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PAC Mate BX/QX 2.5 Update What
is it? What is it?This is the third major update for the PAC Mate BX and QX. The update is free and brings some exciting new features and performance improvements: Braille Translation and Braille SettingsMajor attention has been given in this release to braille translation and ease of use with speech turned off. This release has eliminated every user reported translation error, including those reported when changing regional settings to English U.K. and other settings. This release has been benchmarked by running over 600,000 dictionary entries through both the PAC Mate and Duxbury translators to ensure there is at least parity in translation. The Braille Settings control panel adds several powerful capabilities. For users in the U.K., there is now a check box to Suppress Capital Signs. A tab called Cursor allows the user to manage the presentation of the PC Cursor, JAWS Cursor, and Invisible Cursor by assigning a unique dot pattern or blink rate to each or to even turn them off. There is a new tab called Messages that gives the user control over Braille Flash Messages. These short messages show on the display, reflecting spoken JAWS messages or changes in status, such as when pressing a Whiz Wheel. The messages are now on the braille display in all cases for the user operating without speech. They can be set to display for a duration of one to 10 seconds or until dismissed by a keystroke. Messages can even be turned on or off by category. In addition, a new feature allows you to turn the Braille Cursor on and off on the fly or to change its shape. On the 40-cell display, press NAV button 25 followed by NAV button 17 to turn the cursor on and off. NAV button 25 followed by NAV button 16 changes its shape. On the 20-cell display, press NAV button 15 followed by NAV button 7 to toggle the cursor on and off. NAV button 15 followed by NAV button 6 changes the shape. Braille Study ModeAlong with these braille usability enhancements, comes a new feature called Braille Study Mode. Just learning contracted braille? Not sure what the symbol is on the braille display? Just turn on Braille Study Mode, and press the cursor router button above the symbol in question to hear the symbol's title. Press the button behind that, and PAC Mate will say and spell out the word. Open any .brf file and press JAWS Key+S followed by B on the QX or S CHORD followed by B on the BX. Expanded Voice ControlNow you can control the Voice Settings independently for Global Voice, Message Voice, Keyboard Voice, PC Cursor Voice, and JAWS Cursor Voice. Go to the Voice Settings control panel and select the voice you want to manage from the combo box. You can then assign a unique speaker voice, and vary the pitch, rate and uppercase pitch along with its punctuation setting. Multi-Language SupportStudying foreign languages? You can load a second, third, or even a fourth language on your PAC Mate using one of the new language installers via ActiveSync. A new tab called Secondary will appear in the Voice Settings control panel. Just choose a language and rate that are most comfortable for you for each of the additional languages. You have the same control over Global Voice, Message Voice, Keyboard Voice, PC Cursor Voice, and JAWS Cursor Voice as mentioned above. Set a language as your Secondary language and, with just a keystroke, switch to your language of choice at any time. The new language installers are available for download. Switching languages is done with JAWS Key+S followed by L for the QX and S CHORD followed by L on the BX. The Pocket PC menus will stay in the primary language of your PAC Mate, but the speech synthesizer will change to appropriately read a document in the secondary language. CPU Power SettingIn order to conserve battery life, a new setting has been added that allows you to adjust the clock speed of the PAC Mate's processor. While not recommended for normal use where switching between applications is done frequently and where system responsiveness is important, slowing CPU speed will extend battery life for tasks such as listening to music or reading. Go to Settings, System tab, Power Settings. Move to the CPU tab. Here there is a combo box with three radio buttons:
Audio Recording SettingsSince the support for Resco Audio Recorder in PAC Mate Release 2.2, many users have been experimenting with recording lectures and meetings, using the onboard microphone and a variety of external microphones. To handle the differences in close up recording versus room recording and the variances in external microphones, a new Recording Settings control panel has been added in this release. Go to Settings, System tab, Recording Settings. Here there are three check boxes:
USB Mass Storage DriverCertain makes of USB thumb drives took a couple of minutes to be recognized by the PAC Mate. This is fixed in release 2.5. Entering ASCII and Control CharactersYou can now enter any character in the ASCII table using your QWERTY or braille keyboard. For example, to enter the British pound sign on a BX, press DOTS 2-4-7-8, DOTS 1-2-3-6, and the 3-digit ANSI value (in this case 163) in computer braille. On the QX, it is FN+SCROLL LOCK and enter the ANSI value using the embedded Num Pad (in this case j-o-l for 163). To enter control characters press DOTS 2-4-7-8, DOTS 1-3-4-6 on the BX followed by the desired character. On the QX, of course, it is CTRL plus the character. Other FixesYou can now click on links in e-mail messages and select text consistently.
What does it cost?The 2.5 update is free to BX and QX series PAC Mate owners. DO NOT download this update if you have a PAC Mate BNS or TNS. Also, if you received your new PAC Mate BX or QX model after September 22, 2004, you are already running 2.5. There is no need to update. You can verify what version you have installed by pressing INSERT+F1, A on the QX or DOTS 1-4-5-6 CHORD, DOT 1 on the BX. If you would like to receive the update on a CompactFlash card, the part number is 460222-001 and can be purchased for $29.95 from our eStore using the following link: Purchase BX/QX 2.5 Update. How do I get it?Use this link to download the update for the BX and QX series: Download PAC Mate release 2.5. When the dialog box opens, select a location (such as your Desktop) where you will easily find the downloaded file. The file is named pm2_5_enu.exe. This self-extracting zip file prompts you for a location to place the extracted files. Again, select a location where you can easily find the files. The extracted files will be named nk.rom and EBOOT.nb0. The nk.rom file is approximately 17 MB, while EBOOT.nb0 is about 131 KB. Once you have extracted both files, you may delete the pm2_5_enu.exe file. What are the update steps?There are several steps you must follow to complete the installation of this update so that you do not lose data or impair programs installed on your PAC Mate. Before installing the update:
Installing the 2.5 update:
After installing the update:
Review each of the following steps, and be sure you allow yourself adequate time to complete them. Step-by-Step Update InstructionsBefore installing the update
Warning: Do NOT use Sprite backup as this will restore the old system files over your newly installed release 2.5 update. Installing the 2.5 update
Note: If this is NOT what your PAC Mate says, verify what build you have installed by pressing INSERT+F1, A on the QX400 or DOTS 1-4-5-6 CHORD, DOT 1 on the BX400. If this step indicates that your PAC Mate is still running version 2.01 build 70, the update was not successfully installed. In this case, you can try it again with a different CompactFlash card, or you can place an order for a 32MB CompactFlash card containing the new software. After installing the update
Note: If you previously downloaded and installed the USB Mass Storage Driver from the Freedom Scientific Web site, you do not need to reinstall it after installing release 2.5. The updated driver is included in the release. Note: If one of the programs you re-installed is the Audible Player, start Audible Manager on your PC and reactivate your device (press ALT+D, then press CTRL+A). Updated FSDN Now availableFor persons with an
interest in writing scripts for applications running on the PAC Mate,
the Freedom Scientific Developer Network file has been updated to include
new script functions and a link to the PAC Mate 2.5 script source. |
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