Hello Everyone, 

Today I discovered an application that is a “must-have” for anyone who uses a headset on her/his iPhone or IPod Touch.  According to the developer, Essency, an iPad version of the App is under development.

The name of the 4.99 USD App is Awareness!  Simply stated, Awareness, the headphone App, lets you listen to music and the outside world at the same time.

Below you will find the App description as it appears in the App Store.  Please note that at the time of this post, the application is, while not comfortably accessible with VoiceOver (Apple’s software screen reading solution for the blind and low vision), I am able to engage and make use of the App’s features.  I have contacted the developers of Awareness requesting that they update the program’s code so as to make the App comfortably accessible with VoiceOver. 

Click Here To Go To My 8 Minute Audio Demonstration of the Awareness App.

So, VoiceOver users who choose to purchase the App at the time of this post, please be patient when exploring the App with VoiceOver. 

AWARENESS!
APPLICATION DESCRIPTION
Awareness! The Headphone App – Lets you listen to music and the outside world at the same time. 

Be safe on the streets, avoid headphone related accidents and banish headphone oblivion with Awareness!

FEATURED BY ITUNES US APP STORE AS NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Minimum Requirements:
iOS4
iPhone4 or 3GS
iPod Touch 4
iPod Touch 3 with headset

Will NOT work on iPhone 3G.
Will NOT work with wireless or Bluetooth headsets.

If you are on a bike and lost in your music, Awareness! will let you hear that truck horn before it’s too late. If you are on a train, Awareness! will let you hear the next station announcement before you shoot past. Set-it and then forget-it, until you need to hear what’s happening around you! –

The engineers and designers at essency, have developed a unique new class of functional headphone app, that uses the built-in microphone on the iPhone and iPod Touch to make headphones better and more practical to use. With Awareness!, if someone talks to you when you’re wearing headphones, you don’t need to take them off or turn off your music to hear.

Awareness! The Headphone App, allows you to listen to your music with complete peace of mind, knowing that important sounds (warnings, shouts, sirens, alarms or conversations) won’t be missed. In other words, you get to hear the things you NEED, even when you’re lost in your music.

Awareness! cleverly turns the microphone on when any sound exceeds the level of everyday background noise and delivers it to your headphones, letting you hear what is going on. This makes it massively safer to listen to music whilst travelling – driving, riding, commuting, walking, crossing the road, cycling and jogging and even allows you to have comfortable conversations while listening to music.

Get Awareness! and customize your listening experience.

FEATURES:
Maintain spatial audio awareness for better safety in your surroundings.

Use while travelling, in the office, at home or just about anywhere you would use headphones or earphones.

True iOS4 multi tasking App.

Use Awareness! with music, videos, games and audio books.

Microphone trigger AutoSet feature – analyzes ambient sound levels and automatically sets a microphone trigger level to exclude background noise.

Vibrate only warning function.

Compatible with all headphones headsets and earphones including closed cup, on-ear, in-ear, noise isolating and noise-cancelling models.

IMPORTANT USAGE NOTES:

Awareness! works with all headphones, headphones with microphone attached are recommended.

When using Awareness! with standard headphones, please do not obstruct your device’s microphone e.g. by putting your iPhone/iPod touch in your pocket or using a case that covers the built in microphone, or performance will be impaired.

MICROPHONE SENSITIVITY:
To stop the microphone from triggering accidentally please adjust the microphone delay in settings by clicking on the tools icon. Extending the microphone delay will stop the microphone from being triggered by short bursts of unwanted sounds.

VIDEO DEMO:
http://www.youtube.com/user/EssencyHeadphoneApps for full instructions.

NOTE:
Headset with microphone required for iPod touch 3G and earlier COMING SOON.

There will be regular free updates, including full implementation of new features such as “Ducking” which turns down your music when someone talks to you, useful if you listen to loud music.

For more information, go to the Essency website at:
http://essency.co.uk/

Click Here To Purchase From The iTunes Store.

Mark