeedback. What is more, you can use most native Androidapplications --- including those downloaded from the AndroidMarket with TalkBack providing spoken feedback.

Here are some examples of Android applications (both from Google as well as third-party applications available onmarket) that work with TalkBack:

• Google Maps: Perform searches, and listen to directions.
• YouTube: Search, browse categories and play.
• Simple Weather: Listen to local weather forecasts.
• Facebook: Moving around on the social Web.

But in this video, we'll demonstrate the use of a very simple butuseful Android application --- the Android Alarm clock.

• Launch: I launch the alarm clock from Marvin's eyes-free application launcher.
• TalkBack: TalkBack takes over and starts speaking.
• Navigate: Navigating with the trackball speaks the alarmunder focus.
• Activate: Activating with the trackball produces appropriate feedback.
• Navigate: Selected alarm displays its settings in a list-view which speaks as we navigate.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

TalkBack: An Open Source Android Screenreader

Video: Introducing TalkBack, An Open Source Screenreader

1 Video: Introducing TalkBack, An Open Source Screenreader

Device Used: Motorola Droid On Verizon

We briefly introduced TalkBack in the previous video while enabling Accessibility from the settings menu.Here, we show off some of this screenreader's features.

TalkBack is designed to be a simple, non-obtrusivescreenreader. What this means in practice is that you interactdirectly with your applications, and not withTalkBack. TalkBack's job is to remain in the background andprovide the spoken feedback that you need.

TalkBack works with all of Android's native user interfacecontrols. This means you can configure all aspects of the Androiduser interface with TalkBack providing appropriate spokenfeedback. What is more, you can use most native Androidapplications --- including those downloaded from the AndroidMarket with TalkBack providing spoken feedback.

Here are some examples of Android applications (both from Google as well as third-party applications available onmarket) that work with TalkBack:

• Google Maps: Perform searches, and listen to directions.
• YouTube: Search, browse categories and play.
• Simple Weather: Listen to local weather forecasts.
• Facebook: Moving around on the social Web.

But in this video, we'll demonstrate the use of a very simple butuseful Android application --- the Android Alarm clock.

• Launch: I launch the alarm clock from Marvin's eyes-free application launcher.
• TalkBack: TalkBack takes over and starts speaking.
• Navigate: Navigating with the trackball speaks the alarmunder focus.
• Activate: Activating with the trackball produces appropriate feedback.
• Navigate: Selected alarm displays its settings in a list-view which speaks as we navigate.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Introducing The Android Access Framework

Video: Introducing The Android Accessibility Framework

1 Video: Introducing The Android Accessibility Framework

Device Used: MotoRola Droid on Verizon

Starting with Android 1.6 --- fondly known as Donut --- theplatform includes an Accessibility API that makes it easy toimplement adaptive technology such as screenreaders. Android 1.6comes with a built-in screenreader called TalkBack that providesspoken feedback when using Android applications written in Java.

The next few videos will progressively introduce TalkBack,SoundBack and KickBack, a suite of programs that augment theAndroid user interface with alternative output.

All of these special utilities are available through optionAccessibility in the Android Settings menu. Once activated, theaccessibility settings are persistent across reboots, i.e., youneed enable these tools only once.

Notice that because I have accessibility enabled on my phone,all user actions produce relevant auditory feedback. Thus, eachitem is spoken as Imove through the various options in the settings menu. The spokenfeedback also indicates the state of an item as appropriate.

Activating SoundBack produces non-spoken auditory feedback;KickBack produces haptic feedback.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Introducing The Android Access Framework

Video: Introducing The Android Accessibility Framework

1 Video: Introducing The Android Accessibility Framework

Device Used: MotoRola Droid on Verizon

Starting with Android 1.6 --- fondly known as Donut --- theplatform includes an Accessibility API that makes it easy toimplement adaptive technology such as screenreaders. Android 1.6comes with a built-in screenreader called TalkBack that providesspoken feedback when using Android applications written in Java.

The next few videos will progressively introduce TalkBack,SoundBack and KickBack, a suite of programs that augment theAndroid user interface with alternative output.

All of these special utilities are available through optionAccessibility in the Android Settings menu. Once activated, theaccessibility settings are persistent across reboots, i.e., youneed enable these tools only once.

Notice that because I have accessibility enabled on my phone,all user actions produce relevant auditory feedback. Thus, eachitem is spoken as Imove through the various options in the settings menu. The spokenfeedback also indicates the state of an item as appropriate.

