This is a copy of an email sent to another list but I think relevant here.
Last night I discovered that eSpeak was now available on the
SensePlayer app catalogue.
I installed this in the hope that this would add some TTS functionality in
Dolphin Easy Reader.
More importantly for me the installation of eSpeak seemed to unlock
something in the Audio Settings of Easy Reader and I was suddenly,
for the first time, able to download and install Nuance Voices from
within the Easy Reader app itself. Previously this add voices option
in audio settings was greyed out for me and not available on the SensePlayer.
The Easy Reader app cannot access SensePlayer inbuilt TTS to play content.

I cannot pretend the process was smooth but eventually in dolphin Easy
Reader Settings I was able then to change the voice from an
incomprehensible Foreign eSpeak variant to Vocaliser Tom. There seem
to be dozens of eSpeak variants but cursoring through the list of available voices eventually revealed Tom.

I am glad to say that I was able to then read as normal yesterday's
Independent newspaper from the RNIB eText service using Tom with perfect comprehension.
Prior to this pressing the play button only revealed silence.
I then switched to a book downloaded from Project Gutenberg in the
app, and I am glad to report that this, also, was read by the newly installed Tom TTS voice.

I think this is a major development, allowing RNIB eText Newsagent and
Online Project Gutenberg access to a Daisy Player for the first time.
It may be that there has been some background update to the Dolphin
TTS servers and installing eSpeak was not necessary but for whatever
reason I can now access TTS voices to read newspaper and eBook
contents from within Dolphin easy Reader on the SensePlayer.

David Griffith

This is a copy of an email sent to another list but I think relevant here.
Last night I discovered that eSpeak was now available on the SensePlayer app
catalogue.
I installed this in the hope that this would add some TTS functionality in
Dolphin Easy Reader.
More importantly for me the installation of eSpeak seemed to unlock something in
the Audio Settings of Easy Reader and I was suddenly, for the first time,
able to download and install Nuance Voices from within the Easy Reader app
itself. Previously this add voices option in audio settings was greyed out for
me and not available on the SensePlayer.
The Easy Reader app cannot access SensePlayer inbuilt TTS to play content.

I cannot pretend the process was smooth but eventually in dolphin Easy Reader
Settings I was able then to change the voice from an incomprehensible Foreign
eSpeak variant to Vocaliser Tom. There seem to be dozens of eSpeak variants but
cursoring through the list of available voices eventually revealed Tom.

I am glad to say that I was able to then read as normal yesterday's Independent
newspaper from the RNIB eText service using Tom with perfect comprehension.
Prior to this pressing the play button only revealed silence.
I then switched to a book downloaded from Project Gutenberg in the app, and I am
glad to report that this, also, was read by the newly installed Tom TTS voice.

I think this is a major development, allowing RNIB eText Newsagent and Online
Project Gutenberg access to a Daisy Player for the first time. It may be that
there has been some background update to the Dolphin TTS servers and installing
eSpeak was not necessary but for whatever reason I can now access TTS voices to
read newspaper and eBook contents from within Dolphin easy Reader on the
SensePlayer.

David Griffith

On 28 Aug 2023, at 10:14, adrien collins <adriencollins820@...> wrote:

?Hi

I recently purchased a 256 gb Kingston sd card from Amazon, for some reason, neither my milestone 312 ace or vr stream 3 recognise the card, has anyone had any problems with Kingston cards before, I have used loads of 32 gb sd cards from Kingston but not one this capacity. The milestone sees it there but doesn't access it, what I mean , can swap to it but that is as far as it goes and my vr stream, it just refreshes book shelves for ever, very odd. What I thought was a bargain isn't unfortunately.

Regards

Adrien

Henry







From:
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
On Behalf Of Mathieu via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023 3:30 PM
To:
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.


Hello everyone,



I wanted to give you an update on the latest about what’s going on with the Audible integration on the Victor Reader Stream 3.



I’m going to pull the curtain back a little and let you in on the inner workings of such an endeavor.



For context: we initially contacted them in July 2021 (two years ago) to let them know we had a new product coming and to prepare. We contacted them again in July 2022. We were told to just use the previous implementation (the one we have on Stream2/VRTrek).



