Blind Bargains Awards And My concession Speech

Ahem, is this thing on?..  I would like to thank everyone for coming here today and braving the cold weather to celebrate what was a tightly contested race. But, at the end of the month, we failed to gain enough support to cross the finish line as the winner of the Best Blindness Related Blog.

I say to you gentle readers and followers of the site, no tears. For you did not let this blog down. No, I your humble and semi prolific author have let you down. And for that .. um.. well okay it couldn’t be helped.

The wealth of stuff that happened between June of 2009 and the end of that year was simply astounding. the fall of Vista and the rise of Windows 7. the moves by Apple with Snow Leopard and the iPhone. Why you can barely swing a NFB straight cane and not hit a pile of new talking MP3 players these days right?

and then there was the note takers. So many options between the Braille Sense Plus, the Icon and the new Apex. Plus the Video Magnifiers started to fall out of the trees man. Ruby, Sense View Light, Versa, the Pebble and about a dozen others all from China.

At no time in my 30 plus years of using Assistive Technology have I been this overwhelmed at the non dearth of choices coming on the market for us who are Blind and Visually Impaired.

This cornucopia of tech occupied a whole lot of my offline life, which, as you know, directly impacts the time I have to blog. So if I’m not writing, in a way,  that is a very good thing. A good thing indeed.

Getting back to the tons’o’stuff thing for a moment, another great story of 2009 was the emergence of my fellow pundits. Amateur podcasters and bloggers went mainstream in a big way in 2009. And so did the fragmentation of information. There is a huge vast newly formed Echo Chamber that has grown from the mailing lists into dozens of RSS feeds. And that too is a win win for the community.

Therefore, I don’t see this lack of a statue, do we get a statuette, er. um.. as a defeat. As the fact that I don’t have to write about everything and anything is a blessing. Oh right. Less about me then. Uh.. maybe next year? Hmm.. Thanks for coming and there is an ice cream cake in the shape of the Apple logo in the corner. And no, I wasn't the one that took a bite out of it. That is the way the logo looks normally. Honest!

End of speech.

All kidding aside, I am again thrilled to be nominated for the award. and, as I have said before, I’m a bit on the guilty side of things in that I could have done more to deserve the nomination.

I am always knocked out by how many people do read these ramblings, even after a prolonged offline forced absence. Over the last 5 years I’ve been able to say “Ranger1138” in a crowded room and for some strange reason people listen. Or throw their PAC Mates at me. It is such a strange world.

I want to acknowledge the other nominees and the winner of the category now, because I’m a fan of all of them.

The winner, as it should be really, is the team of writers at Fred’s Head. I’ve always liked how they post things on just about every part of the spectrum of living with Blindness and Low Vision. Life skills tips, tech tips, Service Animal suggestions and non related Blindness things as well. You name it, they’ve pretty much talked about it over the years. My hat is off to them and congratulations on the winning of this year’s award.

http://www.fredshead.info/

Sometimes I think I’ve said too much on TRS. Sometimes I think I may have overstepped my bounds and maybe, alright for sure, offended one of my dear friends in the AT Industry.  And then I read the Serotek Blog. It is at that moment I realize that I’m a monk who has taken a vow of silence. Mike Calvo’s impressions on matters is always compelling even if you don’t agree with his views on every post. But in every life some rain must fall, which at times means Mike can be a monsoon when he is fired up. Just go back to the Intel Reader post from November if you want to know more.

http://serotek.com/blog

I’ve saved the best for last. I salute you Ms. Roberts. You’re passionate and strong arguments on a wide range of topics have been a pleasure to read throughout 2009. I’ve been following all the ups and downs while pulling for you the entire way like a sled dog in Alaska. One day I hope to be able to play a board game with you offline and discuss the weight of the world. Good job and all the best to you in 2010.

http://www.blindgal.com/

I also know that this mutual admiration society thing may sound a little tiring at this stage, however, I want to thank JJ and the crew at Blind Bargains for their organizing of this year’s awards. JJ and BB have really outdone themselves in the last year to become a serious contender for our fingers, ears and attention in the universe of AT. And I admire the zeal, and energy too, at which they have put into their efforts in 2009.

