Darrell Hilliker

Article: Lotus ‘Safe & Sound’ system makes hybrid,electric vehicles audible

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We are relieved to learn that a solution now exists to the safety concerns
posed by electric and hybrid vehicles to blind and visually impaired
pedestrians. It is now up to those of us in the blind community to insist on
the implementation of this or a similar solution on all such autos. Now that
a concrete solution is available, we can act to ensure our safety. States
could enact legislation requiring the installation of an audible noise
making device on these vehicles in order to pass DMV inspections. The auto
insurance industry could also require such an installation on a car as a
condition of selling a policy to the driver.
The article entitled Lotus 'Safe & Sound' system makes hybrid, electric
vehicles audible can be found at
www.cnet.com.au/cartech/cars/0,2000438541,339291235,00.htm

Due to the almost silent operation of hybrid and electric vehicles running
on electric power at slow speeds, blind and partially sighted pedestrians
may be at risk while crossing roads or walking through parking lots since
they cannot hear the vehicles as they approach.

Lotus Engineering, a name most commonly associated with lightweight sports
cars, has announced that it has developed a system to synthesise external
sound on electric and hybrid vehicles to make them more audible to
pedestrians and cyclists. A simulation of a real engine sound is used on
Lotus' Safe & Sound
Hybrid technology demonstrator vehicle, making it instantly recognisable
that the vehicle is in motion.

The demonstration vehicle is a Toyota Prius equipped to demonstrate the
sound synthesis application. The solution Lotus has devised is a
re-application and development of its Sound Synthesis technology, a suite of
technologies originally designed to reduce the amount of cabin noise in a
conventional motor vehicle by using active sound cancellation.

An artificial engine sound is played through a waterproof loudspeaker in the
car's nose, compensating for the lack of engine noise emitted by the vehicle
when running on an electric motor. Because it's just a speaker, Lotus can
make any sound they want, but they've stuck to using an existing engine
sound
that makes the vehicle instantly recognisable, with the pitch and frequency
helping to identify its distance and speed. Front-facing speakers mean that
once the vehicle has passed, the sound is no longer heard.

In electric-only vehicles, the system is always on, but for hybrids the
system only operates when the vehicle is using electric power. If the
hybrid's engine starts operating – either at higher speeds, higher throttle
demands, or lower battery levels – the control system automatically stops
the external synthesis.
It is all completely automatic and, according to Lotus, the driver hears
almost none of the additional sound.

Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 2 Is Now Available!

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After much anticipation, and following the enormous success of Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 1, GW Micro is proud to announce the release of Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 2. Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 2 offers the latest advancements in screen reading technology, including full Unicode support, new scripting functionality, web browsing enhancements, a new synthesizer, and much more.

The success of Window-Eyes is solely dependent on users like you, who take the time to test out new features and enhancements. Thanks to everyone who participated with Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 1, we’ve been able to resolve many issues, and implement several features that did not make the first beta. Your continued feedback and support is invaluable, and greatly appreciated

Before installing Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 2, please note the following:

You must already have an existing copy of either Window-Eyes 6.1 or Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 1 installed (Retail, Demo, Evaluation, and Payment Plan versions are all supported) before installing Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 2. The beta install will not work if you are not running a version of Window-Eyes 6.1 or Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 1. If you are running an earlier version of Window-Eyes, prior to Window-Eyes 6.1, you will either need to upgrade to Window-Eyes 6.1, or uninstall your current version, and install a demonstration copy of Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 2. Once again, you must be running either Window-Eyes 6.1 or Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 1 before you can install Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 2.  If you have 7.0 Beta 1 installed there is no reason to uninstall it.

Read more about all of the features Window-Eyes 7.0 Beta 2 has to offer, and download your copy, at www.gwmicro.com/beta.

Seeking New JFW-Employment List Moderator

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I have just written the following note to the jfw-employment mailing list:
 
Hello Fellow List Members,
 
I am writing to seek a replacement for me as moderator of this list. Though it continues to be a valuable resource, this list is focused entirely on JAWS. I have shifted my focus away from all Freedom Scientific products, including their screen reader. I haven’t run JAWS once since July 18! Though I will stay on as a member, I wish to relinquish my moderatorship of this list as soon as possible. All offers are welcome to editor@blindaccessjournal.com to take over.
 