Activating SoundBack produces non-spoken auditory feedback;KickBack produces haptic feedback.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

Video: Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

1 Video: Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

When we first launched project eyes-free in early spring 2009, wepromised to post frequent video updates to the eyes-freechannel. Well, sadly, we have been remiss in keeping that promise --- but all in a good cause --- we were busy building out theneeded accessibility APIs in the core Android framework.

We're now returning with a fresh set of video updates thatdemonstrate the new accessibility framework in Android, and howthese access related tools mesh with the Eyes-Free shell shownearlier.

To summarize:

1. All of the eyes-free utilities from project Marvin continueto be developed in order to provide fluent eyes-free interaction.
2. The Marvin shell that we demonstrated last time continues tobe my default home screen.
3. We have added an application launcher on the Marvin screenthat can be launched by stroking 8.
4. This launcher uses stroke dialing to quickly navigate andlaunch applications.
5. With the launch of the Accessibility API in Android1.6, and the accompanying Open Source TalkBack screenreader,I can now launch any Android application, e.g., GoogleMaps or YouTube.
6. TalkBack provides spoken feedback for native Androidapplications, including the settings menu.
7. You can use Android Market to install third-partyapplications, many of these work outof the box with TalkBack.

We'll demonstrate these, and a variety of other new coolenhancements in these forthcoming videos, stay tuned!

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

Video: Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

1 Video: Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

When we first launched project eyes-free in early spring 2009, wepromised to post frequent video updates to the eyes-freechannel. Well, sadly, we have been remiss in keeping that promise --- but all in a good cause --- we were busy building out theneeded accessibility APIs in the core Android framework.

We're now returning with a fresh set of video updates thatdemonstrate the new accessibility framework in Android, and howthese access related tools mesh with the Eyes-Free shell shownearlier.

To summarize:

1. All of the eyes-free utilities from project Marvin continueto be developed in order to provide fluent eyes-free interaction.
2. The Marvin shell that we demonstrated last time continues tobe my default home screen.
3. We have added an application launcher on the Marvin screenthat can be launched by stroking 8.
4. This launcher uses stroke dialing to quickly navigate andlaunch applications.
5. With the launch of the Accessibility API in Android1.6, and the accompanying Open Source TalkBack screenreader,I can now launch any Android application, e.g., GoogleMaps or YouTube.
6. TalkBack provides spoken feedback for native Androidapplications, including the settings menu.
7. You can use Android Market to install third-partyapplications, many of these work outof the box with TalkBack.

We'll demonstrate these, and a variety of other new coolenhancements in these forthcoming videos, stay tuned!

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

Video: Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

1 Video: Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The Marvin shell pulls together available eyes-free applicationsto provide an integrated user experience. Note that talkingapplications can come from many sources, with project Eyes-Freebeing but one such source. For other exciting talkingapplications that use our open Text To Speech (TTS) APIs, seethe Android Marketplace, where you will find many useful toolsthat integrate seamlessly with Marvin.

when you install the Eyes-Free Shell, you can choose to makeMarvin your default home screen --- this means that pressingthe home button always brings up the Marvin shell. To return tothe default Android home screen, hold down the back button for3 seconds or more.Here is a brief description of the Marvin user interface.

1.1 Single Touch Access To Useful Tools

The Marvin shell uses the Stroke Dialerto provide single touch access to useful tools right from thehome screen. You can explore this interface by moving your finger around the screen --- as you move over the buttons,Marvin speaks the associated action. Lifting up the fingerexecutes the current action. As an example,the top row of the keypad, i.e., 1, 2, and 3provide status information.Stroking to 4 brings up your favorite short-cuts, and 6speaks your current location using geo-location informationobtained from Google Maps. Pressing 7 connects to your voice-mailbox, and pressing9 invokes Voice Search to obtain quick spokenanswers from Google e.g., current weather for your location.Finally, the applications that appear on the shortcuts screencan be customized by editing XML file

/sdcard/eyesfree/shortcuts.xml

on your SD-Card --- as is apparent, this is a power-user feature:-)!

2 Talking Mini-Applications For Single Touch Access

Here, we demonstrate some of the talking mini-applications thatcan be accessed from the Marvin screen.All of these mini-applications speak useful information withoutthe need for the user to do some form of context switch.