http://www.blindbargains.com/

Two more posts on a look back at 2009 and then I’ll stop reminiscing about the past and get back to the future. Or find a way to make a DeLorean tell me with a DecTalk when I’ve hit 88.8 miles per hour. “DeLorean is reminiscing ”   

Detroit 2009 Day 2: Walking Through The ricochet Exhibit Hall

This is just my opinion but man is this layout confusing. And the setting is really dark. And they put the Independence Store, the Braille Literacy and the Assistive Technology all in one big echodrome. The inner isles are hard to navigate when four people decide to just stop and do nothing. They aren’t listening to a demo, they aren’t talking and they all brought half their houses with them in rollaway cases that would make a giant tortoise jealous. Even the Dog Guides look confused on deciding on a path to lead through this mass of individuals who just seem to exist to occupy space for all that I can tell. Geez.. Despite all that, I did see some interesting stuff and here is a small run down of my first trip through the eye of the needle.

ABISee: I saw the new Eye Pal Solo in person. It is the same chassis, for the most part, of the Eye Pal with an ability to use the Solo without connecting it to a computer. It stores up to 6 pages at a time and it is geared towards older and very young users. It is still quite mobile but it may not be what you are looking for if you want a lot of functionality with your OCR needs.

Duxbury: I grabbed a demo disc of 10.7. There is a free utility on the disc I need to check out later. But 11.1 is on the way later in the year or early next. 10.7 will mostly run in Windows 7, however like most companies, better support is coming in the next release. Still the engineering teams are hard at work on it and it looks like embossing is safe for Dux users in Win 7.

G.W. Micro: I’m so happy for the gang in FT. Wayne. They were rarely not busy with parts of the day having people in rows four persons deep. The Voice and Braille Sense had their fans in force. But the star of the show was the Book Sense. People walked right up, dropped cash on the table and walked away happy. I’ve not seen that in AT in a while. Looks like we may have competition in the Talking MP3 market for sure.

I also got a glance at a new Sense View hand held video magnifier. It improves on the already popular Sense View Classic and all the same features are on board this new prototype. The new unit sports a larger and brighter display over the Classic unit. The form factor is still small and the contrast in false colors appeared to be very good. No word officially on the name, date or final feature set. So we will need to see what happens there.

Ai Squared: The teams in Vermont are also busy themselves working on a new update to the 9.18 series. Expect to see that very soon. You can also expect to hear about a relaunch of a product as well before July is over. When the official PR goes live, I’ll post it here.

View Plus: I got a chance to feel the results of the new Tiger technology. The changes are minor but the effect is so subtle that it is deceptive at first touch. I like the new output of the Tiger and I got to say it is a nice revision to an already great line of products.

Freedom Scientific: I wasn’t sure about the Ruby. I thought it kind of heavy, bulky and a little unwieldy. I was putting those first impressions to rest after some time with it however. The false color contrast is good. The unit even keeps a bright image when tilted slightly in the collapsed handle position. The camera is in the center making page navigation easier for first time users of Video Magnifiers. The unit is also well balanced when the handle is extended. This is crucial because you don’t want your arm to get tired before you read an entire page. I admit I came away impressed with my first looks at the Ruby.

I also got my hands on the Focus Blue prototype. The weight is good and it falls right in there with the other Bluetooth enabled Braille Displays. Responsiveness was speedy and clear. The unit I saw was on a machine running JAWS 11 and Windows 7. Again, and I know this sounds strange, I have to hand it to the AT companies like Freedom Scientific for having products in the pipeline and ready to go for Windows 7 this October. If you are a PAC Mate fan and you are thinking about going to a Netbook then check out the new Focus as it may fit the bill for portable Braille access.

