Speak-Out and Sounding Board

Voice Synthesizers for your computer

Speak-Out and the Sounding Board family are voice synthesizers
designed specifically to meet the special needs of blind and
visually-impaired computer users.  They all provide responsive,
good quality speech that may be used with a variety of speech
programs from a number of different developers.  They have many
advanced features which provide greater independence and
increased productivity.  Some of these features are
capitalization alert, format alert, fast forward/rewind, pause
and hyperscan.  The Sounding Board was designed for standard
desktop PC compatible computers whereas the Sounding Board Lite,
LT and XE were designed for a variety of laptop computers. 
Speak-Out is a battery powered synthesizer which can be connected
to any computer or other device with a serial or parallel port. 
Since it is an external synthesizer, Speak-Out is the perfect
solution for someone who needs to take their speech with them -
easily moving from computer to computer.  It's small size and
rechargeable batteries make it ideal for mobile, portable use.

Once installed, Speak-Out or the Sounding Board will speak any
combination of letters and numbers immediately when requested. 
They operate much like your printer - they sit quietly until
information is sent their way.  When your printer receives
information to be printed it immediately begins printing this
information on paper.  In the same way, they speak the
information sent to them.


FEATURES

DIMENSIONS
Sounding Board is a full size, 13" board which requires an 8, 16
or 32 bit ISA slot.  The Sounding Board Lite, LT and XE  are
sized for their respective laptop computers.  The Speak-Out is
approximately 5-1/4" square by 1-1/2" tall and weighs
approximately 1 lb.  The Speak-Out comes with a carrying case
which is approximately 6" x 8" x 3".

MEMORY
If the Sounding Board text-to-speech software is loaded into DOS
RAM it uses 28K.  If it is loaded into Sounding Board's 16K of
on-board RAM then it uses 12K of DOS RAM.  The Sounding Board
Lite, LT and XE do not have the on-board RAM.  Speak-Out has a
synthesizer driver which takes less than 3K of DOS RAM. The text-
to-speech software is loaded inside Speak-Out and doesn't consume
any of your computer's memory.

Buffers may be increased or decreased as desired.  With the
Sounding Board family this will increase DOS RAM usage slightly. 
The Speak-Out buffers do not affect DOS RAM.

FEATURES
- One year, all parts and labor warranty
- Rate of speech - 1 of 10 levels
- Voice pitch - 1 of 10 levels
- Voice tone - 1 of 26 levels
- Volume - 1 of 10 levels
- All of our synthesizers have an internal speaker.  Except for
the Sounding Board XE, they all have an external volume control. 
The Sounding Board XE's volume is controlled by a control in-line
with the headphones.  The Sounding Board also has an external
tone control.  Sounding Board includes our external Super
Speaker.  The Sounding Board Lite, LT and XE includes mono
headphones.
- Indexing support (Parallel not supported)
- Phonetic pronunciation dictionary
- Fast forward/rewind and pause from the keyboard
- Hyperscan
- Acronym, spell and capitalization processor
- Format alert for extraneous spaces
- 10 variable word and sentence boundary delays
- Time and date hotkey
- All 12 hotkeys definable by the user
- Full support with Vocal-Eyes

SOUNDING BOARD SPECIAL FEATURES
The Sounding Board Interrupts and Base Address assignments may be
changed to conform to the specifications of the computer and
other expansion boards.

SPEAK-OUT  SPECIAL FEATURES
26 alarms can be set for a specific time and/or date.  An
optional custom message can be attached with each alarm. 
Speak-Out also supports a count-down timer which can be set for
up to 99 minutes.

Speak-Out has a special reload switch used to reload software.
There are no EPROMS in Speak-Out.  You are able to upgrade the
text-to-speech software or add an additional feature by uploading
through the serial port.

Speak-Out has a standard Centronics parallel connector and 9 pin
D serial connector on the back and both ports are active.  It
includes a serial cable - a parallel cable is optional.

It's rapid charge circuit allows Speak-Out to be fully recharged
in 1-1/2 hours.  If you are in a hurry, even a 15 minute charge
provides operation for a long time.

The microprocessor has both a STANDARD mode (4.77 MHz) and a
TURBO mode (9.54 MHz) which is configurable from the buttons on
the front panel.  The standard mode provides the maximum battery
life and the turbo mode provides the maximum responsiveness.

The carrying case includes a lower section for the AC
adapter/charger, a disk pocket, a belt clip, a short carrying
strap and a long carrying strap which can be slung over the
shoulder or worn around the waist "fanny pack" style.

The optional automobile accessory power adapter allows use of
Speak-Out without running down the rechargeable batteries. This
adapter will operate Speak-Out but will not charge its batteries.

EQUIPMENT SUPPORTED
The Sounding Board is compatible with any IBM PC or true
compatible with a full-length internal 8 bit ISA slot.  The
Sounding Board Lite, LT and XE are designed for a number of
laptops.  Please call for help determining which models are
supported.  Speak-Out was designed for PC compatible computers
but it may be connected to any device that has a parallel or
serial port (you must have the necessary software drivers for use
with each device).  Speak-Out includes software for use on PC
compatible computers.

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK

(THERE WILL BE A 10% RE-STOCKING CHARGE)

TO PLACE AN ORDER

Contact your local GW Micro authorized dealer, or call GW Micro
direct at:

GW Micro, Inc.
725 Airport North Office Park
Fort Wayne, IN  46825

voice: 219/489-3671
fax: 219/489-2608
BBS: 219/489-5281
EMail: support@gwmicro.com


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