Wow, we know its been a long time since we took our break for Google i/o and the Summer Conventions… but! We have a huge show this go around and we hope you will find that it was worth the wait. Especially if you were interested in trying a few Jellybeans!

In The News:

Meet Android 4.1 Jellybean

Here is the Change Log for Jellybean

Jellybean is faster thanks to the slick Project Butter

Google Maps adds Offline Mode in jellybean

T mobile, when is Jellybean coming to my phone and or tablet?

3 phones likely to get jellybean

More conjecture on possible Jellybean upgrade canidates

Jellybean will be harder to hack?

Adobe says no stand alone Flash for you Jellybean users

Accessibility gestures for Android 4.1

Google I/O 2012 – Making Android Apps Accessible

Reports of Jellybean issues with double tap navigation

Nexus 7 accessibility, where are we?

Introducing the nexus 7

Rounded corners in advertising, check out the Nexus 7 commercial

Nexus 7 16 GB sells out on Play Market

Nexus 7 suggested to cost $156 by iSupply

Report: Nexus 7 more repairable than iPads

Need something smaller? How about the Galaxy Note II

Google Play gets magazines and more

The Nexus Q

Sadly, this happened shortly after we recorded the show, Nexus Q launch delayed indefinitely, no longer available for pre-order

Google reveals Google Glass high above San Francisco

Additional info on Google Glass

App Review: Georgie and Synaptic

We had many emails and iReports asking us to discuss these new apps while we were on our break. Steve nutt takes a moment to describe and lay out the features of Georgie. It has a 14 day trial if you find that you want to take this for a spin from the Google Play Market.

Steve, who had more time on his hands to play with apps and things, also delves into another option in this arena in his description of “Synapptic”. To learn more about this alternative , visit the official website.

Developer Interview: Mozilla Firefox

Eitan Isaacson and Marco Zehe sit down with Ana and joe to discuss the approach and the development of accessibility in Firefox for Android.

The interview spotlights how users can download the firefox betas from the Google Play market and provide the team feedback on their experiences with Androids from 4.1 all the way back to version 2.2. 

Check out marco’s blog to keep up on what is new with firefox accessibility

And you can find out more about Mozilla at the MozillaProject website. We sincerely thank Eitan and Marco for their time and we urge everyone to download and see the tremendous efforts that have been taken to make Firefox work with Screen Readers.

Hardware Review: Droid 4

joe’s long search for a replacement handset has ended in his selection of the Motorola Droid 4. He showed it to JJ at the Summer Convention in Dallas, and through a series of events we’ve been asked not to elaborate on [but can spread rumor and conjecture  about], he too now has a Droid 4. JJ and joe take some time to talk about what they like, and are eagerly hoping for in the unit’s ICS update, with the phone that sports one of the best hardware keyboards on the market.

Contacting the Team

We’ve had our say, now its your turn. Drop us a line at resources@serotalk.com or send us a tweet at our official Twitter page.

You can also follow our hosts by visiting

Ana’s Accessible Android blog or

JJ at Android Access.net.

Finally, Check out Steve’s Twitter feed.

Thanks for listening!

Its our first show with JJ, Ana and Steve! And it also just happens to be full of great info and reviews. Which is good as with the upcoming Google I.O. event, the Summer U.S. and UK conventions and somewhere along the way some time to sleep… it will be a while before we meet up again. But when we do, expect a jam packed episode with even more news and reviews than this episode!

In The News:

Code factory releases Braille Support For Mobile Accessibility

Draw Braille Concept is a Smartphone for the Blind

Firefox for Android begins to add Accessibility Support

Google’s Grand Plan for Android

NLS App for Android?

New Android Accessibility resources now available from Google

Review of the Samsung Galaxy S 3 by CNET

Apple and Samsung walk away from the negotiation table, is cross licensing doomed?

 “They weren’t even close” says a jury member on the Google V. Oricle trial

App And Hardware Reviews:

Ana shows us just how easy it is to take notes, make lists and more with uNote

JJ takes us on a short tour of his ARCHOS G9 tablet running Android 4.0.

Steve gets all mellow with Zello the walkie talkie app for online community conversations

Mailbag:

Mary writes in to let us know that she is in the market to buy a good hardware keyboard based phone and she would like our recommendations. The unit that is getting the best reviews at the moment for those who have to have their keyboards is the Motorola Droid 4 on Verizon. Joe, in fact, purchased this phone recently and he will review it on a future episode. Sneak preview, he agrees with many reviews that this keyboard is fantastic.