Humanware: What if I told you that there was a new AT product that smashed the concepts of digital convergence in a way that is exciting and confusing all at the same time? Well my friends that product is here and it is called the Versa Plus. Now you can have a small hand held Video Magnifier that records meetings, plays audio files, plays video files and oh yeah lets you read stuff somewhere in all that too. I’m so torn on the Versa Plus. On one hand it is neat to see all this functionality in a hand held device. On the other, navigation of the features isn’t all that intuitive and it may be a Jack of all trades/Master of none dilemma for some. And I haven’t even got to the part where we hook this thing up to the computer for importing and exporting files yet. Remember when a cell phone was used to make calls and a CCTV was used to read stuff? Dude I’m getting either too old for tech or I’ve lost the spark in seeing the silver lining. In either case I seriously honestly say you need to spend time with this device before you decide to purchase it. The learning curve can be steep for those who may just be looking for a spot reading device. And if that is the case Humanware has the lower costing Versa, without all the media features, that might fit the bill nicely.

Optelec: Speaking of Video Magnifiers with tons of confusing controls and features.. I saw the Far View. I like the distance camera as it gives the Sense View Duo some competition in that hand held Video Magnifier arena. I’m lost though in how the Far View works. There are more buttons on this thing than a common cell phone. I was afraid of hitting something when I looked at things further away. Very busy controls on the outside, however, the inside menus aren’t much better. Many companies with these on screen menus do not let you adjust color, font size or other options to make things less complex when you go to customize your unit’s settings. This is the case with the Far View. It is a good first generation device but man would I like to pass some notes on a hardware refresh.

I’ll be posting more on my exploits on bruised feet from being squashed by someone who must be living out of their rollaway case instead of getting a hotel room like a normal person later on this week.

Detroit NFB 2009 Day 1: Freedom Scientific Forum

What you see below are excerpts from my 12 pages of notes. These are just some highlights of the meeting and they are written in Live Blog form. I cleaned them up a tiny bit in order to make them readable and not in my short hand decoder ring needed style from my original document. Some information has deliberately not been posted as Freedom Scientific talked candidly about a few issues and I respect that enough not to blog it here. They didn’t have to make a stand on a few issues and I really don’t want to put words in their mouths either. Therefore if you hear about a particular topic not mentioned below, I’d contact FS directly to get their official line on the topic at hand. Sorry to be cryptic there but some real time issues are being discussed at the convention and I don’t feel comfortable about paraphrasing, or doing a misinterpretation, of a crucial answer. Well that and I know they read this blog. Ha!

The room audio wasn’t the best. It seems each hotel always has its own problems somewhere with the AV system. The room is a standard ballroom/meeting area on the 5th floor. And GW Micro is the room next to us. It was fun to see who went to which door as they filed in for the 8:30 meeting.

A person asked about Firefox 3.5. It is said that the latest version of JAWS 10 is compatible with the new Firefox.

The question came up about Web alternatives to CAPTCHA and the possibility of scripts or JAWS to aid in this issue. It is said that the subject of CAPTCHA is one best solved by third parties. The problem is complex and it changes to rapidly for any solution to work for what ends up being a very short time in some cases. Salona is also talked about as a good solution that is taking on this matter.

A question is asked about JAWS and the new version of Skype. Eric explains some of the issues that face users of Skype 4.0. He says that there are some new enhancements in JAWS 11 to help with this. A person in the crowd says that the new 4.1 patch makes things a little easier.

JAWS 11 does have some new improvements for the Inbox of Outlook 2007. Some love has been given to the Calendar as well.

Questions about Office 2007 and support are explained a bit. Eric discussed how MS uses Word as an editor in Outlook. There is a mention on how this changes the Direct Object Model. Eric recommends downloading the demo for 10 to help out a person with JFW9 on an Outlook issue as 10 will update a shared component in JAWS 9.

Jonathan is up next to talk about the Focus Blue. The new display will run on battery power for up to 20 hours. He mentions how he pairs it up with the N82 and the KNFB Rader Mobile. It should be shipping in a month and the working demo unit will be on the floor for all to see. It is also $500 cheaper than the previous Focus models of the same size.

We take some time out to talk about the other hardware at the show. Eric passes around the Ruby and discusses the unit’s features. The unit will run for two hours and it has a battery light indicator for when you are running low. It is competitively priced to the other units with the same screen size.