In November 2022, it became clear that the fact we’re now using MTP wouldn’t work in AudibleSync, so we reinitiated contact, let them know, and sent them a device at their request for testing. This is all before anyone knew the Stream 3 was coming out.



As I’ve mentioned on some podcasts and here before, it was then radio silence for a couple months. I would email them once or twice a week and get not answers, in December and January. That is, until Jonathan Mosen in late January initiated a very successful open letter/petition that caught their attention, then they started communicating back with us.



Since then, we’ve had some meetings, in theory bi-weekly, but a few ended up being cancelled with little to no notice. We were told in February we would be sent a test account, it took about two months to receive it (April). We then we kept being told, from meeting to meeting, that “it’s going to work in the next few weeks”.



Finally, around mid-June, we finally were contacted by one of their engineers who started looking at the issue. From the questions they asked, it seemed clear that this was the first time they even plugged in the Stream 3 to a computer.



I’m going to open a parenthesis here.



Now, what you need to understand is, there is about a month’s worth (4-5 weeks) for one person of work to do on our side to create the interface on the Stream. We need to build an app, build the user interface, etc. We’re a small company, and we cannot afford to put that much work into something that ends up not working because AudibleSync won’t support MTP, so we are waiting until we have confirmation that the Stream is seen before we start the work. That means that in order to make the 1.2 update, we’d have to get the AudibleSync thing sorted out before end of July, then start the work which brings us to early September, when we can then do QA and beta testing.



End of parenthesis.



Two weeks ago, we had a call with some higher ups at Audible that told us that we would get an update by July 21st, which was last Friday. As we had not heard anything this morning, we asked for it. They responded quickly, and the update is: we’ll give you an update by July 31st as we’re evaluating whether or not we can do MTP. So, basically, same as two weeks ago.



We at Humanware are really disappointed in this turn of event. The fact that we’ve given them a heads up two years ago, provided them with a test unit over 8 months ago, and to be quite blunt, not much has been done since at all...



I’m the kind of person that calls it like it is. When we mess up at Humanware, and we do sometimes, I don’t shy from it, I voice it. Doesn’t always make me popular, but I tell it like I see it, and I’ve even said on this list sometimes that we made a mistake.



In this instance, for Audible, I can say that we did EVERYTHING right. We answered them in a very timely manner every time they asked us a question, provided them with all that we could, attended every single meeting with them, etc. We really did everything we could humanly do.



As it stands, it seems very unlikely we’ll see Audible support in 2023. Mid-2024 would be my bet. And that’s if they don’t decide that MTP is too complex to add.



We are looking at a plan B right now if that’s what they decide, to see if there’s something we can do… we think there may be a way, but without going into details, it’s a bit ugly and we’re really hesitant. It would also require a lot of work.



So there you have it. I’ve always been transparent with you all, and my goal here really isn’t to throw Audible under the bus or anything, but just relay things as they are, factually. We’ve expressed our disappointment with them but told them that despite it, we’ll still cooperate and do all that we can to make it happen sooner rather than later.



So yeah. Thank you for taking the time to read this long update. I’m
sure that we’ll eventually get there, it’s just a bit of a long,
winding road. Like Sheryl Crow sang, “I get a little bit closer to
feeling fine” ?



Thank you for reading this.

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

On 28 Aug 2023, at 10:14, adrien collins <adriencollins820@...> wrote:

?Hi

I recently purchased a 256 gb Kingston sd card from Amazon, for some reason, neither my milestone 312 ace or vr stream 3 recognise the card, has anyone had any problems with Kingston cards before, I have used loads of 32 gb sd cards from Kingston but not one this capacity. The milestone sees it there but doesn't access it, what I mean , can swap to it but that is as far as it goes and my vr stream, it just refreshes book shelves for ever, very odd. What I thought was a bargain isn't unfortunately.

Regards

Adrien

Henry







From:
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
On Behalf Of Mathieu via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023 3:30 PM
To:
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.