We talk a bit about TV apps based on an email in our mailbag. Steve, in the UK, notes that Sky Plus has several options including the RecordIt app. Let us know what apps you find accessible for TV listings or for watching video and you may hear them reviewed on an upcoming show. 

Contacting the Team

We’ve had our say, now its your turn. Drop us a line at resources@serotalk.com or send us a tweet at our official Twitter page.

You can also follow our hosts by visiting

Ana’s Accessible Android blog or

JJ at Android Access.net.

Finally, Check out Steve’s Twitter feed.

Thanks for listening!

Welcome back to… wait a second. Something is strange here. This isn’t our normal kind of sho. We have reviews, an interview and the news of course. But we seem to be missing a J.J. and we also seem to have gained a Steve? Yep, J.J. was unable to join us this month but not to worry as Steve Nutt is on board to round out the conversation. And he will be joining our crew more often as he and J.J. and Ana all have Android 4.0. And Joe can still only dream.

In The News

Larry Page says that Android isn’t critical to Google?

The mobile version of Talk is one of the many services seeing end of life as Google slims down services further

Project Glass was announced shortly after our last episode, what portions of the glasses and the idea are real?

Joe gets his wish? Samsung and Apple to find peace?

Samsung to unveil S Cloud to take on Apple’s iCloud

Sprint lays out ICS upgrade plans

Would Nokia sell better if it were Android based?

App Reviews

Ana begins her “Three Apps In three minutes” whirlwind tour with the upSound Down app for those who want an easier way of turning on their speakerphone options.

the Classic Weather notification app is the second of the three that Ana shows us. Have local tempatures and more right there in your notification bar.

And the final mini app review lets you put Big Ben in your pocket. Okay, not really, but you can have those famous chimes on your phone with Chime Time on android 4.0.

Joe takes us on a tour of Tune In Radio. One of those must have apps if you love the FM or the AM dial. You can find local content, podcasts and even some police and Fire signals with this free app.

Interview With G$ Of eScape Technology

We sit down with the creator of Text Talk and Dictator to discuss how he came about to developing for android, how he found out about Android accessibility and how you can help him with his current and future projects.

Don’t forget to also try out Text Talk

The Mood Ring Thermometer

and Dictator.  

Mailbag

Mike Arigo wrote in to remind us that the Bookshare app Go Read was now on the Android Play market.

George wrote in to ask about Chromebooks. Recently Google has updated the Chrome OS interface and none of us have really played with it yet. But, from Ars Technica, here is an article that details the changes in the new version of Chrome OS.

And a big thanks to matt who told us about Zedge which is an app that works with Android 4.0 for those who love custom ringtones.

Feedback

We’ve had our say, now its your turn. Drop us a line at resources@serotalk.com or send us a tweet at our official Twitter page.

You can also follow our hosts by visiting

Ana’s Accessible Android blog or

JJ at Android Access.net

Check out Steve’s Twitter feed.

You can find Joe’s Twitter feed at The Ranger Station too.

Thanks for listening!

Welcome back! We’ve gotten many questions in about Rooting and Flashing. And once we realized that these questions were about how to do this with phones, and not just your normal run of the mill spam, we reached out to someone to discuss these topics in our interview portion of the program. Along the way in this longer than usual episode, we have news and app reviews as well. So sit back and relax while we talk Android and access.

In The News:

CSUN held a bit of Android news with several new note takers adopting the OS as their platform of choice. Catch the SPN coverage

and the Blind Bargains coverage to learn more about the who, what and when in regards to these new devices.

We have a review from JJ later on in the show but here is the link for the news release for the Blind Bargains app for Android and something called iOS?

Access World reviews Android 4.0

Reactions to the Access World article have been fairly more controversial than the review itself.

App Development for a cause, check out the great work from the CSUN SS12 program

Here is a link to the “Rockets and Pumpkins” game described on a sidebar from the news conversation

The Android Market changes to Google Play. And some say it’s a mess!

One Ex Googller leaves but not before saying “Goodbye Cruel Google”

Can an iOS Developer make it in an Android world?

Google offering Rev Share to get Google Wallet off the ground

Google ad supported apps can drain your battery but can they also be a security risk?

App Reviews:

JJ takes us on a tour of the new Blind Bargains app now available on Google Play

Joe shows us a simple and easy to use app for listening to Leo LA Porte’s TWIT Network’s live stream of Tech News and Entertainment programming

Ana lets us find the Home Row with the Eyes Free Keyboard from the Google Eyes Free project

Interview With Phil Muir:

By popular request, we sit down with someone who explains to us about how to root and flash your phone to enjoy other versions of Android. We would like to thank Phil Muir for taking the time out to talk about his Android experiences and we encourage you to visit him on his Accessibility Training site if you would like to know more about his work.

Mailbag:

Angelo thanked the TAS Team for episode 6 and our interview with Nolan. He mentioned that he would like to research getting a tablet as an introductory step into Android Accessibility.  Both JJ and Ana now have ICS devices. Naturally Joe is jealous because Verizon and he are not at the point of speaking terms on his upgrade yet. However, if you want to know more about JJ’s ARCHOS G9 tablet, you can find the product page here.

Mike Arigo also wrote in to tell us about this podcast that demonstrates the Android 4.0 setup process.

Contact Us

We’ve had our say, now its your turn. Drop us a line at resources@serotalk.com or send us a tweet at our official Twitter page.

You can also follow our hosts by visiting

Ana’s Accessible Android blog or

JJ at Android Access.net.

You can find Joe’s Twitter feed at The Ranger Station too.

Thanks for listening!

Greetings and welcome back to the show that may or may not feature Anadroid 2.0. We have a full slate of app reviews, and great interview but first le’s start off with some news…

In The News

Google gets motivated by their purchase of Motorola being approved by the U.S..

Microsoft files complaint in the EU over Google’s Motorola acquisition claiming patten abuse as the cause of the complaint

Regulators say that Google can have motorolla but we still don’t trust you

Droid 4 arrives, but not with Android 4.0

Moto lays out ICS upgrade plans

HTC says first Ice Cream Sandwich updates land in March

Google and the Hardware Dream

Google planning massive “Experience Center” and secret test labs at Googleplex

Judge says Microsoft tactics were hard bargaining in nature, not strong arming when it comes to Android licensing

Here is a follow up article to a story we discussed on a previous show, Web OS to be more open than Android it seems

Android electronic commerce safer with Google Wallet fix

At long last, malware scanning comes to Google’s Android Market

Another option for money identification is here with the release of Darwin Wallet to the Android Market

5 things we would like to see from a Google Heds up Display

Almost edible Android phones from Japan

App Reviews

J.J. shows us how public transportation can be made easier with the HotStop app

Joe demonstrates how to do a simple blog post in Blogger

And shows us just how much things don’t work in Google Plus on Android 2.2.2

Ana takes us a tour of the Spiel Screen Reader for Android

Interview: Speaking Spiel And More

We sat down with Nolan Darilek to get his opinions on Android Development, the future of Spiel and his other projects. To keep up to date with his projects, visit his blog

Mailbag

We answer a few questions about Mobile Accessibility and modifying your phone with

Cyanogen Mod. Both allow the Android user to do things in a faster or more productive way. Plus, like any other user, both let you get away from skins like Moto Blur or HTC Sense on your Android phone.

And remember to visit the Eyes Free Lists as they are a great resource for finding out more, or for asking more detailed questions, about topics just like these.

Feedback

We’ve had our say, now its your turn. Drop us a line at resources@serotalk.com or send us a tweet at our official Twitter page.

You can also follow our hosts by visiting

Ana’s Accessible Android blog or

JJ at Android Access.net.

You can find Joe’s Twitter feed at The Ranger Station too.

Thanks for listening!

Welcome back to our show! This month we get back to form with app reviews, an interview and more. But first…

In the News

Google releases ICS source code but true openness still eludes

ATT and Code Factory team up for Mobile Accessibility Light

Google opens music download store, welcomes artists to upload directly

You can learn even more about Google Music  by listening to This Week In Google 121 “This One Goes To 11 “

You can learn more about Darwin Reader, the accessible DAISY app,  at this site

Logitech drops google TV and calls it an expensive mistake

Google’s five worst mistakes

Google is scared of Siri?

App Review: Jeannie

We keep hearing that you need this other phone because you can talk to it and it gives you information. Well, Android can do that too and JJ shows us how with Jeannie Home2Shorcut.

Find Jeannie on the Android Market here

And you can find Home2Shortcut here

Interview: Peter Meijer And vOICe App For Android

Peter lets us in on what it was like to develop this app and so much more.

You can learn more about vOICE and the Seeing With Sound group at this site.

You can follow Peter on Twitter

And  You can also hear more about the app in combination with a bar code scanner by visiting this link

You can also find the app on the Android Market at this link

We Hear Voices…

Ivona voices gets a free update for Androids

Best Android Apps and options for disabled users

App Review: Audiobooks

You can find the free Audiobooks app that Joe discussed on the Android Market

Apps Mentioned On The Show:

We get asked all the time about apps we use and find accessible. Several were mentioned in Episode 3 and you can find the links to their Android market pages below.