Eric asked how many people loved Auto Forms Mode. The reaction was mixed. Those who love it .. love it. A good number though still don’t use it. A mention about how it was spotlighted in FSCast. Then a realy good plug for why you should give a FSCast a listen is made. The June episode features an interview about Robert Sawyer’s “Wake” and how the main character learns hotkeys in her moves to become a math whiz. I haven’t read the book but it has been talked about a lot. Another recommendation to go back and listen to the January episode of FSCast if you are interested in JAWS and ARIA.

A question was asked about if you can use JAWS 10 with Windows 7. Now before you read this please note that this was the same way it has always been with previous Microsoft and JAWS versions. JAWS 10 will work with 7 but JAWS 11 will be the version that comes with more robust support for Windows 7.

What you also read next are impressions of some features still in beta on v11. You will get to play with a public beta of 11 come late August. So take this next stuff with a big heaping helping of salt.

Number reading enhancements are coming in 11. If you use dashes like 123-456-7890 you will hear them differently. Perfect for those who have to read social security or phone numbers.

The Skim Reading function will now sport a Word Index option. You can see how many times a word is used in a document and even jump down to one of those instances. You can also do some other neat things with it if you have to do a lot of data entry or proof reading responsibilities.

Now this other bit is really cool. FS wants to one day have JAWS be able to look up a definition of a word through JAWS without you leaving your document. You would highlight a word, use a hotkey and then JAWS would go to the internet and get the definition for you. It is an extention of UI Automation, web APIs and use of the virtual buffer all working together to keep your place but give you info you need all at the same time.

Eventually the feature will let you customize the default place you would like to search. So you could set it for dictionary.com or a Wiki or even an internal database for company specific acronyms. It may even grow to a point where highlighted text could be translated. Great for education of secondary languages like Chinese. Again, this is a feature in the works. So keep your ears open for it later on down the road.

Some questions came up about Quicken and Quick Books. Eric explains how they have worked with Intoit in the past and where he feels on the matter. We, as users, need to let the company know that we would like to have better, or in some cases any, access to their lines of products. The online version of Quick books and Quikc Books its self are not friendly. Nor is the Quicken suite of products either. Freedom Scientific would love to have this work but it will take some cooperation from Intoit and us to get there. So we need to direct our questions to Intoit about accessibility. Especially now that Microsoft has killed off the Money line of their Accounting products.

The last bit was a discussion on PDF, Open Office and other online suites of products. PDF varies because not every PDF is created equally. A inserted graphic or photo of text is still an image no matter what. Open Office does not work with JAWS, however, you can find some success if you use Lotus Symphony.

Humanware Goes PR Crazy At CSUN 09

Victor Reader Stream, new Video Magnifiers and a co-branding deal with Code Factory? Wow….

***

HUMANWARE UNVEILS VICTOR READER STREAM 3.0

[This announcement is displayed in text only for accessibility with Braille Notetakers. A web version with images is available at: http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/about_us/press_releases/2009_press_releases/humanware_unveils_victor_reader_stream_3]

Los Angeles California, March 17, 2009 -- Today at the annual CSUN technology conference in Los Angeles, HumanWare announced the latest version of its popular Victor Reader Stream DAISY NISO book player, MP3 player, and voice recorder. The latest release of software for the Stream is version 3.0. It is a free upgrade software for the tens of thousands of users who now enjoy their Stream worldwide.

Version 3.0 is a major release packed with new features that continue to distinguish the Stream as the industry leader among pocket size accessible players. Version 3.0 responds to popular requests received from many Stream customers. New features include:

• Multi-level bookshelf navigation for Other Books, Podcasts, and Text. Now you can optionally organize these bookshelves into multiple levels of folders and navigate at those levels.
• Multi-level folder navigation within Music files. For example, now you could choose to organize your music by levels such as genre, artist, and album and navigate at those levels to more quickly find your desired music.
• Further you can now instantly create temporary playlists of any subset of your music collection and limit Random play to only that portion of your music.
• Moreover, you can turn random play on or off with a single key press like many commercial MP3 players.
• Text Search. Yes, now you can enter words to search for in your text files or text-only DAISY books.
• Bookmark alert. You can enable an optional bookmark alert feature to notify you when you are playing a book and pass over a previously bookmarked position. It will even automatically announce your audio bookmarks.
• Two text-to-speech voices. The English version of Stream 3.0 will now include both a male and female text-to-speech voice.
• A 30 minute Time Jump feature and many other usability improvements have been added.


