Pocket Hal v7 is coming!
Launch date announced.
24th Jul, 2006
August 2006 is set to open up a whole new world of mobile computer access for blind and low vision computer users. After an intensive development programme, Dolphin is pleased to announce that their latest Pocket Hal for Microsoft’s Mobile 5 platform will be formally released for sale in August 2006.
Pocket Hal v7 is the first full screen reader for PDAs and telephone devices which use the Windows Mobile 5 operating system. Currently being presented at the Sight Village exhibition in Birmingham, ICEVI in Kuala Lumpur and the AHEAD conference in San Diego, it offers outstanding levels of communication and note-taking productivity, in a truly lightweight and pocket sized package.
Pocket Hal provides users with access to everyday Windows Mobile 2003® and the latest Windows Mobile 5® based applications running on a standard PDA and telephone devices. It will work with most standard applications available for PDAs straight from the box and can be easily adapted for bespoke non standard applications. With the flexibility to choose a range of wireless input and output devices you can decide whether to use it as a lightweight and portable Braille notetaker or a regular text based system with a QWERTY keyboard, or simply switch between the two.
Enhancements to Pocket Hal have been inserted since the Pocket PC 2003 release as a result of customer feedback, these include:
- A new installation wizard to help beginners’ installing Pocket Hal for the first time.
- A 15 page wizard to guide users through the navigation options of Pocket Hal which can be accessed at any time.
- Announcement tunes to make users aware that their device is successfully inserted in the docking station available for each device and that the device has been turned on.
- Support for navigation of Pocket Internet Explorer.
- New and familiar voices.
- Easier navigation of the calendar, messaging and contacts.
- Support for additional Braille input and output Bluetooth devices
- Option to use Grade 2 Braille input for UK, US English and German.
These new features combined with existing options to pair up with more than one Bluetooth keyboard or Braille display and navigate the PDA from the existing buttons will provide a new exciting option for beginners and more experienced users.
Bonnie Kearney, Director of Marketing, Accessible Technology Group at Microsoft, comments; "Thanks to accessible technology like Dolphin’s Pocket Hal, low vision and blind computer users are able to take full advantage of the latest range of Microsoft mobile solutions. Dolphin’s latest range of access solutions will ensure that visually impaired computer users are able to access the latest technology in a way that suits them best."
