What's New
Victor Reader
Stream Version 1.2
March 7, 2008
1. Introduction and Installation
2.3 Serotek
Customers Can Play SA Mobile Content on Their Stream
3.3.2 Announcement of Folder and File Names
3.3.3 Faster Scan on Large Music Bookshelf
3.4 Key Beeps on Up/Down Mixer Controls
3.5 Reset to Volume Control After 10 Seconds
3.6 Pitch Control for Text-To-Speech Text (TTS)
3.7 Moving Backwards by Files Within Other
Books
3.8 Go To Heading 0 for Start of Book
3.9 Multi-Language
TTS in Europe
4.1 Confirming Menu Change with Play Key
4.2 Distortion in Tone Control
4.3 Delete Book Now Deletes Folder
4.5 Key 1 Now Interrupts TTS Speech
4.7 Moving Back by Word at End of a Text File
4.8 Multi-Channel
OGG Vorbis Files
4.9 Line
Navigation in Text Files with End-of-Line Character
5. Known Issues in this Release
1. Introduction and Installation
The latest
release of software for the Victor Reader Stream digital talking book player is
version 1.2.18. The update software,
User Guide, and this What’s New document can be found at the Stream page at:
http://www.humanware.com/products/dtb_players/compact_models/_details/id_81/victorreader_stream.html
The update
software is a single file ending in .UPG and is contained in a zip file
downloaded from the above page. To update your Stream:
- Unzip the .UPG file and copy it
to the root of an SD card.
- Connect the Stream to a power
outlet.
- Insert the card in the Stream
and power it on.
- The software update will start
automatically and report the new version number that will be installed.
The installation takes about 1 minute.
The player will announce the end of the update and then power off.
- You may then remove the .UPG
update file from the SD card.
- When you power the Stream back
on you can confirm the new version number by pressing the INFO key 0.
This software
upgrade provides the following new features, usability enhancements, and
corrections.
2. New Features
2.1 Format
SD Card
There is now an optional utility to reformat your SD
card which is available in the Stream menu (key 7).
IMPORTANT: Installing and using this new version 1.2
software does not require that you have to reformat your SD card. It is seldom
that you will need to format an SD card but if necessary the Stream now has a
built-in format utility to ensure that the card will be properly formatted. If
your SD card is not recognized by Windows when it is inserted in your computer
card reader or when the Stream is connected to the computer, it may be possible
that the card needs to be formatted. Also, if for any reason data becomes
corrupt, you may notice that some files/books will not play properly on your
Stream. This is also an indicator that reformatting is needed. For your
convenience, the Stream can now format SD cards for you if needed. Simply
insert the SD card into the Stream, press the Menu key 7 repeatedly until you
hear the Format SD card option. Then press the Pound key to confirm the format.
You will receive a warning that formatting will erase all the files on the SD
card. Press the Pound key again to proceed with the format or press the Star
key to cancel the format. The utility
will format your card and label it as VRStream. The label will be visible
beside the drive letter when you view the card in Windows. Once formatted, only
the $VR folders will exist on the card. You will need to recopy all your books
and files from the computer.
Again, the reformat utility has only been added to
make it easier to reformat and to ensure reformatting is done properly if
needed. If your Stream is playing files properly now you can install this new
version 1.2 and use it without reformatting.
To prevent possible corruption of data on the SD card
always be sure to use the Windows Safely Remove option after copying files to
the card. Also, never remove the SD card while you are recording or deleting
books.
2.2 Go To
Time Feature
The Stream now
has a Go To Time feature for the Other Books and Audio Notes bookshelves. While in these bookshelves press the Go To
key above key 1 until you hear, “Go To Time”.
Then enter a time in hours and minutes relative to the start of the book
or audio note. The last 2 digits of the
entry represent minutes and the other digits represent hours. Note that the minutes can range from 00 to
99. For example:
- Enter 1 to position 1 minute
from the start of the book or note
- Enter 12 to position 12 minutes
from the start
- Enter 123 or 83 for 1 hour 23 minutes
- Enter 1200 for 12 hours and 0
minutes
2.3 Serotek Customers Can Play SA
Mobile Content on Their Stream
HumanWare has
worked with Serotek Corporation to make the Stream version 1.2 an integral part
of Serotek’s System Access Mobile Network.