"With the increasing use of 8gb, 16, and even 32gb storage cards, users are managing ever increasing amounts of data on their Stream", says Gerry Chevalier, Victor Reader Product Manager. "With thousands of music files and hundreds of podcasts or text files they have asked us to provide more efficient navigation and version 3 delivers just that."

Says Chevalier, "The improved navigation as well as the bookmark alert, text search and other usability improvements in Stream 3.0 renews HumanWare's commitment to our Stream customers that we would continue to enhance the Stream over time to maximize their Stream investment."

And there's more. HumanWare is pleased to announce that Stream 3.0 will also be accompanied by a completely new-look Stream Companion software. The new Stream Companion 3.0 Windows software has a completely new menu driven interface, support for the new Bookshare zip format, and more.

HumanWare expects to have both the Stream 3.0 and Companion 3.0 available for free download before the end of March. The software will be made available on the Stream Support Page (http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/support/victor_reader_stream). To receive an email announcement for this release and stay informed on future Stream activities be sure to Register to the Stream Newswire (http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/products/blindness/dtb_players/compact_models/stream_news).


**
ORATOR FOR BLACKBERRY® SMARTPHONES

[This announcement is displayed in text only for accessibility with Braille Notetakers.]

With The CSUN 24th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference around the corner, HumanWare would like to invite you to be the first to get your hands on HumanWare's newest and most innovative software solution called "Orator for BlackBerry® Smartphones". With over 21 million subscribers in 150 countries, the BlackBerry® smartphone is a popular and an indispensible communication tool for people on the go. While providing effective communication solutions for customers, including customers with disabilities, BlackBerry® smartphones have remained inaccessible to the blindness community, until now. Introducing Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones, the first screen reader that empowers blind and visually impaired customers to access and experience BlackBerry® smartphones.

Come visit us at the HumanWare booth 247 for a personal demonstration and to enter your name to win 1 of 3 packages of Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones with a new BlackBerry® smartphone.

If you are interested in learning more on the Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones solution, be sure to attend the product presentation.

Orator for BlackBerry® Smartphones: blind access solution for BlackBerry® smartphones

When: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Time: 1h50 PM to 2h50 PM
Where: New York room at the Marriott
Speakers: Greg Fields, Accessibility Product Manager, Research In Motion (RIM)
Michel Pepin, Product Manager, HumanWare

Attendees of this session will learn more about Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones and get a sneak preview of how the Orator for BlackBerry® smartphones enables blind and visually impaired customers to remain in touch with important information, people, family and friends while on the go.

For those not able to attend this presentation, be sure to visit the HumanWare booth in the exhibit hall at booth 247 during the following exhibit hours:

• Wednesday, March 18 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Thursday, March 19 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Friday, March 20 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Saturday, March 21 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

***

HUMANWARE UNVEILS NEW LOW VISION PRODUCTS AT CSUN 2009

[This announcement is displayed in text only for accessibility with Braille Notetakers. A web version with images is available at: http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/about_us/press_releases/2009_press_releases/copy_of_humanware_low_vision_products_featured_at_csun]

HumanWare is proud to announce two new handheld electronic magnifiers that will be on display at our Booth #247 at the 2009 CSUN conference in Los Angeles.

The SmartView Versa is a handheld electronic magnifier. Its features include: a 4.3" screen, 5x to 15x magnification, and a rechargeable battery.

The SmartView Versa+ is a handheld electronic magnifier. Its features include: a 4.3" screen, 5x to 15x magnification, saves images, plays music and videos, SD card slot to store information and images, and a rechargeable battery.

After trying them out, please fill out a form to enroll in a drawing to win a FREE SmartView Versa+. The winner will receive this prize 1 month after the announcement.

