News Week of January 27, 2008

Cancer Survivor Overcomes Voice Loss with NextUp Talker

Text to Speech Software Helps May Rone Maintain Everyday Communication

Clemmons, NC (PRWEB) January 31, 2008 -- In April of 2007, husband and wife Chuck and May Rone received the difficult news that May had cancer -- and that the treatment would necessitate the loss of her tongue and voice box to surgery. The couple took the news with courage and optimism, and decided to explore technology options to help speak for May. Most importantly, they wanted something that could also preserve the sound of her voice in memorable phrases and statements.

Their search quickly led them to NextUp Talker (http://www.Talkforme.com), an easy-to-use program from the Text to Speech experts at NextUp Technologies. NextUp Talker offers a unique and affordable software solution for those suffering voice loss to communicate in spoken voice once again, simply by using an ordinary Windows computer or laptop.

Planning ahead for their life after the surgery, Chuck bought his wife a voice recorder, and had her make voice notes of important little phrases such as "Good morning," and "I love you," as well as statements that would be vital in the days to come, such as "I'm in pain." "I never wanted to forget how her voice sounded!" he comments. Working with the voice recorder, Chuck quickly discovered the power of Text to Speech software and chose NextUp Talker to aid May in speech replacement after her surgery.

Unlike other technology products that are often prohibitively expensive for many users, NextUp Talker offers an affordable solution to the voiceless -- and with a free 30-day trial that anyone can download and evaluate immediately, via http://www.Talkforme.com. If users then decide to purchase NextUp Talker, natural-sounding voices are available in a wide range of genders, ages, accents, and approaches, for a Text to Speech solution that's truly "conversational."

"All this was new to me," Chuck comments. Researching as many options as he could, he called on several companies selling Text to Speech devices. "One well-known company took a week to return my call," he adds, "while another demonstrated their products for us but left us unimpressed. The technology was very highly priced, was difficult to operate, and not very mobile." Chuck and May finally decided on NextUp Talker as the best, simplest and most affordable option, choosing the NeoSpeech voice "Kate" from the premium voices available. "We installed the program, and WOW! You could type in the program and it would 'talk!'" he enthuses. "Best of all, NextUp Talker and NeoSpeech are far superior to all the other options we had explored, and there is no comparison to cost, as well."

May's surgery was a success, and during her recovery she quickly became accustomed to using the program on a UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC) running Microsoft Vista. Easy to install and use with "Kate," the NeoSpeech voice of her choice, NextUp Talker allowed May to supplement her speech loss with computer speech with ease. Chuck, wanting to make sure he used the program to its full potential, also turned to help from NextUp Talker's tech support, and was highly pleased with the process. "I needed help integrating May's prerecorded and predefined phrases, as well as getting used to the shortcut keys and other aspects," comments Chuck. "Here, I have to acknowledge Jim Bretti of NextUp Talker support, who was fast to respond, and very smart. I have never received such support from any company as I have from Jim."

Chuck and May soon began using NextUp Talker on an ongoing basis with extraordinary success. The program empowered May with the ability to continue to speak aloud, and for Chuck to continue to hear her voice every day, even after voice loss.

"My wife can now talk to her doctors, family and friends, make phone calls, go shopping and carry on as close to a normal life as possible," adds Chuck. "We are very thankful for the people who have put so much time and effort into NextUp Talker. I would recommend the program to anyone who has a voice impairment. NextUp Talker has made our lives a whole lot better!"

NextUp Talker was specifically designed for use in conversation, offering pleasant and "conversational" speech and working easily with either mouse or keyboard. Easy-to-use shortcuts for common words or phrases help the user adapt to their own style and speech. The program can even insert actual sound files along with speech, helping to make kids more comfortable in talking with an adult using a computer to speak.

