What's new in Book Port Plus™

This document explains how to update your Book Port Plus and lists the enhancements, corrections, and new features available in both software and firmware.

Explanation

Firmware is what runs on Book Port Plus. It controls the behavior and characteristics of the device itself. The software , on the other hand, refers to the program that runs on your computer to help transfer content to Book Port Plus.

Firmware Installation Instructions

1. Ensure your computer has a working internet connection.
2. Connect Book Port Plus to your computer with the USB cable or insert Book Port Plus's SD card into a card reader on your computer.
3. Download and install the latest version of Book Transfer software for the PC or Mac.
4. If using Windows or Mac,
   • Start the Book Transfer software.
   • Pick the Update Firmware option from the Help menu. Book Transfer shows a dialog informing you that new firmware exists.
   • Select "Yes" to install
5. If not using Windows or Mac, or if you prefer updating manually,
   • Open the zip archive at http://update.aph.org/bppfw_base.zip.
   • Create a folder on the SD card named VerUp
   • Extract the contents of the zip archive into the VerUp folder.
6. Disconnect from the computer or remove the SD card from the card reader and return it to Book Port Plus. Book Port Plus responds that it is ready to update and instructs you to insert the AC adaptor.
7. Insert the AC adapter to start the update. Note that the update can take over four minutes. Book Port Plus sounds its "busy" chime during the process.

Revision History

The following changes were made to the firmware and software.

Firmware Version 6.02, March 2016

• Improves responsiveness in large titles. In previous versions, the unit could get sluggish, especially toward the end of the title.
• Adds a Cancel command to prevent hanging on bad web radio stations. Press * to cancel.
• Adds functionality to support the optional Daisy Online Download support.

Firmware Version 6.0, October 2013

• Improves the text-to-speech for the Samantha voice by upgrading to Nuance Automotive.
• Adds support for the EPUB file format.
• Adds text search capabilities.
• Adds navigation by percent in Daisy titles.
• Suppresses file name announcements when playing music and moving from track to track.
• Improves performance during the opening process for titles that contain many SMIL files.
• Corrects a problem that made Book Port loose its place in an audio book when the user recorded a voice memo.
• Corrects a problem that could cause Book Port to lose its place in some Bookshare titles.
• Changes the behavior of the Key Press Sound setting--now, when key press sounds are turned off, the "ready" sound is also suppressed, so it is possible to quietly move through a document.
• Adds compatibility for titles generated with the Kurzweil tools.
• Adds playback compatibility for files created with Eclipse Reader.
• Adds compatibility for podcast URLs that do not include the file name extension.
• Adds support for extremely long podcast URLs.
• Improves web radio stream support.
• Adds support for Daisy 3 in the Build Book and Import options.
• Changes the System menu to separate the Network settings.
• Improves the audio compression for both higher and lower than normal speed.
• Adds a new slower speed for audio material.
• Adds the ability to automatically detect network security when setting up a wireless network connection.
• Adds support for WPA2 PSK TKIP security type in wireless network settings.
• Automatically removes the KXO file from the SD card when authorizing the unit for NLS playback.
• Adds support for the Daisy "skippable" option.
• Adds an "Automatic" option to multi-media Daisy playback settings.
• Corrects a problem that reported incorrect times with Daisy titles over 100 hours in length.
• Corrects a problem that accepted pressing the Record key while playing a web radio station or in the title list.
• Corrects a problem that could cause slow response times with the arrow keys in very large titles.
• Corrects a problem that prevented you from changing voices while using Thumb Braille.
• Shortens the sleep timer message to help make it less intrusive.

Software version 2.x, February 2012

• Lets online Bookshare timeout gracefully if network connection fails.
• Adds direct Bookshare online downloads.

Firmware version 5.03, June 2011

• Starts taking advantage of the wireless network hardware built into every Book Port Plus ever manufactured with the following:
  • Play web radio stations. Download and unzip www.aph.org/tech/WebRadio.zip onto your Book Port Plus SD card to get several preset stations.
  • Podcast downloads. Download and unzip www.aph.org/tech/Podcast.zip to your Book Port Plus SD card for several podcasts to get you started.
  • Wireless content transfer from a Windows computer to the Book Port Plus.
  • Network Settings menu to manage wireless connections.
    • Enable and disable the wireless radio for use on an aircraft.
    • Discover and configure network settings.
    • Rename the network folder.
    • Announce network and download status with the Information key.
• Adds support for Word 2007 (docx) files.
• Adds support for protected content from Open Library.
• Enhances the Recent Titles list by adding categories.
• Adds a "New Titles" list to compliment the All Titles and Recent Titles lists. This list helps you find new content just added to the device.
• Adds Audio Books, Web Radio, and Podcasts to the Category list.
• Changes the Audio category to Music.
• Adds the ability to browse audio titles through the normal Title list. Earlier versions treated the entire Audio category as a title and used the normal navigation keys to move from track to track or album to album. Now, the the individual files are shown in the title list. The old style navigation continues to work as well.
• Changes the behavior of the Sleep Timer. Now, it remembers the setting and resets upon any keypress.
• Adds a Complete Power Off option for those times when you will not use the device for several days.
• Adds the date and publisher information to the announcement of each title in the Titles list.
• Adds an option to switch between audio and text for those Daisy 3 titles that contain both.
• Announces the name of the title when you backup or delete as a confirmation.
• Plays voice bookmarks in text files.
• Remembers your place in podcasts and audio book files.
• Adds the ability to delete individual files in Music, Podcast, and Audio Book categories.
• Adds the ability to delete encryption keys such as those that enable playback from NLS or RFBD.
• Adds bookmarking capabilities to Music and Audio Books categories. Marks are erased when you add or remove files from the folder.
• Corrects a problem that made some bookshare.org books repeat sections.
• Corrects a hang problem when turning to a page in some bookshare.org titles.
• Corrects a problem of sluggish responsiveness in some large bookshare.org titles.
• Corrects a problem that could drop text in some text-based Daisy files.

Software version 2.0, June 2011

• Adds a Mac version of Book Transfer
• Sends files asynchronously, so there is no longer a need for the queue.
• Manages podcast feeds.
• Manages web radio stations.
• Adds a click to let you know that the selected title already exists on the Book Port Plus.
• Sends NLS key to the device to make installation easier.
• Copies titles you have recorded on the device.
• Shows the title of Digital Talking Books in the file list.
• Remembers the last used folder for each supported file type.

Firmware Version 4.5 (Erin) May 2010

APH's narrator talent, superior software, and processing capabilities make it possible to offer a new guide voice with each new version of software for your Book Port Plus. The new guide voice for version 4.5 is Erin Jones.

Users find the human guide voice adds personality to Book Port Plus. The features that add functionality include the following:

• Adds text editing capabilities that include both creating a new file and editing existing files.
• Adds several functions to the Edit menu related to editing text files.
• Adds the ability to rename text files.
• Adds ABC, ThumbBraille, and Reverse ThumbBraille input methods.
• Adds direct support for translated brf files including character navigation and braille symbol announcements.
• Adds a means of creating and using shortcuts to perform functions that normally require going into the menu to use.
• No longer shows phantom titles caused by invisible files when using a Mac to transfer files to the device.
• Increases responsiveness when fast forward or rewind is engaged by holding down Left Arrow or Right Arrow.
• Removes the wake up and sleep tones. Now, Book Port Plus silently sleeps after two minutes of inactivity and announces the time upon wake up without playing the tone first.
• Stops playing the stop sound when using Up Arrow and Down Arrow to navigate text based files.
• Announces the current title's name when the user cancels recording.
• Stops going to sleep when power is applied. This eliminates the problem that made it impossible to charge from a PC's USB port while Book Port Plus was on.

Software Version 1.2, May 2010

• Corrects a problem that caused some Bookshare books to not transfer to the device properly.
• No longer sends a DTB on CD to the device if that title is already on the Book Port Plus.
• No longer reverse translates brf files. (The firmware now directly supports brf.) The Book Transfer software still shows the reverse translated file in the Preview window.
• Corrects the problem that prevented proper queueing of Digital Talking Books.
• Enables proper operation of the Send To option in the context menu. This lets the user transfer entire folders.
• Corrects the problem during install where Setup doesn't seem to be able to copy some files.
• Enables more compatible operation of the progress dialog with screen readers during the update process.
• Corrects other bugs.

Firmware Version 4.1, February 2010

• Corrects a problem that caused the unit to incorrectly report the battery charge level if the device was charged while the power was turned off.

Software Version 1.1, February 2010

• Stops the screen reader's voice while previewing audio titles from NLS and RFBD.
• Changes the behavior when highlighting folders or zip files that contain Digital Talking Books. Pressing Enter sends the book, even if it is in a folder or in a zip file.
• Creates a unique folder name based on the title and its unique ID when sending a title contained in a zip archive or in a folder on your hard drive.
• Shows additional information in the preview window about titles with metadata. Information includes author, description, and title.
• Corrects a problem that prevented large braille files from transferring properly.

Notice: Accessibility of APH Websites