Yep, please! keep us posted and I myself am very interested as a Samsung Galaxy product is exactly what I'm thinking of purchasing towards the end of next year as its supposed to be one of the best Android devices available right now.
I see where you're coming from regarding your N86, I still have mine <smile>. You made the point about the Phone and the third party apps being cheap and I think this is going to be the very reason why we'll be seeing a lot of blind people taking up the option of a Samsung Galaxy or similar Android product with the Code Factory apps as part of the deal. The fact remains that more options exist for an Android user, as I pointed out earlier my friend Gary has a HTC which includes a small qwerty keyboard which would be a nice touch - pardon the pun - to a smart phone in my opinion. On 29/12/2011, at 9:53 AM, David Griffith wrote: > To be a good boy I have changed the subject line to reflect the change in > discussion. > Anyway in response to the discussion I can provide some limited feedback. > I have just bought a Samsung Galaxy Europa for £69 from virgin Pay as you > go. I have also purchased mobile accessibility for £53. code Factory say I > can install this on any other Android phone I purchase in the future. I > reasoned that better access Android phones would emerge with ice Cream > Sandwich next year but this was a cheaper option for me now to put my toe > into the water so to speak. This pone was purchased really as a stop gap, > whilst these better accessible options emerge next year. . . . > > I did look at an I-Phone but it was simply out of my budget for the time > being. The Imac is still burning a hole in my wallet. > I reasoned that this relatively low cost entry would provide me with some > experience of using a touch screen phone for a lower outlay. I am actually > interested less in using it as a phone but more in using free GPS aps and > Google goggles for on the fly OCR and product and place recognition. There > is also a dictate function provided by mobile Accessibility and some other > dictation apps I understand. Many of these have versions on the I-Phone as > well I believe so it is a cheaper way of me exploring these apps. I think > there is also the free IRIS app which is the cheeky backwards spelt android > version of SIRI. I have also heard that there are good free web radio apps > and music players available for the android. The fact that you do not need > to synchronise and you can simply hook the phone up as USB drive to copy > content also appealed to me. > > So far I can report that setting up access is not at all straightforward and > there is a learning curve with the phone. However this is not the case with > the mobile accessibility suite of programs which are all accessible and very > easy to use. The programs behave in a similar way to the Nokia phone apps > with talks. > I am definitely finding the on screen keyboard and touch screen an access > challenge. My next purchase will probably be a Bluetooth keypad to use with > the phone. Despite using the on screen keyboard for text and number input > the Samsung Galaxy Europa has very tactile buttons in other ways. Far more > tactile than for example my N86 Nokia. There is a big centre home button > surrounded by a 4 way cursor ring. There is a search, menu, back and power > off buttons. All these buttons are multifunction. There is also a volume > button which also has multiple functions associated with it. For example > holding the volume key in will turn the on screen Mobile accessibility > keyboard on. > > In no way yet would this phone replace my Nokia N86 with talks as making > phone calls with this older phone is still far more efficient at the moment. > The Samsung is low cost enough for me to maintain both options and the > Samsung is not a weighty device so it is no hardship slipping it into a > pocket or bag. > I have a lot of writing to do at the moment so it is likely that my > exploration of this device will be quite slow. > However I have learnt a few things including the need to install the Ideal > Accessibility app to get you start with downloading all the programs you > will need for ideal accessibility. > > I will keep people posted if they are in interested. > > David Griffith > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mary Stores > Sent: 28 December 2011 21:11 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Apple Versus Microsoft; [Screen-Readers] > > Well, there is ZoomText, and also Drangon Naturally Speaking. Those are both > great AT products that do well with Windows, but many of our students have > reported frustrations on the mac to the point of returning the programs. > > Firefox also have some very good web accessibility evaluation tools that > have been developed recently. > > But the term "versus," ... I have to say I don't like it. They are two > different OS's and there are different ways of navigating both. > > Regarding Android, I do hope Google does a better job. The got booed off the > stage, so to speak, at last year's CSUN conference. Hopefully that has > caused them to ear alarm bells, but several of my friends who have gotten > Android phones have said they are very frustrated with their purchase. > > Mary > > > > > ======================================= > > The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus > and worm-free > > To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web > pages located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at > either of the following websites: > > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html > > Or: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> > you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> > > --------------------------------------- > > > ======================================= > > The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus > and worm-free > > To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web > pages located at > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at > either of the following websites: > > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html > > Or: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> > you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> > > --------------------------------------- ======================================= The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at either of the following websites: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html Or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> ---------------------------------------