Regards,
 
Darrell

Freedom Scientific Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against GW Micro

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We at Blind Access Journal believe it is absolutely critical that everyone in the blind community understand how our assistive technology industry operates, how the competitors operate with respect to one another and how these interactions may impact the extent to which we are able to acquire access to the information and technology available in the world around us. It is to this end that we must, once again, report on another case in which Freedom Scientific is suing one of its competitors. This time, the defendant is GW Micro, makers of Window-Eyes, the second most popular screen reader in the world. In this latest lawsuit, Freedom Scientific claims that GW Micro has violated its patent number 6,993,707 concerning the implementation of support for placemarkers on web pages in Window-Eyes 7.0. Doug has posted an article entitled Do companies really compete on who has the best lawyers? to the GW Micro Blog in response to this lawsuit. We urge everyone to review the text of the complaint below, read Doug’s blog post, make your own judgements and let us know how you believe the connected online blind community should respond. We ask that you understand that this complaint has been acquired at our own expense, and considerable effort and time have been expended in order to provide its content in an accessible format. The text below does not represent an exact replication of the original Federal Court filing.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

TAMPA DIVISION

FREEDOM SCIENTIFIC, INC. – Plaintiff

Civil Action No.: 8:08-cv-01365-JDW-TBM Freedom Scientific, Inc. v. GW Micro, Inc.

GW MICRO, INC. – Defendant.

COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND

INJUNCTIVE RELIEF SOUGHT

  1. Plaintiff Freedom Scientific, Inc. (“Freedom Scientific”) is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in St. Petersburg, Florida.

  2. On information and belief, GW Micro, Inc. (“GW Micro”), is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Indiana and having a place of business at 725 Airport North Office Park, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

  3. This action arises under the patent laws of the United States, 35 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.

  4. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction under one or more of 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a).

  5. GW Micro has infringed, and is continuing to infringe, Freedom Scientific’s United States patent identified below by making, importing, selling, offering to sell, and/or using within the United States certain computer software.

    6. Count I (Patent Infringement)

  6. Freedom Scientific repeats and realleges the foregoing paragraphs.

  7. Freedom Scientific is the owner of United States Patent No. 6,993,707 (the ‘”707 patent”), issued on January 31, 2006, and has the right to sue on the ‘707 patent. A copy of the ‘707 patent is attached as Exhibit A.

  8. GW Micro has infringed, and is continuing to infringe, the ‘707 patent by making, importing, selling, offering to sell, and/or using within the United States computer software covered by the ‘707 patent.

  9. GW Micro has induced and contributed to infringement by others of the ‘707 patent by causing or aiding others to make, use, import, sell, and/or offer to sell goods covered by the ‘707 patent within the United States.

  10. GW Micro’s infringement of the ‘707 patent is and has been willful, has caused and will continue to cause Freedom Scientific to suffer substantial damages, and has caused and will continue to cause Freedom Scientific to suffer irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law.

WHEREFORE, Freedom Scientific requests that this Court:

  1. Enter a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining GW Micro and its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, licensees, successors, assigns, and all those acting for any of them or on their behalf, or acting in concert with them, from further infringement of the ‘707 patent;

  2. Award Freedom Scientific compensatory damages, costs, and interest for patent infringement;

  3. Award Freedom Scientific treble damages for the willful infringement of the ‘707 patent;

  4. Award Freedom Scientific its reasonable attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285;and

  5. Award Freedom Scientific such other relief as the Court deems just and proper.

JURY DEMAND

Freedom Scientific demands a trial by jury on all issues so triable.

Respectfully submitted, FREEDOM SCIENTIFIC, INC.

Dated: July 15,2008

Case Summary and Attorneys from Court Filing

8:08-cv-01365-JDW-TBM Freedom Scientific, Inc. v. GW Micro, Inc.

James D. Whittemore, presiding

Thomas B. McCoun III, referral

Date filed: 07/15/2008

Date of last filing: 07/21/2008

Office: Tampa

Filed: 07/15/2008

Jury Demand: Plaintiff

Nature of Suit: 830

Cause: 35:145 Patent Infringement

Jurisdiction: Federal Question

County: Pinellas

Origin: 1

Plaintiff: Freedom Scientific, Inc.

represented by: Michael John Colitz, III

Phone: 813/227-6598

Fax: 813/229-0134

Email: michael.colitz@hklaw.com

Plaintiff: Freedom Scientific, Inc.

represented by: Matthew B. Lowrie

Phone: 617/395-7000

Plaintiff: Freedom Scientific, Inc.

represented by: Aaron W. Moore

Phone: 617/395-7000

Email: amoore@11-a.com

Plaintiff: Freedom Scientific, Inc.

represented by: Woodrow Heath Pollack

Phone: 813/227-8500

Email: woodrow.pollack@hklaw.com

Defendant: GW Micro, Inc.