2.1 Device State

Available from 1 on the Marvin screen, this mini-applicationannounces useful information such as signal strength, andavailability of WiFi networks.

2.2 Date And Time

Available on 2 on the Marvin screen, this mini-application provides single-touch access to currentdate and time.

2.3 Battery State And Power

Pressing 3 on the Marvin screen speaks the current batterylevel and announces if the phone is presently being charged.

2.4 Knowing Your Location

Available as 6 from the Marvin home screen,this mini-application announces your present location based oninformation acquired via GPS and the cell network. It speaks yourcurrent heading using the built-in magnetic compass, looks up thecurrent location on Google Maps, and announces the location interms of a nearby address and street intersection.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

Video: Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

1 Video: Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The Marvin shell pulls together available eyes-free applicationsto provide an integrated user experience. Note that talkingapplications can come from many sources, with project Eyes-Freebeing but one such source. For other exciting talkingapplications that use our open Text To Speech (TTS) APIs, seethe Android Marketplace, where you will find many useful toolsthat integrate seamlessly with Marvin.

when you install the Eyes-Free Shell, you can choose to makeMarvin your default home screen --- this means that pressingthe home button always brings up the Marvin shell. To return tothe default Android home screen, hold down the back button for3 seconds or more.Here is a brief description of the Marvin user interface.

1.1 Single Touch Access To Useful Tools

The Marvin shell uses the Stroke Dialerto provide single touch access to useful tools right from thehome screen. You can explore this interface by moving your finger around the screen --- as you move over the buttons,Marvin speaks the associated action. Lifting up the fingerexecutes the current action. As an example,the top row of the keypad, i.e., 1, 2, and 3provide status information.Stroking to 4 brings up your favorite short-cuts, and 6speaks your current location using geo-location informationobtained from Google Maps. Pressing 7 connects to your voice-mailbox, and pressing9 invokes Voice Search to obtain quick spokenanswers from Google e.g., current weather for your location.Finally, the applications that appear on the shortcuts screencan be customized by editing XML file

/sdcard/eyesfree/shortcuts.xml

on your SD-Card --- as is apparent, this is a power-user feature:-)!

2 Talking Mini-Applications For Single Touch Access

Here, we demonstrate some of the talking mini-applications thatcan be accessed from the Marvin screen.All of these mini-applications speak useful information withoutthe need for the user to do some form of context switch.

2.1 Device State

Available from 1 on the Marvin screen, this mini-applicationannounces useful information such as signal strength, andavailability of WiFi networks.

2.2 Date And Time

Available on 2 on the Marvin screen, this mini-application provides single-touch access to currentdate and time.

2.3 Battery State And Power

Pressing 3 on the Marvin screen speaks the current batterylevel and announces if the phone is presently being charged.

2.4 Knowing Your Location

Available as 6 from the Marvin home screen,this mini-application announces your present location based oninformation acquired via GPS and the cell network. It speaks yourcurrent heading using the built-in magnetic compass, looks up thecurrent location on Google Maps, and announces the location interms of a nearby address and street intersection.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Talking PhoneBook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Video: Talking Phonebook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

1 Video: Talking Phonebook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

Pressing the menu button while in the Talking Dialer togglesbetween dialing mode and phonebook.When in phonebook, you get eyes-free access to your contactswith the ability to quickly move to the contact that you wishto call.

When in the phonebook, you can scroll through your contacts and press the call button to callthe current contact. In addition, you can use stroke dialingas explained below to quickly move to a specific contact.

1.1 Entering Letters Using Stroke dialing

We covered eyes-free input with the touch screen in the earlier video on stroke dialing--- in that video, we illustrated the concept via a traditionalphone keypad. Here, we extend that techniqueto enable textual input. In the explanation below, we will use compass directions to helpwith orientation.As before, we will use relative positioning i.e., for the rest ofthis explanation, you can start anywhere on the touch-screen--- though we recommend (for reasons that will become evident)that you start somewhere close to the middle of the screen.

1.2 The Eight Compass Directions

Defining the center as where you first touch down on thescreen, notice that you can stroke in any one of the 8 compassdirections, and that opposite pairs of compass directions e.g.,North and South, can be thought of as opposites.So we get 4 pairs. We enumerate these below,associate them with the 4 Google colors, and equate themto their equivalent strokes from the stroke dialer:

• Red: North-West and South-east 1 and 9.
• Blue: North and South --- 2 and 8.
• Green: North-East and South-West --- 3 and 7.
• Yellow: East and West --- 4 and 6.