Evernote

Conan and Team Cocoa

TED Talks

Revision 3

Giant bomb

G4TV

NPR Streaming News

Al Jazera

American Airlines

Google Translate

Gmail

Seesmic

Mobile Accessibility

Joe’s Quest For A New Phone Continues

Joe is still on the hunt for a new phone, but he was very depressed to read this review of the new Samsung Stratosphere for Verizon

Ultimate Android 4.0 Update List: Which Phones Will Get Ice Cream Sandwich?

Also, thanks to Jammin’ Jerry for his links to Android podcasts he has done on various Android phones. You can find his podcast archives at

http://www.jjhof.com/android/

Feedback

We’ve had our say, now its your turn. Drop us a line at resources@serotalk.com or send us a tweet at our official Twitter page.

You can also follow our hosts by visiting

Ana’s Accessible Android blog or

JJ at Android Access.net.

You can find Joe’s Twitter feed at The Ranger Station too.

Thanks for listening!

Sponsored in Part by Vanda Pharmaceuticals: Improve your sleep quality and possibly make money at the same time.

Ice Cream Sandwich

It took a little longer to defrost this episode, however, all the information on Android 4.0 was sure worth the wait!

Here’s the official information from the Android 4.0 Developer Highlights Page

But a shorter version can be found at Tech Crunch’s rundown of Android 4 features

Want to relive the Hong Kong event? Watch the TWIT Specials 96: Coverage of Samsung Google Event from October 18^th

And the coverage continued on All About Android 30 from TWIT

And a new phone was on hand to demo the new version of Android Take a look at the Samsung Nexus S Hands On From Engadget

Not able to upgrade to the newest version of Android? : Here’s how to Get the Best Features of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Now  via Lifehacker

Also you may want to read about the other new upcoming hardware with this hands-on with the Motorola Droid Razr and the “Motoactv”

You can keep up on the latest Android news from the official Twitter account

Spotlight Feature

Ana took a serious look at this top 30 android Apps article and below are some of her impressions on their level of access.

This summer,  _Lifehacker_ posted a list of thirty must-have Android apps guaranteed to turn our phones into powerhouses. We decided to check these apps out for accessibility, and we found that about half are accessible.

For most of these apps, there are accessible alternatives. We can help make the others accessible to screen reader users by testing them ourselves and sending the developers specific suggestions.

The must-have apps are divided into the following categories: Productivity, Internet/Communication, Location-Aware, Utilities, Media, Food and Entertainment, Art and Photography, and Extended Pack (a couple of extras).

Productivity

1. Evernote: Evernote I was unable to test this information syncing and sharing app because I wasn’t able to get past the capcha during registration. This isn’t a good sign, but it doesn’t mean the app is inaccessible. Often the login process is the most inaccessible part of an ap.
2. Springpad: This app for taking notes, web snippets, and audio recordings, saving them for future reference, is not very accessible mostly because many commands ultimately lead to a web view.
3. Astrid: This to-do list organizer and manager is probably usable since most controls and fields are properly labeled and focusable, but the UI isn’t intuitive to screen reader users. Learning to use the app would involve some trial and error.
4. Mint: this app for managing money and finances is not accessible because fields and controls are not focusable or consistently labeled.

Internet/Communication

5. Dolphin Browser HD: This web browser is not accessible. The only Android browsers known to be accessible are Ideal Web Reader by Ideal Group and the Accessible Web browser by Code Factory.
6. Google Voice: This app for managing voicemail, SMS messages, and low-cost ( or in some cases, free) calls is reported to be fairly accessible by some Eyes-Free Android users.
7. Twitter for Android: The stock Twitter app is not accessible because the tweets themselves are not spoken. More accessible alternatives are Seesmic and Swift. Tweetcaster is reported accessible, but sighted help is needed to sign in and authorize the app.
8. Google+: Google’s new social network has hit and miss accessibility. If you sit with it patiently for a day or two, you can learn to handle basic tasks, but if you leave it for a week, you need to rediscover where you touched the screen to access unfocusable controls and text fields. Even so, there is definitely room for growth.

Location-Aware

9. Google Maps and Navigation: Navigation, which gives turn-by-turn guidance, is very accessible and self-explanatory. For a list of directions, wait for the guidance to begin, press menu, and press the selector on More, then on Directions list. Maps, which does the same while also displaying a map, is accessible, but there are a couple of tricky areas. To get directions or guidance, launch Maps, press menu, and press the selector on Directions. Give the phone a moment to load the screen. Then type your end point and check the box for the type of directions you want (e.g., driving, walking, etc). Now you’re ready to start guidance or get a list of directions. To start guidance, press the selector on the unlabeled button next to Get Directions. To scroll through a list of directions, press the selector on Get Directions; then touch the lower left-hand corner of the screen, something which takes a little practice.
10. ReQall: This to-do list and task management suite, which requires users to set up an account, is reported to be quite accessible by a member of the Eyes-Free Android users list.

