This year we got introduced to the new upgraded verson of the In Your Pocket Smartphone with now comes ready to use out of the box on a Samsung XCover4s Waterproof Handset. It costs £25.99 Per month for Unlimited Texts, Minuets and you get 3gb of Mobile Data too. This is a slight increase from the £22 per month for the older Doro handset but is worth the increase in price for a vastly improved phone. If you Think that 3gb of data will not be enough you can also get 10gb of data for £29.99 per month. It is good that you now have different options to choose for you call plan.
The In Your Pocket Smartphone lets you control all your phones functions and features with voice commands simply by pressing the Talk button and saying ” Call Steven” or “Text Steven” and it will do this for you. With the In Your pocket device you also get access to the RNIB Talking services in the UK which include Talking Books, Talking Newspapers and Talking Magazine’s. For these services you give the voice command “Read me the Daily Mail” or “Read Me the Gradian”. It will then start to read these papers to you. Next we have Internet Radio in which you can listen to your favourite radio station when you are out and about or relaxing in your comfy chair. For this you give it the voice command “Play Radio Clyde 1”. It will then give you a list of matching radio stations to choose from. You can also follow the same process to listen to magazines and podcasts. Another amazing function of the In Your Pocket Phone is the ability to use an App called Be My Eyes. You give the phone the voice command “Be My Eyes”. This app uses the camera located on the top centre back of the phone to make a video call to a registered volunteer to provide you with any assistance you may need. this could be to read some text from a food package such as cooking times or to tell you information about where you are. This is a very useful app and it is great that it is included. Another very useful app that has been developed for the In Your Pocket phone is the Magnifier app. You give the voice command “Magnifier”. This app uses the inbuilt camera to turn your device into an Electronic magnifier that you can use to zoom in on objects to see them better. This is really useful for when you are trying to find out the price and stats of the latest new computer but the writing on the display information is microscopic. You can now use this device to enlarge to a suitable size. Other Features that the In Your Pocket has is the ability to tell you is the Weather for your location. Just ask “What us todays forecast”. You can also set a reminder, ask the time, know where you are and use the inbuilt GPS function to help you on your journeys.
The upgraded phone that now comes with the In You Pocket service is a great improvement on the old Doro phone that was starting to struggle with the modern demands. this was especially true when it came to accessing the GPS services. The old Doro phone camera was also struggling with the magnifier app to produce a clear image at higher magnification. This is something that the new phone excels at. The image clarity on the magnifier has been greatly improved and this is because of the better camera and also the improved screen. The GPS services work a lot faster and I have found them to be a lot more accrete. I love the fact that everything you get with the phone is included in the price and you do not need to pay anything extra for Apps. The basic service that has been running of accessing the RNIB and other Talking Book Library’s and Talking Newspapers / Magazines and Radio is brilliant and in itself if worth the cost. However on the downside. The Device can sometime struggle with recognising your voice. This is mostly to do with the way that you say the voice command most of the time if you rephrase it, you will be successful. This can also be effected by the ambient noise around you. For example if you are listening to your TV loudly or are in a busy environment such as a shop. Then it can struggle. The other downside is that you are limited by the apps that have been developed for the device there is no App Store where you can get other apps for use. Lastly this device has access to the internet but you cant access emails or browse the internet. If this is something you use regularly this device might not be for you.
We have loved this device since it was introduced to us at the start with the old Doro phone. We love the new updated phone and the many hardware improvements. The In Your Pocket phone is not going to be suitable for everyone but no phone is and we definitely would recommend it. We have decided to award it 4 out of 5 TopTechTicks.
If you would like to find out more about the In Your Pocket phone or any other accessiable devices for people with a visual impairment contact us at.
Triple Tap Tech
The Renfield Centre
260 Bath Street Glasgow G2 4JP
07494 706190
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