Hello everyone,



I wanted to give you an update on the latest about what’s going on with the Audible integration on the Victor Reader Stream 3.



I’m going to pull the curtain back a little and let you in on the inner workings of such an endeavor.



For context: we initially contacted them in July 2021 (two years ago) to let them know we had a new product coming and to prepare. We contacted them again in July 2022. We were told to just use the previous implementation (the one we have on Stream2/VRTrek).



In November 2022, it became clear that the fact we’re now using MTP wouldn’t work in AudibleSync, so we reinitiated contact, let them know, and sent them a device at their request for testing. This is all before anyone knew the Stream 3 was coming out.



As I’ve mentioned on some podcasts and here before, it was then radio silence for a couple months. I would email them once or twice a week and get not answers, in December and January. That is, until Jonathan Mosen in late January initiated a very successful open letter/petition that caught their attention, then they started communicating back with us.



Since then, we’ve had some meetings, in theory bi-weekly, but a few ended up being cancelled with little to no notice. We were told in February we would be sent a test account, it took about two months to receive it (April). We then we kept being told, from meeting to meeting, that “it’s going to work in the next few weeks”.



Finally, around mid-June, we finally were contacted by one of their engineers who started looking at the issue. From the questions they asked, it seemed clear that this was the first time they even plugged in the Stream 3 to a computer.



I’m going to open a parenthesis here.



Now, what you need to understand is, there is about a month’s worth (4-5 weeks) for one person of work to do on our side to create the interface on the Stream. We need to build an app, build the user interface, etc. We’re a small company, and we cannot afford to put that much work into something that ends up not working because AudibleSync won’t support MTP, so we are waiting until we have confirmation that the Stream is seen before we start the work. That means that in order to make the 1.2 update, we’d have to get the AudibleSync thing sorted out before end of July, then start the work which brings us to early September, when we can then do QA and beta testing.



End of parenthesis.



Two weeks ago, we had a call with some higher ups at Audible that told us that we would get an update by July 21st, which was last Friday. As we had not heard anything this morning, we asked for it. They responded quickly, and the update is: we’ll give you an update by July 31st as we’re evaluating whether or not we can do MTP. So, basically, same as two weeks ago.



We at Humanware are really disappointed in this turn of event. The fact that we’ve given them a heads up two years ago, provided them with a test unit over 8 months ago, and to be quite blunt, not much has been done since at all...



I’m the kind of person that calls it like it is. When we mess up at Humanware, and we do sometimes, I don’t shy from it, I voice it. Doesn’t always make me popular, but I tell it like I see it, and I’ve even said on this list sometimes that we made a mistake.



In this instance, for Audible, I can say that we did EVERYTHING right. We answered them in a very timely manner every time they asked us a question, provided them with all that we could, attended every single meeting with them, etc. We really did everything we could humanly do.



As it stands, it seems very unlikely we’ll see Audible support in 2023. Mid-2024 would be my bet. And that’s if they don’t decide that MTP is too complex to add.



We are looking at a plan B right now if that’s what they decide, to see if there’s something we can do… we think there may be a way, but without going into details, it’s a bit ugly and we’re really hesitant. It would also require a lot of work.



So there you have it. I’ve always been transparent with you all, and my goal here really isn’t to throw Audible under the bus or anything, but just relay things as they are, factually. We’ve expressed our disappointment with them but told them that despite it, we’ll still cooperate and do all that we can to make it happen sooner rather than later.



So yeah. Thank you for taking the time to read this long update. I’m
sure that we’ll eventually get there, it’s just a bit of a long,
winding road. Like Sheryl Crow sang, “I get a little bit closer to
feeling fine” ?



Thank you for reading this.

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

On 28 Aug 2023, at 10:14, adrien collins <adriencollins820@...> wrote:

?Hi

I recently purchased a 256 gb Kingston sd card from Amazon, for some reason, neither my milestone 312 ace or vr stream 3 recognise the card, has anyone had any problems with Kingston cards before, I have used loads of 32 gb sd cards from Kingston but not one this capacity. The milestone sees it there but doesn't access it, what I mean , can swap to it but that is as far as it goes and my vr stream, it just refreshes book shelves for ever, very odd. What I thought was a bargain isn't unfortunately.