Come see our portable distance viewing camera, the SmartView Graduate. This low vision aid is a perfect companion for any student or traveling professional. This distance viewing camera has a stand with 2 USB ports that interface with your laptop. This exciting product works very well with Zoomtext.

HumanWare will also be displaying our complete line of low vision products such as the SmartView Nano and Pocket, which are low cost electronic magnifiers, along with our very popular desktop video magnifiers, the SmartView Xtend and the myReader 2, which is our one-button digital technology unit.

Our HumanWare associates are looking forward to meeting and showing you our very exciting and innovative low vision products.

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

Poll: August’s Results And New! October Poll Added

Let us take a look at the now vintage poll from August shall we?

August’s Poll Question: Which Public Beta Will You Download And Install This Month?

JAWS 10.0 16 (69%)
Window Eyes 7.0 5 (21%)
Windows Live Mesh 0 (0%)
Firefox 3.1 Alpha 2 (8%)

I guess this wasn’t as much as a barn burner as I had originally thought. The response to the new Window Eyes has been good. I haven’t delved into it too much but I plan to learn more about it in the next few months. I’ve been playing with Live mesh and I like what I have seen so far. If you didn’t do a search on that one I recommend that you might want to if you like the idea of a remote desktop via a web interface. Speaking of remotes, Eric at Freedom Scientific spoke to a group I cobbled together this week and he said that Tandem has already seen over 1,000 connections. It seems that we all have some good stuff ahead of us in the upcoming year no matter which product[s] you use.

But enough about the past poll. Lets jump to this month’s question. As we approach the Xmas season I thought we might see what some would like to ask Santa for if Santa was real and made of obscene amounts of cash.

October’s Poll Question: All I Want For Xmas Is ...

An Upgrade For My Screen Reader/Magnifier/OCR
A Note Taker Like a PAC Mate, Voice Note, Icon Or Braille Sense
A Victor Reader Stream
A New Video Magnifier/Hand Held CCTV
Starbucks, iTunes Or Other Online Gift Cards
Money, Because It Goes With Everything I Already Own

Since Wal Mart decided to put their Holiday paraphernalia up this week to attract sales, I thought we could look ahead as well. It just feels so wrong to see this stuff before “The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” airs. And now that makes me thing of Dolly Madison’s cupcakes and pies and doughnuts and .. darn you childhood advertisers!

Gems and Doubling Up On Freedom Scientific

These days it isn’t all about JAWS. Freedom Scientific also has a line of Low Vision Video Magnifiers. And they all happen to be named after precious gems. Today they introduce the Sapphire to go along with their Onyx, Topaz and Opal lines of units. Read more about the new unit at the link below.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/News/pressroom/2008/SAPPHIRE-Announced-9-25-08.asp

But honestly the buzz is all around Tandem. And now you can try it out for yourself. Download the beta and reach out and touch someone with your JAWS. Wait.. that didn’t come out the way I meant it .. oh well go download the new public beta at the link below.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/jaws/JAWS-public-beta.asp

Press Releases: Humanware Video Magnifiers And the VRS

I’m cleaning out my inbox from my time out for convention. Below is the release for the new Humanware Video Magnifiers and the Victor Reader Stream 2.0 features.. when the final release is posted again of course. You may see a few more press releases in another post today or tomorrow on various products as well. For now here is the info from Humanware.
***
HUMANWARE INTRODUCES FOUR NEW PORTABLE VIDEO MAGNIFIERS FOR LOW VISION

Longueuil, Quebec, July 7, 2008 – HumanWare expands its low vision product line with the announcement of four new video magnifiers at Vision 2008, an international conference on low vision being held in Montreal this week. With these new products, HumanWare is better able to serve the needs of the growing number of people with low vision – those whose vision cannot be completely corrected even with the most powerful prescription glasses.

HumanWare's new video magnifiers are designed to meet the needs of different environments and applications. Each product offers unique features to improve the user's independence.

The new products include:
SmartView Pocket. an extremely lightweight handheld video magnifier that can be used in the home or around town, wherever things are too small to see. Large, intuitive buttons make the unit easy to use. The Pocket provides up to 9x magnification on its 3.6-inch LCD screen.

