Totally Confused About Phones and Software

Tue Mar 11 16:47:11 CDT 2008

Hello,

If you want to stick with Sprint, I suggest going to a store where they sell
Sprint phones and checking out the following devices:
. Motorola Q9C
. PPC-6800
. Palm Treo 700WX
. Motorola Q

The first two are the newest Windows Mobile devices Sprint is carrying and
that we support. Well, they also have the Samsung Ace which is running on
Windows Mobile but we do not officially support it yet, so please refrain
from buying that one for now. But the PPC-6800 is one of the most popular
Pocket PC phones among our Mobile Speak Pocket customers and many users
(blind and sighted) have given it very good reviews. The Motorola Q9C works
with Mobile Speak Smartphone and is also a device with very good
specifications and features, and therefore, it is also highly recommended.
The other two devices I listed above are good ones as well, but they are not
new models. This means you will most likely be able to buy them for a lower
price, but if you wish to keep abreast with the latest software and hardware
in mobile technology, updates won't be available for them. Note though that
Mobile Speak Pocket and Mobile Speak Smartphone updates have been free since
the first version and they will continue to support these devices as long as
possible.

As for your question, there are several differences and I'm not sure if I
can keep it simple, though I'll try. As others said, the main difference is
in the operating system that powers the device. And different operating
systems imply different user interfaces and suite of applications. By "user
interface" in this case, I am referring to the way the device can be
accessed by the user (keys, touch-activated screen, how the options of
programs can be selected, how functions can be performed - do you have to
press just one key, do you have to open a list and then select a category of
options, before you can get to the main list of options, etc.). The
difference in the suite of applications are mainly with available functions
and the particular user interface of each application, but generally, they
can do the same things that matter to most users of mobile devices.

Pocket PC phones and PDAs are Windows Mobile-powered devices that have touch
screens which the user taps in order to perform a function. Some Pocket PCs,
however, also come with either a QWERTY keyboard or standard phone / numeric
keypad. We say PDA if it is designed to be used primarily for notetaking.
You can make calls with them but only using internet telephony software, so
it's not like you have a phone number people can call (though there are ways
to set internet telephone accounts to be linked with phone numbers, but the
point is that it's not a straightforward matter to use a PDA-only device as
a cell phone). If the PDA has the added functionality of a mobile phone, we
call it a Pocket PC phone, but note that it is still designed primarily to
be a notetaker. Therefore, unlike other mobile phones, it has applications
with very complete features for creating and editing documents, spreadsheets
(some with the ability to create data charts), PowerPoint presentations,
etc. It has a full-featured set of applications for storing contacts,
appointments, tasks, notes, messages, and allows you to make copies of these
data on a Windows desktop computer. Consequently, Pocket PC phones do not
even feel like a cell phone in your hand, but they are powerful devices that
they are preferred by business professionals that find they need to have
access to their data wherever they go. Hence, Pocket PC phones are also
referred to as Windows Mobile Professional Pocket PCs, whereas the PDA-only
devices are called Windows Mobile Classic Pocket PCs.

Windows Mobile Smartphones, on the other hand, are still running on the same
operating system but a different version of it... one that is designed to
work on a device to be used primarily as a cell phone, but has extra
features that allow you to store data on it as though it was a PDA. Unlike
Pocket PCs, WM Smartphones do not have touch-activated screens but are
accessed using either a QWERTY keyboard or a standard phone keypad, or both.
This is why they are considered more similar to Symbian phones which are
also cell phones first and foremost, but are based on a different operating
system that has a keyboard-based interface. Both the Symbian-based and the
Windows Mobile-powered smartphones feel like a cell phone in your hand and
the first instinct really is to use them like phones and then enjoy the
extra functions for reading documents, storing personal data like contacts
and appointments, browsing the internet, playing music, etc. Because they
are running on different operating systems, They differ in the user
interface and suite of applications that come preinstalled.