Regards

Adrien

Henry







From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Mathieu via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023 3:30 PM
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.


Hello everyone,



I wanted to give you an update on the latest about what’s going on with the Audible integration on the Victor Reader Stream 3.



I’m going to pull the curtain back a little and let you in on the inner workings of such an endeavor.



For context: we initially contacted them in July 2021 (two years ago) to let them know we had a new product coming and to prepare. We contacted them again in July 2022. We were told to just use the previous implementation (the one we have on Stream2/VRTrek).



In November 2022, it became clear that the fact we’re now using MTP wouldn’t work in AudibleSync, so we reinitiated contact, let them know, and sent them a device at their request for testing. This is all before anyone knew the Stream 3 was coming out.



As I’ve mentioned on some podcasts and here before, it was then radio silence for a couple months. I would email them once or twice a week and get not answers, in December and January. That is, until Jonathan Mosen in late January initiated a very successful open letter/petition that caught their attention, then they started communicating back with us.



Since then, we’ve had some meetings, in theory bi-weekly, but a few ended up being cancelled with little to no notice. We were told in February we would be sent a test account, it took about two months to receive it (April). We then we kept being told, from meeting to meeting, that “it’s going to work in the next few weeks”.



Finally, around mid-June, we finally were contacted by one of their engineers who started looking at the issue. From the questions they asked, it seemed clear that this was the first time they even plugged in the Stream 3 to a computer.



I’m going to open a parenthesis here.



Now, what you need to understand is, there is about a month’s worth (4-5 weeks) for one person of work to do on our side to create the interface on the Stream. We need to build an app, build the user interface, etc. We’re a small company, and we cannot afford to put that much work into something that ends up not working because AudibleSync won’t support MTP, so we are waiting until we have confirmation that the Stream is seen before we start the work. That means that in order to make the 1.2 update, we’d have to get the AudibleSync thing sorted out before end of July, then start the work which brings us to early September, when we can then do QA and beta testing.



End of parenthesis.



Two weeks ago, we had a call with some higher ups at Audible that told us that we would get an update by July 21st, which was last Friday. As we had not heard anything this morning, we asked for it. They responded quickly, and the update is: we’ll give you an update by July 31st as we’re evaluating whether or not we can do MTP. So, basically, same as two weeks ago.



We at Humanware are really disappointed in this turn of event. The fact that we’ve given them a heads up two years ago, provided them with a test unit over 8 months ago, and to be quite blunt, not much has been done since at all...



I’m the kind of person that calls it like it is. When we mess up at Humanware, and we do sometimes, I don’t shy from it, I voice it. Doesn’t always make me popular, but I tell it like I see it, and I’ve even said on this list sometimes that we made a mistake.



In this instance, for Audible, I can say that we did EVERYTHING right. We answered them in a very timely manner every time they asked us a question, provided them with all that we could, attended every single meeting with them, etc. We really did everything we could humanly do.



As it stands, it seems very unlikely we’ll see Audible support in 2023. Mid-2024 would be my bet. And that’s if they don’t decide that MTP is too complex to add.



We are looking at a plan B right now if that’s what they decide, to see if there’s something we can do… we think there may be a way, but without going into details, it’s a bit ugly and we’re really hesitant. It would also require a lot of work.



So there you have it. I’ve always been transparent with you all, and my goal here really isn’t to throw Audible under the bus or anything, but just relay things as they are, factually. We’ve expressed our disappointment with them but told them that despite it, we’ll still cooperate and do all that we can to make it happen sooner rather than later.



So yeah. Thank you for taking the time to read this long update. I’m sure that we’ll eventually get there, it’s just a bit of a long, winding road. Like Sheryl Crow sang, “I get a little bit closer to feeling fine” ?



Thank you for reading this.

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

I am not sure what the supported capacity for the Milestone is?
As it is quite an old piece of hardware it may not support higher capacity cards.
Someone with the manual will have to confirm.
In relation to the Stream 3 I constantly get Refreshing Bookshelf messages on my 512 GB card also. Without intervention this can go on for several minutes. This is supposed to be improved in the next update though I am very surprised that user testing did not reveal this before the Stream was released.