Now, let's place the letters of the alphabet on these 4 circlesas follows:

• Red: A ... H
• Blue: I ... P
• Green: Q ... X
• Yellow: Y ... Z.

To input a given letter, we stroke to the circle containing thedesired letter, trace along the circle till we hear the letter wewant, and lift up the finger to make the selection. Letters arespoken in a female voice while moving along the selected circle;lifting up the finger speaks the selected letter in a male voice.

Notice that conceptually, we have defined a fairly simple mappingfrom strokes to letters of the alphabet!

1.3 Skimming The Contact List

So to cut a long story short, you dont need to scroll throughthe contact list. To quickly jump to a contact, use the techniquedescribed above to input the first letter from the contact's name--- the aplication jumps to contacts starting with thatletter. At that point, you can either scroll, or enter additionalletters to further filter the contact list.

1.4 Examples Of Using Strokes For Letters

Notice from the mapping shown earlier that we can enter eachcircle either at the top or bottom. Thus, entering the redcircle at the top gets to A, while entering it at thebottom gets us to E. This means that the 8 letters on anygiven circle are no more than 3 steps away --- for example, toenter C, one needs to trace clockwise from A, orcounter-clockwise from E. As an example, H is only 1 stepfrom A on the red circle. similarly, P is only 1 step fromI on the blue circle.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Talking PhoneBook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Video: Talking Phonebook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

1 Video: Talking Phonebook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

Pressing the menu button while in the Talking Dialer togglesbetween dialing mode and phonebook.When in phonebook, you get eyes-free access to your contactswith the ability to quickly move to the contact that you wishto call.

When in the phonebook, you can scroll through your contacts and press the call button to callthe current contact. In addition, you can use stroke dialingas explained below to quickly move to a specific contact.

1.1 Entering Letters Using Stroke dialing

We covered eyes-free input with the touch screen in the earlier video on stroke dialing--- in that video, we illustrated the concept via a traditionalphone keypad. Here, we extend that techniqueto enable textual input. In the explanation below, we will use compass directions to helpwith orientation.As before, we will use relative positioning i.e., for the rest ofthis explanation, you can start anywhere on the touch-screen--- though we recommend (for reasons that will become evident)that you start somewhere close to the middle of the screen.

1.2 The Eight Compass Directions

Defining the center as where you first touch down on thescreen, notice that you can stroke in any one of the 8 compassdirections, and that opposite pairs of compass directions e.g.,North and South, can be thought of as opposites.So we get 4 pairs. We enumerate these below,associate them with the 4 Google colors, and equate themto their equivalent strokes from the stroke dialer:

• Red: North-West and South-east 1 and 9.
• Blue: North and South --- 2 and 8.
• Green: North-East and South-West --- 3 and 7.
• Yellow: East and West --- 4 and 6.

Now, let's place the letters of the alphabet on these 4 circlesas follows:

• Red: A ... H
• Blue: I ... P
• Green: Q ... X
• Yellow: Y ... Z.

To input a given letter, we stroke to the circle containing thedesired letter, trace along the circle till we hear the letter wewant, and lift up the finger to make the selection. Letters arespoken in a female voice while moving along the selected circle;lifting up the finger speaks the selected letter in a male voice.

Notice that conceptually, we have defined a fairly simple mappingfrom strokes to letters of the alphabet!

1.3 Skimming The Contact List

So to cut a long story short, you dont need to scroll throughthe contact list. To quickly jump to a contact, use the techniquedescribed above to input the first letter from the contact's name--- the aplication jumps to contacts starting with thatletter. At that point, you can either scroll, or enter additionalletters to further filter the contact list.

1.4 Examples Of Using Strokes For Letters

Notice from the mapping shown earlier that we can enter eachcircle either at the top or bottom. Thus, entering the redcircle at the top gets to A, while entering it at thebottom gets us to E. This means that the 8 letters on anygiven circle are no more than 3 steps away --- for example, toenter C, one needs to trace clockwise from A, orcounter-clockwise from E. As an example, H is only 1 stepfrom A on the red circle. similarly, P is only 1 step fromI on the blue circle.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Video: Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

1 Video: Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The MotoRola Droid does not have a call button. Instead, Use the search capacitivebutton, i.e. the button on the extreme right, in place of the call button.