Unlike what others like to claim, Windows Mobile devices are not less stable
than Symbian phones. And I should know because the nature of my job requires
me not only to check out these devices out of curiosity and to gloat as to
what works better than the other. I have the devices all the time, use them,
test them with our software and those made by other third-party developers,
and as a blind person, know what it's like to have Symbian and Windows
Mobile phones as your communication and notetaking tools. Each operating
system, however, does have its strengths and limitations, and deciding which
set of strengths will outweigh which set of limitations is a subjective
matter, to say the least.

For example, I myself prefer using a Windows Mobile Smartphone for my
personal use because I like being able to synchronize my data on the mobile
device and the PC easily. Sure, there are ways to make Symbian phones sync
data with a Windows computer but it doesn't feel as "instinctive" as it does
with Windows Mobile devices. I also like to be able to access most types of
files I created on my computer, without having to worry if my phone has the
right application to open the file, if the application I'm using is up to
the task, or will it mess up the format so badly that I will lose some
information stored in the file, or if the changes i make to the file using
my device will not be carried over to my PC later. With my Windows Mobile
Smartphone, I read Microsoft Word documents using Word Mobile, i keep
interrelated data in Excel files that I can review using Excel Mobile, I can
read someone's PowerPoint presentation quickly without having to get to a PC
with screen reader by using PowerPoint Mobile instead, I again open a web
page I first checked out on my PC using Internet Explorer Mobile, and I
create contacts, emails and Calendar appointments on my device with the
confidence that when I get home and connect my device to my computer to
synchronize data, I will find that data in Microsoft Outlook on my PC if and
when I care to check later, whether or not I consciously remembered to sync
that data. But you see, that's me.

Other people prefer Symbian phones because they find that they get more out
of it in terms of battery life. I personally find that if I really use the
phone a lot, there is no considerable difference in the time between battery
charging sessions, and I don't mind if I have to charge the phone every
night, because if I'm going out the following morning, I'd want the phone
fully charged anyway, regardless if I still had 90% battery charge when i
went to bed. However, I can see how this is a concern for other people and
if you are one of them, then going for a Symbian phone may be a good idea.
Symbian phones also tend to have better specs: e.g., higher screen
resolution which would matter to screen magnification users, better camera
quality and resolution, more built-in user-customizable functions in
applications like those that handle contacts and phone profiles, and to some
people, I suppose a more consistent user interface. Let me explain the
latter.

With these mainstream phones , you have two keys which I will refer to as
option keys for simplicity (though others on this list will call it softkeys
or menu keys or function keys). To differentiate the two, I will refer to
their relative physical position on the device: left option key and right
option key. Their function changes depending on what is displayed on the
screen. If it is a question like, "Are you sure you wish to delete this
contact?", then they would be assigned to "Yes" and "No". If you are in the
main screen of an application, the functions that you can perform in this
program may be grouped in a menu list you can choose from and this list will
be opened by one option key, while the other will be used to exit the
application or cancel the function you have selected. If you are in a screen
where you can change the settings for an application, one option key may be
used to save the changes you made so that those new settings will take
effect from then on, while the other disregards those changes if you decided
not to apply them after all. Well, with Symbian phones, the function of
option keys are more predictable. The left option key will be for "Yes",
"Save", "OK", "Done", "Select", "next", "Activate"... all the affirmative,
"Please go ahead" functions, as well as to open the menu list for an
application. Whereas, the right option key will be assigned to "No", "Exit",
"Cancel", "Back", and generally, the "Oops, I don't want to do that or go
there" type of action. That is not always the case for Windows Mobile
devices. You will find that the menu list for an application is usually
opened using the right option key, but some developers assign that to the
left. "Yes" and "No" may be assigned to the left and right option keys
respectively, but in a sequence of steps presented in different screens,
"Next" and "Back" may be assigned to right and left respectively instead.
You will find that there may be no option key to go back or cancel or exit,
but you either use a different key for that or select it from the menu list
opened by the right option key.