In the meantime the only workaround I have found is to wait for about 30 seconds, press the online button, wait a few seconds and press online button again to return to offline bookshelf status. I find that this then forces the Stream to actually read the card contents rather than drone on about refreshing bookshelf content.

David Griffith


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of adrien collins
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2023 10:15 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [dap-uk] Kingston 256 gb sd card not recognised in my mp3 players

Hi

I recently purchased a 256 gb Kingston sd card from Amazon, for some reason, neither my milestone 312 ace or vr stream 3 recognise the card, has anyone had any problems with Kingston cards before, I have used loads of 32 gb sd cards from Kingston but not one this capacity. The milestone sees it there but doesn't access it, what I mean , can swap to it but that is as far as it goes and my vr stream, it just refreshes book shelves for ever, very odd. What I thought was a bargain isn't unfortunately.

Regards

Adrien

Henry







From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Mathieu via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023 3:30 PM
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.


Hello everyone,



I wanted to give you an update on the latest about what’s going on with the Audible integration on the Victor Reader Stream 3.



I’m going to pull the curtain back a little and let you in on the inner workings of such an endeavor.



For context: we initially contacted them in July 2021 (two years ago) to let them know we had a new product coming and to prepare. We contacted them again in July 2022. We were told to just use the previous implementation (the one we have on Stream2/VRTrek).



In November 2022, it became clear that the fact we’re now using MTP wouldn’t work in AudibleSync, so we reinitiated contact, let them know, and sent them a device at their request for testing. This is all before anyone knew the Stream 3 was coming out.



As I’ve mentioned on some podcasts and here before, it was then radio silence for a couple months. I would email them once or twice a week and get not answers, in December and January. That is, until Jonathan Mosen in late January initiated a very successful open letter/petition that caught their attention, then they started communicating back with us.



Since then, we’ve had some meetings, in theory bi-weekly, but a few ended up being cancelled with little to no notice. We were told in February we would be sent a test account, it took about two months to receive it (April). We then we kept being told, from meeting to meeting, that “it’s going to work in the next few weeks”.



Finally, around mid-June, we finally were contacted by one of their engineers who started looking at the issue. From the questions they asked, it seemed clear that this was the first time they even plugged in the Stream 3 to a computer.



I’m going to open a parenthesis here.



Now, what you need to understand is, there is about a month’s worth (4-5 weeks) for one person of work to do on our side to create the interface on the Stream. We need to build an app, build the user interface, etc. We’re a small company, and we cannot afford to put that much work into something that ends up not working because AudibleSync won’t support MTP, so we are waiting until we have confirmation that the Stream is seen before we start the work. That means that in order to make the 1.2 update, we’d have to get the AudibleSync thing sorted out before end of July, then start the work which brings us to early September, when we can then do QA and beta testing.



End of parenthesis.



Two weeks ago, we had a call with some higher ups at Audible that told us that we would get an update by July 21st, which was last Friday. As we had not heard anything this morning, we asked for it. They responded quickly, and the update is: we’ll give you an update by July 31st as we’re evaluating whether or not we can do MTP. So, basically, same as two weeks ago.



We at Humanware are really disappointed in this turn of event. The fact that we’ve given them a heads up two years ago, provided them with a test unit over 8 months ago, and to be quite blunt, not much has been done since at all...



I’m the kind of person that calls it like it is. When we mess up at Humanware, and we do sometimes, I don’t shy from it, I voice it. Doesn’t always make me popular, but I tell it like I see it, and I’ve even said on this list sometimes that we made a mistake.



In this instance, for Audible, I can say that we did EVERYTHING right. We answered them in a very timely manner every time they asked us a question, provided them with all that we could, attended every single meeting with them, etc. We really did everything we could humanly do.



As it stands, it seems very unlikely we’ll see Audible support in 2023. Mid-2024 would be my bet. And that’s if they don’t decide that MTP is too complex to add.