If you are a
Serotek customer with a subscription to their System Access Mobile Network
services, you can now listen to most content from that network on your Stream.
Just connect the Stream to a PC running System Access or open Internet Explorer
and go to www.satogo.com, and within minutes, you can transfer almost anything
to your Stream, including described video movies, RSS feeds, podcasts, and
e-mail messages. The System Access
Mobile server does both the content download and transfer to the Stream for
you. The content is stored in a $VRSerotek folder on the SD card for
presentation on the various Stream bookshelves. You can find detailed
instructions at:
http://help.samobile.net/VRStreamSync.html
or you can listen to audio demonstrations of these new
features at:
http://www.samobile.net/content/cat14790.html
To learn more
about Serotek and System Access Mobile Network visit:
If you require
any assistance using Stream with Serotek please contact:
Phone
2.4 Stream
Plays NIMAS Files
The Stream will
now play NIMAS books. NIMAS books are structured like DAISY books and may have
more than one file. They should be placed in the $VRDTB folder. Navigation in
NIMAS files is similar to DAISY. You may choose among levels 1 to 6 and page if
they are present in the file as well as screen, paragraph, line, sentence,
word, and character.
NIMAS (National
Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard) is the format for educational
text books in the
3. Usability Enhancements
3.1 USB
Transfer Speed
USB 2.0
interface speed has been improved on this version. For quality SD cards the transfer of data
should be 2 to 3 times faster when the Stream is connected to the computer with
the long USB cable.
3.2 Speaker
Volume Increase
The volume
output for the speaker has been increased when playing books. The increase for
the speaker is about 6dB measured at 25cm. The number of levels (10 on speaker
and 15 on headphones) remains unchanged.
3.3 Music
Enhancements
3.3.1 Tone,
Bass and Treble
The Stream Tone
Control is not optimal for the Music bookshelf. The Tone is optimized for voice
frequencies of audio books but provides little control for modifying the lower
and higher frequency bands of music. On
version 1.2 the Tone control on the Music bookshelf has been replaced with Bass
and Treble controls to better adjust the lower and higher frequencies of music.
The new Bass/Treble controls do not alter the middle voice frequencies, so the
current tone control will remain on the Talking Books, Other Books, and Notes
bookshelves. While on the Music bookshelf you can press the Power key to toggle
between Volume, Speed, Bass, and Treble. To alter the lower frequencies select
the Bass control and either add bass by setting the control to a positive value
or remove bass by selecting a setting below zero. Similarly, you can add or
remove treble. Adding or removing bass will not alter the treble and vice
versa. To hear the music unaltered set the bass and treble controls to their 0
setting.
3.3.2 Announcement
of Folder and File Names
Many users
appreciate the announcement of the folder and file numbers and names when
browsing the music bookshelf. However, if you are familiar with the music you
may prefer to browse without hearing the announcements. In version 1.2 the Stream will continue to
announce the folder/file numbers and names if the player is in Stop mode but
will omit the announcements if the player is in Play mode. In either case, it
will repeat the announcements if you press the Where Am I key 5. Thus, if you wish to use key 4 or 6 to
navigate back and forth between music files and do not want to hear the
folder/file announcements simply press the Play key first to put the player in
play mode.
3.3.3 Faster
Scan on Large Music Bookshelf
If you have a
large music bookshelf (e.g. 1000 files or more) it may take a few seconds for
the first file to be announced while the Stream scans the structure. This scan
time should be about 10 to 15% faster in this version.
3.4 Key
Beeps on Up/Down Mixer Controls
To avoid
interrupting the audio, the key beeps have been removed when you press the
up/down arrows to change volume, speed, tone, or bass/treble on all
bookshelves.
3.5 Reset
to Volume Control After 10 Seconds
If you do not
press the up/down mixer keys on the left edge of the Stream for 10 seconds, the
player will automatically reselect the volume setting. This gives a predictable reference point for
the power button toggle since you can now rely on the toggle to be on the
volume setting unless you are in the process of modifying the speed, tone or
bass/treble.