Utilities

11. Titanium Backup: This comprehensive backup utility is reported to be accessible by some members of the eyes-Free Android users list.
12. Dropbox: This file syncing and storage solution is completely accessible and easy to use.
13. Swype: This virtual keyboard is not accessible. The only standalone soft keyboard known to be accessible is TouchType. Talkback and Mobile Accessibility each include an accessible virtual keyboard.
14. Tasker: I was unable to test this task automater app because I had trouble downloading the free trial.
15. Voice Search: This virtual assistant is mostly accessible, but it’s got a few quirks. You can say, “Call Wendy,” “Email Frank,” “Get directions to Starbucks,” “Search for sock knitting patterns,” and Text Cecile.” The biggest  quirk is that the screen reader speaks when you’re supposed to. To silence it, either use a headset or place your hand over the proximity sensor right before you launch the app. Once the phone gets used to your voice, it often correctly interprets what you say even when you’re talking over the screen reader. When texting or emailing someone, you don’t have much time to speak the actual message, so you need to press the selector on an unlabeled button to speak each additional sentence, remembering to speak punctuation, of course. When searching the web, results are returned in the stock browser, which isn’t accessible. The workaround is to bookmark the results page, then open the page from your accessible browser—not very convenient.
16. File Expert: This file management and browsing tool is quite accessible.

Media

17. Google Music Beta: The current incarnation of the stock music player is partially accessible when the phone is used in portrait orientation, but difficult to use in album view mode, which is the default mode when the phone is in landscape. For the accessible version of days gone by, download Android Music by JTRStudio.
18. Pandora: This custom radio station app is reported to be accessible by a number of Eyes-Free Android list users.
19. Kindle: This ebook reader for Amazon Kindle content is not accessible. Most controls are labeled and focusable, but no texts are read out loud, even the ones that are TTS enabled.
20. MoboPlayer: This alternative music player is completely inaccessible.
21. Doggcatcher: This podcatcher is reported to be accessible by a number of users of the Eyes-Free Android list.
22. Spotify: I wasn’t able to test this music streaming and downloading app because I couldn’t log in. I’m not sure if the problem was me or the ap.

Food and Entertainment

23. FourSquare: This social networking app that lets you tell people where you are is reported to be fairly accessible by a number of Eyes-Free Android users, though there may be a hiccup or two with recent updates.
24. Netflix: This movie watching app is not accessible.
25. Yelp: This app for finding a new place to eat or something to do in your area appears to be quite accessible. I only tested it for a short while, but all the basic tasks I tried worked well with Talkback.

The two remaining categories are Art and Photography (i.e., camera apps) and Extended Pack (i.e., other Twitter apps and virtual keyboards). I didn’t test any of the camera and photography apps because I don’t have any vision. The stock camera app is good enough for a blind person to snap a picture and send it to someone for help with, say, the buttons on a vending machine. To use it, simply launch the camera app by going through the home screen or by pressing the hardware camera button once; then press the camera button again to take pictures. Camera Magic is another Camera app  with labeled and focusable controls. Twitter and virtual keyboards were covered earlier.

If you’ve used any of these or similar apps, please post a rating on www.AndroidAccess.net or write up a tutorial for AccessibleAndroid.blogspot.com.

Also, we’d love to hear about the must-have apps on your phone. Please drop us a line or give us a ring.

Talking To Your Android

Siri is neat and all, however, Android has been doing this kind of thing through many apps already.

Naturally there is the Eyes Free Shell with it’s own built in Google voice Search that many already use.

But Ana mentioned that she already uses Vlingo to do some of what Siri offers.

JJ has tried SpeakToIt Assistant for some of these same things as well.

Joe mentioned that another one to keep an ear out for is Iris. It is in Alpha but it seems promising.

Did we miss one you use? Be sure to let us know what else is out there!

Feedback

Got something to say? You can send us an email to resources@serotalk.com or leave us an iReport through the iBlink Radio app. You can also follow the official Twitter feed for that Android Show. If you want to keep up with our hosts, here’s how.

Keep up with Ana by reading the Accessible Android blog.

Keep up with JJ through the Android Access.net web site.

Keep up with Joe by following The Ranger Station on Twitter.

Thanks for listening!