March 13, 2009 5:08 PM PDT
New Verizon Wireless app assists visually-impaired
Verizon Wireless this week announced a new service for blind and visually impaired customers. Talks will convert displayed text into speech for a variety of features including phone numbers on caller ID, text messages, e-mail, and notes. Using their voice, Talks users also will be able to:
- Dial a number from the phone's Contacts directory
- Add and edit entries in the Contacts directory
- Write text messages and e-mail
- Write documents using Mobile Office
- Access and compose multimedia message service (MMS) messages
- Use Mobile Internet Explorer to access the Internet
- Control speech volume and rate of speech
Initially Talks will be available only on the Motorola Q9c. A new Q9c with Talks will go on sale Sunday, March 15 for $249 with a service agreement, but existing Q9c users will be able to add Talks to their phone by contacting Verizon. Talks is powered by Nuance Communications.
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent. 
But someone needs to tweak the headline here, as this is not software for HEARING impaired users. It's for VISUALLY impaired users.