Changes Afoot on Main Menu

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The following note has been posted to ACB Radio public mailing lists by
Chrissie Cochrane, the station's managing director. I appreciate her good
words below. You can all be sure that, from time to time, we will be
providing content and making guest appearances on the show as we are able.

Hi Folks

It is with considerable regret that I have to announce that both Jeff Bishop
and Darrell shandrow are relinquishing both their production and hosting of
the now famous Main Menu show due to a steep increase in their other work
commitments. The first thing I want to do is thank both of them for their
hard work in both producing and hosting the show which has gone from
strength to strength during their tenure.

I am also open to offers for anyone who is willing to take on the task of
hosting and/or preparing this prestigious show. We need people who have a
good grounding in access technology, and a knowledge of streaming on the
internet. If people are interested, and have the time and the inclination
to take on this work, please write to me at chrissie@acbradio.org. I am
very open to ideas for any changes anyone may have to the format of the
show, after all, these things do not necessarily have to stay the same from
year to year, so as I say, if you are interested in either hosting the show,
or wish to be involved in its production, please write to me at
chrissie@acbradio.org.

This is a chance for someone to make a name for themselves in the access
technology field, as during Jeff and Darrell's time with the show, the
listener figures have been increasing steadily, but don't let that put you
off. Of course they will be a hard double act to follow though I'm sure
there are people out there who have ideas and would like to see them put
into reality.

So, if you're interested, please write to me at chrissie@acbradio.org and
let's start yet another era of first-class Main Menu shows.

Chrissie

Coming up on Main Menu for the week of July 16 – The Icon and Our Panel of Experts

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Hello Everyone,
 
Coming up on this week’s Main Menu Live, we bring you two hours of brand new content. In the first hour, Marc Mulcahy from LevelStar tells us all about the Icon accessible pocket mobile manager and portable notetaker. We welcome your questions by e-mail to mainmenu@acbradio.org prior to the broadcast, or by way of calls and MSN (Windows Live Messenger) chats during the show. In the second hour, we bring you our panel of experts to discuss all things technology from a blindness perspective with emphasis on the recently concluded summer conventions. On this show, Jeff and I will be joined by Don Barrett, Randy Knapp, Debbie Hazelton and Caroline Congdon.
 
Jeff and I would also like to let all of you know that this episode represents our final appearances as host and co-host of Main Menu. We’re all going to connect and have a great time, so this is the show you will not want to miss!
 
Here is how to participate in the show:
The number to call into the show is 866-400-5333.
You may email your questions to: mainmenu@acbradio.org
You may also interact with the show via MSN (Windows Live) Messenger. The MSN Messenger ID to add is: mainmenu@acbradio.org
 
Would you like to interact with a group of Main Menu listeners about the topics heard on Main Menu and Main Menu Live? You can do this by joining the Main Menu Friends email list. The address to subscribe is: main-menu-subscribe@googlegroups.com
Come join an already lively group of users.
 
Would you like to subscribe to podcast feeds for Main Menu and Main Menu Live? The RSS feeds to add to your podcatching application are:
Main Menu – http://www.acbradio.org/podcasts/mainmenu
Main Menu Live – http://www.acbradio.org/podcasts/mainmenulive
 
For this next week, only the Main Menu Live podcast feed will be updated.
 
Main Menu can be heard on Tuesday evenings at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, and at 1 universal (GMT) on Wednesday mornings on the ACB Radio Main Stream channel.
Follow this link to listen to the show:
http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=8
 
Our best wishes to all our loyal Main Menu listeners,
 
Jeff Bishop and Darrell Shandrow
The Main Menu Production Team

Friends in Art Showcase to Air on ACB Radio

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Hello everyone,

Once again, ACB Radio is proud to provide exclusive live coverage of the
Friends in Art showcase from the ACB Convention. Join Chrissie Cochrane and
a team of ACB Radio broadcasters as they bring you a night of performances
by blind and vision impaired performers, live on stage at the convention in
Louisville Kentucky. The broadcast will get underway at or around 23:45
Universal, that's 7:45 pm US Eastern, and will probably run for something
like 3 hours.

We have set up a separate stream for this year's showcase. You will be able
to listen from the acbradio.org website or by clicking one of the following
links:

Broadband stream for Winamp: http://acbradio.org/special.pls
Broadband stream for Real Player: http://acbradio.org/special.ram
Broadband stream for Windows Media player: http://acbradio.org/special.wax
Broadband stream for other players: http://acbradio.org/special.m3u

Modem stream for Winamp: http://acbradio.org/special-low.pls
Modem stream for Real PLayer: http://acbradio.org/special-low.ram
Modem stream for Windows Media PLayer: http://acbradio.org/special-low.wax
Modem stream for other players: http://acbradio.org/special-low.m3u

We hope you are enjoying our convention broadcasts and look forward to you
joining us for the Friends in Art Showcase, only on ACB Radio.

