Poll: Travel Poll Over, Stream Poll Added

Spring break is just around the corner. Many will be traveling all across our great land. But who will travel to where when it comes to AT conventions?

Poll Question: What Event Will You Attend In 2010?

ATIA   2 (18%)
CSUN   4 (36%)
ACB National Convention    2 (18%)
NFB National Convention    2 (18%)
Sight Village    1 (9%)

It looks like a lot of those who voted are heading to sunny San Diego to enjoy CSUN. Frankly, SD is just a bit out of my price range. Not that L.A. wasn’t cheap. I just can justify the trip there with touristy type things with Hollywood and all. Still, I will be bringing you stories from the halls of NFB in Dallas come this summer.

And money plays a lot into the way we look at Assistive Technology. Take, for instance, the idea of a paid upgrade for an accessible MP3 player. Rumors are running wild about a possible paid upgrade for the illustrious Victor Reader Stream. Okay, many are really just saying that there wasn’t enough in the 3.1 update. But go with me here a little. Its Imaginationland time.

Hypothetically speaking, let us say that there is a new update. And it has that oh so special feature you have always wanted. A clock, docx support or even the ability to not have to use that Stream Companion software anymore. Whatever the magic button is.. you would press it for what price?

New Poll Question: If It Had The Features You Wanted, How Much Would You Pay for A Victor Reader Stream Update?

Something close to $20 U.S.
Maybe around $30 U.S.
I might spend $40 U.S.
No more than $50 U.S.
I'll never buy an update for my Victor Reader Stream

Again, I’m just talking in fantasy speak here. Humanware does have some news about the Stream and the Companion software coming at CSUN. I just thought it would be interesting to see what others thought on the rumors going strong on the net. I’ll leave this up until CSUN ends.

Apex Poll Results And New Poll Added

Either this is a very small reflection of our changing desires or some out their just *love* the mPower they have already. I’ll hold off from making silly remarks and odd speculation.

Poll Results: Braille Note Apex: Thumbs Up Or Thumbs Down

Up 0 (0%)
Down 3 (25%)
I Want A Braille Sense Plus 1 (8%)
I Want An Icon 0 (0%)
I Use A Laptop Or A Netbook As My Note Taker 8 (66%)

I’ve played around with the Braille Note Apex BT a bit before I went on vacation. And I’ve spent maybe around a hour with the QT version. That isn’t enough time at all for me to get a feel for both units. But I can say that if you hold a mPower in your left hand and then, an Apex in your right, you will notice a difference. Is that worth an upgrade, a switch from another camp or the price of entry for someone who is just now looking? Probably not.

The new connections, the extra memory and the newer software versions for Keysoft and Windows are a compelling list of new things to consider though. But this is like trying to tell someone how great their pair of shoes is and that you should buy them without wearing them first. My advice is always “try before you buy”. Especially if you start doing the mental math of the Netbook, used mPower or other routes.

And you know where you could try an Apex out? Why at an event where a bunch of Blindness Assistive Technology companies hang out of course. Okay, where Assistive Technology companies chain their employees to their booths for hours and hours is a more accurate description of the situation, however, the same opportunity awaits. It also leads us into the next poll question.

Poll Question: What Event Will You Attend In 2010?

ATIA

CSUN

NFB National Convention

ACB National Convention

Sight Village

I know it is early to ask this one. Still ATIA is next week and I didn’t have anything big to ask at the moment. I’ll leave this up until early next month. News out of ATIA may fuel the fires for the next question.. I hope.

April’s Poll Results And May’s Poll Added

I bet you can guess the answer to which answer won just by reading the question.

April's Poll Question: Where Do You Get The Most News About Assistive Technology?

Social Networks: Twitter, Facebook, Friend Feed, etc    3 (42%)
  Surfing A Company's Website    2 (28%)
  Email Lists    1 (14%)
  Podcasts    1 (14%)
  Word Of Mouth: Friends, CoWorkers, etc   0 (0%)

No real surprise considering the way that all the world is going these days. Many AT companies have really embraced the new world of social media and I believe it is providing positive feeback to all involved. And it cuts down the myth that there aren’t a lot of us who are super techies or crazed Blind Enthusiast Bloggers and Podcasters doing the hip new thing. Today’s common AT User is younger, willing to adapt and not as fearful to try the latest craze at the drop of a dime. Unlike yours truly who had to be kicked in the rear by his fellow Blind Bloggers and Podcasters to get over himself and dive into the latter half of this decade. Um.. but moving on..

