Thread: HourPower v1.5.0 Update 10/07/08

HourPower v1.5.0 Update 10/07/08

Even though HourPower is probably the smallest application available for download

at symbianresources.com, it is nevertheless in the top three of the most popular

applications. Now, it has been updated to v1.5.0 - the biggest update ever.

Changes:

- New language: (Brazilian) Portuguese - thanks to Thiago Martins for his support

with the translation!

- Settings screen upon first startup

- Supports differentiation between 12-hour clock and 24-hour clock

- Automatic mode adapts time format to the current phone configuration

- .ini file to store preferred time setting

- Extended to speak terms like "2 o'clock in the morning" for German and

Portuguese

Overview
--------
You know the situation - you experience it almost every day:
When you wake up in the morning, you'll want to know the time.

Of course you could take a look at the alarm clock, but that would
imply looking at the small clock on your bedside table. If you have
a clock that's able to project the time on the ceiling, it's
better - but still, you have to get your eyes into a state where they
can focus at the numbers. This is where talking alarm clocks come in
handy. But you might not have one. However, you do have a mobile phone.
Why not let the phone read the time for you?

This is exactly where HourPower comes into play. It reads the current
system time out aloud - nothing else. No fancy UI, nothing to configure.
Just press the button and hear the time. Put it on a softkey of the
standby-screen for maximum comfort.

HourPower uses the built-in text to speech-engine of S60 3rd Edition
phones. English, German and French are currently supported. If your
phone is running a different language, you might not get the optimal
experience: your phone will try to speak the default English words,
but use your local dialect. In that case, you're welcome to translate
the words (and - if necessary - extend the source code to make sure
that all possible counting-irregularities in your language are
properly handled) and send it to us: HourPower is open source and
licensed under the GPL!

Installation
------------
This application is self-signed. You should be able to install it on
any unlocked S60 3rd edition phone via the PC suite or just by sending
it over to your phone via Bluetooth. You will get a security warning
during installation as this application is unsigned - you can ignore
it.

Some operators may configure the default settings of the phone in a way
that it doesn't allow installing unsigned applications. This might also
be the case for business-phones. In this case, enable installation by
going to the "Application Manager" (usually located in the "Tools" or
"Applications"-folder). Select "Options" -> "Settings". Change
"Software Installation" from "Signed only" to "All". Now try installing
HourPower again.

Startup / Time mode
-------------------
Upon the very first startup, the application will ask about the time mode.

You can choose between:
- Automatic: the time is always spoken according to the current
configuration of your phone.
- 12-hour clock: always use the 12-hour clock - e.g., 3:30 pm
- 24-hour clock: always use the 24-hour clock - e.g., 15:30

In German and Portuguese, it is not common to speak the time using
some sort of am/pm. Therefore, terms like "2 o'clock in the morning"
are used for those languages.

The 12-hour clock is currently not fully supported in French.

Note: this settings screen is only displayed upon the very first
start-up of HourPower after its installation. You can not change
the setting again afterwards, as the intention is to keep the use
of the time speaking mechanism as simple as possible and it should
usually not be required to change this setting later on.

To change the time mode later on, uninstall HourPower and perform
a fresh installation.