Hi everyone. I could be happy that the new Vocalizer Expressive is integrated in IOS7 but instead I am mostly frustrated. I'm a blind software developer from Israel using both Mac and Iphone. During the last months there were strong rumors that Apple will add a Hebrew TTS to IOS7 and Mavericks. Yes I know, even a strong rumor is just a rumor. But I also know that Hebrew TTS _is_ included in Vocalizer Expressive, bot for reasons I really don't know and understand, Apple decided to exclude it out and did not integrate Hebrew TTS in IOS7 and so far it is not included in the Beta versions of Mavericks too. Most unfortunately, nobody in the Accessibility group of Apple gives us even a clue why they had to take it out. After all, we did not ask Apple to invent the wheel. Hebrew TTS is part of Vocalizer Expressive, but still was excluded from IOS7. I, for myself can manage well with English but there are hundreds of blind people who don't know English and were waiting impatiently for the Hebrew support on IOS7 to buy iphones and now they are left out with much frustration. Yes, the Israeli blindness market is small and Apple still has significant accessibility advantages over Android, but if that Hebrew TTS will be integrated in Android before IOS, Apple will probably loose that market. I love Apple products but I'm most unhappy with their behavior towards Hebrew support and I still hope somebody will give a comprehensive answer to this issue. Thanks, Rafi.
_____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of BBS Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 12:14 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Vocalizer Expressive, Was Re: iOS 7, the worse update for norwegians using VoiceOver Hi everyone. I've been meaning to send this out to you guys but I was catching up on around 85 emails so here goes. I have an explanation of why the old Norweigion voice that people are used to is no longer used. I actually read this on the Viphone list and I wanted to inform you as well. The reason why that voice is no longer in the iPhone is because Nuance has stopped supporting the Vocalizer Automotive version 5.5 engine, which was present in iOS6 and I think is present in OS X Mountain Lion. Because of this, Apple is now using Nuance's new TTS engine, Vocalizer Expressive. This new version of Vocalizer has new voices, and as some of you that are using the Australian Karen voice may notice, she sounds way better in this version. So for people that want the old voices back, it won't happen because like I said, Vocalizer Automotive 5.5 is no longer supported by Nuance. Also if I may add, it's inevitable that this new Vocalizer Expressive engine will also be coming to OS X Mavericks when it comes out. Shawn Sent From My White MacBook -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