SmartView Graduate. Ideally suited for helping low vision students fully participate in class by being able to see across the room and magnify items on their desk. The Graduate connects to a notebook computer via a USB interface to provide up to 50x magnification on the computer screen. The camera turns to view the desktop or distant objects. The unit easily fits into a computer bag and weighs only 2.5 pounds, which makes it extremely easy to carry between classes.

SmartView Nano. The smallest video magnifier available at a very affordable price. The Nano magnifies objects from 5x to 20x, making it easy to read fine print on pill bottles, ingredients on product labels, or seat numbers on theater tickets.

SmartView Mobile. A portable video magnifier with a 7-inch screen, providing up to 18x magnification. The Mobile is ideal for those who need a portable device but cannot compromise on magnification and screen size. Perfect for taking to the library, carrying around home or using at the office.

"With these new products, HumanWare has significantly increased its offering of portable devices," explains Ted Judge, Product Manager. "Users want to be able to read regular or small print wherever they are, and these new additions to the SmartView family help people see and read, whether at home, the store, the office, or out on the town."
The SmartView Graduate and Smartview Pocket video magnifiers are available now, and the SmartView Nano will be available at the end of July. The SmartView Mobile will be available in Europe and Asia in August.

About HumanWare

HumanWare is the global leader in assistive technologies for the print disabled. HumanWare provides products to people who are blind or have low vision, and persons/or individuals with learning disabilities. HumanWare offers a collection of innovative products, including BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for the blind in education, business, and for personal use; the Victor Reader product line, the world's leading digital audiobook players; myReader2, HumanWare's unique "auto-reader" for people with low vision; and the ClassMate Reader, the only portable book player to offer synchronized text and audio for individuals.

For more information about these products please visit:
http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/low_vision/smartview

or contact us:


Canada
Call toll free: 1 888 723-7273
Email: ca.info@humanware.com

U.K./Europe
Tel: +44 1933 415 800
Email: eu.info@humanware.com

Australia/Asia
Tel: +61 2 9686 2600
Email: au.sales@humanware.com

U.S.A.
Call toll free 1 800 722-3393 or 925 680-7100
Email: us.info@humanware.com

Media contact:
Nicolas Lagace
Tel.: 450 463-1717
Email: nicolas.lagace@humanware.com

***
VICTOR READER STREAM THE PROVEN SUCCESS STORY, IS NOW EVEN BETTER WITH A FREE VERSION 2.0 SOFTWARE UPGRADE

Longueuil, Canada, June 30, 2008 -- Victor Reader Stream, the pocket-sized portable MP3 player designed for blind and low-vision people has swept the world wide market place since its launch in September 2007. Heralded by its users as the most significant assistive technology in recent years, the Stream has already enhanced the life style of thousands of blind and low vision people world wide. In addition to the variety of audio formats (MP3, DAISY, and NISO books and music) supported by Victor Reader Stream, the new version 2 software will add even more media and text formats.

Victor Reader Stream version 2 will now play electronic Braille files with its built-in text-to-speech including multiple formats of English Braille encoded files, Unified English Braille, and non-English Braille formats. Version 2.0 also adds playback of Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Rich Text Format (RTF) files. , Further, the bookshelf feature has been extended to enhance the access and playback of all media types with special new features for Audible books, Podcast files, and music.

With the addition of the new media types of version 2.0 the Stream now provides a pocket size device that can play an impressive list of alternate format books and documents available to the print-disabled. IT will play the special navigable DAISY and NISO digital talking books produced by most libraries for the blind in the world. It can be authorized to play the AudioPlus digital books from Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) in the United States. It can play Bookshare.org digital books. It can be authorized to play the popular commercial audio books, newspapers, and magazines from Audible.com. It is optimized to integrate with Serotek.com who provide an extensive repository of digital multi-media content for blind and low vision people. It also plays MP3,, OGG Vorbis, WMA, Wav, AMR-WB+, SPX, and FLAC audio files. The built-in text-to-speech can play electronic text formats including BRF (Braille), HTML, RTF, TXT, and XML. In addition to its extensive digital player capabilities, it has a voice recording functionality for recording of voice notes, meetings, and lectures.

