New in iOS 8: Hands-Free Siri and Improved Dictation

New in iOS 8: Hands-Free Siri and Improved Dictation

Glow Serly    September 22, 2014    Comment   

Apple's voice activated features have received some new features as part of iOS 8. Siri is a virtual voice activated personal assistant that can answer your questions, call your friends, check the weather, and much more.  Now it can  be activated hands free by saying, "Hey, Siri." Previously, users would have to press and hold the home button to activate Siri.

The new feature will allow people with physical disabilities to easily activate Siri. The hands-free activation feature does have one major caveat: the device must be plugged in and charging. Users who need or want to access this feature on- the- go can purchase a battery case to utilize this feature. It is possible that future iOS devices will not require a power source to use the "Hey, Siri" feature.

In addition, when dictating a question to Siri or dictating text into an app the recognized words appear almost instantly after being spoken. To use dictation bring up the keyboard and then press the microphone icon next to the space key. With words appearing as you speak it is easier to identify mistakes which makes the dictation process faster. Dictation can be a useful feature for people who struggle with spelling and people who have difficulty using a keyboard. These features are available for devices running iOS 8.

New in iOS 7: Ask Siri to Turn on VoiceOver and other Accessibility Settings

New in iOS 7: Ask Siri to Turn on VoiceOver and other Accessibility Settings

Glow Serly    September 19, 2013    Comment   

iOS 7 is Apple’s new operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. iOS 7 includes a complete redesigned look and many new features. Siri in iOS 7 has learned some new tricks that can benefit users of VoiceOver and the other built in accessibility features that iOS offers. The feature allows you to ask Siri to turn on and off different accessibility settings using your voice. For example you can say, "turn on VoiceOver" and Siri will turn on VoiceOver in seconds. This feature will make iOS accessibility features easier to find and access. If a VoiceOver user is presented with an iOS device with VoiceOver turned off and triple click home disabled they could use this new feature to ask Siri to turn on VoiceOver. Besides accessibility settings Siri can also change other settings such as brightness, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. 

Assistive Touch Improvements in iOS 6

Assistive Touch Improvements in iOS 6

Glow Serly    Oktober 07, 2012    Comment   

Apple's iOS 6 improves on the Assistive Touch feature that was originally introduced in iOS 5. Assistive Touch allows people with physical disabilities  to use an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. People with physical disabilities may not be able to use two fingers to pinch or to zoom, or may not be able to double tap a button, but Assistive Touch makes these tasks easier. Among the improvements are quick access to Siri, multitasking and screenshots. Assistive Touch still gives users the ability to make custom gesture. Assistive Touch now is compatible with VoiceOver so you can use both features at the same time. To activate Assistive Touch go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Assistive Touch. Click here to learn more about Assistive Touch. Watch the above video to learn more. Click read more below to view screen shots.

Brand New iPod Touch Announced

Brand New iPod Touch Announced

Glow Serly    September 13, 2012    Comment   

Apple released a new version of the iPod Touch. The fifth generation device includes the same large screen as the iPhone 5. In addition to large screen the new iPod Touch has a faster A5 processor, much improved 5 mega-pixel camera, iOS 6, Siri and Loop. Read on to learn what these features mean for people with special needs.

Camera- The new improved camera is good enough to use optical character recognition (OCR) apps. OCR apps allow you to take a picture of text and have it read back to you using text-to-speech. One great OCR app is Prizmo.

iOS 6- iOS 6 will improve the already great accessibility features of the previous versions. The new operating system will include features such as Guided Access and Speak Selection with synchronized highlighting. To learn more about iOS 6 click here.

Siri- Apple's voice activated personal assistant will make its way to the iPod Touch. Siri can answer questions, spell words, read messages, set reminders, check the weather and more.

Loop- Loop is a very interesting new feature exclusive to the iPod Touch. Loop is a detachable wrist strap that hooks onto the back of the iPod Touch. Loop could be a great feature for you children and people with physical disabilities. Loop is seen in the above picture.

The iPod Touch will be available in the coming weeks starting at $299. Click read more below to view more photos of the new iPod Touch.

   

iOS 6 To Be Released on September 19th With New Accessibility Features

iOS 6 To Be Released on September 19th With New Accessibility Features

Glow Serly    September 12, 2012    Comment   

Today, Apple announced that iOS 6, the software that runs iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, will be released on September 19th. The free software update will include new accessibility features such as Guided Access, Speak Selection with highlighting and improved Siri. Click here to learn more about Guided Access. iOS 6 will also include Made For iPhone Hearing Aids which allow hearing aid users to better use the iPhone. Along with accessibility improvements iOS 6 includes an updated maps app and more.

Click read more below to view more images of iOS 6 from Apple.

Enhanced Google Voice Search Coming To iOS

Enhanced Google Voice Search Coming To iOS

Glow Serly    Agustus 09, 2012    Comment   

Google's enhanced voice search that debuted in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is coming to the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in the coming days. Google announced that the Google Search app for iOS will be updated in "the next couple of day" to include the new feature. You simply tap the microphone and ask a question and the result is spoken back to you. The enhanced voice search is similar to Apple's Siri. Stay tuned to learn more about Google voice search and how it compares to Siri. Google says the following about enhanced voice search,

"Often the most natural way to ask a question is by asking aloud. So we’ve combined our speech recognition expertise, understanding of language and the Knowledge Graph so that Voice Search can better interpret your questions and sometimes speak the answers back as full sentences. This has been available on Android for a few weeks and people love it."

Click here to download the current version of the app.

Update: The app has not yet been released and some are speculating that Apple may be delaying the update because it is a competitor to Siri.