Available for New Employment as of July 18

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This is just a quick note to all of you loyal Blind Access Journal readers to let you know that, as of July 18, my position with my current employer is being eliminated due to circumstances completely outside of my control. At that time, I will be available for contract or permanent employment. If you are interested in availing yourself of my services, or you have any ideas about how I may be able to acquire new employment, please send a note to editor@blindaccessjournal.com and I will get back in touch with you right away. Thank you for reading.

ACB 2008 Convention Podcast

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This year we are proud to present our 2008 ACB National Convention podcast covering all the general sessions, the candidates’ forum and the banquet. Please visit http://www.acbradio.org/conventions to manually download these files or add http://feeds.feedburner.com/acbconventions to your favorite RSS reader or podcatching software to automatically download the files in their intended podcast form.
 
Once again, we at ACB Radio innovate when it comes to providing consumer organization summer convention coverage in the online connected blind community. We hope you are enjoying our broadcasts and are finding the information helpful.

Exploring the AT&T Motorola Q9H Keyboard

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This is a short article covering how to find all the special keys on the Motorola Q9H phone. It is very much a work in progress. All feedback to editor@blindaccessjournal.com is appreciated. Thanks go to Jeff Bishop’s son Brian for his assistance with several previously “unknown” keys.

Orientation

Place the phone face up with the small QWERTY keyboard on the bottom. In this orientation, you should find the following items in order, from top to bottom:

  • Small round speaker representing the telephone receiver.

  • Large smooth display screen covering approximately three inches of the surface.

  • A set of tactile lines in a cross-like formation, followed by a circle with dots followed by a second set of cross-like lines.

  • The QWERTY keyboard.

Special Keys

The Motorola Q9H has a number of special keys that are not found on the traditional computer’s keyboard. These will be described in reference to the orientation provided above.

Soft Keys

The phone has a number of “soft keys” that perform special functions when pressed. It is important to know how to use these keys in order to do anything useful with the phone. The soft keys are located below the display screen and immediately above the QWERTY keyboard. They are tactilely differentiated using those cross-like sets of lines mentioned earlier. Remember, there is a set of cross-like lines on the left-hand side of the phone, followed by a raised circle with dots followed by another set of cross-like lines. It is critical to understand this configuration, as it is the basis for the following description. There are a total of 8 soft keys. Four of these keys are located on the cross-like structure on the left side of the phone, while the second group of four are located on the cross-like structure on the right side of the phone. For ease of reference, we will refer to the cross lines on the left side as the first quadrant and the cross lines on the right side as the second quadrant. The cross lines themselves are *not* the keys. Pressing on these lines won’t do anything. Instead, these lines help to differentiate the keys. Instead, the keys are immediately to the sides of these lines. The keys are “soft” meaning they are
made up of the phone’s smooth front surface and they may be defined to perform different functions, depending on the situation in which the phone is operating or the software program you are using at the time you press them. Each set of cross lines can be seen as a tactile X-Y graph. There is a soft key in the upper right-hand corner, another in the upper left-hand corner, a third in the lower left-hand corner and a fourth in the lower right-hand corner of the grid.
It should now be possible to fully describe the names and locations of these keys from a blindness perspective.

Let’s start with the first quadrant of cross-like lines, those on the left side of the phone.

  • Dial (Send) – The Dial key is pressed immediately after entering a telephone number in order to complete the call, much as it is on a traditional cell phone. Keep in mind it may also have other functions in different circumstances. The Dial key is located in the lower left-hand corner of the set of cross-like lines in the first quadrant (the left-hand side of the phone).

  • Home – The Home key performs many critical smartphone functions, most essentially for us it represents the MobileSpeak screen reader command key you press before many other keys to issue special accessibility related instructions. The Home key is located in the lower right-hand corner of the set of cross-like lines in the first quadrant (the left-hand side of the phone).

  • Left Soft Key – The Left Soft Key performs different functions depending on the situation. In many cases, it is used as an OK or Done button you may press to confirm that you want changes to be saved, etc. This operates in much the same way as the Continue, OK or Next buttons found in the dialogue boxes of many typical Windows applications. The Left Soft Key is located in the upper right-hand corner of the cross-like lines in the first quadrant (the left-hand side of the phone).

