Full User Guide

User Guide as of June 6 2022 Hello and welcome to RealSam Hub, your Accessible Media Device and service powered by Real Sam.

We have help in the following areas:

Quick Start

Introduction to Real Sam Hub

Entertainment Features

Further help

Phrases To Try

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Quick Start

Starting RealSam Hub for the first time

To get started using RealSam Hub you will need an activation code, you will have received this code via email upon subscribing to the service.

Once you have your activation code ready to use, you can go to your Alexa speaker and say Alexa, open Real Sam. If your Alexa hears you correctly, RealSam Hub should give you a brief welcome message, and proceed to ask you for your activation code.

Your activation code will have been sent to you in phonetic alphabet form. You can now spell or read out your activation code to your Alexa, if it is having trouble recognising what you are saying, you can spell out the code using words starting with the same letters. For example, if your code was A B C D E you could say alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, echo or any other words beginning with the corresponding letters.

Once you have successfuly entered your activation code your speaker should tell you that you can now interact with Real Sam, from here you can ask to listen to the user guide, or you could say read me a book among other things.

After you have succesfully connected to Real Sam for the first time on a speaker, there will be no need to provide an activation code upon subsequent use. You can simply say Alexa, open Real Sam and get started using RealSam Hub.

Quick start

To get started talking to RealSam Hub, go to your Alexa speaker and say Alexa, open Real Sam.

Whenever you address your speaker without it directly prompting you, you must preface what you say by saying Alexa or Alexa ask Real Sam to. To avoid repetitiveness in this user guide these phrases may not be mentioned in examples.

RealSam Hub has a variety of interesting features available to you, here is a quick list of things you can try to get started:

To listen to a book you can say read me a book, from here you will be given a list of book sources to choose from, and then a list of available books for you to browse. Once you have selected a book source, you can search for books from this source by saying something like Find books by Louisa May Alcott or Find books with title Little Women. RealSam Hub will then provide you a list of books matching your search from your selected book source.

Similarly you could say List podcasts to browse through all the podcasts available to you.

These are only a few of the many features available to you when using RealSam Hub, you can learn more about the other features by listening to the different sections of the user guide.

It is important to note that RealSam Hub is a feature added to your speaker device, which handles other commands as well, therefore your speaker can occasionally become confused and not understand that you want to interact with RealSam Hub. To avoid this confusion and to get the best experience using RealSam Hub please listen to the tips and tricks section of the user guide.

Tips and tricks

RealSam Hub runs as an added feature on your speaker, this can sometimes lead to confusion between the host speaker and RealSam Hub. To avoid this confusion we suggest keeping the following in mind:

After RealSam Hub stops talking it will usually ask you a question, or start listening for a response from you. RealSam Hub will prompt and listen for a response three times, if no response is given within this time RealSam Hub will shut off. To avoid this we highly recommend turning on sounds and notifications at the start and end of requests via your Alexa app so you can hear when your speaker is listening for a response.
Saying cancel or stop when you are not currently listening to a book or podcast will cause RealSam Hub to shut off. You will know that RealSam Hub has shut off when it says Talk with you later. If this happens you can restart RealSam Hub by saying Alexa, open Real Sam.
Occasionally your speaker device will become confused and say Real Sam is not responding right now, if this happens you can restart the conversation by saying Alexa, open Real Sam, and once RealSam Hub has finished talking say Repeat.
Interrupting RealSam Hub while it is speaking can occasionally cause your speaker device to become confused, to avoid this it is advisable to wait until RealSam Hub has finished speaking and prompts you for a response.
If RealSam Hub ever gets into a state you do not know how to deal with you can always say Alexa, cancel twice to shut off RealSam Hub, and then restart it by saying Alexa, open Real Sam.
There are many ways you can speak to and interact with RealSam Hub, however to avoid situations where RealSam Hub cannot understand what you are requesting, we suggest using the example dialogue outlined in this user guide as much as possible.

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Introduction to RealSam Hub

Here are a few articles to help you get started using your RealSam Hub.

Navigating Lists

Accessing the User Guide

Back to the Main Menu

Entertainment with RealSam Hub

RealSam Hub has many different entertainment options Some articles about how to access and use these different entertainment options are listed below:

Back to the Main Menu

Outdoor locations

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') ') Troubleshooting and Tips

Troubleshooting and Tips

Troubleshooting

Tips

Further Help

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Phrases for using RealSam Hub

Introduction

Here are some lists of useful example phrases you can use with RealSam Hub broken down by category:

Phrases for books

Read me a book
What books do you have?
List books
Go to my recent books
Search for book with title Pride and Prejudice
Find books by Jane Austen
What sections do you have?
Next section
Previous section
Go to section 5
Jump forward 10
Reset the books

Phrases for podcasts

Play me a podcast
What podcasts do you have?
Play me a podcast form BBC
Find pocasts about black holes
Play me Friday Night Comedy
Search for podcasts from BBC about David Cameron
Jump forward 3
Jump back 8
Subscribe
Unsubscribe
Favourite podcasts
Go to my podcasts

Other functions

To change the speed at which RealSam Hub speaks say Speak slow or Speak normally, Speak fast or Speak very fast
Say Change voice to change the voice RealSam Hub peaks with

Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions

Privacy Policy

For information on our Privacy Policy, please visit: https://realsam.co.uk/support/

Terms and Conditions

For information on our Terms and Conditions, please visit: https://realsam.co.uk/support/

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What's in the Box

Content List

O2 SIM card inside the device that has been activated
A headset
A one-page Quick Start guide
A phone charging cable and plug

About the Headset

One end of the headset plugs into the device at the top , and the other divides into two cables, with an ear bud on the end of each of those two cables. The microphone and button are located on a small plastic control on the cable, about 20 centimeters from the ear buds. The microphone and the talk button are on opposite sides, so when clicking the button on one side, try to avoid covering up the microphone on the other side.

When the head set is connected to your device, you can use the button on the head set cable, as the talk button. This means that you will not need to hold the device, leaving your hands free for other things. You can continue to use the talk button on the device while the head set is connected, however, you must speak into the microphone on the head set cable.

The stock headset can be replaced with other headsets depending on user preference regarding; comfort, sound quality, budget and ease of use. Bluetooth enabled bone conducting headsets have proved to be popular with users.

The charger plug and cord

On one end of the cord is a small, rectangular, USB plug, which connects to the device. On the other end of the cable, there is a larger rectangular metal shape which plugs into the charger plug. The charger plug plugs into an ordinary power outlet. If you are using a USB charging device, you will not need to use a charging cable plug.

If lost or broken, the charger and power cord can be replaced with other standard mobile phone chargers of the same type.

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Starting up Your Device and using it's Buttons

To power the device on:

To power the device on, hold the power button down for about 2 seconds until you feel a small vibration. This vibration indicates that RealSam Hub is powering up correctly.
After another 40 seconds, the device will announce that it is ready to speak with you.

If you do not feel the vibration within 10 seconds, then try the sequence again. If you still get no response, your device may not be charged. Plug in the device to recharge before trying again.

To power off, hold the power button down. You can also power off by clicking the talk button and saying, power off. RealSam Hub will announce that it is powering off and you will hear some beeps. Press the talk button during the beeps if you change your mind and want to keep your device on.

For more detailed descriptions of all the buttons, check the Describing the handset section of this user guide.

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Navigating Lists

There are multiple lists available on your RealSam Hub. Knowing how to navigate lists can be very useful.

To select from a list once RealSam Hub is finished speaking, say the number of the item you wish to select, for example you could say Number 5 to hear the fifth item on the list.
To hear a list again say Repeat or Say that again.
To jump ahead say Next, Next page or Jump forward 30.
You can go back by saying Go Back or perhaps back 7 or jump backwards 2. It is important to note that saying previous cannot be used in place of Go back.
You can say Pause to pause, and to restart say Resume, Continue or keep going.

Back to the Main Menu

Accessing the User Guide

You can access a complete audio version of the User Guide on your RealSam Hub.

Accessing the user guide with your voice

To access the user guide using your voice, say user guide. RealSam Hub will let you know that it is reading the user guide, and then list the sections or topics for you to choose from. To choose one of these sections, after the listing has finished you can say something like number one to select the first item in the list.

Each section of the user guide may contain multiple articles. You will be able to access them the same way as discussed above.

After listening to an article you can either say next to listen to the next article, or you can say headlines to hear the list of available articles.

If at any point you want to go back a step or return to where you just came from, say go back.

For more specific help if you get stuck when using a feature of Pocket say, Help.

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Setting up WiFi

Introduction

Connect to a WiFi network using your voice

If you are on a mobile plan, or if you are already connected to WiFi, you can configure a new WiFi network by saying, Configure WiFi, or, Configure wireless. Then carry out the steps of selecting the network and entering the password as described in the other sections of this article.

Connect to a WiFi network using the touchscreen menu

You can use the screen on the front of the device to connect to WiFi. It will read out the information on the screen as you run your finger across it, and in this way you can select a network, and type a password if required. To do this open the touchscreen menu by drawing a large L on your screen, select Settings, then select configure WiFi and follow the instructions provided by the device.

Connect to a WiFi network using the device buttons

If you are not connected to any mobile or WiFi network, then you will need to enter WiFi configuration manually:

First, press and hold the talk button down for approximately 10 seconds, ignore the sound that you hear in the first couple of seconds, and continue to hold the talk button.
After about 10 seconds, RealSam Hub will say, Now press the volume up button within 5 seconds to enter WiFi configuration.
Press the volume up button to enter wifi configuration.

Next the device will announce that there is a list of available WiFi networks on the screen.

Place your finger on the screen, near the top left, and slowly move your finger down the screen. It will read out the name of the WiFi networks as your finger passes down the list.
There will usually be a single column listed down the screen, however, if there are lots of networks near you, there may be two, or even three columns listed.
Move your finger up and down the list, and side to side if necessary, as many times as you like until you find the network that you are looking for.
When you hear the name of the network that you wish to join, lift your finger off the screen.
If the network you have selected is not password protected, the device will now connect to the network you selected.

Entering Passwords

If the network you have selected is password protected, then another screen will appear. On this screen is a grid of lower case letters near the top, symbols in the middle, and upper case letters near the bottom.

Place your finger near the top left corner of the screen, and slowly move your finger across the screen. RealSam Hub will read out the letters and symbols as your finger passes them on the grid.
You can move your finger around the grid as many times as you like until you hear the letter or symbol that you want.
When you hear the letter or symbol, lift your finger to select it, and in this way you will spell out the password.
If at any point you want to check what you have typed, you can press the read button, which is located near the top of your screen. When you press this buttom RealSam Hub will read back to you what you have typed.

Near the bottom of the screen there are a few other buttons:

Near the bottom left corner of the screen there is a Cancel button
Near the bottom of the screen in the centre there is a QWERTY button. This button allows you to switch the the more standard Q W E R T Y keyboard format. If you select this button, you screen will change to a lowercase QWERTY keyboard, which is displayed landscape on your device. You can use this keyboard layout in the same way as normal by slowly moving your finger around the screen, and lifting your finger off the screen to select the option you want.
Near the bottom of the screen on the right is a Done button, select this button when you are ready to submit the password you have entered.
Just above the cancel button is the delete button, which can remove the last character you entered
To the right of the cancel button are the move left and move right buttons. These buttons allow you to move left or right by a character in the text you have typed. After selecting one of the move buttons, the device will tell you what character it is now selecting, you can then press the delete button to delete this character, or choose another character to insert it to the left of the selected one.

When you have entered the password, select the Done button to join the network. If the password is correct, then RealSam Hub will connect to the network you have selected.

Connecting to Networks RealSam Hub has already Connected to

Once RealSam Hub has successfully connected to a WiFi network, it will remember it, and automatically reconnect to that network whenever it is within range. It can remember many networks, so you can configure one at home, one at work, one at your favourite cafe, and more.

Note that RealSam Hub cannot connect to WiFi networks that require you to enter a password into a web page, such as many restaurants and other commercial establishments are currently using. If you connect to one of these, and RealSam Hub is not responding, you should forget this network to prevent connection to it in future. How to do this is described in the Forget section of this article.

To Forget a WiFI Network

To forget a WiFi network, and stop RealSam Hub connecting to it in future, you will first need to enter WiFi configuration. To do this you can either, say configure WiFi, or, hold the talk button for 10 seconds to enter WiFi configuration, or use the touchscreen menu and navigate to settings and then to configure wifi. Once you have done this RealSam Hub will display a list of WiFi networks on the touchscreen, at the bottom of the list is a Forget button. Slowly slide your finger down the screen until you hear Forget a network and lift your finger to select this option. RealSam Hub will then display a list of networks which you can forget, slowly slide your finger around the touchscreen until you hear the network that you wish to forget and lift your finger to select it.

RealSam Hub will then confirm that it has forgotten the network you selected and will bring you back to the WiFi configuration window.

When you have finished configuring the WiFi network, tap the talk button to resume normal operations.

Disabling WiFi

You can disable Wifi by saying disable Wifi then re-enable it by using the touch screen menu to configure Wifi.

Back to the Main Menu

Books

Book libraries

Getting Started on Books

After starting RealSam Hub by saying, Alexa, open Real Sam, You can get started reading a book by saying Alexa, read me a book or What books do you have? or List books. RealSam Hub will list all the available book libraries and you can select from the list by number.

Once you have chosen a book source, RealSam Hub will list books from that source, giving you five at a time. You can select a book from this list by number, or at the end of a list of five books say next to be given the next list of five books. You can also jump around the list by larger numbers of items by saying jump forward 30 or jump back 12 and so on.

Recent books function

The recent books option allows you to choose from a list of books that you have recently been reading, without having to search for them again. To get to this list you can say, Go to my recent books or you can select number one from the book sources list. When you select a book from the recent books list, RealSam Hub will continue reading it at the same place that you were up to. To delete books from your recent list first say go to my recent books then if you want to delete the third book say delete number 3. To delete the rest of your book list from the 4th item say delete rest from number 4.

Searching for Books

The best way to use the book catalogue is to search by author, with title or about topic. Once you have chosen a book source, the best way to use the book catalogue is to search by author, with title or about topic. For instance you can say Find books by Jane Austen or Search for books with title Pride and Prejudice or Find books about Christmas.You do not have to leave the book that you are currently reading to do a search for another book from the same book source. For example, you might be in the middle of a chapter of Jane Eyre, and decide to do a search for another book. Just say Find books titled Great Expectations and RealSam Hub will conduct that search for you straight away.

When choosing a book, you can select from a list by number. Just say, Number 1 or The last one or The third one. You can also interrupt a listing and say That one or Yes.

Once you have selected a book your device will prompt you to say play or add to bookshelf. You can interrupt the synopsis at any time and say play to start reading the book.

Once RealSam Hub has given you a list you can also ask it to jump to items within the list. For example, you could say next starting with B and RealSam Hub will jump to the next item in the list starting with the letter B. You could also say something like next containing ocean to jump to the next item in the list which contains the word ocean.

Alternatively if you have not yet chosen a book source, you can include one in your search phrase, for example you could say Find Librevox books by Charles Dickens.

Pause, Stop, Repeat and Continue.

When reading a book you can say, pause or stop to pause the book, and then say Continue or Resume to resume where you stopped.

If you would like RealSam Hub to repeat something that it just said, you can say repeat or say that again and RealSam Hub will repeat the last thing it said, or start reading the current article from the beginning again.

Saying continue is also very useful. If you have been listening to a book and then you put RealSam Hub down for a while, when you return you can simply say, Continue and RealSam Hub will start again where it left off. However, if you leave RealSam Hub for too long, It will eventually forget what it was doing. If this happens, it will let you know that there is nothing to continue.

Note that when RealSam Hub resumes reading a book after being paused or when you say continue, it will start from the beginning of the current sentence so that you retain your reading context.

Jump Back, Jump Forward, and Go Back

A very handy feature to learn is the jump feature. It is necessary to note that this feature changes slightly depending on what you are reading

While reading an e-book (which is a text based book read out by RealSam Hub) , if you say Jump back 5 RealSam Hub will take you back 5 sentences. If you say Jump forward 8 It will take you forward 8 sentences, and so on.

While listening to an audio book , you can jump backward and forward by units of time. For example, to jump back by ten minutes say jump back ten minutes. Or to jump forward by twenty seconds you would say, jump forward twenty seconds.

By default, if you just say Forward, Jump forward, Move forward or Advance, your device will move you forward by one minute in the book. Similarly you can say Backward, Jump backward, Move backward or Rewind, which will move you backwards by 10 seconds in the book.

If you would like to change the amount of time that RealSam Hub will jump by when you say Jump forward or Jump backward, you can say set default jump forward to 5 minutes or set default for jumping backwards to 30 seconds, or whatever other time period you would like the device to jump by.

It should be noted that when interrupting RealSam Hub while it is reading a book, the book will continue being played at lower volume while the RealSam listens to your request. This means that you may want to jump back 10 seconds after making a request to ensure you have not missed any of your book.

If you wish to browse the sections of a book, and return to where you were reading in a particular section, you can say Go back, to go back a section and read from where you left off. Also, if you make a mistake in your choice of book saying Go back allows you to return to your previous list without having to start your search again.

You can also check your position in any book you are reading. First say Alexa, stop to pause the book, and then say Alexa, position , or Alexa, where am I? or Alexa, describe. RealSam Hub will respond to this with a detailed statement about your position in the book. From this point you can use any other commands related to book reading, such as jumping backwards or forwards through the book, moving between sections, hearing the table of contents, and more.

We recommend interacting with books in this sequence, by first pausing, then asking for your position in the book, and then proceeding with any other book related commands.

Navigating with the table of contents

You can also navigate directly through the book by using the table of contents, to do this say contents or list contents. Your device will list the contents of the book, you can then decide if you would like to play the book starting from one of the sections listed, or, if you would like to explore one of these sections further by getting a list of its subsections.

For example a table of contents may say:

One, Part one
Two, Part two
Three, Part three

play number one

number one

play

no further breakdown for this part

At any point in time you can also go back to the previous level / list of sections you just heard by saying go back

Navigating Sections

Section index

List sections

What sections do you have?

That one

For e-Books, the first one or more sections of the book comprise all the publishing information and other introductory content found at the start of a book. RealSam Hub will assume that you do not want to hear all that, and it will automatically start reading your book at the section that contains the main text of the book. Section two is often the start of the main text or first chapter of the book, and the sections after that are the subsequent chapters. If you would like to hear the introductory information say Go to section one or Previous section.

Sometimes the introductory content might take more than one section to cover. It can be difficult to find where the book actually starts, so if RealSam Hub gets it wrong, just say, next section to move forward until you find the section you want to begin reading.

Please note that section numbers will generally not coincide with chapter numbers. However, you can still ask for, Next chapter and RealSam Hub will interpret this as you wanting to move to the next section.

RealSam Hub will continue to read the book section by section. To jump around between the sections you can interrupt the book at any time and say Next section or Previous section or Go to section 5. Please note that if you change sections, RealSam Hub will begin reading that section at the start again.

To help you know where you are in the book, RealSam Hub will also announce what percentage of the book you are up to at regular intervals.

RealSam Hub keeps track of where you are up to in each book. So if you start a new book without finishing a previous book, when you come back to the previous book, It will begin reading where we were up to last time.

If you are reading a book and would like to go back to the beginning, you can say reset the book and it will start the book all over again. Resetting a book is useful if you are sharing the device with others, and you want to read the same book that someone else has already read.

If you are listening to a section and would like to hear it again from the start, just ask for it again. For instance if you are listening to Section 3 say Go to Section 3 and I will start reading that section from the start.

Multiple speakers

If you have multiple smart speakers it is possible to switch between speakers while reading a book. To do this, start reading a book on one speaker, and say Alexa, cancel, then move to your other speaker and say Alexa, open Real Sam, followed by Alexa, resume.

Following this sequence, RealSam Hub should continue playing your book on your second speaker.

Back to the Main Menu

Book Libraries

Selecting a Library

When searching for a book, RealSam Hub defaults to the last library you used, however it will offer you other options if its search comes up empty. If you have never read a book, RealSam Hub will offer you all libraries.

To Select a library, use the word from. For example you could say List Books about Magic from Torch Trust.

Torch Trust

You can read Christian literature from the Torch Trust for free, however the first time you select from their library, you will be asked to accept their Terms & Conditions which includes passing on your name, email address and postcode.

Librevox

Books from this library are in the public domain & are included by default on RealSam Hub. They may have lower quality audio recordings, and a mixture of narrators.

Your Personal List

The first source offered is your personal list of recently chosen books. The recent books option allows you to choose from a list of books that you have recently been reading, without having to search for them again. To get to this list you can say, Go to my recent books, or you can select number one from the book sources list. When you select a book from the recent books list, RealSam Hub will continue reading it at the same place that we were up to.

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Magazines

Introduction

Finding a Magazine

To hear a list of all the available magazines you can say, Which magazines do you have? or Choose a magazine.

To hear a particular magazine you can say, Read me BBC Good Food, or, Go to British Medical Journal. RealSam Hub will automatically start from the first section of that magazine and will provide you with a list of five article headlines to choose from.

There are many magazines to choose from. You can jump ahead or back through the list of magazines by saying Jump forward 8 or Jump back 5.

There are a very large number of magazines available, so in order to make searching for your desired magazine easier, you can now say Next starting with A to search for the next magazines in the list starting with the letter M, or Next containing music to skip to the next magazine which has the word music in it's title.

Choosing a Section of the Magazine

Once you have chosen a magazine you can also choose a section of it by saying What sections do you have, or Go to the sections...

To read a particular section such as sport say, Read the sport section.
To stop reading and move to the next section say, Skip this section or Next section.
To go straight to a section of a particular magazine you can say, Read me the careers section of the British Medical Journal, or, Go to the news section of The Economist.

Finding and Reading Articles

Articles are listed as headlines which you read like any other list. When you have finished an article you can say, Next for the next article or Read headlines and choose another article from the list. To re-read the magazine say, Reset the Magazine or Reset the British Medical Journal.

To read about a particular topic say, Find articles about London Housing or Search for articles about Big Ben. Articles if there are any will be presented in a list called The Search Section. When you have read an article from this say, Go back once or Go back twice to get back the search section for more unread articles on the topic.

To move forward in an article, say, Jump forward three. To move backward say, Jump backward two.

Setting up Favourite Magazines

You can get to your favourite Magazines by subscribing to them. When you are reading a favourite Magazine say, Subscribe. Say, Yes or No when asked to confirm. To get to your favourite Magazines say, My Magazines.

Automatic Read for Magazines

This is a great feature where RealSam Hub can read you a magazine continuously, without waiting for your input in between each article.

Once you have accessed a magazine, or have started to listen to an article, press the talk button and say, Automatic Read or Auto Read or Automatic Reading. You will know that you have started Automatic Read when RealSam Hub says Reading All, so, if you do not hear that, please try again.

When using Auto Read you can skip an article by pushing the talk button and saying Next, this command will not cancel Auto Read. You also will not cancel auto read if you pause and unpause, but other interactions, such as changing Magazines or magazines or listening to podcasts, will cancel automatic read, and you will have to ask RealSam Hub to start it again.

A Note about the types of Magazines

find podcasts from Newsagent

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Podcasts

Introduction

Finding a podcast

To hear a list of all the available podcast sources you can say, Play me a podcast, or, Listen to podcasts, or, List the podcasts, or, What podcasts do you have?

You can go straight to a podcast source by saying Play me podcasts from NPR, or, Find podcasts from BBC.

Once you have chosen a podcast source, RealSam Hub will list the podcast programs from that source in alphabetical order, giving you five at a time. At the end of a list of five programs say, next to be given the next list of five programs. You can also jump around the list by larger numbers of items by saying, jump forward thirty, or, jump back twelve.

You can also search for topics by saying, find podcasts about black holes or, search for podcasts on South Africa.To search for a particular program say, Play me Friday Night Comedy, or, Play me The Archers. You can restrict your search to a particular source by saying, search for podcasts from BBC about David Cameron, or, play me the science show from ABC.

Selecting a Podcast

Number 1

The last one

The third one

Subscribing to Podcasts

subscribe

go to my podcasts

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Internet Radio

Introduction

Finding a Radio Station

To listen to radio Say, Listen to radio or list radios or Play radio stations. Radio is the important word to use. To listen to stations from a particular area say, Listen to radios in Essex. To listen to stations broadcasting particular topics say, Listen to radio stations about sport or Listen to radio stations About folk music.

Stations will be presented in a list, first those stations with a number as part of the title, then the rest alphabetically. There are a very large number of radio stations available, so in order to make searching for your desired radio station easier you can now say, Next starting with A, to search for the next radio in the list starting with the letter A, or Next containing music, to skip to the next radio station which has the word music in its title. You can also jump around the list by larger numbers of items by saying, jump forward 30, or, jump back 12, and so on.

To choose a particular station say, Listen to radio BBC Radio 2 or Listen to Radio classic FM or Listen to premier Christian Radio, then choose from the list.

Playing Favourites

Subscribe

Yes

List favourite radios

Listen to favourite radio stations

Unsubscribe

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Outdoor Location

Pocket's outdoor location function allows you to set names for locations while you are outdoors, such as your local grocery store or a friend's house. When this function is on, it will also tell you when you are close to any of your set locations.

Setting a name for a location

To start the outdoor location function say start locations. The first time you do this you will have to accept the terms and conditons.

Once outdoor location has started you may label your current location however you like. For example, if you were in your home you could say label location as home, or if you were at your grocery store you could say label location as grocery store. The next time you are nearby these places, and outdoor locations is on, RealSam Hub will let you know that they are nearby.

Once you are done setting locations or navigating say stop locations.

Managing you locations

You can edit your set locations by saying list locations, RealSam Hub will then read out the names of your locations and ask you to select one. Once you have selected a location you will be able to:

delete the location
change the location name

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FAQ For Real SAM on Smart Speaker

Here are a few articles to help you get started using your smart speaker

Setting Up Speaker

Phrases To Use

Accessing RealSam

Interacting with RealSam using a Google Speaker

Interacting with RealSam using an Amazon Alexa Speaker

Audio Control On Google Home

Audio Control On Alexa

Setting Up Speaker

The assistant app asks me to do "voice matching" or "to train the speaker to recognize your voice". Should I do it?

Yes, this is essential, since it allows your speaker to recognize you and enable your Real Sam account.

National Library Service asks me to link NLS to my Google Account from the Google Home app. How do I do it?

Open the Home app on your phone
Scroll at the bottom and at the right lower corner there is an icon with a red bullet
Click on that icon and it will show you and event "National Library Service" with a button named "link"

Getting Further Help

You can call our office during office hours on 0333 772 7708. The team there will assist you with using the device, or try and solve the problem if it appears to be with the device or software.

If after hours, you can email our team on helpline@realsam.co.uk

To report a bug or provide feedback, you can say Feedback followed by your message. For example you could say Feedback, I like how this book structure is laid out or Feedback, I had a problem here and your device will send your message to our support team. However this will not generate the same immediate support that wou will get by ringing our helpline.

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Tips

Privacy

You may wish to configure WIFI whilst wearing a headset connected to RealSam Hub, if you have concerns about privacy and your WIFI password.

Battery Management

RealSam Hub can be left charging all day without damaging it. You may prefer to charge RealSam Hub whilst relaxing and listening to a book or music. Note that having the screen at its brightest setting, uses battery more quickly.

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Troubleshooting

RealSam Hub Not Responding

If your RealSam Hub device is not responding, firstly try turning it off and then on again. You turn it off by holding down the power button through 4 high-pitched pips. Turn it on again, by holding down the power button for 2 seconds and then releasing it. Wait a few seconds for the vibration, then another 40 seconds or so for it to start up. If this does not fix your problem, or if your device is still not responding or making any noise at all, there are several more things you can try.

Try holding down the power button for about 25 seconds, then releasing it. Following this, try turning on your device again by holding down the power button for 2 seconds, and releasing it. Wait for a minute or so to see if it starts up.

If this does not work, then your battery may be totally flat. Try plugging your device in to the charger, and charging it for at least 2 hours. Then unplug the device from the charger, and try turning it on again. This sequence will fix most errors.

RealSam Hub is not connected to a mobile phone network and WIFI gets disabled

If you find yourself in the situation where you have no mobile phone access and WIFI gets disabled, you cannot enable WIFI as RealSam Hub cant process the instruction. You can however re-boot the device or use the onscreen menu to configure WIFI, which immediately enables it. You can then cancel the configuraiton process, once it tells you its enabled.

How Else can I get Help?

If you are still having problems with your RealSam Hub device or service after trying these techniques, then please call the RealSam Hub Help Line.

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