NextUp Talker is priced at just $99.95, and is compatible with Windows (R) Vista, XP, 98, NT, 2000, or Tablet PCs. The program is available for fast, safe and secure purchase via http://www.talkforme.com. NextUp Talker comes with a pair of male and female premium voices from either AT&T Natural Voices (TM) or NeoSpeech (R) for the most natural-sounding computer speech anywhere. Additional premium voices offered optionally by NextUp.com include RealSpeak (R) and Acapela (R).

Next time, pianist should leave computer at home

Song certainly has the technique – a spectacular ability to fling perfect cascades of notes at his audience. But he was distracted by the tablet PC perched on the piano, which was scrolling through the music, page by page.

What could easily have been a spectacular solo debut for Music Toronto's Discovery series at the Jane Mallett Theatre became cause for frustration with a talented young artist who was needlessly falling short of the mark.  (Source: John Terauds, The Star)

DEMO 08 Day One Wrap-Up

First, there's LiveScribe's Pulse, the latest of a long series of attempts to create an electronic pen which lets you convert notes-on-paper to digital form. (Here's one earlier attempt; here's another.) I'm instinctively skeptical about the basic idea here--I think the number of people in the world who want to see their handwritten notes onscreen is limited (as witness the failure of the Tablet PC), and Pulse, like some of its predecessors, requires that you write on special paper that's been imprinted with a tiny grid of dots, so the pen can figure out where it is on the page. And while some of the things it can do are very, very clever--you can write a word, then touch it to hear a spoken translation into another language--I have a hard time summoning up all that many real-world scenarios where they'd be more useful than other solutions involving devices I'd probably have with me, such as a cell phone.  (Source: Harry McCracken, PC World)

Use Office 2007's ink feature to add impact to Word doc markups

You can use Vista's pen features on a touchscreen laptop or tablet-equipped PC to do much more than simply mark up Word documents or write e-mail as handwritten graphics, but after many attempts I remain unconvinced of the usefulness of the OS's handwriting recognition. Even after hours of training the system made too many mistakes to be a suitable replacement for a keyboard. Still, there are times when a keyboard simply won't do, and that's where the stylus comes in handy.  (Source:  Dennis O'Reilly, CNet)
Posted Thursday, January 31, 2008 by ChrisD
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Mossberg's Mailbox

Q: What happened to the Tablet PC version of Windows? Since Vista has come out, I can't find a Tablet edition.

A: Microsoft decided to drop the separate tablet edition it produced for Windows XP and build its capabilities into Vista. Unless you have the least expensive version of Vista, called Home Basic, the full Tablet PC capability should be usable on any tablet PC running Vista. But there's no longer a specific edition labeled that way.  (Source: Walter S. Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal)

General Dynamics Itronix Introduces the Duo-Touch II® Next Generation, Rugged Tablet PC

Industry’s Lightest Tablet PC Makes Mobile Computing More Viewable, Powerful, and Secure

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – General Dynamics Itronix announced today the availability of the Duo-Touch II, the second generation of the industry’s lightest rugged tablet PCs. Combining powerful processing power with an ergonomic tablet design for one-handed operation, the Duo-Touch II enables rugged, high-performance computing for mobile professionals in industries such as public safety, telecommunications, utilities, government, and insurance.

“Today’s mobile workers need rugged, lightweight computers that enable them to be connected and productive regardless of where their job may take them,” said Ben Thacker, vice president of strategic marketing for General Dynamics Itronix. “The Duo-Touch II is the result of powerful technology developments that ultimately deliver superior screen viewability, processing performance, and security in a light and small, yet rigorously rugged tablet PC.”

The Duo-Touch II’s capabilities and features distinguish it as the most durable yet lightweight, outdoor-viewable wireless tablet PC available:

DynaVue™ Display Technology
The Duo-Touch II features the award winning, patent-pending Dynavue display technology, developed by General Dynamics Itronix. DynaVue utilizes an innovative touchscreen design which increases outdoor viewability and fine detail definition, even in direct sunlight, by eliminating the internal reflections which wash out display clarity in other touchscreen displays. DynaVue technology provides the critical balance between brightness and contrast, resulting in optimum viewing for outdoor work environments as well as indoor and in-vehicle use, without the sacrifices of diminished battery life and processor performance that come from simply increasing screen brightness. DynaVue is also the only display technology on the market which meets the MIL-HDBK-87213 Rev A military standard for electronically generated airborne (cockpit) displays for direct sunlight viewability.