  • AT&T Symbol – This key activates the phone’s built-in default Opera Mobile web browser, pointing it to the AT&T web site. It is located in the upper left-hand corner of the cross-like lines in the first quadrant (the left-hand side of the phone).

We now move on to the second quadrant of cross-like lines; this set is located on the right side of the phone, to the right of the circle with the four tiny tactile dots.

  • Back – The Back key is most often used as its name suggests, to back out of actions you decide not to perform. It operates as a backspace key in any situation where you find yourself editing text, as well as a Back button in the Internet Explorer Mobile web browser. In many cases, it may also be used in a similar way as the Escape key is pressed on a computer’s keyboard to choose a cancel button in a dialogue box. The Back key is located in the lower left-hand corner of the set of cross-like lines in the second quadrant (on the right-hand side of the phone).

  • End – The End (hangup) key is used to do just that, conclude a phone call. If no call is in progress, it moves focus to the Today screen, which is similar to the Desktop on a Windows computer. The End key is located in the lower right-hand corner of the cross-like lines in the second quadrant (on the right-hand side of the phone).

  • Envelope (Mail) Symbol – This key may enable the user to quickly open their e-mail application, though we haven’t noticed that it does anything when pressed on our phones. It is located in the upper right-hand corner of the cross-like lines in the second quadrant (on the right-hand side of the phone).

  • Right Soft Key – The Right Soft Key performs many different functions, depending on the situation or the application you’re using at the moment. In some cases, it operates as a cancel key, while in other cases, it opens a menu. The Right Soft Key is located in the upper left-hand corner of the cross-like lines in the second quadrant (on the right-hand side of the phone).

The Circle

The Circle is a special grouping of five keys located between the first and second sets of cross-like lines. They consist of up, down, left and right arrows and an enter (select) key. Careful exploration will indicate that the circle contains four small, tactile dots. These dots reside on each of the arrow keys, which are located in a logical position representing their direction of navigation. The middle of this circle contains a smaller, slightly raised round key. This is the Enter (select) key. It is used to select choices in menus, as a real enter key when entering text in some scenarios and in many other cases where one might press Enter on a computer’s keyboard.

QWERTY Keyboard

The QWERTY keyboard is a grouping of 37 keys found immediately below the soft keys and the circle. It enables entry of all alphanumeric characters as well as punctuation using a special Function key. The keyboard does not include a numbers row as would be found on a typical computer keyboard. Entry of numbers is described shortly. There is a tactile dot on the f key. Given the compressed nature of this keyboard, it is potentially useful to list out each key by row from top to bottom and left to right, with the first row representing the top of the keyboard, as found immediately below the soft keys and the circle.

  • Row 1: q, w, e, r, t, y, u, i, o, p

  • Row 2: a, s, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, Enter

  • Row 3: Function, z, x, c, v, b, n, m, . (period), Shift (Caps)

  • Row 4: Calendar, Contacts, 0, Space Bar, Music, Camera, Speaker

The space bar is slightly domed and elongated in comparison to the other keys.

Entering Numbers

As we have already observed, the QWERTY keyboard in this phone does not include a separately defined numbers row. This situation is an unfortunate side-effect of the phone’s small size, though we are rather impressed with the keyboard in general given this constraint. Numbers are entered using a specific set of keys, preceeded by the Function key. For instance, pressing Function followed by f would enter the number 5. The keys assigned to numbers are as follows:

  • e, r, t = 1, 2, 3

  • d, f, g = 4, 5, 6

  • X, C, V = 7, 8, 9

  • The number 0 is entered by pressing the Function key followed by the key immediately to the left of the space bar.

Dialing the Phone!

Of course, the most important thing we want to do with our phones right away is to dial. Dialing is performed from the phone’s Today screen using the number keys previously indicated without preceding them with the Function key. When the Today screen has focus, it is assumed that you wish to dial rather than enter text. Follow these steps to place a call:

  1. Press the End key to ensure the Today screen has focus.

  2. Enter the numbers without using the function key. For example, press g, e, e to enter 611, which is usually the number used to contact the service provider.

  3. Press the Dial key to place the call.

  4. The numbers will continue to work without the Function key while you are on the call.

  5. Press the End key to hang up.

Simply press the Dial (Send) key to answer an incoming call.

This document completes the exploration of all the keys found on the front of the Motorola Q9H smartphone. Just as it is critical to know how to type before one can use a computer, it is essential and highly recommended to thoroughly learn the location of all these keys before delving into the use of this phone and MobileSpeak.