We are looking at a plan B right now if that’s what they decide, to see if there’s something we can do… we think there may be a way, but without going into details, it’s a bit ugly and we’re really hesitant. It would also require a lot of work.



So there you have it. I’ve always been transparent with you all, and my goal here really isn’t to throw Audible under the bus or anything, but just relay things as they are, factually. We’ve expressed our disappointment with them but told them that despite it, we’ll still cooperate and do all that we can to make it happen sooner rather than later.



So yeah. Thank you for taking the time to read this long update. I’m sure that we’ll eventually get there, it’s just a bit of a long, winding road. Like Sheryl Crow sang, “I get a little bit closer to feeling fine” ?



Thank you for reading this.

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

I am not sure what the supported capacity for the Milestone is?
As it is quite an old piece of hardware it may not support higher capacity cards.
Someone with the manual will have to confirm.
In relation to the Stream 3 I constantly get Refreshing Bookshelf messages on my 512 GB card also. Without intervention this can go on for several minutes. This is supposed to be improved in the next update though I am very surprised that user testing did not reveal this before the Stream was released.

In the meantime the only workaround I have found is to wait for about 30 seconds, press the online button, wait a few seconds and press online button again to return to offline bookshelf status. I find that this then forces the Stream to actually read the card contents rather than drone on about refreshing bookshelf content.

David Griffith


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of adrien collins
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2023 10:15 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [dap-uk] Kingston 256 gb sd card not recognised in my mp3 players

Hi

I recently purchased a 256 gb Kingston sd card from Amazon, for some reason, neither my milestone 312 ace or vr stream 3 recognise the card, has anyone had any problems with Kingston cards before, I have used loads of 32 gb sd cards from Kingston but not one this capacity. The milestone sees it there but doesn't access it, what I mean , can swap to it but that is as far as it goes and my vr stream, it just refreshes book shelves for ever, very odd. What I thought was a bargain isn't unfortunately.

Regards

Adrien

Henry







From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Mathieu via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023 3:30 PM
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.


Hello everyone,



I wanted to give you an update on the latest about what’s going on with the Audible integration on the Victor Reader Stream 3.



I’m going to pull the curtain back a little and let you in on the inner workings of such an endeavor.



For context: we initially contacted them in July 2021 (two years ago) to let them know we had a new product coming and to prepare. We contacted them again in July 2022. We were told to just use the previous implementation (the one we have on Stream2/VRTrek).



In November 2022, it became clear that the fact we’re now using MTP wouldn’t work in AudibleSync, so we reinitiated contact, let them know, and sent them a device at their request for testing. This is all before anyone knew the Stream 3 was coming out.



As I’ve mentioned on some podcasts and here before, it was then radio silence for a couple months. I would email them once or twice a week and get not answers, in December and January. That is, until Jonathan Mosen in late January initiated a very successful open letter/petition that caught their attention, then they started communicating back with us.



Since then, we’ve had some meetings, in theory bi-weekly, but a few ended up being cancelled with little to no notice. We were told in February we would be sent a test account, it took about two months to receive it (April). We then we kept being told, from meeting to meeting, that “it’s going to work in the next few weeks”.



Finally, around mid-June, we finally were contacted by one of their engineers who started looking at the issue. From the questions they asked, it seemed clear that this was the first time they even plugged in the Stream 3 to a computer.



I’m going to open a parenthesis here.



Now, what you need to understand is, there is about a month’s worth (4-5 weeks) for one person of work to do on our side to create the interface on the Stream. We need to build an app, build the user interface, etc. We’re a small company, and we cannot afford to put that much work into something that ends up not working because AudibleSync won’t support MTP, so we are waiting until we have confirmation that the Stream is seen before we start the work. That means that in order to make the 1.2 update, we’d have to get the AudibleSync thing sorted out before end of July, then start the work which brings us to early September, when we can then do QA and beta testing.



End of parenthesis.



Two weeks ago, we had a call with some higher ups at Audible that told us that we would get an update by July 21st, which was last Friday. As we had not heard anything this morning, we asked for it. They responded quickly, and the update is: we’ll give you an update by July 31st as we’re evaluating whether or not we can do MTP. So, basically, same as two weeks ago.



