Hello,
Although we have been somewhat quiet for a while, we have actually been
doing a lot of work on a lot of different projects, so I will try and
address them quickly and simply. This information, and more details about
availability will be posted on our web site in the next few weeks.
1. We are in the final stages of setting up a listserv for pwWebSpeak
users. A separate e-mail will go out when this is fully functioning - it
still has one or two glitches in it at the moment.
2. pwWebSpeak/32 - Beta
We are wrapping up the early beta testing of pwWebSpeak/32 and are moving
to quickly make available the general beta. You will receive an e-mail
giving you directions where to get hold of the beta test version. This is
the 32-bit version just for Windows 95 and the initial beta will have the
SoftVoice speech synthesizer included in it.
You will need Windows 95 and a soundblaster compatible sound board to run
this initial general beta version. The next beta will have support for
Microsoft's speech API, and will support any SAPI compliant speech
synthesizer.
The documentation for pwWebSpeak/32 is available in several formats - text,
HTML, and Word 97. It is available on our Web and FTP sites as a self
extracting Zip file called pww32b1.exe
http://www.prodworks.com/r32/pww32b1.exe
ftp.jvnc.net/pub/client/prodworks/r32/pww32b1.exe
The new facilities in pwWebSpeak/32, either in this initial general beta
release or later beta releases are as follows:
a. Support for large Web pages. In pwWebSpeak/32 there is no size
restriction on the Web pages that can be handled.
b. Long files names are supported
c. Support for Microsoft's Speech API (SAPI), and support for SAPI
compliant speech synthesizers will be provided in the next Beta release
d. Support for the 32-bit version of the SSIL interface so that all SSIL
compliant speech synthesizers may be used with pwWebSpeak/32 (available for
the production release)
e. Support for some of the HTML 4.0 features (next beta release)
f. Support for HTML 4.0 Audio Style Sheets (available for production
relelase)
g. Support for FTP (next beta release)
h. Support for Real Audio and Real Media (Real Audio 3.0 and Real Media
4.01 or above)
i. Corrections to errors in prior releases
3. New Products coming up
There are four new products which will be released late this year. These
are pwTelephone, pwEMail, pwStudio, and pwAudio. These are briefly
described below, and you will be informed of more details of each as they
become available.
3.1 pwTelephone - This is a product which runs on a PC or server and allows
someone to call the PC or server and use the telephone as an internet
browser. This allows Web-based information services to be set up and
accessed by anyone who has a telephone. The telephone then beomes the
lowest cost web browsing tool.
3.2 pwEMail is a simple e-mail package that is built around Web protocols
so that it functions very well indeed with pwWebSpeak, but it also
functions with Netscape and Internet Explorer. Although simple, pwEMail
does support standard attachments with encoding and decoding, as well as
the use of e-mail folders for user convenience. The package is designed
for simplicity of use and can be used by first time users of PCs and the
Internet.
3.3 pwStudio is a product that enables text material to be recorded in
human voice and to have the text and voice synchronized at playback time.
The text material input can be in HTML format, and the synchronization at
playback time can be done using either standard controls, like Real Audio,
or the pwAudio control which supports most standard audio formats for
playback.
3.4 pwAudio - this is a control that is usable with pwWebSpeak as well as
with Netscape and Internet Explorer and provides a single mechanizm through
which multiple audio types may be played back. For audio tracks that are
synchronized with text display, pwAudio will cary out the synchronization
and callbacks needed for the Browsers to remain in step with the audio.
This is done using standard Web-based protocols and facilities.
4. SoftVoice/SSIL
I know this is taking us forever to get out, but we have a fairly high
quality level to adhere to before we will even send the product out to
general beta. Currently there is one situation in the speech synthesizer
itself which is causing the machine to hang in certain situations. This is
the last problem left, and this is being worked on by the developer of the
SoftVoice synthesizer. We hope to have resolution in the next few days,
and to be able to get the product into general beta in the next week or two.
5. Digital Audio
We have been working closely with a number of groups, specifically
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic in the USA, the Japanese Society for
Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons in Japan, and the Daisy Consortium who
represent a group of similar organizations across the world, on new
implementations for digital and structured audio. We have joined forces on
one of these projects with Labyrinten in Sweden and Plextor in Japan.
In this work we have been concentrating on working on designs and reference
implementations using Web-based architectures to support the new generation
of talking books. These will follow standard protocols, be accesssible to
people who are visual and non-visual, and may include other multi-media
forms such as images or video.
The basic idea is that if someone uses the audio, from either a visual
browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer, or a non-visual browser like
pwWebSpeak, then text and audio will be synchronized. The current text
being read being highlighted in some way with the highlighting moving with
the recorded voice.
Such designs also include the ability to deliver the information over
multiple modalities such as stand-alone CD player devices, PC's, and the
Telephone. Watch for the results of this work being shown by the Daisy
Consortium at next years CSUN Conference and in our new products such as
pwStudio, pwAudio, pwTelephone, and the new versions of pwWebSpeak.
6. The World Wide Web Consortium
A few months ago we bit the bullet and joined the World Wide Web
Consortium, called W3C for short. This gives us to work within the system
throuigh which the Web is defined to make sure the needs of our customers,
and ourselves, and reasonably reflected.
We are working on two major working groups, one is the group specifying the
multi-media definition language extensions for HTML 4.0, and the other is
the Web Accessibility Initiative working group. The W3C represents a large
commitment in time, but has already generated some favorable results in the
digital audio and synchronized text and audio areas.
Please feel free to e-mail or call with any questions.
best regards,
Ray Ingram
609.984.8044
Fax 609.984.8048
http://www.prodworks.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 02 2012 - 01:30:04 PST