Advanced Processing Power
The Duo-Touch II Tablet PC supports high-performance computing applications by employing a powerful, ultra-low voltage Intel Core Duo Processor U2500 at 1.2 GHz with 2MB of L2 cache memory. Available with up to 2048MB of DDR2 RAM, the Duo-Touch II provides high performance without compromising battery life.

Fingerprint Security
To increase computing security, the Duo-Touch II offers an optional fingerprint scanner to ensure systems can only be used by their authorized operators. The fingerprint scanner also reduces the risk of data being compromised should the tablet be lost or stolen.

Wireless Support
With multiple integrated wireless technologies, including support for EDGE/GPRS/UMTS/HSDPA/ HSUPA, EV-DO, 802.11 a/g/n, Bluetooth, and GPS networks, the Duo-Touch II can support up to three RF modems and GPS simultaneously. An upgradeable, modular design lets users configure the Duo-Touch II in various combinations, providing unparalleled flexibility.

Dual-Mode Touchscreen
To ensure reliable computing with either a pen or the touch of a finger, the Duo-Touch II is equipped with both an active digitizer and passive touchscreen modes. The active digitizer allows for accurate signature capture and adding notes to drawings or maps, while the passive touchscreen mode can be used for simple navigation in Windows and other custom applications which utilize user-friendly kiosk-style selection “buttons”.

Award-Winning Implementation Services
To maximize mobile workforce productivity and provide organizations with a single source for service and support, the Duo-Touch II Tablet PC is backed by the company’s award-winning iCareServices programs. Offering the most complete end-to-end life cycle support in the mobile computing industry, the iCare programs include project consulting, workforce management, application development, training, comprehensive deployment programs and help desk support.

Additional Features and Options
The Duo-Touch II can be mounted on a desk or in a vehicle via a docking station and can paired with an optional keyboard for optimum usability of text heavy applications.  The Duo-Touch II is also equipped with a Kensington lock slot, serial port, USB, and external monitor connections. The die-case magnesium unit has been crash-tested for in-vehicle safety, meets or exceeds MIL-STD 810F durability standards, and is sealed against water and dust intrusion.

Availability
General Dynamics Itronix is currently accepting orders for the Duo-Touch II Tablet PC, which will be available for delivery in March 2008. The unit has a limited three-year warranty and will have an MSRP of $3,595.  (Source: Press Release)

Review: Vye S37 notebook PC

You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to navigating Vista. You can tap the 7in passive touchscreen display (a stylus is included), use the separate pointer and mouse buttons at the side of the screen, or put the miniature touchpad situated just below the keyboard to use - despite its size this touchpad is surprisingly easy to use. The screen also flips round and folds back on itself, allowing you to use it as a tablet PC.

Along with the pointer controls, various other buttons are dotted around the screen allowing for quick navigation when the keyboard is covered up, including a Rotate button to change the orientation of the screen. Wireless communication comes in the form of 802.11g and Bluetooth, but there’s no SIM-card slot for 3G or HSDPA broadband on the move, which is a shame at this price.

