(St. Petersburg, Florida - August 4, 2008) Freedom Scientific today announced the release of version 6.1 of the PAC Mate Omni, the accessible Pocket PC that brings the functionality of a mainstream PDA to the blind. The new release includes capabilities that have never before been available in a portable, instant-on device with a speech and braille user interface

 

"We've added features that notetaker users have long requested, but until now could not get with any notetaker product," said Jonathan Mosen, Vice President of Blindness Hardware Management. "There is no doubt that this release further establishes the PAC Mate Omni in a class by itself as the most powerful, flexible, and functional portable device
for the blind on the market today.

 

"Braille typists have always had to struggle when working with a notetaker, because, while documents would support contracted braille input, edit fields required computer braille. For instance, when typing an e-mail message using contracted braille, one would have to remember to shift to computer braille to enter the subject and the addressee information. Now, with PAC Mate Omni 6.1, people for whom contracted braille is second nature no longer have to think twice about how they enter information. They can type in contracted braille anywhere, in any application, including third-party applications they can install
themselves. While this is of particular value to users of the PAC Mate BX with its braille keyboard, PAC Mate QX users can also take advantage of it by switching to braille keyboard mode and entering contracted braille using the homerow keys of their QWERTY keyboard.

"Notetaker users also have long requested the ability to read PDF files. Now they can, with PAC Mate Omni's new Reader Mode. PDF and other file types not previously accessible due to lack of a system cursor are now instantly readable when you switch to Reader Mode. Essentially, any program that contains a text view area can now be read on a PAC Mate Omni," added Mosen.

 

"We've also expanded our Navigation Quick Keys in 6.1 making web browsing easier and more efficient than ever," said Mosen. "For example, you can now press "r" to get to radio buttons, "x" for checkboxes, "e" for edit fields and so forth."
 

Even the upgrade process is easier than ever with this release. "In PAC Mate Omni 6.0, we safeguarded data so that it isn't lost, even after a hard reset," said Mosen. "Now we've taken that one step further. With PAC Mate Omni 6.1 you can update the firmware and keep your data and installed applications intact."

 
To learn about the other new features in PAC Mate Omni 6.1 and to download the upgrade, visit What's New in PAC Mate Omni 6.1. At  www.FreedomScientific.com

 

 Freedom Scientific is the world's leading manufacturer of assistive technology products for those who are vision impaired and products for the special education and learning disability market.

 

Freedom Scientific(r) and PAC Mate Omni(tm) are either trademarks or registered trademarks in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.