I am pasting the story, as I guess the link's address has not appeared in your
case.



UK debut for 'blind' mobile
By Geoff Adams-Spink
BBC News Online disability affairs reporter
The first mobile phone designed specifically for blind and partially sighted
people
has gone on show in the UK.
Steve Tyler of the RNIB with one of the phones
The phone has no visual display
The phone is made by a Spanish company, Owasys - pronounced oasis - who hope to
have
their 22C handset on the UK market in three months' time.
It goes on sale in Spain next week.
The phone is on display at the Royal National Institute of the Blind's
Techshare
exhibition in Birmingham.
It has no visual display at all but uses a speech synthesiser to read
everything
that would normally appear on the screen.
As well as giving audio feedback from button presses, the 22C can send and
receive
text messages and will speak the name or number of incoming callers.
Customer feedback
Owasys hope the mobile will retail at around £250.
The company - formed by ex-employees of Ericsson - consulted blind and
partially
sighted users throughout the development phase.
They say the finished product reflects the customer feedback they received.
A number of people just want a simple device that's easy to use and friendly
Steve Tyler, RNIB technology specialist
Fernando Aguirre, Marketing and Sales Director for Owasys, told BBC News Online
that
the company is hoping to sell around 20,000 of the mobiles in Spain and twice
that
number in the UK.
"We thought there were parts of the consumer market whose demands were not very
well
covered by the big players," he said.
"From our conversations with ONCE (the blind people's organisation in Spain)
and
the RNIB here in the UK, it was clear that there was a need among blind people
for
a product like this."
RNIB technology specialist, Steve Tyler, said the phone has an appeal beyond
blind
and partially sighted people.
He said it will appeal to anyone who wants to make and receive calls but who is
put
off by screen-based technology.
"A number of people just want a simple device that's easy to use and friendly,"
he
said.
"What mobile phone should you buy for your elderly grandmother for example, who
isn't
interested in flashing lights, screens and menu systems, but she is used to an
ordinary-looking
phone?"
Owasys say the 22C is the first of a number devices aimed at niche markets, but
declined
to give further details.


On 27 Nov 2003 at 11:13,
 Gordan Wahl scribbled two cents' worth--Re: Mobile phone for the blind--

> Hey Justin,  Who? What? Where? When?  You left out the most vital
> information.  Pray, tell us more!
> Gordon Wahl
> ####
>
> Justin Philips wrote:
> >
> > Visit the link to read about the new mobile handset for the blind.
> >
> >
> ay......
> > Justin
> >
> > VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> > To join or leave the list, send a message to
> > [log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
> > "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
> >  VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
> > http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html

Just an email away......
Justin


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html