Vye’s S37 is certainly not without its charms. It’s sturdily built, manages to run Vista admirably well and, with the extended battery, can stretch to five hours’ usage away from the mains. But the fact is it faces stiff competition from the Eee PC, which is available for a fraction of the price. The Eee PC may not be as feature-rich, but you have to ask yourself whether you really need all Vista has to offer on a miniature laptop such as this.  (Source: Will Stapley, Personal Computer World, Vnunet.com)

Marshfield Clinic Nominated for Healthcare Innovation Award for Chartless Care Initiative Based on Fujitsu Tablet PCs

Marshfield's Jeremy Meller Nominated for Case Study Showing Mobile Point-of-Care Computing

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - January 28, 2008) - Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation today announced that Jeremy Meller, Clinic Division CIO at Marshfield Clinic, the largest private group medical practice in Wisconsin, was nominated in the Best Case Study Presentation category of the Healthcare Innovation(TM) Awards at this year's Healthcare IT Summit. Meller's case study described how more than 2,500 Fujitsu LifeBook(R) T4000 Series convertible Tablet PCs and Fujitsu Stylistic(R) ST5000 Series slate Tablet PCs serve as the hardware foundation of an electronic medical records system that has enabled Marshfield Clinic to improve the safety and timeliness of patient care, as well as increase efficiencies and decrease costs.

Healthcare IT Summit(TM) is produced by Vision Events(R), a Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) company, and the Healthcare Innovation Awards are voted on by the attending senior IT executives.

"The products, services, and programs on display at Healthcare IT Summit reflect the rapidly evolving state of the art in the industry," said Charles Badoian, vice president program management for Healthcare IT Summit. "A Healthcare Innovation Award signifies that the attendees viewed the winners as having a high level of excellence in their categories."

"Our chartless initiative using reliable, durable Fujitsu Tablet PCs is changing the way we practice medicine," said Meller. "We have reduced the rate of hospitalization and re-hospitalizations, and saved more than $6 million in hospital care costs. We hope that our success serves as a model for other healthcare facilities."

Fujitsu Tablet PCs allow mobile caregivers in the Marshfield Clinic system to access electronic medical records including reports and images, perform dictation, and enter orders and prescriptions electronically. The Tablet PCs have also eliminated the cost of fixed workstations for every exam room.

The popular LifeBook T4000 Series convertible Tablet PC with an optical drive offers the comfort and ease of a traditional notebook combined with the versatility of a tablet. The thin and light slate form factor of the 3.5-pound Stylistic Tablet PC provides the freedom to be more productive. The system is weight-balanced so it can be carried comfortably in either portrait or landscape mode.

"The reliability and durability of Fujitsu notebooks and tablets make them the perfect choice for an organization such as Marshfield Clinic that wants to migrate to a mobile platform for mission-critical computing without paying a performance or productivity penalty," said Paul Moore, senior director of mobile product marketing, Fujitsu Computer Systems. "Our focus on reliability, user design, and excellent support allows the healthcare workers at Marshfield Clinic to stay focused on their patients, not their technology."   (Source: Press Release)

My Toshiba M700 Review

In conclusion, the hardware is absolutely fantastic. Although the default software experience leaves a lot to be desired, it can be very easily remedied, at which time the M700 is by far one of the best tablets I’ve used. When I was setting mine up, I had the same joy– the "WOW" experience I had when I bought my first Tablet PC, the Toshiba Satellite R10.  (Source: Matt, GottaBeMobile)
Posted Monday, January 28, 2008 by ChrisD
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GBM InkShow: MobileDemand xTablet T8700 Rugged Tablet PC

What do you get when you mix Vegas, CES, a rugged Tablet PC, and three destruction-hungry GBMr's? One of the best InkShows ever, that's what.

In this InkShow, we take a look at the "secret" tablet I took with me to Vegas: the just announced xTablet T8700 from MobileDemand. With new specs like a 1.2 ghz Core 2 Duo processor, support for 2 gb of ram, SSD, and an outdoor viewable display, this button-activated touch + active digitizer Tablet PC took everything, including an unbelievable ride through Las Vegas, that Matt, Warner, and I could throw at it and survived.  This is a Tablet PC built for the vertical market - truck drivers, delivery personnel, construction, field-force workers, and more. The integrated keyboard and optional barcode reader make it a natural for taking inventory in places like beer coolers, food freezers, and more. When you see the damage we tried to inflict on the T8700, you'll come away quite impressed. I know we were.   (Source: Rob Bushway, GottaBeMobile)