We at Humanware are really disappointed in this turn of event. The fact that we’ve given them a heads up two years ago, provided them with a test unit over 8 months ago, and to be quite blunt, not much has been done since at all...



I’m the kind of person that calls it like it is. When we mess up at Humanware, and we do sometimes, I don’t shy from it, I voice it. Doesn’t always make me popular, but I tell it like I see it, and I’ve even said on this list sometimes that we made a mistake.



In this instance, for Audible, I can say that we did EVERYTHING right. We answered them in a very timely manner every time they asked us a question, provided them with all that we could, attended every single meeting with them, etc. We really did everything we could humanly do.



As it stands, it seems very unlikely we’ll see Audible support in 2023. Mid-2024 would be my bet. And that’s if they don’t decide that MTP is too complex to add.



We are looking at a plan B right now if that’s what they decide, to see if there’s something we can do… we think there may be a way, but without going into details, it’s a bit ugly and we’re really hesitant. It would also require a lot of work.



So there you have it. I’ve always been transparent with you all, and my goal here really isn’t to throw Audible under the bus or anything, but just relay things as they are, factually. We’ve expressed our disappointment with them but told them that despite it, we’ll still cooperate and do all that we can to make it happen sooner rather than later.



So yeah. Thank you for taking the time to read this long update. I’m sure that we’ll eventually get there, it’s just a bit of a long, winding road. Like Sheryl Crow sang, “I get a little bit closer to feeling fine” ?



Thank you for reading this.

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

?

Indeed Henry.? this time Jonathan Mosen isn't going to make any sort of intervention in this.? He recommends VR and others who want their Audible books available via the VR Stream and other special players should write to Amazon/Audible, though I do not know where you would send your request for special player support to.

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Am I right in thinking the VR2 and Trek can still play Audible books?

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Quite Frankly though this is just another corporation that don't give a damn.

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Ray.

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Hi Mathieu

Many thanks for this update-looks like it’s going to be a long road to travel.

Best wishes

Henry

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Mathieu via groups.io
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2023 3:32 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.

?

Hi!

?

Apologies for the delay, I was at a conference this week.

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As someone else mentioned, we did hear back from Audible, but it’s not looking like they’ll be able to get the fix to their AudibleSync app in time for our 1.2 release.

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We’re not giving up, we’ll keep going at them until we get a satisfactory answer!

?

Mathieu

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Rea Lists via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2023 4:13 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.

?

EXTERNAL EMAIL - Be vigilant with attachments and clickable links.

COURRIEL EXTERNE - Attention aux pièces jointes et aux liens cliquables.

Hi Henry and list.

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Don't know if you have caught up with the Youtube link to the wbina or whatever it was on the VR3 which was highlighting the tutorial being made freely available through Mystic Access, but here is the link anyway:

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I believe there is a podcast of this now, but cannot recall who has done it.? Maybe Humanware?

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Audible came up in the discussion and the news isn't good.? If the VR3 gets updated to accomodate Audible then it won't happen until next year.? In my opinion Amazon are another pants company that refuses to put aside any small proportion of its huge profits to enable reading on specailist players to happen.

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It remains to be seen and reported on as to how well users of the latest Sense player and it update to accomodate downloading of Android apps actually works out, i.e. an easy to use button driven interface, which many of us still want.

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Ray.

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On 15/08/2023 06:55 am, Henry Miller wrote:

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Hi Mathieu

I wonder what is the latest news on the Audible situation ? ?did Audible contact you before the end of July?

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Best wishes

Henry

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Mathieu via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023 6:07 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.

?

I would suggest emailing their support@... email.

?

Mathieu

?

De?: [email protected] <[email protected]> De la part de Henry Miller via groups.io
贰苍惫辞测é?: 24 juillet 2023 11:42
??: [email protected]
Objet?: Re: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.

?

EXTERNAL EMAIL - Be vigilant with attachments and clickable links.

COURRIEL EXTERNE - Attention aux pièces jointes et aux liens cliquables.

?

?

?

Dear Mathieu

?