So now, let's use the stroke dialer for something practical ---let's make phone calls with our smart phone!Well, we know Marvin would disapprove if we just made phonecalls, so rest assured, we'll do a lot more later!

Pressing the call button on Android phones launches thebuilt-in dialing application. When using the Marvin shell,pressing this button launches the Talking Dialer application--- if you are not using Marvin as your home screen, you canlaunch this dialer as you would launch any Android application.

The Talking Dialer announces dialing mode upon start up.You can start dialing using the technique described in theprevious video on stroke dialer --- if you make a mistake, simplyshake the phone to erase. Once you have finished dialing, pressthe call button to initiate the call. The application speaksthe number you're about to dial, and makes the call once youpress the call button to confirm.But you say

Dialing phone numbers is so passe'!

--- well, there is still hope for the Talking Dialer. Inaddition to dialing mode, the Talking Dialer provides an easyto use Talking Phonebook that provides eyes-free access to yourcontact list --- we will cover this in our video on the talking phonebook.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Video: Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

1 Video: Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The MotoRola Droid does not have a call button. Instead, Use the search capacitivebutton, i.e. the button on the extreme right, in place of the call button.

So now, let's use the stroke dialer for something practical ---let's make phone calls with our smart phone!Well, we know Marvin would disapprove if we just made phonecalls, so rest assured, we'll do a lot more later!

Pressing the call button on Android phones launches thebuilt-in dialing application. When using the Marvin shell,pressing this button launches the Talking Dialer application--- if you are not using Marvin as your home screen, you canlaunch this dialer as you would launch any Android application.

The Talking Dialer announces dialing mode upon start up.You can start dialing using the technique described in theprevious video on stroke dialer --- if you make a mistake, simplyshake the phone to erase. Once you have finished dialing, pressthe call button to initiate the call. The application speaksthe number you're about to dial, and makes the call once youpress the call button to confirm.But you say

Dialing phone numbers is so passe'!

--- well, there is still hope for the Talking Dialer. Inaddition to dialing mode, the Talking Dialer provides an easyto use Talking Phonebook that provides eyes-free access to yourcontact list --- we will cover this in our video on the talking phonebook.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

HTML generated by org-mode 6.08c in emacs 23

Stroke Dialler For Android

Video: Stroke Dialer For Android

1 Video: Stroke Dialer For Eyes-Free Keypad Input

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The stroke dialer enables one-handed keypad input using thetouch-screen --- and that without having to even look at thescreen. Here is how it works --- we start with a briefdescription of the problem that asks the rightquestion. The answer becomes self-evident as you follow thisvideo.

1.1 The Problem

On-screen keyboards typically show some buttons on the screenthat you activate by touching the screen. To activate suchbuttons, one needs to look at the screen, because the buttons areplaced at specific points on the screen, i.e., they areabsolutely positioned. So what if you want to activate suchbuttons without looking at the screen?From the foregoing description, it's clear that the only reasonone is forced to look at an on-screen keyboard is because thebuttons are absolutely positioned. So let's relax thatconstraint, let's use relative positioning to place thebuttons.

We'll start with a keyboard we're all familiar with, thetelephone keypad. Since we're using relative positioning,let's place the center of the keypad wherever you firsttouch the screen.So, to dial a 5, you just touch the screen.

Now, you know where 5 is --- it's where you first touchdown. But look, since you know the layout of a phone keypad, youcan now find all the other digits relative to the 5. So forexample, 2 is directly above 5 --- so to press 2, youtouch down on the screen, and stroke up before lifting yourfinger.similarly, you stroke down for an 8, or diagonally up for a1.

In real life, we both hear and feel as we press physicalbuttons. This form of synchronized auditory and tactile feedbackis essential for creating user interfaces that feelrealistic. The stroke dialer produces a slight vibration as thefinger moves over the various buttons that is synchronized withan auditory tick to achieve this effect. It also producesspoken feedback to indicate the button that was pressed.

To conclude this video, let's dial a few numbers.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Stroke Dialler For Android

Video: Stroke Dialer For Android

1 Video: Stroke Dialer For Eyes-Free Keypad Input

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The stroke dialer enables one-handed keypad input using thetouch-screen --- and that without having to even look at thescreen. Here is how it works --- we start with a briefdescription of the problem that asks the rightquestion. The answer becomes self-evident as you follow thisvideo.

