Bones Milestone 212 Ace User Manual

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Milestone 212 Ace

Manual

www.bones.ch

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Congratulations on purchasing Milestone 212 Ace.

Welcome to our Milestone-family! Your Milestone 212 Ace is a versatile media player and smart book reader. It will introduce you to the world of digital audio books and allow you to conveniently play many popular music- and text-formats.

The Milestone‘s key advantage over similar products is a striking focus on accessibility. Its streamlined interface is easy to understand and use, yet highly efﬁcient and powerful.

Weighing less than 2 ounces (50 grams), Milestone is lighter than any other device with comparable functionality and ﬁts snugly in the palm of your hand. The Milestone 212 Ace has 2.5 GB of internal memory and uses SD memory cards to expand its capacity to up to 32 GB. Tens of thousands of people use their Milestone daily for education and entertainment, to play audio books, listen to music, record messages and memos, organize their day, convert text to speech, read eBooks, scan barcodes and a host of other useful capabilities. With Milestone 212 Ace as your daily companion, staying well organized is easy and your favorite music and books are always at your ﬁngertips too.

We wish you a good start and hope you‘ll enjoy your Milestone as much as Nick, from Alameda, USA: „The Milestone is a necessity for memory and organization. Being a

completely blind person, my Milestone is my most essential device, inside and outdoors.“

All Milestone products are developed and produced by Bones Inc. in Switzerland.

!!!!!!! !!www.bones.ch

Content

1. Milestone 212 Ace layout! 1

1.1. Layout description! 1

1.1.1. The user interface! 1

1.1.2. The top side! 1

1.1.3. The bottom side! 2

1.1.4. The right side! 2

1.2. Using the interface ports! 2

1.2.1. Battery charging via USB connector! 2

1.2.2. Headphones! 2

1.2.3. USB-connection to a computer! 3

1.2.4. Connecting an external audio source via line-in socket! 3

1.2.5. SD memory card! 3

2. General functions! 4

2.1. On / Off (sleep mode)! 4

2.2. Keyboard lock! 4

2.3. Volume control! 4

2.4. Changing Playback speed! 4

2.5. Selecting an application! 4

2.6. Information Service! 5

2.6.1. Information Service in Books ! 5

2.6.2. Information Service in Voice recorder! 5

2.6.3. Information Service in Audio! 5

2.7. Shortcut overview of general functions! 6

2.8. Connection to a computer and backing up data! 6

2.8.1. Copying a book to the SD memory card! 6

2.8.2. Copying Audio content to the SD memory card! 6

2.8.3. Deleting ﬁles and folders via computer! 7

3. Books! 7

3.1. Starting and pausing a book! 8

3.2. Navigating in a book! 8

3.3. Selecting a book! 9

3.4. Creating and erasing a bookmark! 9

3.5. Shortcut overview of Books! 10

4. Voice recorder! 10

4.1. Recording a short voice message! 10

4.2. Recording a continuous voice message! 10

4.3. Listening to a recorded voice message! 11

4.4. Deleting voice messages! 11

4.5. The 5 recording folders! 11

4.5.1. Changing between the folders ! 11

4.5.2. Voice labeling of folders! 11

4.6. External microphones! 12

4.7. Copying your records to the SD card! 12

4.8. Shortcut overview of Voice recorder! 12

5. Audio! 13

5.1. Navigation in Audio! 13

5.1.1. Navigation without folders! 13

5.1.2. Navigation with folders! 13

5.2. Playing music ﬁles! 14

5.3. Playing text ﬁles! 14

5.4. Deleting a ﬁle or folder! 15

5.5. Shortcut overview of Audio! 15

6. Further information! 16

6.1. Technical data! 16

6.2. Protecting your Milestone! 16

6.3. Troubleshooting and helpful hints! 16

6.4. Service and support! 17

6.4.1. General information! 17

6.4.2. Firmware update! 17

6.5. Other products from Bones Inc.! 17

1. Milestone 212 Ace layout

This chapter explains Milestone’s push buttons, connectors and other tactile parts.

1.1. Layout description

1.1.1. The user interface

The user interface of your Milestone 212 Ace consists of ﬁve buttons. You will ﬁnd a large, circular button with a plain surface in the center, surrounded by four tactile buttons, arranged in the form of a cross. The round button in the middle is the only one with a smooth surface, devoid of tactile markers. This is the “Play” button. Directly below the “Play” button you will ﬁnd the “Mode” button, which is marked with a tactile X. Above the “Play” button is the “Rec” button. This button is marked with a tactile circle.

To the left of the central “Play” button is the “Left arrow” button. You can recognize it by the tactile arrow oriented toward the left. To the right of the “Play” button is the “Right arrow” button, marked with a tactile arrow pointing toward the right. Below this arrangement of buttons you can feel the speaker and in the top left corner of the device, there is a small, red LED lamp.

1.1.2. The top side

The top side contains the sixth and last push button. It‘s a small, round button at the top left corner of the device. This is the “Selector” button. Located to the immediate right of the “Selector” button is the rectangular opening of the USB-socket. In addition to transferring data to a computer, you can use a USB-cable to charge the battery of your Milestone 112 Ace. At the far right of the top side, you will ﬁnd the device‘s line-in socket.

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1.1.3. The bottom side

The headphone socket is located on the bottom side of the device. When connected, audio is output directly through the headphones, instead of the internal speaker.

Your Milestone 212 Ace memorizes separate volume levels for speaker and headphones.

1.1.4. The right side

The SD memory card slot is located on the right side of the device. The Milestone 212 Ace‘s internal memory capacity of 2.5 GB can be expanded with SD cards of up to 32 GB.

1.2. Using the interface ports

The following section describes the four interface ports of the Milestone 212 Ace - the microphone socket, headphone jack, USB connector and the SD card slot.

1.2.1. Battery charging via USB connector

Connect the charger provided with your Milestone 212 Ace to a power outlet. Plug the other end of the charger cable into the mini-USB-socket, located at the center of the Milestone‘s top side.

The connection was successfully established, once you hear a low beep and the LED light on the user interface starts ﬂashing every 3 seconds. The device will be fully charged after 3 hours.

Please note that a connection to a computer via USB-cable also recharges the battery, as long as the computer remains powered on. You can check the battery‘s charging status by using the Milestone 212 Ace‘s „Information Service“ function, described under chapter 2.6 of this manual.

Milestone 212 Ace comes with a powerful, rechargeable lithium polymer battery. After fully charging the battery, it allows for continuous operation of up to 20 hours and a standby time of several weeks.

Battery life is affected by speaker volume and reading speed. In order to maximize playback time, you may want to listen to music and books over the headphones, at medium volume and use standard reading speed for books.

Please note that using the internal speaker of your Milestone 212 Ace, listening at high volume and faster reading rates, requires more energy and therefore reduces the overall playback time.

1.2.2. Headphones

If you prefer to use headphones with your Milestone 212 Ace, rather than the built-in speaker, simply plug in any standard headphones with a 3.5 mm jack into the socket located at the bottom side of the Milestone.

Please note that your Milestone memorizes two separate volume levels. One for its internal speaker and another for connected headphones.

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1.2.3. USB-connection to a computer

In order to back up your data, connect your Milestone 212 Ace to a computer via USBcable. The built-in USB 2.0 Hi-Speed port allows for quick transfer times. Plug the smaller end of the cable into the mini-USB-connector, which is located at the center of the top side of your Milestone 212 Ace. The larger end connects to a standard USB-port on your computer. Your Milestone 212 Ace will conﬁrm a successful connection to your computer with the message „connection activated“.

The device will then be accessible on your computer as an external drive, named “M212ACE”. Once the data transfer is complete, please make sure that you remove your Milestone 212 Ace drive safely from your computer, as you would do with a USB-stick. Milestone will acknowledge that it was properly disconnected from the computer with the audible message „connection deactivated”. Your Milestone‘s battery will be charged during an active USB connection. Please note that the Milestone‘s buttons are locked, while connected via USB.

1.2.4. Connecting an external audio source via line-in socket

The line-in socket is located to the right of the USB-port and can be used to record from any external audio source, such as a microphone, CD-player or radio.

Simply connect the external audio source to the line-in socket of your Milestone 212 Ace, using a regular stereo audio cable with a standard 3.5 mm jack. Please refer to chapter 4.6 for more detailed information about external microphones.

1.2.5. SD memory card

You can expand the Milestone 212 Ace‘s internal 2.5 GB of memory by using SD or SDHC memory cards with a capacity of up to 32 GB. This allows you to store even more books, notes, music and other ﬁles.

SD cards from SanDisk, Kingston, Transcend or Toshiba are recommended for a hasslefree experience.

The Milestone‘s SD card slot is located on the right side of the device. Insert the SD card with its label facing up and make sure that it properly locks into place. In order to remove the SD card, gently push the storage device in until you hear a click and then release it. This will push the SD card out slightly, allowing you to grasp it with your ﬁngers.

Please ensure that the card is inserted the correct way, with the notched corner facing away from the user. The voice recorder always saves your ﬁles to the internal memory of the Milestone 212 Ace. To free up more space and to back up your data, you can move your recorded notes to an SD card.

Helpful hint: It‘s highly recommended to back up the Milestone 212 Ace‘s internal memory data to an SD card on a regular basis.

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2. General functions

This chapter covers the general operation of the Milestone 212 Ace. The shortcuts described here can be used for the applications „Books“, „Voice Recorder“ and „Audio“.

2.1. On / Off (sleep mode)

The Milestone 212 Ace is designed to be always ready when you need it and doesn‘t have an on / off switch. To start the device, simply press the „Play“ button and it will turn on.

You don‘t ever have to worry about switching off your Milestone 212 Ace. Even when in sleep mode, it‘s ready for use within 3 seconds.

The device will automatically power off, if there is no activity for 10 minutes.

Pressing the „Play“ button returns you to the last active application and position.

Hint: If your Milestone does not turn on at the push of a button, the keys might be locked, the battery requires recharging or the volume level is set too low.

2.2. Keyboard lock

To avoid accidentally pressing buttons on the device, it has a built-in keyboard lock. Simply press the „Mode“ button and the „Rec“ button to lock the keys. To unlock the device, press the same buttons again and you‘ll hear the conﬁrmation „keyboard active“.

2.3. Volume control

Milestone 212 Ace has 25 different volume levels. Internal speaker and headphones volume levels are memorized separately. To change the volume, simply press the „Mode“ button and the „Right arrow“ button for volume up or the „Left arrow“ button for volume down. If you change the volume while no media is playing, you‘ll hear the conﬁrmation „volume up“ or „volume down“ respectively. During media playback, the volume level will simply change without an audible comment. Reaching the maximum volume is indicated by a beep. Please note that the „Information Service“ function will be triggered, if you keep the „Mode“ button pressed for 1.5 seconds, without pushing either the left or right arrow keys for volume control. See chapter 2.6 to learn more about the „Information Service“ function.

2.4. Changing Playback speed

You can use the „Selector“ button with the arrow buttons to change the speed of the playback. To slow it down, press the „Left arrow“ button. To speed up, press the „Right arrow“ button. Each press of the button changes the speed level by 10%. Changing playback speed is only possible while listening to an audio ﬁle. Adjustable speed rates range from a minimum of 50% to a maximum of 200%. A low-pitched, short beep indicates that the original speed of the audio ﬁle was restored. If you pause the audio ﬁle, speed will return to normal, when playback resumes.

2.5. Selecting an application

You can cycle through the available applications on your Milestone 212 Ace by pressing the “Selector” button. All main applications such as „Audio“, „Books“ and „Voice recorder“ are always announced by name, after you press the “Selector” button.

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2.6. Information Service

To hear a summary of information about the „Audio“, „Books“ or „Voice recorder“ applications on your Milestone 212 Ace, keep the „Mode“ button pressed for at least 1.5 seconds, while you‘re located in the respective application. If you don‘t want to wait until the report ﬁnishes, you can cancel the Information Service at any time, by pressing the „Selector“ button.

The Information Service is context-sensitive, meaning that it will report the status of either the „Books“, „Audio“ or „Voice recorder“, depending on which application is active.

2.6.1. Information Service in Books

If you are located in „Books“ you will receive the following information:

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Position in the current book

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Name of the book

•

Battery status

•

Memory status

•

Software version

•

Serial number of your Milestone 212 Ace.

2.6.2. Information Service in Voice recorder

If you are located in „Voice recorder“ you will receive the following information:

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Name and storage position of the current voice recording

•

Battery status

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Memory status

•

Announcement of backup option

•

Software version

•

Serial number of your Milestone 212 Ace.

2.6.3. Information Service in Audio

If you are located in „Audio“ you will receive the following information:

•

Name and storage position of the current ﬁle

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Battery status

•

Memory status

•

Software version

•

Serial number of your Milestone 212 Ace.

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2.7. Shortcut overview of general functions

Function

Button combination

Acoustic feedback

Activate the Milestone

any button, except „Selector“

Starting sound and application Select an application

“Selector”

Application

Increase the volume

“Mode” + “Right arrow”

“Volume up” (in paused mode)

Decrease the volume

“Mode” + “Left arrow”

“Volume down” (in paused mode)

Change the reading rate (during playback)

“Selector” + “Right” or “Left arrow”

Lock or unlock the keyboard

“Mode” + “Rec”

“Keyboard locked” or “Keyboard active”

Start Information Service

“Mode” for 1.5 seconds

Information Service starts

Stop Information Service

“Selector”

Information Service stops

2.8. Connection to a computer and backing up data

You can listen to a book or music by saving the according data on your Milestone‘s SD memory card. Use the provided USB cable to connect your Milestone 212 Ace to your computer, as described in chapter 1.2.3. „USB-connection to a computer“. If an SD card is plugged into the Milestone, your computer will recognize it as an external drive. Copy your books, music and text-ﬁles to the Milestone‘s SD card, by dragging and dropping them into the designated folders on the SD card. Once you‘re done, please make sure that you remove your Milestone 212 Ace safely from your computer, as you would do with any external drive.

2.8.1. Copying a book to the SD memory card

In order for books to become available for playback on your portable device, please copy all the according ﬁles to the SD card of your Milestone 212 Ace. It is recommended to save each book in a separate folder on the SD card, for better organization. You can save your books wherever you like, determine your own folder structure and use sub-folders.

2.8.2. Copying Audio content to the SD memory card

You can listen to music and text-ﬁles by selecting the Milestone‘s „Audio“ application. To make your ﬁles actually show up under „Audio“, so you can play them, copy the according ﬁles to your SD memory card. You can use your individual folder structure to keep things organized and to best suit your personal preference. The supported formats are MP3, AAC, WMA, M4A, MP4, M4V, WAV, as well as TXT and DOC. Commercially available music CDs will have to be converted into either MP3, AAC, WMA or WAV, before copying them to your Milestone 212 Ace. With programs like CDex, Windows Media Player or iTunes, you can rip music CDs onto your computer, in order to listen to them on your Milestone.

Hint: In order to stay well organized, you can think of folders as drawers and sub-folders as drawer compartments. You can create folders on your computer, to save and organize your data. Your Milestone 212 Ace will always announce folder names, to help you navigating through your folder structure.

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2.8.3. Deleting ﬁles and folders via computer

If you want to delete data from your SD memory card, you can do so either by using the according button combination on your Milestone 212 Ace, described under chapter 5.4 of this manual or by connecting your Milestone 212 Ace to a computer. You may prefer to delete ﬁles or folders through your computer and use the standard operating system functions, which you are already familiar with. Your Milestone 212 Ace will behave just like a regular external drive, when connected to your computer. Please always remember to properly disconnect your Milestone 212 Ace from your computer, rather than just unplugging it.

Caution: When deleting data through a Macintosh computer, please make sure to empty the trash bin, before disconnecting the Milestone 212 Ace, to permanently delete the ﬁles.

Helpful hint: It‘s highly recommended to back up the Milestone 212 Ace‘s internal memory to an SD card on a regular basis, in order to avoid data loss.

3. Books

The Milestone‘s „Books“ application is a DAISY player, which is compatible with various other intelligent audio book formats. Intelligent audio books offer improved navigation features, such as searching, creating bookmarks or skipping chapters. Your Milestone 212 Ace supports the following formats in the “Books” application:

Book type

Description

DAISY 2.02.

(text and audio)

DAISY stands for Digital Accessible Information System. It‘s a technical standard for digital audiobooks with extensive navigation. DAISY 2.02 is the most common type of audiobooks. More information about DAISY can be found at www.daisy.org.

DAISY 3.0.

(text and audio, version 2002 & 2005)

DAISY stands for Digital Accessible Information System. It‘s a technical standard for digital audiobooks with extensive navigation. DAISY 3.0 is the latest version, based on newer technology. For more information, please visit www.daisy.org.

EPUB 2.0.1

unprotected. (text books)

EPUB or Electronic PUBlication is an open standard for text based e-books by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). E.g: Google EPUB books. Please note, that Milestone will only play unprotected EPUB books.

Audible Library.

AA & AAX

Audible.com sells digital audiobooks, newspapers and magazines. It‘s a popular provider of spoken audio entertainment and educational programming. For more information or to subscribe, please visit www.audible.com.

NLS Library.

Encrypted DAISY 3.0 audio

NLS stands for National Library Service. The NLS is a provider of talking books in the USA, sponsored by the Library of Congress.

Bookshare Library.

DAISY 3.0 text

Bookshare is a provider of over 330‘000 accessible talking books. This service is free for U.S. students.

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3.1. Starting and pausing a book

Make sure that the „Books“ application is active on your Milestone 212 Ace and press the „Play“ button to start reading a book. Playback of the book will start after a brief clicking sound. To pause playback, press the „Play“ button again. Please refer to chapter 3.3. „Selecting a book“, to ﬁnd out how to choose other available books from your library.

Hint: Please note that DAISY 3.0 and EPUB book formats take a few seconds to initialize additional navigation options. You can start the book immediately, while further options will become available, once the initialization process is complete.

3.2. Navigating in a book

Instead of simply reading a book from beginning to end, you may want to skip chapters, dip in and out of different sections or create bookmarks. The available options depend on the the formatting of the book you‘re reading. You can ﬂick through the available navigation options by pressing either „Rec“ to advance or „Mode“ to go back. Assuming you select the option „Phrase Jump“, you can then use the arrow keys to navigate phrase by phrase. If you press the „Left Arrow“ button, you‘ll be taken to the start of the current phrase. If you press the „Left Arrow“ button twice, you‘ll be located at the beginning of the previous phrase. Pressing the „Right arrow“ key lets you jump to the next phrase and by pressing it twice, you‘ll jump 2 phrases ahead. The arrow buttons work the same way as above for every navigation option.

Please keep in mind, that the available options for navigation always depend on the book‘s format and on whether and how accurately markers have been set by its producers. The following list is an overview of all available navigation options, assuming the book is formatted accordingly:

Navigation option

Description

Phrase jump

Jump to next or previous phrase by using the arrow buttons. A phrase is the shortest distance you can navigate and usually means one whole sentence. However, the exact deﬁnition depends on how each book was formatted by its publisher.

Time jump

While time jump is selected, you can advance or rewind 2 minutes, by pressing either the left or right arrow button.

Beginning or end of book

Jump to either the beginning or to the end of the book with the arrow buttons, when you‘ve selected this navigation option.

Bookmarks

Select your bookmarked positions by using the arrow buttons.

Bookshelf

While in „Bookshelf“, pick an available book from your library by pressing the right or the left arrow button and press “Play” to start.

Activate sleep timer

Activate the sleep timer by pressing the “Right arrow” button and deactivate it, by pressing “Left arrow”. Once you‘ve activated it, you can set the time after which the device will enter sleep mode by using the navigation option described below this one. The current reading position will be saved before entering sleep mode.

Set time for sleep timer

Select how long Milestone 212 Ace remains active before entering sleep mode. Use the arrow buttons to adjust the duration.

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Navigation option

Description

Pages jump

Skip or go back an entire page with the arrow buttons. Alternatively, you can choose a speciﬁc page number by selecting it with a combination of the buttons „Left arrow“, „Right arrow“ and „Play“, while keeping the „Selector“ button pressed down. While holding the „Selector“ button, press the „Left arrow“ to adjust the ﬁrst digit (i.e. 100 to 900), push „Play“ to change the second digit (i.e. 10 to 90) and ﬁnally „Right arrow“ lets you select the third digit (i.e. 1 to 9). For example, if you want to read page 223, keep „Selector“ pressed and push „Left arrow“ twice, „Play“ twice and „Right arrow“ three times. Release the „Selector“ button to start reading the desired page.

First level (Chapter)

Jump to the next or previous main chapter, by pressing the arrow buttons. For example advance from chapter 1 to chapter 2.

Second level

Jump to the next or previous sub-chapter, by pressing the arrow buttons. For example advance from chapter 1.2 to chapter 1.3.

Third level

Jump to the next or previous third level sub-chapter with the arrow buttons. For example advance from chapter 1.2.1 to chapter 1.2.2.

Fourth level

Jump to the next or previous fourth level sub-chapter, by pressing the arrow buttons. For example from chapter 1.2.1.1 to chapter

1.2.1.2.

Footnotes

Jump to the next or previous footnote with the arrow buttons.

Marginalia

Jump to the next or previous marginal note by using the arrow buttons. Marginalia are text parts in frames or separate columns.

Producer notes

Jump to next or previous producer note by using the arrow buttons.

3.3. Selecting a book

You can select a book from the library on your SD memory card by using the navigation option „Bookshelf“.

Press either “Rec” or “Mode” until you hear “Bookshelf”. Select one of your books with the arrow buttons. You will be able to ﬂick through all of your books in the supported formats. Press “Play” to start reading, once you‘ve selected a book. Please note that the device will be in „Phrase jump“ mode by default, after selecting a book.

3.4. Creating and erasing a bookmark

Press the „Rec“ button for 2 seconds to create a bookmark. You will hear the conﬁrmation „Bookmark set“ and the corresponding number of the bookmark. Bookmarks can be created on the ﬂy, during playback of a book and in pause mode and will be saved separately for each book. You can create up to 50 bookmarks per book. To navigate from one bookmark to another, press either the „Rec“ or „Mode“ button until you ﬁnd the navigation option „Bookmarks“. The arrow buttons can then be used to jump between all the bookmark numbers you‘ve created. Your bookmarks will be activated in order of their appearance in the book, rather than in the chronological order you‘ve created them.

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To erase a selected bookmark, pause playback. Hold the „Mode“ button and press „Play“.

3.5. Shortcut overview of Books

Function

Operation

Acoustic feedback

Playback or Pause

“Play”

Go to next part

“Right arrow”

Go to previous part

“Left arrow”

Create bookmark

“Rec” for 2 seconds

“Bookmark set”

Erase bookmark

“Mode” + “Play”

“Bookmark erased”

Erase all bookmarks

“Mode” + “Play” + “Rec”

“All bookmarks erased”

Go to the next higher navigation option

“Rec”

Name of the navigation option

Go to the next deeper navigation option

“Mode”

Name of the navigation option

4. Voice recorder

The application “Voice recorder” allows you to record voice messages. You can use it to create shopping and to-do lists, audio interviews, record addresses and phone numbers et cetera. The integrated microphone is optimized for voice recording and ﬁlters background noises. Recordings are saved as MP3 ﬁles with a quality of 64 kbps when using the internal microphone or 128 kbps via external microphone.

4.1. Recording a short voice message

To record a short voice message, keep “Rec” pressed while speaking. A short click signalizes that the recording has started. To stop recording simply release “Rec” again. For best results, speak at normal volume and hold the device at a distance of approximately 10 cm (4 inches) from your mouth. The integrated microphone is located in the upper left corner near the small red light.

Hint: Keep the „Rec“ button pressed until you hear a click, indicating that the recording has started. This may take up to 3 seconds, in case your Milestone 212 Ace has already entered power saving mode.

4.2. Recording a continuous voice message

As an alternative to having to keep the “Rec” button pressed, you can start a continuous recording. Push and hold the “Rec” button and then in addition press “Play”, after you hear the short click. Milestone 212 Ace will acknowledge the start of the continuous recording with the sound sequence “low pitched-high pitched”. To quit continuous recording, press the “Rec” button again. The device will conﬁrm the end of the continuous recording with the sound sequence “high pitched-low pitched”.

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If you wish to pause the recording for a moment, you can press the “Play” button. Press “Play” again to continue the recording.

4.3. Listening to a recorded voice message

To listen to a voice message, press “Play” when you‘re done recording. You can choose between your recorded voice messages by using the arrow buttons.

Hint: You can jump to the last recorded voice message by holding down the “Right arrow” button and pressing “Play”. To skip to the ﬁrst recorded ﬁle, keep the “Left arrow” button pressed and then push “Play”.

4.4. Deleting voice messages

You can delete voice messages on your Milestone 212 Ace without connecting to a PC.

•

Delete a single voice message: Play the voice message you would like to delete. While the message is playing, hold down the “Mode” button and brieﬂy press “Play”. The message will be erased once you let go of the buttons. You may also delete the message after the playback has stopped.

•

Delete all voice messages in one direction: Pause playback and then press the three buttons „Mode“, „Play“ and „Right arrow“ for at least two seconds, to delete all following voice messages, including the currently active one. To erase all previous voice messages and the one currently active, press „Mode“, „Play“ and „Left arrow“ at the same time for at least two seconds. At the start of the deleting process you will hear a long beep, followed by an erasing sound when the operation is complete.

4.5. The 5 recording folders

There are 5 different folders on the internal memory of your Milestone 212 Ace to save your recorded voice messages in. The default location for recordings is the folder “M1”.

4.5.1. Changing between the folders

To switch between available folders, hold “Selector” and press one of the 5 front buttons. Once you release the buttons, the according folder will be selected. Each of the ﬁve front buttons represents one of the folders. For example, folder „M5“ is activated by pressing „Selector“ and „Mode“, whereas „Selector“ and „Right arrow“ corresponds to folder „M4“.

4.5.2. Voice labeling of folders

You can create your own custom voice label for each available folder. Keep the „Rec“ button pressed and wait for a clicking sound. Then hold down the „Mode“ button too, until you hear the announcement „folder“. Recording starts immediately afterwards, so at this point you‘ll want to speak the intended name of the folder into the microphone. Recording ends with a „high pitched-low pitched“ sound sequence, once you let go of the button combination. Next time you select the folder, it will be announced by your own voice message. You can repeat the process if required, but please note that if recordings end up being too short, they won‘t be registered.

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4.6. External microphones

To connect an external microphone, please use the 3.5 mm microphone jack on the right side of the front edge. External microphones don‘t require an ampliﬁer, since enough power is already provided by your Milestone 212 Ace. If an external microphone is detected, your Milestone 212 Ace will automatically make use of it, instead of the internal microphone. The quality of your recordings will improve from 64 kpbs mono to 128 kbps stereo, when using an external microphone. General operation of the device remains the same as when using the internal microphone.

4.7. Copying your recordings to the SD card

It is highly recommended to backup your data to an SD memory card on a regular basis. You can copy all of your voice messages from the internal memory of your Milestone 212 Ace to the inserted SD memory card by using the „Information Service“ tool. To start the „Information Service“, hold the “Mode” button for 1.5 seconds, until the speciﬁcations and status of your Milestone 212 Ace are being announced. Wait until you hear the announcement „For a backup copy of your internal memory on the SD card please press the right arrow now“ and then simply press the “Right arrow” button to make a backup.

4.8. Shortcut overview of Voice recorder

Function

Operation

Acoustic feedback

Short recording

“Rec” (push and hold)

“Click”

Start continuous recording

“Rec” + “Play”

Sound sequence “low pitchedhigh pitched”

Pause or continue a continuous recording

“Play” (during continuos

recording)

Short beep

End continuous recording

“Rec”

Sound sequence “high pitchedlow pitched”

Playback or pause a record

“Play”

Playback next record

“Right arrow”

Playback previous record

“Left arrow”

Jump to last recording

“Right arrow” + “Play”

Jump to first recording

“Left arrow” + “Play”

Erase current recording

“Mode” + “Play”

Erasing signal

Erase all recordings in one direction

“Mode” + “Play” + “Right arrow” or “Left arrow”

Beep at start of deleting and erasing sound at the end

Choose between folder 1 to 5

“Selector” + a front button

Folder name

Voice labeling of current folder

“Rec” + after the clicking sound “Mode” (press and hold)

„Folder“ at the start of a recording. At the end of recording --> “high pitched-low pitched” sound effect

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5. Audio

The application “Audio” enables you to listen to music or text ﬁles. Make sure it is the active application by using the “Selector” button until you hear the word “Audio”. Audio plays the following formats:

Format

Description

MP3

Most popular compressed digital audio ﬁle format.

AAC

Compressed digital audio ﬁle (former standard of Apple‘s iTunes).

WMA

Windows Media Audio: Compressed digital audio ﬁle used by Windows Media Player.

WAV

Uncompressed and therefore relatively large digital audio ﬁle, which requires up to 10 times more space than a corresponding MP3 ﬁle.

MP4

Standard video and audio container: Played by Milestone 212 Ace if using AAC audio stream. Please note that such a ﬁle needs initialization time.

M4A

Compressed digital audio format from Apple‘s iTunes. E.g. music and podcasts. (Apple Lossless is not supported)

M4V

Digital video format from Apple’s iTunes. Milestone plays the audio stream of this data format. Please note that such a ﬁle needs initialization time.

TXT

Plain text ﬁle stored in your language speciﬁc code-page (1250, 1251, 1252, 1253, 1254 or 1256). Unicode ﬁles are not supported.

DOC

Standard Microsoft Ofﬁce Word document. (DOCX is not supported)

Hint: Please note that Daisy books are not selectable in the „Audio“ application.

5.1. Navigation in Audio

5.1.1. Navigation when not using a folder structure

In case you‘ve saved all your data in the root of the SD memory card, rather than using a folder structure, the navigation is kept very simple. Just press „Right arrow“ to advance to the next ﬁle and press „Left arrow“ to go back to the previous ﬁle. The ﬁles are always sorted in alphabetical order.

5.1.2. Navigation when using a folder structure

If you prefer to organize and store your data in folders, you will also use the „Rec“ and „Mode“ buttons for conveniently navigating through your available ﬁles. Basically, the 4 buttons around the middle „Play“ button represent a directional pad. By using the arrow buttons, you can jump from one folder or ﬁle to selecting another. Press the „Mode“ button to actually enter folders and use „Rec“ to leave the folder again, taking you back one level within the folder tree.

Example: Let us assume you want to listen to your favorite Elvis Presley song. You have a folder called “Music” and a folder named “Text” on your SD memory card. In the folder “Music” you have created two subfolders named “Oldies” and “Country”. You‘ve saved your favorite Elvis song and other tunes in the subfolder “Oldies”.

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Use the arrow buttons to switch between folders „Music“ and „Text“, located in the root directory of the SD memory card. Select “Music” and then press “Mode”, to enter the folder and consequently go one level deeper. Your Milestone 212 Ace will automatically select either the ﬁrst ﬁle or subfolder within the “Music” folder. In our case it will ﬁnd the folder “Country” ﬁrst. You will want to press “Right arrow” to switch over to the folder “Oldies”. Enter it with the “Mode” button. Milestone 212 Ace opens the ﬁrst music track. The ﬁles are sorted alphabetically. Finally, press “Right arrow” until you reach the Elvis Presley song. If you want to go back up to the highest folder level, i.e. the root directory of the SD memory card, press the “Rec” button twice.

Hint: If a folder is crammed with ﬁles, you may want to select either the ﬁrst or last ﬁle, by holding „Right arrow“ and pressing „Play“ to skip to the last ﬁle or holding „Left arrow“ and pressing „Play“ to go back to the ﬁrst ﬁle in the folder.

5.1.2.1. Voice labeling of folders

You can create your own custom voice labels and assign them to each available folder. To do so, ﬁrst enter the appropriate folder by using the „Mode“ button. Keep the „Rec“ button pressed and wait for a clicking sound. Then hold down the „Mode“ button too, until you hear the announcement „folder“. Recording starts immediately afterwards, so at this point you‘ll want to speak the intended name of the folder into the microphone. Recording ends with a „high pitched-low pitched“ sound sequence, once you let go of the button combination. Next time you select the folder, it will be announced by your own voice message. You can repeat the process if required, but please note that if recordings end up being too short, they won‘t be registered.

Hint: You can delete recorded folder names directly on your Milestone 212 Ace, but you will have to activate the folder ﬁrst. This is done by repeating the above process and assigning a new recorded name to the folder. Afterwards you‘ll be able to delete the folder by pressing the button combination „Mode“ and „Play“. Alternatively, you may want to delete the recorded folder name on the SD card by connecting it to your computer and deleting the ﬁle „FOLDER.NAM“, located within the corresponding folder.

5.2. Playing music files

Please refer to chapter 5.1. „Navigation in Audio“ to select a music ﬁle. Once selected, music ﬁles will automatically start playing. Use the „Play“ button to pause and press it again to continue playback. The arrow buttons allow you to jump from one ﬁle to another. Keeping the „Right arrow“ button pressed allows you to fast forward and by holding the „Left arrow“ button you can rewind. Fast forward and rewind speed will increase, the longer you keep the button pressed. Normal playback will resume as soon as you let go of the arrow button.

5.3. Playing text files

When you select a text ﬁle, only its name will be announced. To actually start playback of the ﬁle push „Play“. Opening a DOC ﬁle for the ﬁrst time may take a few seconds, until the conversion process is completed. You‘ll notice a ticking sound during that process. Text ﬁle playback is similar to music playback. You can jump to the next and previous ﬁle with the arrow buttons and use the pause function with “Play”. If you press and hold an arrow button during playback, you can fast forward or rewind the text ﬁle. You will hear periodic clicking sounds, each representing one step forward or backwards respectively. The size of the steps can be deﬁned by pressing „Rec“ or „Mode“ during playback. You can choose between the steps „Screen“ (25 lines of text), „Paragraph“ or „Sentence“.

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5.4. Deleting a file or folder

Milestone 212 Ace allows you to erase ﬁles and folders directly without a connection to the computer. This can be done in one of the following 3 ways:

•

Delete one ﬁle: Play the ﬁle you would like to delete. During playback, hold down the “Mode” button and brieﬂy press “Play”. The ﬁle will be erased when you let go of the buttons. You can delete a ﬁle either during playback or while in pause mode.

•

Delete ﬁles in one direction: Pause playback and then press the three buttons „Mode“, „Play“ and „Right arrow“ for at least two seconds, to delete all following ﬁles, including the currently active one. To erase all previous voice messages and the one currently active, press „Mode“, „Play“ and „Left arrow“ at the same time for at least two seconds. At the start of the deleting process you will hear a long beep, followed by an erasing sound when the operation is complete.

•

Delete a folder: Select the folder you would like to delete. While holding down “Mode”, press the “Play” button. Keep the „Mode“ button pressed and conﬁrm erasing by pressing “Play” again after 3 seconds. Finally, let go of the “Mode” button. Please note that deleting large folders may take a couple of seconds. This process is accompanied by a ticking sound and completed after an erasing sound.

5.5. Shortcut overview of Audio

Function

Operation

Acoustic feedback

Playback or Pause

“Play”

Go to next file or folder

“Right arrow”

Go to previous file or folder

“Left arrow”

Fast forward

“Right arrow” (push and hold)

Rewind

“Left arrow” (push and hold)

Jump to last file

“Right arrow” + “Play”

Jump to first file

“Left arrow” + “Play”

Erase current file

“Mode” + “Play”

Erasing signal

Erase all ﬁles in one direction

“Mode” + “Play” + “Right arrow” or “Left arrow”

Beep for start of erasing and erasing sound for the end

Erase current folder

“Mode” + “Play”, + “Play” again after 3 seconds

Erasing sound

Voice labeling of current folder

“Rec” + “Mode” (push and hold)

Start of record with “Folder”. End of record with “high pitched-low pitched”

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6. Further information

6.1. Technical data

•

Internal memory size: 2.5 GB.

•

Removable storage: MMC-, SD- and SDHC-cards of up to 32 GB.

•

Recording capacity: Up to 80 hours.

•

Bitrate while recording over built-in microphone: 64 kbps mono.

•

Bitrate while recording via external microphone: 128 kbps stereo.

•

Sampling rate: 44.1 kHz with a sample resolution of 16 bit.

•

Bitrate for playback: 8kbps to 320 kbps or VBR (variable bitrate).

•

USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection.

•

Headphone socket: 3.5 mm headphone jack.

•

Line-in socket: 3.55 mm microphone jack.

•

Body made of impact-resistant ABS plastic.

•

Dimensions: 85 x 54 x 14 mm (3.35” x 2.13” x 0.55”).

•

Weight: 49 grams (1.7 oz).

•

Power: Built-in rechargeable lithium polymer battery with a runtime of up to 20 hours.

•

Battery charging time: 3 hours.

6.2. Protecting your Milestone

Please protect Milestone 212 Ace from mechanical overload, humidity and from contact with water. All parts of the warranty are void after inappropriate use or opening of the device.

6.3. Troubleshooting and helpful hints

Step 1:

Please make sure the device has been charged for at least 30 minutes, then press the „Play“ button for half a second. In case the Milestone 212 Ace does not respond, proceed to step 2.

Step 2:

The keyboard might be locked. Hold the “Mode” button and press “Rec” brieﬂy. The device should respond with either of the following audible messages:

•

“Keyboard active” - The keyboard was locked and is now unlocked.

•

“Keyboard locked” - You have just locked the keyboard. Press the same button combination again, to unlock it. You will hear the conﬁrmation “Keyboard active”.

•

In case you don‘t hear anything, please go to step 3.

Step 3:

If the device remains silent at this point, it requires a reboot. Please press and hold all front buttons, except “Play”, to restart your Milestone 212 Ace. In case this step doesn‘t resolve the issue, please try to reinstall the ﬁrmware, as described in chapter 6.4.2 of this manual. If all else fails, you may want to contact your retailer and have the device repaired.

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6.4. Service and support

6.4.1. General information

Service and support is provided by the retailer you bought your Milestone 212 Ace from. Your dealer is familiar with the device and will be able to assist you with all general queries about the Milestone 212 Ace, such as handling and repairs. You can ﬁnd your nearest Milestone retailer on our website www.bones.ch under the „Sales“ tab.

6.4.2. Firmware update

Keep your Milestone 212 Ace updated, as Bones Inc. constantly improves the ﬁrmware. New ﬁrmware adds more features and functionality, while it ﬁxes minor bugs. If you want to update your Milestone 212 Ace with the latest ﬁrmware, you can either visit your nearest retailer, in order to have the device updated there or you can update your Milestone 212 Ace through the Internet.

•

To check the installed ﬁrmware of your Milestone 212 Ace, hold down the „Mode“ button for 1.5 seconds, in order to start the Information Service. The device will duly report its current ﬁrmware, after announcing several other bits of information.

•

The latest ﬁrmware is available for download from our website www.bones.ch. Please click on the „Support“ tab and select „Milestone 212 Ace“ from the available products. If the available ﬁrmware version is newer than the one of your Milestone, you may want to download the latest ﬁrmware and update your device.

•

To upgrade your device with the latest ﬁrmware, please connect Milestone 212 Ace to your computer via USB. Open the drive „M212 ACE“ and copy the ﬁrmware to its root directory. Safely remove your Milestone 212 Ace from the computer, as you would do with any USB-device. When done, you will hear the announcement „Software update in progress. Please wait for 30 seconds“. In case the update does not start automatically, please remove the SD memory card from your Milestone and insert it back again.

6.5. Other products from Bones Inc.

For further information about the Milestone product range, please visit our website at

www.bones.ch or ask your nearest authorized dealer.

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Bones Milestone 212 Ace User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual