MUMBAI: Orbit Research will bring Amazon Alexa to existing Orbit Player devices through a software update starting Monday, 12 October. Announced on 10 October with Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, the addition puts voice interaction alongside the player’s physical controls for blind and low-vision users.
The company has adapted the Alexa Android app to work with its own screen reader and tactile buttons. Its announcement says users will be able to ask questions and access Audible audiobooks, Kindle content, news, podcasts and music. This is an update to an existing reading and media device; no new hardware or India price was announced. XRCVC’s executive director said discussions with Orbit’s developers grew from an early demonstration of the player.
Orbit names Alexa, without promising Alexa+ features. It also says the third-party application is provided as is, and that Orbit does not offer technical support for third-party apps or services. The notice gives a rollout start date, without a device-by-device timetable or a separate India schedule.
What the India-version player already offers
Orbit already has a dedicated India-version product page. It lists local service and repair support, a one-year warranty and over-the-air software upgrades. That hardware support should be distinguished from the separate limitation on assistance with third-party services. The company’s online store currently serves US customers; its India page directs sales enquiries to Orbit rather than displaying a rupee checkout price.
The handheld player uses raised controls and spoken navigation. It can read DAISY books, EPUB files, Word documents and PDFs, alongside audio formats such as MP3 and FLAC. Its reading controls include moving by page, chapter, sentence or word, changing playback speed and placing bookmarks to return to a passage.
The India listing names Sugamya Pustakalaya and Bookshare among its online libraries. It also lists text-to-speech support for Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu, among other languages. These are existing player capabilities, not a list of newly announced Alexa languages. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a speaker, microphone, headphone socket and SD card slot are already part of the device. Orbit lists a 130-gram weight, dimensions of 12 by 6 by 1.5 centimetres and more than 16GB of internal storage for the India version.
How owners can check for the update
The company’s current Orbit Player user guide, version 0.12, describes the update process. From the Home screen, owners can open Tools, choose Check for Updates and press Select. An active internet connection is needed for an online check. The updater can read out the product, market, installed version and update channel.
When an update is found, its dialog can show the new version and release details before offering Download and Install. The player speaks status messages as installation progresses. The guide warns users not to switch the device off while an update is being installed. If a check fails, the internet connection or update server may be unavailable.
Those instructions explain the player’s existing updater, rather than an Alexa-specific setup sequence. The September guide predates this announcement and does not mention Alexa. Owners should read the release information supplied with the new update instead of assuming that an older manual describes every new control. The guide also says automatic checks can be enabled in updater settings, while manual checks remain available.
The Mumbai accessibility partnership
XRCVC is a department of St. Xavier’s College. Its account of its work says it began in 2003 to help create an inclusive college environment for students with blindness and low vision. It subsequently expanded into an advocacy and support centre serving people beyond the campus, across Mumbai and elsewhere in India.
That background helps explain the focus on a familiar, non-visual interface: access depends on how a person can navigate the device, as well as which service is installed. The rollout will be the point at which owners can assess the announced integration in their own use.
For related reading, Dalimss News has reported on Amazon’s Alexa Tablets and their launch markets, and the new Kindle range. Those are separate hardware announcements, with different availability details.
