Greetings from Orbit Research!
We are pleased to announce the availability of a new software update, version 1.6 for the Orbit Speak notetaker. This update adds quite a few major new features and changes both for Orbit Speak Standard as well as for Orbit Speak Plus customers.
The update can be installed by using the automatic software update feature built into the Orbit Speak. Instructions on performing this process are provided below.
New features/changes
The following is a list of the new features and enhancements that are available in this update:
Podcast application for Plus customers
We are happy to introduce a long-awaited feature to the Orbit Speak, a podcast application.
This application allows you to subscribe, listen to, download, and manage podcasts in an easy and intuitive way.
It contains the following main features:
- The ability to search for podcasts using the iTunes podcast database.
- The ability to add a podcast from a URL.
- The ability to download episodes, as well as stream them. You can even select the preferred default method when activating an episode.
- The ability to navigate using various movement units, such as navigation by time.
- The ability to adjust playback speed, as well as volume.
- The ability to navigate by and choose podcast chapters.
- The ability to duck audio when listening to the speech announcements from the device.
- Various other features.
Please consult the updated user guide for a detailed walkthrough of the application.
Enhancements to the reader application for Plus customers
We have added major features and enhancements to the book reader application for our Plus customers:
- Online library access – we are introducing access to online libraries with this update. This allows you to connect, download, and read books from various online accessible book providers. For this first release, we support Project Gutenberg, Bookshare, and libraries in India. Additional libraries will be added in future updates. The new online services category will allow you to work with all the options regarding the various libraries and manage your content.
- Individual TTS voices – you can now select an independent reading voice in the book reader, different from the main system speech. This allows you to read books with a nicer voice, or different settings.
- We have added a new setting to control heading navigation behavior. You can now choose if you want to navigate only by headings of the currently selected level, or also by headings from higher levels.
- We have added a new setting to select a preferred reading mode for DAISY books that contain both text and audio.
- We have added a new setting to control if you want to automatically start reading a book after it opens.
- We have added commands to go directly to the beginning or end of a book.
- We have made various other enhancements and bugfixes as a result of feedback.
Please consult the updated user guide for a full list of the improvements as well as usage instructions.
Enhancements to the internet radio application for Plus customers
We have added several improvements and new features to the internet radio application. Here is a list of the main changes:
- Internet radio recording – you can now directly record audio from radio stations in the application. The recordings are saved to the internal storage or SD card, depending on the chosen setting.
- Improved playback dialog – the playback dialog now contains hotkeys similar to the podcasts application or media player for adjusting volume, etc.
Enhancements to the voice recorder for Plus customers
We have added several enhancements to the voice recorder application:
- Navigation during playback – we have re-designed the voice recording playback interface to allow navigation through the file, as requested by many customers.
- We have added a new microphone gain setting to adjust recording volume.
- We have addressed some issues which were causing recordings to get corrupted.
- We have added movement units for navigation, similar to the reader and podcast client, including the ability to select which movement units you want to see in settings.
- We have added new commands for moving by track, adjusting speed and volume, and activating various modes such as shuffle and repeat. The commands are similar to the podcast player and reader for consistency.
- We have added a setting to automatically speak the track title when changing tracks.
- We have redesigned the context menus to feel like most of our other applications.
- We have increased the speech rate option to allow the TTS to speak significantly faster.
- We have fixed some issues with the calendar and alarm that prevented correct scheduling of events.
- Various other stability and performance improvements have been made.
- From the home menu, locate the settings item and activate it with dot 8 or the select key. You can also press the letter s to enter settings directly.
- In the settings application, locate the Wi-Fi settings item and activate it with dot 8 or select. You can also press w to enter it directly.
- The device will scan for available networks and will show the network list. Locate your network and press the dot 8 or select key.
- A menu will pop up with an option to connect to the network. Activate this option with dot 8 or select.
- If the network is password protected, a dialog will pop up asking you to enter the password. Please enter the password in computer braille and press dot 8.
- The device will connect to the network and give you an indication that the connection has been successfully completed.
- You can now press space + dots 1-2-3-4-5-6 to go back to the home menu.
- From the main menu, navigate to the settings item and activate it with dot 8 or select.
- Locate the “software update” item inside of the settings list and activate it with dot 8 or select. You can also press the letter u to enter it directly.
- Locate the check for updates now button and press dot 8 or select to activate it.
- The device will tell you that there is a newer software version available and will ask you if you want to install it. Activate the yes button inside the dialog that will pop up.
- Wait until the device downloads, installs the update, and restarts. Progress indications will be given throughout the process.