The summer travel season is almost here. Time to make plans to hang out in the sun, watter or where ever you like. The summer for the AT Industry is a little odd though. For many of us the summer is the end to a “Hat Trick” of events. The big three AT shin digs use to be ATIA, CSUN and ACB/NFB or Sight Village for our friends outside the US. A second ATIA in October may just put the finishing touches on the old “Closing The Gap” convention, however, for most people the cycle runs down in July with the summer convention season. So this month’s poll asks…

May’s Poll Question: Which Summer Convention Are You Going To Attend?

ACB
  NFB
  Sight Village
  The Nearest Sci Fi Or Comic Convention
  Travel? I've Got The Internet Thank You Very Much!

To know more about this year’s national conventions you can visit the following links.

ACB 2009 National Convention

http://www.acb.org/convention/

NFB 2009 National Convention

http://www.afb.org/community.asp?EventID=1665

Sight Village 2009

http://www.viewplus.com/sightvillage-registration/

ATIA: 64 Dolphins Going Solo

Eye Pal Solo: Like the ABISee Eye Pal but you don’t want to drag a laptop around with you every where you go to read stuff? Want something a little less complicated than the KNFB Reader? Then the Eye Pal Solo may be for you..

http://www.abisee.com/html/products_eyepalSOLO.htm

Dolphin 64: I seemed to have missed this PR blurb back when I was talking about programs in the x64 posts. But here is the link to the Dolphin site where they are looking for a few brave souls to battle the x64 bit monster. If you haven’t ever used a Dolphin product then this is a great chance to get in on a public beta and find out how the Dolphin products differ from the other major players out there.

http://yourdolphin.com/newsitem.asp?id=306

ATIA 2009: Some Links To Chew On..

I have a friend who went to this year’s event, however, I had a work event of my own in the southern half of Texas that took my attention away from the news from Florida. And when I tried to check in to see what was going on towards the east.. I found that one of our laptops may have been hit by a “Man in the Middle” malware attack. So, I ended up doing a lot of reading over the weekend and this morning. Here is a rundown of some articles I gathered from Blind Bargains, Blind Planet and BOHICA. Man is it ever astounding that there are so many more sources for AT news beyond my lazy and inconsistent postings. Good work all!

35 Interviews at ATIA: The Serotek gang has lots for you to hear from the movers and shakers at this year’s ATIA. Check out this link to hear it all for yourself.

http://serotalk.com/2009/02/02/35-interviews-from-atia-2009/

GW Micro Sense View Desktop Video Magnifiers: I got to see these under the Himes banner at CSUN 2006 and 2007. And I have to say I was impressed with the products I saw. But this is a very crowded market and some may say that this is a weird time in the industry to release a new platform. Not me though. I wana see’em now!

http://www.gwmicro.com/News_&_Events/Latest_News/?newsNo=114

Public Beta of MAGic 11.0 for x64: More on the floor with x64.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/magic/MAGic-public-beta.asp

KNFB Reader 6.1.9 Update Release Notes: Translation on the fly is pretty neat. But I’m hurting people when we get to that face recognition jazz. Learn more about the update below.

http://knfbreader.com/doc/6.1.9/Mobile%20Reader%20Release%20Notes.pdf

Optelec Adds Two New Video Magnifiers: Who said that these guys were scaling down on Low Vision? Not me that’s for sure.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Optelec/Technology/prweb1922304.htm

Code Factory Announces Free Update to Mobile Speak 3.0: One of the best keeps on getting better with this new update.

http://www.codefactory.es/en/press.asp?id=60&y=2009&n=54

New USB Braille Display from Perkins: I haven’t seen the new Braille Writer or this device. It is remarkable that if you still have a serial connected display at this point you are running with the old school though. Remember when you had to trade your lunch for a good working null cable? Ah memories.

http://www.blindbargains.com/redirect.php?redirect=4023

Serotek Ends SMAs: Yeah, I’m late to the party on this news. Fashionably late but late just the same.

http://blog.serotek.com/2009/01/rest-in-peace-sma.html

Keysoft 8: Shippin in March, however, I know a Rep who is going let me see it sooner than that.

http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/about_us/press_releases/unveiling_keysoft_8