Amazon Ivona Software Updates Already#

Ivona voices may be purchased with TextAloud 4 or alone for use with SAPI5.In the July 2016 issue of AccessWorld, we describe how Amazon brought its VoiceView touch screen reader to the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite using AudioAdapter. MP3 audio track and use in your YouTube videos powered by Amazon Polly. Using this metadata stream alongside the synthesized speech audio stream, customers can animate avatars and highlight text as it is currently spoken text in their app. Amazon Polly makes it easy to request an additional stream of metadata with information about when particular sentences, words and sounds are being pronounced.

Amazon Polly replaces the Ivona text to speech. 50+ Premium Text to Speech Voices are included in this Free Web App. If you are Looking for a Natural Sounding Text to Speech then this Product is for you. Lifelike Voices Text to Speech Free is based on the Amazon Polly.

The Amazon Fire TVRecently, I obtained a 49 Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote. Keeping in mind that this is a preview version, here's what I discovered. Recently, I obtained a $49 Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote. One of the advantages of writing VoiceView from scratch is that a preview version of VoiceView has been added to the Amazon Fire TV.

Try SitePals.Similar in function if not content to the Apple TV, the Fire TV is a set-top device that enables streaming of both audio and video content through a television's HDMI port. (It can be disabled, but must be configured).For a list of AWS Regions where Amazon Polly is available, see Amazon Polly Endpoints and Quotas in the Amazon Web Services General Reference. Cloud: To use Cloud voices you need configured cloud adapter. Midway through the tutorial, the IVONA voice kicked in.Ivona: English, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, Dansk, Welsh, Icelandic, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish To use Amazon(Ivona) voices you need to get access key and secret key here.

The remote is smaller than a standard TV remote, but somewhat larger than the Apple TV remote. There was also a male to female HDMI extender cable, in case the stick does not fit behind your set and needs to be connected to the far end of an HDMI cable.The stick resembles a thick package of gum, with a male HDMI jack at one end and a USB charging port along a side edge. Along with the device itself, the box also included a USB charging cable, wall adapter, and the voice remote (batteries included). There is also a $39 version of the Fire Stick that does not include voice control, but as you will see, the extra $10 will more than pay for itself in convenience.Since I don't plan to store a lot of applications and content on the device itself, and don't own a 4K TV, I went with the Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote. These last two features increase the throughput enough to support 4K ultra high-definition video.The $49.99 Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote has a dual-core processor, 1GB of memory, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, and supports 1080p video. The current configuration of the original $99.99 Amazon Fire TV features a quad-core processor, 2 GB of memory, expandable flash storage with an SD card slot (up to 200GB), Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, and wired Ethernet access.

Completing the layout are two rows of three buttons each. Directly beneath is the Select button, which is surrounded by a standard navigation ring with controls for up, down, left, and right. Press and hold this button to issue voice commands. At the top center is the Voice Command button (the version without voice control does not include this button).

Amazon Ivona Software Updates Already

Brand new Fire TV owners will require sighted help to set up the unit. To check, simply press and hold the Back and Menu buttons for a few seconds to start VoiceView.Not every new Fire TV will arrive with the latest software updates already installed. Getting StartedVoiceView Preview will automatically update over the air, so if you already have a Fire TV, the chances are good it has been updated to the latest version. The bottom row, also from left to right: Rewind, Play/Pause, and Fast Forward.

In the morning, when I pressed and held down the Back and Menu buttons, VoiceView began speaking almost instantly. I didn't know you can manually initiate a software update via the Settings/Device/About menu, so I simply turned off the TV and waited overnight to see if it would update on its own. Once this was done, the Fire TV auto-played a brief instructional video outlining basic commands used to operate the device.Unfortunately, the software did not automatically update to the latest version at this point.

The preset volume is acceptable, but while viewing one program with an especially quiet soundtrack I turned my TV volume so high that VoiceView blared uncomfortably loudly.The Left and Right controls on the navigation ring move the user forward and backward through the various menus and listings, offering screen-reader-like feedback along the way. The IVONA voice is clear, crisp, and easy to understand, even you've never used a screen reader before.One of the controls missing from this preview version is the ability to change the VoiceView volume. This is the same text-to-speech voice used on VoiceView for Fire tablets, and the new VoiceView for Kindle. Midway through the tutorial, the IVONA voice kicked in. Instead, the preview began with the lower quality Android SVOX Pico voice offering a brief tutorial on how to use VoiceView.

Press Select to choose a character. It consists of a single row of letters and numbers that you navigate using the Left and Right keys. Users of the original Apple TV will be familiar with the style of keyboard used. Titles available for free play via Prime Video are announced as such after their title names are voiced.Alternatively, you can use the Search box to jump directly to a title. Amazon Prime members also have access to Prime Video and Prime Music.Use VoiceView to navigate through the various category menus and listings until you locate your desired title, then use the Select button to play, purchase, or add the title to your watch list.

Superman,' which I'm guessing is currently the most popular movie beginning with the letter B. The Backspace key is at the extreme far bottom right of the multi-row keyboard, and in the preview version of VoiceView, at least, you are not able to review what you delete.When I entered the letter 'B' and arrowed to the end of the keyboard the first listing I found was 'Batman vs. I could not find a way to review what I'd typed. If I didn't hear the click, I would reenter the character only to discover that I had now entered it two or three times. Sometimes I would hear them, sometimes not. I found these clicks to be hit and miss.

I found that the iPhone app was a much easier way to enter text into the search box, although I did have to return to the Fire remote to confirm my selection. I used the iPhone app, and was pleasantly surprised when it recognized my Fire TV and VoiceView announced the PIN I needed to enter to activate the app. The Up and Down keys enable rapid navigation through the keyboard, so they cannot be used here to voice otherwise inaccessible screen content.Some Fire TV mobile apps include a keyboard.

I found this feature to be quick and easy to use and extremely accurate.You can also use many Alexa commands by beginning your inquiry by speaking the name 'Alexa.' For example, 'Alexa, what's the weather?' or 'Alexa, play the Beatles.' Basically, purchasing a Fire TV with Voice Remote is a bit like getting many features of the Amazon Tap, which we reviewed in the May 2016 issue of AccessWorld, for free. When you're done, release the button. You will be prompted with a sound to begin speaking. Instead, press and hold the Voice button at the top center of the remote. Voice SearchIf there is a specific movie, TV program, or audio track title you are looking for, you don't have to cramp your fingers navigating menus or typing in the name.

Amazon does not require third-party vendors to make their services accessible, though they do offer developer resources to help get the job done. I was able to install many of them, but then I would encounter a non-speaking screen and have to back my way out. For competitive reasons iTunes is not available, just as Amazon Video is unavailable on the Apple TV.As of this writing, very few of these third-party apps have been optimized to work with VoiceView. CNN, CBS, and NBC News are also available.