Humanware Goes PR Crazy At CSUN 09

Victor Reader Stream, new Video Magnifiers and a co-branding deal with Code Factory? Wow….

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HUMANWARE UNVEILS VICTOR READER STREAM 3.0

[This announcement is displayed in text only for accessibility with Braille Notetakers. A web version with images is available at: http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/about_us/press_releases/2009_press_releases/humanware_unveils_victor_reader_stream_3]

Los Angeles California, March 17, 2009 -- Today at the annual CSUN technology conference in Los Angeles, HumanWare announced the latest version of its popular Victor Reader Stream DAISY NISO book player, MP3 player, and voice recorder. The latest release of software for the Stream is version 3.0. It is a free upgrade software for the tens of thousands of users who now enjoy their Stream worldwide.

Version 3.0 is a major release packed with new features that continue to distinguish the Stream as the industry leader among pocket size accessible players. Version 3.0 responds to popular requests received from many Stream customers. New features include:

• Multi-level bookshelf navigation for Other Books, Podcasts, and Text. Now you can optionally organize these bookshelves into multiple levels of folders and navigate at those levels.
• Multi-level folder navigation within Music files. For example, now you could choose to organize your music by levels such as genre, artist, and album and navigate at those levels to more quickly find your desired music.
• Further you can now instantly create temporary playlists of any subset of your music collection and limit Random play to only that portion of your music.
• Moreover, you can turn random play on or off with a single key press like many commercial MP3 players.
• Text Search. Yes, now you can enter words to search for in your text files or text-only DAISY books.
• Bookmark alert. You can enable an optional bookmark alert feature to notify you when you are playing a book and pass over a previously bookmarked position. It will even automatically announce your audio bookmarks.
• Two text-to-speech voices. The English version of Stream 3.0 will now include both a male and female text-to-speech voice.
• A 30 minute Time Jump feature and many other usability improvements have been added.


"With the increasing use of 8gb, 16, and even 32gb storage cards, users are managing ever increasing amounts of data on their Stream", says Gerry Chevalier, Victor Reader Product Manager. "With thousands of music files and hundreds of podcasts or text files they have asked us to provide more efficient navigation and version 3 delivers just that."

Says Chevalier, "The improved navigation as well as the bookmark alert, text search and other usability improvements in Stream 3.0 renews HumanWare's commitment to our Stream customers that we would continue to enhance the Stream over time to maximize their Stream investment."

And there's more. HumanWare is pleased to announce that Stream 3.0 will also be accompanied by a completely new-look Stream Companion software. The new Stream Companion 3.0 Windows software has a completely new menu driven interface, support for the new Bookshare zip format, and more.

HumanWare expects to have both the Stream 3.0 and Companion 3.0 available for free download before the end of March. The software will be made available on the Stream Support Page (http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/support/victor_reader_stream). To receive an email announcement for this release and stay informed on future Stream activities be sure to Register to the Stream Newswire (http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/products/blindness/dtb_players/compact_models/stream_news).


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ORATOR FOR BLACKBERRY® SMARTPHONES

[This announcement is displayed in text only for accessibility with Braille Notetakers.]

With The CSUN 24th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference around the corner, HumanWare would like to invite you to be the first to get your hands on HumanWare's newest and most innovative software solution called "Orator for BlackBerry® Smartphones". With over 21 million subscribers in 150 countries, the BlackBerry® smartphone is a popular and an indispensible communication tool for people on the go. While providing effective communication solutions for customers, including customers with disabilities, BlackBerry® smartphones have remained inaccessible to the blindness community, until now. Introducing Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones, the first screen reader that empowers blind and visually impaired customers to access and experience BlackBerry® smartphones.

Come visit us at the HumanWare booth 247 for a personal demonstration and to enter your name to win 1 of 3 packages of Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones with a new BlackBerry® smartphone.

If you are interested in learning more on the Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones solution, be sure to attend the product presentation.

Orator for BlackBerry® Smartphones: blind access solution for BlackBerry® smartphones

When: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Time: 1h50 PM to 2h50 PM
Where: New York room at the Marriott
Speakers: Greg Fields, Accessibility Product Manager, Research In Motion (RIM)
Michel Pepin, Product Manager, HumanWare

Attendees of this session will learn more about Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones and get a sneak preview of how the Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones enables blind and visually impaired customers to remain in touch with important information, people, family and friends while on the go.

For those not able to attend this presentation, be sure to visit the HumanWare booth in the exhibit hall at booth 247 during the following exhibit hours:

• Wednesday, March 18 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 19 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Friday, March 20 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Saturday, March 21 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

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HUMANWARE UNVEILS NEW LOW VISION PRODUCTS AT CSUN 2009

[This announcement is displayed in text only for accessibility with Braille Notetakers. A web version with images is available at: http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/about_us/press_releases/2009_press_releases/copy_of_humanware_low_vision_products_featured_at_csun]

HumanWare is proud to announce two new handheld electronic magnifiers that will be on display at our Booth #247 at the 2009 CSUN conference in Los Angeles.

The SmartView Versa is a handheld electronic magnifier. Its features include: a 4.3" screen, 5x to 15x magnification, and a rechargeable battery.

The SmartView Versa+ is a handheld electronic magnifier. Its features include: a 4.3" screen, 5x to 15x magnification, saves images, plays music and videos, SD card slot to store information and images, and a rechargeable battery.

After trying them out, please fill out a form to enroll in a drawing to win a FREE SmartView Versa+. The winner will receive this prize 1 month after the announcement.

Come see our portable distance viewing camera, the SmartView Graduate. This low vision aid is a perfect companion for any student or traveling professional. This distance viewing camera has a stand with 2 USB ports that interface with your laptop. This exciting product works very well with Zoomtext.

HumanWare will also be displaying our complete line of low vision products such as the SmartView Nano and Pocket, which are low cost electronic magnifiers, along with our very popular desktop video magnifiers, the SmartView Xtend and the myReader 2, which is our one-button digital technology unit.

Our HumanWare associates are looking forward to meeting and showing you our very exciting and innovative low vision products.