But whether this is more confusing or not depends on the user. To give a
more concrete example, if you start composing a message, and you decide you
don't want to send it right now anyway, you opt to cancel the message. On
Symbian phones, you will be presented with a list of two choices: Save to
Drafts (so that you can reopen this message later and continue composing
it), and Delete message. You arrow up and down this list of two choices to
focus on the one you want to perform. Then you have the left and right
option key assigned to select or cancel. On Windows Mobile devices, if you
decide to cancel the message, you will be asked, "Do you wish to save the
message to Drafts?" and the left and right option keys will be assigned to
"Yes" and "No". If you select yes with the left option key, then it's the
same as focusing on the Save to Drafts choice on a Symbian phone and
pressing the left option key to select it. If you select No with the right
option key, then it's the same as arrowing to the Delete choice on a Symbian
phone and still pressing the left option key. Is one more confusing than the
other? In my opinion, no, but that's me. On the one hand, there will be
people who would say they want to use arrow keys to select what to do and
without having to find out what each option key does, know automatically
that the left option key will select their choice. On the other hand, you
have people saying they don't want to use the arrow keys to focus on their
choice first and then do another keystroke to press an option key. They want
a question with a yes or no answer selected using the option keys. As I
said, it boils down to personal preference.

OK. So, I believe I have successfully befuddled you enough, <smile>, but
I'll close saying that since you are moving from an LG phone with limited
accessibility features to a phone that will be made fully accessible by a
screen reading solution designed specifically for the blind, I suggest
choosing either a Windows Mobile-based or a Symbian-powered smartphone,
because the Pocket PC phone models will not only feel different but be a
different mobile technology to study altogether so the learning curve will
most certainly be steep from your perspective. If, as stated at the start of
this message, you want to stay with Sprint, then Symbian phones are out of
the question because none from Sprint will work with screen readers
available in the market today. In that case, I suggest getting the Motorola
Q9C to use with Mobile Speak Smartphone. However, if you are considering
moving to another carrier, particularly one that has a GSM network (e.g.,
AT&T or T-Mobile), then you can get a phone based on the Symbian or Windows
Mobile platform. That reminds me, if you are going to leave Sprint, you may
want to check out the web page at www.codefactory.es/att for a way to get a
phone and the screen reader at an affordable price.

Hope some of this helps somehow,
Roselle
________________________________________
Roselle R. Ambubuyog
Code factory, S.L.
Moving accessibility forward!
Mobile: +63 916 940-0007
E-mail: roselle.ambubuyog at codefactory.es
Website: http://www.codefactory.es

-----Original Message-----
From: blindphones-bounces at mosenexplosion.com
[mailto:blindphones-bounces at mosenexplosion.com] On Behalf Of Caroline
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:02 AM
To: blindphones at mosenexplosion.com
Subject: Totally Confused About Phones and Software

Hi everyone.  I've been a happy Sprint customer since August of 2003, and
don't want to make any changes to that.  For the past year I've had the
LGLX550 Fusic and it's been meeting my needs in terms of speaking caller ID
information, allowing me to review my call logs, accessing my contacts list,
so on and so forth.  The problem is, I'm on my second one, and I keep
running into problems.  The phone likes to turn itself off randomly, which
makes me lose calls, and lately it's been misreporting caller ID
information.  When I'm working, I need a phone that's going to be reliable
for me.  As far as I know, the only other "accessible" phone that Sprint
offers is the Motorola Q.  Getting any sort of help from the disability
center at Sprint is almost impossible, so I haven't talked to them yet.  So,
this leads me to my questions.

First, what's the difference between the Symbian phones and ... those that
aren't?  I know that the phones from Sprint don't operate on the Symbian
network.  Then, what, exactly is the difference between the operating system
on say, the Nokia N82, (which is not a Sprint phone), and the Motorola Q
which is now running Windows Mobile 6?  

Answers to those questions may answer my next questions, but I'll ask
anyway.  I'm looking at Mobile Speak as my way of making the phone talk.
I've looked on the Code Factory web site, and I can't find a lot of
description about the differences in their software.  Is there any
difference between the Symbian-based Mobile Speak Pocket and the Smart Phone
version?  I want to make sure I do this right.  Any suggestions would be
really helpful.  Thanks in advance.

Caroline

--
Caroline; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
http://www.CarolinesKittyCorner.com
Skype: ccongdon
MSN/Windows Live: cat_lover1976 at att.net
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