1.1 The Problem

On-screen keyboards typically show some buttons on the screenthat you activate by touching the screen. To activate suchbuttons, one needs to look at the screen, because the buttons areplaced at specific points on the screen, i.e., they areabsolutely positioned. So what if you want to activate suchbuttons without looking at the screen?From the foregoing description, it's clear that the only reasonone is forced to look at an on-screen keyboard is because thebuttons are absolutely positioned. So let's relax thatconstraint, let's use relative positioning to place thebuttons.

We'll start with a keyboard we're all familiar with, thetelephone keypad. Since we're using relative positioning,let's place the center of the keypad wherever you firsttouch the screen.So, to dial a 5, you just touch the screen.

Now, you know where 5 is --- it's where you first touchdown. But look, since you know the layout of a phone keypad, youcan now find all the other digits relative to the 5. So forexample, 2 is directly above 5 --- so to press 2, youtouch down on the screen, and stroke up before lifting yourfinger.similarly, you stroke down for an 8, or diagonally up for a1.

In real life, we both hear and feel as we press physicalbuttons. This form of synchronized auditory and tactile feedbackis essential for creating user interfaces that feelrealistic. The stroke dialer produces a slight vibration as thefinger moves over the various buttons that is synchronized withan auditory tick to achieve this effect. It also producesspoken feedback to indicate the button that was pressed.

To conclude this video, let's dial a few numbers.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Introducing Marvin --- Eyes-Free Interaction On Android

Android Eyes-Free Introduction

1 Video: Introducing Project Eyes-Free For Android

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

Project Eyes-Free turns your Android into an eyes-freecommunication device with one-handed, single-touch access tocommon tasks. Applications from this project can be usedstand-alone; they can also be used together through the Eyes-Freeshell. This collection of videos will cover the latter scenario.

We will refer to the eyes-free shell as Marvin in honor ofDouglas Adams' famous paranoid android--- our Marvin says

Brain the size of a planet and they expect me to make phone calls?

The Marvin home screen provides single-touch access to useful information via acollection of talking mini-applications. In addition, commonlyused applications can be placed under shortcuts for quickaccess. Finally, the call button automatically launches theeyes-free Talking Dialer --- all of these applications arecovered in detail in subsequent videos.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com >

Introducing Marvin --- Eyes-Free Interaction On Android

Android Eyes-Free Introduction

1 Video: Introducing Project Eyes-Free For Android

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

Project Eyes-Free turns your Android into an eyes-freecommunication device with one-handed, single-touch access tocommon tasks. Applications from this project can be usedstand-alone; they can also be used together through the Eyes-Freeshell. This collection of videos will cover the latter scenario.

We will refer to the eyes-free shell as Marvin in honor ofDouglas Adams' famous paranoid android--- our Marvin says

Brain the size of a planet and they expect me to make phone calls?

The Marvin home screen provides single-touch access to useful information via acollection of talking mini-applications. In addition, commonlyused applications can be placed under shortcuts for quickaccess. Finally, the call button automatically launches theeyes-free Talking Dialer --- all of these applications arecovered in detail in subsequent videos.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com >

An Introduction To YouTube Channel EyesFreeAndroid

The next set of articles on this blog cover the videos we have posted to channel EyesFreeAndroid on YouTube. Each article links to a particular video thathighlights a given aspect of eyes-free interaction on Androidusing the built-in screenreader and related access tools.In thefuture, I'll make sure to post such descriptions as soon as thevideos are uploaded, so watch this space! ( at the time thevideos were posted last year, I did not have this blog)

An Introduction To YouTube Channel EyesFreeAndroid

The next set of articles on this blog cover the videos we have posted to channel EyesFreeAndroid on YouTube. Each article links to a particular video thathighlights a given aspect of eyes-free interaction on Androidusing the built-in screenreader and related access tools.In thefuture, I'll make sure to post such descriptions as soon as thevideos are uploaded, so watch this space! ( at the time thevideos were posted last year, I did not have this blog)

Eyes-Free G1 --- My First Talking Android!

In the first article in this series, I'll cover the T-MobileG1 from HTC, my first accessible Android.Note: I've since moved on to the MotoRola Droid, but that is fora future article in this series.

I'll try to use a consistent outline for these articles where possible --- in general, you can expect articles covering a particular Android device have separate sections that address the hardware and software. Note that the softwware bits --- the Eyes-Free Marvin Shell and our free screenreader TalkBack, our common across all all Android devices.

