A fully integrated cellular phone and personal organiser, designed for the blind and sight-impaired, was unveiled by Dutch manufacturer Alva at the recent CeBIT exhibition in Hanover, Germany.
The Alva mobile phone organiser (MPO) offers the key features of traditional cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), with additional features incorporated for visually-impaired clients.
With 20 Braille cells, an eight-dot Braille keyboard, speech synthesiser and Alva`s Smart-Control user interface, the company says the MPO is a new concept in design and functionality.
Instead of a normal display, the MPO offers users a text line that is 15cm long and uses tiny wire pins to form letters of the alphabet in Braille. This enables blind users to use the telephone book and read e-mails.
The Braille keyboard allows them to use the MPO`s text functionality, while the built-in speech synthesiser provides them with a means of receiving SMSs.
Alva has a number of other features for the MPO under development, including e-mail, Internet browser, global positioning system and an MP3 player. These developments will be released as optional software upgrades in phases, beginning in the third quarter of the year.
"The MPO represents a real breakthrough in mobile communication, data access and organisation for our customers, who traditionally find themselves left somewhat behind in terms of technological developments," says Eric Weldink, Alva president and CEO.
"As veterans in this field, we really understand that our customers are demanding more from the IT and telecommunication products they depend on."
The company has targeted the sight-impaired market for years, with products that include its patented cursor routing switch - used on virtually every Braille display manufactured today - as well as screen readers, screen magnification software and its own range of Braille displays.
The MPO, which is about the size and shape of a large pocket calendar, will be available by the middle of the year.
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