Date Posted:
01/31/2011
Title:
The Z Makes iPhone 4 And iPod Touch True Mobile Videophones for Deaf/Hard Of Hearing
Summary:
The Z4 Mobile app—available in the Apple’s iTunes store—allows iPhone 4 and iPod Touch devices to make VRS calls to hearing people and point-to-point calls to videophones used by deaf/hard of hearing people.
Body:
CLEARWATER, Fla. [January 31, 2011] — CEO Sean Belanger announced today that The Z® is the first video relay service (VRS) provider to make Apple iPhone 4 and iPod Touch (4th Generation) into a complete mobile videophone for the deaf and hard of hearing. The Z4 Mobile app—available in the Apple’s iTunes store—allows iPhone 4 and iPod Touch devices to make VRS calls to hearing people and point-to-point calls to videophones used by deaf/hard of hearing people. With the capability to make and receive calls to and from other videophones, the release of the app finally brings deaf and hard of hearing people closer to achieving functional equivalence with the hearing world.
VRS allows deaf and hard of hearing individuals to have telephone conversations with hearing people. Using a videophone with real-time video connection, an interpreter “relays” the conversation between the two parties: voicing what the deaf person is signing to the hearing caller and translating the spoken words into American Sign Language for the deaf/hard of hearing caller to see. Point-to-point allows two deaf/hard of hearing people to make a video call to communicate through sign language directly.
“The Z is the leading provider of mobile video solutions for the deaf and hard of hearing,” said Belanger. “With the release of our new version of Z4 Mobile, we now cover both the Android and Apple platforms. Customers can purchase select phones from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile, download the Z4 Mobile app and have a complete mobile videophone in their hands. The deaf and hard of hearing communities have waited 20 years for a mobile videophone solution, and The Z is proud to deliver it.”
The Z4 Mobile app can be installed on Apple’s iPhone 4 from AT&T and Verizon; iPod Touch (4th Generation) from Apple; Samsung Epic™ 4G from Sprint; HTC myTouch® 4G from T-Mobile®; and Samsung Galaxy Tab™ from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.
To download the app for iPhone 4 or iPod Touch, go to itunes.apple.com/us/app/z4-mobile/id415488663?mt=8. To get Z4 Mobile for Android-based phones, go to the Android Marketplace.
“We are thrilled to continue moving deaf and hard of hearing people closer and closer toward true functional equivalency,” said Tim Rarus, vice president of sales. “Hearing people can make phone calls any time, anywhere. Now, we can experience communication freedom like never before.”
For more information about mobile videophone solutions, go to www.zvrs.com/z-series. To learn more about iPhone 4 and iPod Touch, go to www.apple.com. (Apple, iPhone, iPod Touch and iTunes are trademarks of Apple. Epic™ 4G is a trademark of Sprint. myTouch® 4G is a trademark of T-Mobile®.)