Memovoc-2 Voice Memo manager for Psion Series 3A ** Contact Information ** Mail: David Joyce 2 Seabury Parade Malahide Co Dublin Ireland Phone/Fax 011-353-1-8450694 Email 101520.1250@compuserve.com ** Program Overview ** Memovoc-2 is a shareware voice memo manager for the Psion Series 3A. You will see how speech input to the Psion becomes quick and convenient. A note can be made in the time it takes to say "Arrange meeting with Tom for Tuesday". The system allows for convenient record and playback of voice memos, using single keystrokes. Indeed, with Voice Activated Recording, you can even record without inputting any keystrokes. This application will prove useful for people who need to take notes, for example at meetings, or while reading a document, but who don't want to interrupt what they are doing to jot them down. Instead, you simply speak the note into the Psion. Memovoc2 was reviewed in "The Irish Times" in Jan 96. The review finished by saying "Overall this is a well finished program which adds considerably to the usefulness of the Psion". ** How to Register ** ** By mail: Send US$20 to David Joyce 2 Seabury Parade Malahide Co Dublin Ireland You can send check or cash, or a credit card number ** By phone: Call 011-353-1-8450694 and quote your credit card number ** By fax: Fax your credit card number to : 011-353-1-8450694 Note: for credit card payment only Visa and Mastercard can be accepted. Please quote the expiry date of the card. Please be sure to include your own name and address in any correspondence. ** Via Compuserve Go SWREG. SWREG ID is 9462. Installing Memovoc-2: Note: Because I am distributing Sys$samp.ldd with this application I am required to distribute TSMP10.ZIP. This file describes the use of Sys$samp.ldd and is not itself necessary for the application. The relevant files for Memovoc-2 are: Memovoc2.opa - Main application Memovoc.rsc - On-line help Sys$samp.ldd - Driver for voice sampling Install all three files onto the same disk (A,B or Internal) Install Memovoc2.opa to the \APP directory Install Memovoc.rsc to the \OPD directory Install Sys$samp.ldd to the root directory Use Psion-I from the system screen to install the application. Getting Started: Move to the Memovoc2 icon in the system screen and press Enter. You will be asked to provide an initial configuration. We suggest you use the default configuration for the moment, so just press "Enter". Continue to press "Enter" until you get to the main Memovoc-2 screen. At this stage you should press the "Diamond" key. This will show you how much time is available for memos. (By freeing up memory you can increase this time). Registration: If you have your registration code you may key it in at this stage. Simply press Psion-k and fill in your name and code, followed by "Enter". If you do not have the code yet you may continue, however, you will only be able to record up to 4 memos. The registered version allows up to 99 memos. Screen: The scrollbar in the centre of the screen indicates seconds elapsed for record and play operations. The box above this shows the number of the selected memo, the box below shows the duration of the selected memo in seconds (or "MVOC" if there are no memos) and the status bar between the previous and next buttons indicates the current configuration (Disk -Default Record Time - Play Mode). The number in bracket to the right of the word "Memos" indicates the total number of memos on the disk. Recording: To record your first memo hold the Psion with the microphone close to your mouth and press "Tab". (The microphone is the notch you can see towards the front of the Psion's underside, close to the B drive door). Wait for the beep to end and then start speaking. A second beep signifies that the recording is finished. You can see how much time has elapsed by watching the scrollbar. To play the memo simply press "Enter". Record a second memo and see how easy it is to select either memo using the cursor keys. Record some more. If you finish speaking your memo before the recording ends, press ESC to stop recording. This will save space. Playing: To play a memo, move the cursor to it and press enter. To stop playback, simply press ESC. Moving Around: The left and right cursor keys are used for moving between memos. They can also be used while a memo is playing. Pressing the right cursor key during play will cause the current play to stop and the next memo to start. Pressing the left cursor key during play will cause the memo to replay from the beginning. However, if this key is pressed immediately after play has begun, it will cause a skip back to the previous memo. Effectively, this means that if, in the middle of playing a memo, you wish to skip back to the previous memo, you should simply press the left cursor key twice, rather like using a CD player. The page-up and page-down keys are also operational (though not during play). Voice Activated Recording: Initiate VAR by keying "v". You will see a pair of "ears" appear around the scroll bar to indicate that Memovoc is listening. Close the Psion cover. Hold the Psion with the microphone very close to your mouth and in a slightly raised voice speak "record". You will hear a beep to indicate start of recording. Move the Psion a little away from your mouth and speak your memo at a normal voice level. A second beep indicates that the recording is finished. Open the Psion and press any key to return to normal mode of operation. Note: After pressing "v" the system will wait two seconds before VAR becomes operational. This is to give you a chance to close the cover. (This is to get around the possibility that the creaking noise which you may hear while closing the cover will initiate a recording). WARNING: While in VAR mode autoshutoff is disabled. You must therefore make sure you do not leave your Psion switched on in this mode. Changing Configuration: Default record time: Pick a record time that suits your requirements. If you just want to take short memos, this can be set to 2. Alternatively, you can set the record time to 0. In this case Memovoc will determine how much free space is available on disk prior to each recording and use this as the record time. When you are finished your memo press ESC to stop recording. The system checks each time you record to ensure that enough disk space exists. So if you set record time to 3 and have only two seconds of disk space remaining, the record time will be truncated to 2. Record to Disk: Choose from Internal, A or B as appropriate. You can not record to a flash SSD. Play Mode: There are two play modes, Cycle and Single Shot. In Cycle mode, when you press enter to play a memo, all memos are played once. This is useful for reviewing a list of things to do, for example. If you press Enter while a memo is playing, the cycle will stop at that memo. In Single Shot mode, only the selected memo is played. Alarm Link: This links the current memo to an alarm. It is initiated by keying "a" and setting the date and time for the alarm. At the set time the alarm will ring and a text message will indicate which memo the alarm refers to. To see which memos have alarms set you can use Psion-V from the TIME application. You can also cancel Memovoc alarms from TIME. A bell indicator automatically appears against a memo when an alarm is set. This indicator can be toggled on or off by keying "t". The indicator does not automatically clear after the alarm goes off. Info Module: This is activated by keying "i". It shows the date and time when the selected memo was recorded along with the memo file size in bytes. To Register: Key Psion-h for details of how to register. The unregistered version allows only four memos, whereas the registered version allows 99. When you register you will be sent a code number by e-mail or by return post or fax which you simply key in along with your name. Operations and features: (See also on-line help) Record Over Access key "Spacebar" Records over selected memo. Delete Access key "d" Deletes the currently selected memo. Rename Access Key "r" Renames the currently selected memo. The name may be up to eight letters long. Info Access key "i" Displays information relating to selected memo. Exit Access key "Psion-x" Exits the application. Change Setup Access key "c" Changes the record time, the disk used for memos and the play mode. Free Space Access key "Diamond" Flashes the amount of record time remaining. Set Alarm Access key "a" Sets alarm and associates it with current memo. Activate VAR Access key "v" Initiates voice activated recording. Unload driver Access key "u" This unloads the driver used for VAR and frees up approximately 6K of extra memory. How to register Access key "Psion-h" Gives details on how to register. Key registration code Access key "Psion-k" Allows you to key in registration code. Hints: In general it is most convenient and memory efficient to set the default record time to 0 and press "ESC" when finished speaking. However, if you are using Voice Activated Recording with the Psion case closed, then set the default recording to something other than 0, eg 2 or 3. This is because you will not be in a position to press "ESC". Trouble-shooting Recording Failed: Replace batteries - they may be too low for digital recording. Flash SSD - you may be trying to record to a flash SSD. This is not possible. Use the setup menu (change configuration - key "c") to change to the internal disk or a RAM SSD. On playback, sections of the memo are silent: Replace batteries. This is caused by low main batteries. Scroll bar moves but no sound is heard This may be due to very low memory. Close some apps or delete some files to free up memory. Start of memo clipped: You may notice this if you have the default recording time set to greater than 10 or if you have it set to 0 and there are more than 10 seconds free on the disk. The solution is to set the record time to less than 10 or, when recording, to wait a fraction of a second after the beep before you begin speaking. Watching the scrollbar will also indicate when recording has started. Using VAR, recording starts before I say "Record": Whilst in VAR mode, recording can be triggered by long continuous noises provided they are sufficiently loud. VAR is designed to ignore extraneous sounds such as a handclap, banging doors or the noise made when placing the Psion on a surface. VAR does not always work: Try holding the microphone of the Psion closer to your mouth and speak in a louder voice. Disclaimer: Memovoc-2 is a shareware application. The author cannot be held responsible for any damage which might result from its use. The driver used for Voice Activated Recording is an unsupported driver from Psion. Psion cannot be held responsible for any damage which might result from its use. This driver has not been exhaustively tested and cannot be guaranteed not to reset your Psion 3A. Copyright: Memovoc-2 is copyright 1995 of David J Joyce, 2 Seabury Parade, Malahide, Co.Dublin, Republic of Ireland.