The G1 Device And Eyes-Free Use

Here is a brief summary of my experience with the G1hardware:

• The G1's keyboard is easy to use once you get used to thelayout, you can effectively touch-type with two thumbs.
• It is possible to do many functions without having to pullout the keyboard, thanks to the track-ball and buttons on thefront panel.
• The front panel has 5 buttons and a trackball:left-to-right, these are:Call, Home, Menu, Back, andHangup.
• The menu button is something you will use very oftenwith Android applications. When you try out a new application,pressing menu lets you explore the application via the track-ball.
• The track-ball takes some getting used to, it can move overmultiple items in lists if one isn't careful.
• This was the first time I used a touch-screen, and the G1opened up many user-interface innovations.

Eyes-Free: Marvin Shell And TalkBack On G1

The Marvin Shell is my default home shell on all my Androiddevices. Note that TalkBack works fluently with the defaulthome-shell that comes with Android; however the Marvin Shell hassome nice touches that make it ideal for efficient eyes-free use--- for examples, see YouTubechannel EyesFreeAndroid.Here is a brief summary of my G1 setup, along with examples ofperforming some sample tasks. A word of caution first on whatdoesn't work yet:The browser is not yet TalkBack-enabled, and as aconsequence, browser-based applications such as GMail will notwork (yet).

• I have option accessibility checked (see theAndroid settings menu). Within that same menu, I have TalkBack,SoundBack and KickBack enabled.
• I also have the Eyes-Free Shell available on the AndroidMarket installed, along with the suite of Eyes-Free applicationsthat accompany it.
• Pressing the Home button on the front panel switchesto or restarts the Eyes-Free Shell.
• Many common actions can be performed by touch-gestures on theEyes-Free Shell, see the relevant YouTube Video.
• You can enter Marvin's application launcher bystroking down on the home screen. Once in that launcher, you canuse the circle dialer to quickly jump to a particularapplication; you can scroll the list with the track ball. Onceyou've found an application, you the call button on thefront panel to launch the application.
• Here is the StrokeDialer for keypad input in action. As an example, I strokeright to get a Y and that selects the YouTubeapplication. Launch it by pressing call on the frontpanel.
• When you launch the YouTube application, TalkBacktakes over --- as the end-user, you continue to get spokenfeedback and typically are never aware of the transition.
• Note that many Android applications use the touch screen forrapid interaction. Taking a few minutes to get oriented with thetouch controls for an application you plan to use often can make task completion more efficient. Caveat: we dont yet have an exploration widget to aid in this --- typically, I've had the user interface described to me. Notice that once you know that the YouTube UI uses a landscape orientation and that the bar for controling playback appears on the bottom, you can easily use your finger to slide along the bottom of the screen to control playback.
• TalkBack provides fluent spoken feedback for many commontasks, such as Instant Messaging using Google Talk, or for SMSusing the built-in Messaging application.
• Another useful Android feature to leverage is the StatusBar --- here is where applications post notifications,e.g. a missed call, or an upcoming calendar appointment.
• You open up status bar by bringing it down--- think of it as pulling down a screen. Place your finger atthe top of the screen and stroke all the waydown.
• You can now use the track-ball to scroll through anyavailable notifications and hear them spoken. This isparticularly useful with Google Calendar.

And of course, there is much more to say than will fit in asingle blog article.

Eyes-Free G1 --- My First Talking Android!

In the first article in this series, I'll cover the T-MobileG1 from HTC, my first accessible Android.Note: I've since moved on to the MotoRola Droid, but that is fora future article in this series.

I'll try to use a consistent outline for these articles where possible --- in general, you can expect articles covering a particular Android device have separate sections that address the hardware and software. Note that the softwware bits --- the Eyes-Free Marvin Shell and our free screenreader TalkBack, our common across all all Android devices.

The G1 Device And Eyes-Free Use

Here is a brief summary of my experience with the G1hardware:

• The G1's keyboard is easy to use once you get used to thelayout, you can effectively touch-type with two thumbs.
• It is possible to do many functions without having to pullout the keyboard, thanks to the track-ball and buttons on thefront panel.
• The front panel has 5 buttons and a trackball:left-to-right, these are:Call, Home, Menu, Back, andHangup.
• The menu button is something you will use very oftenwith Android applications. When you try out a new application,pressing menu lets you explore the application via the track-ball.
• The track-ball takes some getting used to, it can move overmultiple items in lists if one isn't careful.
• This was the first time I used a touch-screen, and the G1opened up many user-interface innovations.