Thank you for the update on the VRS3 in relation to Audible your news is so disappointing.

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I would like to write to someone at Audible to express my concerns and wonder if you can supply a name and email contact?

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Best wishes

Henry

?

?

?

?

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Mathieu via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023 3:30 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [dap-uk] An update on Audible on the Victor Reader Stream 3.

?

Hello everyone,

?

I wanted to give you an update on the latest about what’s going on with the Audible integration on the Victor Reader Stream 3.

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I’m going to pull the curtain back a little and let you in on the inner workings of such an endeavor.

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For context: we initially contacted them in July 2021 (two years ago) to let them know we had a new product coming and to prepare. We contacted them again in July 2022.? We were told to just use the previous implementation (the one we have on Stream2/VRTrek).

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In November 2022, it became clear that the fact we’re now using MTP wouldn’t work in AudibleSync, so we reinitiated contact, let them know, and sent them a device at their request for testing. This is all before anyone knew the Stream 3 was coming out.

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As I’ve mentioned on some podcasts and here before, it was then radio silence for a couple months. I would email them once or twice a week and get not answers, in December and January. That is, until Jonathan Mosen in late January initiated a very successful open letter/petition that caught their attention, then they started communicating back with us.

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Since then, we’ve had some meetings, in theory bi-weekly, but a few ended up being cancelled with little to no notice. We were told in February we would be sent a test account, it took about two months to receive it (April). We then we kept being told, from meeting to meeting, that “it’s going to work in the next few weeks”.

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Finally, around mid-June, we finally were contacted by one of their engineers who started looking at the issue. From the questions they asked, it seemed clear that this was the first time they even plugged in the Stream 3 to a computer.

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I’m going to open a parenthesis here.

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Now, what you need to understand is, there is about a month’s worth (4-5 weeks) for one person of work to do on our side to create the interface on the Stream. We need to build an app, build the user interface, etc. We’re a small company, and we cannot afford to put that much work into something that ends up not working because AudibleSync won’t support MTP, so we are waiting until we have confirmation that the Stream is seen before we start the work. That means that in order to make the 1.2 update, we’d have to get the AudibleSync thing sorted out before end of July, then start the work which brings us to early September, when we can then do QA and beta testing.

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End of parenthesis.

?

Two weeks ago, we had a call with some higher ups at Audible that told us that we would get an update by July 21^st, which was last Friday. As we had not heard anything this morning, we asked for it. They responded quickly, and the update is: we’ll give you an update by July 31^st as we’re evaluating whether or not we can do MTP.? So, basically, same as two weeks ago.

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We at Humanware are really disappointed in this turn of event. The fact that we’ve given them a heads up two years ago, provided them with a test unit over 8 months ago, and to be quite blunt, not much has been done since at all...

?

I’m the kind of person that calls it like it is. When we mess up at Humanware, and we do sometimes, I don’t shy from it, I voice it. Doesn’t always make me popular, but I tell it like I see it, and I’ve even said on this list sometimes that we made a mistake.

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In this instance, for Audible, I can say that we did EVERYTHING right. We answered them in a very timely manner every time they asked us a question, provided them with all that we could, attended every single meeting with them, etc. We really did everything we could humanly do.

?

As it stands, it seems very unlikely we’ll see Audible support in 2023. Mid-2024 would be my bet. And that’s if they don’t decide that MTP is too complex to add.

?

We are looking at a plan B right now if that’s what they decide, to see if there’s something we can do… we think there may be a way, but without going into details, it’s a bit ugly and we’re really hesitant. It would also require a lot of work.

?

So there you have it. I’ve always been transparent with you all, and my goal here really isn’t to throw Audible under the bus or anything, but just relay things as they are, factually. We’ve expressed our disappointment with them but told them that despite it, we’ll still cooperate and do all that we can to make it happen sooner rather than later.

?

So yeah. Thank you for taking the time to read this long update. I’m sure that we’ll eventually get there, it’s just a bit of a long, winding road. Like Sheryl Crow sang, “I get a little bit closer to feeling fine” ?

?

Thank you for reading this.

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware