Kyocera Communications and Sprint say a mobile phone feature they’ve introduced could be life-changing for the 55 million Americans over the age of 60. Kyocera Verve is an affordable ($19.99 with two-year contract at Sprint) feature phone with a sliding QWERTY keypad and a standard numeric keypad which also includes a unique “Text-to-Speech” capability that offers verbal translation of menus, messaging, Internet browsing, contacts, notifications and more. It also offers other accessibility features such as text-to-speech for SMS, high contrast interface options, large menu fonts, dedicated 911 and In Case of Emergency (IEC) shortcuts and well-defined, tactile buttons on both keypads. Verve’s accessibility features open up a whole new mobile way for the visually-impaired to communicate, research, purchase and more – all the things we’ve come to expect on Internet-enabled mobile devices, according to Kyocera. The product is being launched at Boost Mobile and payLo for those who prefer a pre-paid option.