SAMNet and the Victor Reader Stream: Listen Where You Want

Note that the features described here are only available if you're running version 1.2 or later of the Victor Reader Stream firmware. Note also that these features are only available in the new System Access browser; they are not available in Internet Explorer or in our old Mozilla-based browser.

Have you ever wanted to listen to movies, news, or other content from the SA Mobile Network while you're away from your PC? Now you can, if you have a Victor Reader Stream and an SA Mobile Network subscription. Just connect your Stream to a PC running System Access - either from a key or installed on the PC - or open Internet Explorer and visit www.satogo.com, and within minutes, you can transfer almost anything to your Stream, including described movies, RSS feeds, podcasts, and e-mail messages.

These features are part of what we call the accessible digital lifestyle. You may wish to watch a PowerPoint presentation, with audio, on the accessible digital lifestyle. Audio demos of the features described here are also available.

Here's how the process works overall; we'll discuss details later.

Overview

  1. Make sure you have an SD card in your Stream with enough room for all the content you wish to transfer.
  2. If your Stream is on, turn it off.
  3. Connect the Stream to your PC and turn it on. You should be notified by Windows and by System Access, if it's running, that your Stream is connected.
  4. From within the System Access browser, find the content you want to transfer in exactly the same way you would if you were going to listen to it on your PC. This could be a movie, the link to your new e-mail messages, an RSS feed, a link to a particular podcast, etc.
  5. DON'T PRESS ENTER. Instead, press the Context key (immediately to the left of the right Control key) or Shift-F10 to bring up a context menu.
  6. Down arrow to "Send to Victor Reader Stream," and press Enter. The content will be transferred, and you will be notified when the transfer is complete.
  7. Press Enter on the Close button.
  8. Turn the Stream off, and disconnect it from your PC.
  9. Turn your Stream on, and enjoy your content.

Movies and Other Protected Content

When you transfer a movie to your Stream, you will find it on your Talking Books bookshelf. A synopsis and cast list are included, read in the voice and at the speed you set in System Access Preferences. You can skip through this information quickly, if you like, by setting the Stream to move by level 1 headings (the default navigation level) and pressing 6 as needed. There is also a level 1 heading every 30 minutes within the movie.

Do not copy movies or other protected content - such as History of Rock and Roll and old-time radio shows - to your hard drive. This content is meant to be played on the Stream and deleted when you're finished, not stored on your computer, and storing it is a violation of your user agreement with Serotek. In addition, content that you save on your hard drive and copy back to your Stream will no longer play. Similarly, be sure you always use the same SD card when transferring content to your Stream. If you switch cards, you will no longer be able to play protected content on the first card. Note that you don't need to do anything special to authorize your Victor Reader Stream to play this content; the System Access software takes care of that automatically.

RSS Feeds, Podcasts, and E-mail Messages

If you want to transfer all articles in an RSS feed (section in your newspaper) to the Stream, find that feed, press the Context key or Shift-F10 and choose "Send to Victor Reader Stream." To transfer a podcast episode or an individual article, do the same thing when focused on the link to the specific episode or article you want to transfer. You will find podcasts on your Other Books bookshelf, and articles on your Text bookshelf. Each article is saved as a separate HTML file.

You can transfer a single e-mail message or all messages from a particular folder to your Stream, depending on the link you are focused on when you choose to do the transfer. Messages are stored as HTML files and are located on the Text bookshelf.

Music

You can send content from your Media Library to the Stream by choosing Browse Media Library (option 1), finding the playlist, folder or file you want to transfer, pressing the Context key or Shift-F10, and choosing "Send to Victor Reader Stream." You will find the content you send on your Music bookshelf. Be sure to send only MP3 and Ogg Vorbis files, as unprotected WMA (the other format supported by the Media Library) is not supported on the Stream at this time. You can use your HomeServer to transfer music from your Media Library to your Stream even if you're away from home.

Saving Material to Transfer Later: The Sync List

If your Stream is not connected to your PC, you can queue up material to send to it later. You do this by using the sync list. When you press the Context key or Shift-F10 while focused on a movie, podcast, etc., one of the choices on the menu is "Add to Sync List." Anything you can transfer to the Victor Reader Stream can be added to the sync list. Here's how to transfer the content on your sync list to the Stream:

  1. Power off the Stream if it's on, connect it to your PC, and turn it on.
  2. Connect to the SA Mobile Network.
  3. Go to the Media Library.
  4. Choose Sync List, which is option 2. You are taken to a page where the first link is "Sync with Victor Reader Stream." Below that is a list of everything on the sync list with check boxes you can use to delete anything you have decided not to sync. You can also choose to delete protected content you have transferred to the Stream.
  5. Press Enter on the "Sync with Victor Reader Stream" link, or delete unwanted items first by checking them and pressing Enter on the "Delete Checked Items" button, or press Enter on the Delete Protected Content link. If you are transferring content from forums or RSS feeds, you may need to wait a while for the next page to load.
  6. Once it does, you are on a page with three buttons: "Edit Selections,""Sync," and "Back." You are also told how much data you are about to send and how much free space is available. In most cases, you'll want to press Enter on the Sync button. The content will be transferred to your Stream.
  7. Once the transfer is complete, press Enter on the "Return to Sync List" link, turn off your Stream, and disconnect it. You can now play the content you transferred.

Once the transfer is complete, most items are deleted from your sync list automatically. Feeds and e-mail folders are not, however, in case you want to transfer them again later. If you do, they are refreshed so that you get the latest e-mail messages and articles from your feeds. Old articles are deleted during the sync.