3.6 Pitch
Control for Text-To-Speech Text (TTS)
The Tone
control has been replaced with a pitch control for the Text Bookshelf. The
Pitch control has a much wider range on the Vocalizer TTS voice than previously
provided by the tone so is much more effective on playback of text content.
Whichever pitch setting you choose will also be used for announcement of folder
and filenames in the Music and Other Books bookshelves. Setting the Pitch will
not affect the Tone setting used for recorded audio books. Stream will remember
them separately.
3.7 Moving
Backwards by Files Within Other Books
In this version
if you navigate backwards with key 4 at the file level within a folder of files
in the Other Books bookshelf, the Stream will return to the start of the
current file if you are more than 10 seconds from the start of the file. If you are less than 10 seconds from the
start of the file key 4 will backup to the previous file. This is consistent
with the 10 second snap-to behavior when navigating backwards through the
levels in DAISY or NISO talking books.
3.8 Go To
Heading 0 for Start of Book
While it was
possible to quickly get to the beginning of a book by entering Go To Page 0 or
Go To Percent 0 the Go To Heading 0 did not work this way. For consistency, you
can now press Go To Heading, then press 0, then press Confirm and you will be
placed at the beginning of the book. If you just enter Go To Heading followed
by Confirm it is the same. You can also press Go To Heading followed by the
Play key and this will also position to the beginning and start playing.
3.9
Multi-Language TTS in Europe
In non English
countries in
3.10 TTS
Volume in Books
The
Text-to-Speech is now louder than on previous versions to more closely match
the volume level of the recorded audio being played.
4. Issues Corrected
4.1 Confirming
Menu Change with Play Key
If you confirm
a menu change with the Play key, Stream will now exit the Menu. If you confirm
with the Pound key, Stream will remain in the menu.
4.2 Distortion
in Tone Control
Previously,
distortion may have been heard on some audio files when they were played with
the Tone control set to values above 0. This has been corrected.
4.3 Delete
Book Now Deletes Folder
If key 3 is
used to delete a book and the folder containing the book becomes empty then the
folder will also be deleted.
4.4 NISO
Z39.86 2005 Books
Page navigation
was not accessible in NISO Z39.86 2005 books. This has been corrected.
4.5 Key 1
Now Interrupts TTS Speech
Pressing key 1
will now interrupt any messages currently being spoken by the TTS voice.
4.6 Navigating
in HTML Files
If an HTML file
had multiple heading levels, the Stream would sometimes navigate incorrectly.
For example, if you were at heading level 2, key 6 would move forward to the
next heading level 2 tag even if there was an intervening heading level 1 tag.
This has been corrected.
4.7 Moving
Back by Word at End of a Text File
The Stream will
now properly back up at the word navigation level when positioned at the end of
the file.
4.8
Multi-Channel OGG Vorbis Files
The Stream will
now process OGG Vorbis files with more than 2 audio channels. However, the
Stream does not use the extra channels so, if you are creating your own OGG
files, there is no advantage to creating OGG files with more than two channels
(e.g. surround sound files) because they require more space.
Text Files with
Stream now
plays text files that have the
4.9
Line Navigation in Text Files with End-of-Line Character
When navigating
by line in text files with end-of-line characters (such as a list) the
Vocalizer TTS was not pronouncing the last letter in the line. This is
corrected.
5. Known Issues in this Release
It was not possible to address the following issues in
version 1.2 so their resolution is planned for the next release.
- The built-in User Guide is still at version 1.1 level and does not
include the changes for this version. The built-in User Guide will be
updated with the next release. An English version 1.2 User Guide is
available from the Stream product page.
- length of the pauses at the end of the sentence in the text-to-speech
(TTS) are not reduced as you increase the playback speed of the TTS.
- PAGE level navigation in text files does not honor new page (form
feed) characters.
- For DAISY and
NISO talking books the Highlight Bookmark can only be applied to the
recorded portion not the text portion of these books.
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