Eyes-Free: Marvin Shell And TalkBack On G1

The Marvin Shell is my default home shell on all my Androiddevices. Note that TalkBack works fluently with the defaulthome-shell that comes with Android; however the Marvin Shell hassome nice touches that make it ideal for efficient eyes-free use--- for examples, see YouTubechannel EyesFreeAndroid.Here is a brief summary of my G1 setup, along with examples ofperforming some sample tasks. A word of caution first on whatdoesn't work yet:The browser is not yet TalkBack-enabled, and as aconsequence, browser-based applications such as GMail will notwork (yet).

• I have option accessibility checked (see theAndroid settings menu). Within that same menu, I have TalkBack,SoundBack and KickBack enabled.
• I also have the Eyes-Free Shell available on the AndroidMarket installed, along with the suite of Eyes-Free applicationsthat accompany it.
• Pressing the Home button on the front panel switchesto or restarts the Eyes-Free Shell.
• Many common actions can be performed by touch-gestures on theEyes-Free Shell, see the relevant YouTube Video.
• You can enter Marvin's application launcher bystroking down on the home screen. Once in that launcher, you canuse the circle dialer to quickly jump to a particularapplication; you can scroll the list with the track ball. Onceyou've found an application, you the call button on thefront panel to launch the application.
• Here is the StrokeDialer for keypad input in action. As an example, I strokeright to get a Y and that selects the YouTubeapplication. Launch it by pressing call on the frontpanel.
• When you launch the YouTube application, TalkBacktakes over --- as the end-user, you continue to get spokenfeedback and typically are never aware of the transition.
• Note that many Android applications use the touch screen forrapid interaction. Taking a few minutes to get oriented with thetouch controls for an application you plan to use often can make task completion more efficient. Caveat: we dont yet have an exploration widget to aid in this --- typically, I've had the user interface described to me. Notice that once you know that the YouTube UI uses a landscape orientation and that the bar for controling playback appears on the bottom, you can easily use your finger to slide along the bottom of the screen to control playback.
• TalkBack provides fluent spoken feedback for many commontasks, such as Instant Messaging using Google Talk, or for SMSusing the built-in Messaging application.
• Another useful Android feature to leverage is the StatusBar --- here is where applications post notifications,e.g. a missed call, or an upcoming calendar appointment.
• You open up status bar by bringing it down--- think of it as pulling down a screen. Place your finger atthe top of the screen and stroke all the waydown.
• You can now use the track-ball to scroll through anyavailable notifications and hear them spoken. This isparticularly useful with Google Calendar.

And of course, there is much more to say than will fit in asingle blog article.

Welcome To Eyes-Free Android

I'll blog about my use of Android phones here.The tools I use are being developed as part of project Eyes-Freeand you can meet up with other users on GoogleGroupEyes-Free.All code developed as part of project Eyes-Free is OpenSource, and the core Access API, and associated adaptivetechnology is part of the Android platform starting with Android1.6.

What You Can Expect To See On This Blog

Android runs on a variety of mobile phones and devices varywith respect to their various hardware features, e.g., keyboards,trackball etc. This blog will focus on tips and tricks forgetting the most out of various Android devices, based on mypersonal experience.

Welcome To Eyes-Free Android

I'll blog about my use of Android phones here.The tools I use are being developed as part of project Eyes-Freeand you can meet up with other users on GoogleGroupEyes-Free.All code developed as part of project Eyes-Free is OpenSource, and the core Access API, and associated adaptivetechnology is part of the Android platform starting with Android1.6.

What You Can Expect To See On This Blog

Android runs on a variety of mobile phones and devices varywith respect to their various hardware features, e.g., keyboards,trackball etc. This blog will focus on tips and tricks forgetting the most out of various Android devices, based on mypersonal experience.

Tomb Raider - Spin3

For the ultimate in mobile gaming adventures join Lara Croft on the ever popular Tomb Raider™ video slot. Based on the highly successful video game and movie, the video slot is just as action-packed. The lost treasure theme is full of mystery and familiar imagery. The features include a hidden underground tomb containing 12 gift-bearing idols. When 3-5 of these idols appear on the payline, an exciting “Tomb Bonus” is triggered. Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider logo, the Hitman logo, Eidos and the Eidos logo are trademarks of Eidos Interactive Ltd. All rights reserved.

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