What Stream customers are saying:
"I love my Victor Reader Stream and it travels with me wherever I go."
"This is one of the best products I have seen come along in a long time. It is well made, works right out of the box, and reads just about any kind of book you need read."
"It's one of the most impressive and well-planned and well-working pieces of equipment I have seen for a long time."

"We appreciate the overwhelming enthusiasm of our customers and are pleased that we have been able to incorporate many of their suggested new features and improvements in the enhanced version 2 of the Stream", says Gerry Chevalier, HumanWare Victor Reader Product Manager. "And the best news is that the latest version 2 software can be installed for free on all existing Victor Reader Streams."

The Stream has extensive navigation features for moving through audio books and text files, including functions that allow you to move to the next chapter, section or page, or to set bookmarks. For all audio book and media formats the Stream provides a variable speed control with digital pitch correction which allows the reader to accurately listen at higher than normal playback speed.

The player is completely accessible by blind and low-vision users. All keys and messages are provided through audio feedback. The player has a built-in User Guide and a Key Describer mode.

Besides playing electronic text, the integrated text-to-speech voice announces the track names of music files. It uses an SD memory card to store books and music transferred from a computer.

Victor Reader Stream can be purchased online at www.humanware.com (in USA). Current Victor Reader Stream users can upgrade their player to software version 2.0 online at www.humanware.com.

About HumanWare

HumanWare (www.humanware.com) is the global leader in assistive technologies for the print disabled. HumanWare provides products to people who are blind and have low vision and students with learning disabilities. HumanWare offers a collection of innovative products include BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for the blind in education, business and for personal use; the Victor Reader product line, the world's leading digital audiobook players, and SmartView Xtend, the first fully modular and upgradeable CCTV-based video magnifier.

For more information:

HumanWare
Nicolas Lagace
Tel.: (450) 463-1717
E-mail: nicolas.lagace@humanware.com

SenseView Duo Online Demonstration

I've been a very bad Ranger lately due to the switch over at the Office to Vista systems. The units didn't come preloaded with Vista, long story, so I am updating them all piecemeal. And as a result of being so distracted I am missing out on playing with all the new stuff that is being released pre convention. For instance, I have a spiffy brand spanking new Sense View Duo on my desk beside me and I have played with it for all of a minute. I'm looking forward to getting to know it better, however, this new video from GW Micro will be what I will be looking at first when I get a moment to play with the device.

To learn more about the new video demonstrating the Sense View Duo hit the link below..

http://www.gwmicro.com/News_&_Events/Latest_News/?newsNo=93

It Was Sorta The Best Of The NY Times, It Was Kinda The Worst Of The NY Times

I rarely read the New York Times. Moreover, I haven't ever been to New York. And since the late 80's I found that in my dealings with the Radio Industry I tended to not agree with most of the business influential people who live, work or worship at the alter of New York City. For I am one of those classic examples of that person the Bicoasters call "a resident of a fly over state". And I relish in this designation because I don't like it when people who can't see an open field of grass, not already in a park, tell me how to live or buy stuff when a short trip to the grocery store for me is a 7 mile grassy field infested journey.

When I read these things I am linking to this fine day I always swallow a bit of salt the size of a large box of Legos [who themselves are made out of salt] because a lot of the time major publications don't always get things right on a micro scale. Macro sure. But fine details always get lost in print. I learned that little nugget in one of the odd moments where I stayed awake in my print journalism classes.

Let us take a look at a good write up with some minor negative connotations first.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/technology/25novel.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

This article appears under the heading of "Novelties" [see the email link at the bottom of the article]. Hence my implication of minor negative connotation status. As I bare just a tad bit of resentment that technology I use every day is considered either a novelty, oddity or some other term that can be applied to bobbleheads of Eli Manning in a NY Giants uniform now discounted as we approach the new NFL season.

At the same time I know James at Freedom Vision and I have met some of the lads at Ash. I've met Doug and I know Chris Park at G.W. Micro. For all of them this story is a fantastic promotion of some new Video Magnifier models that both are releasing shortly. And it harkens me back to that old adage "There is no such thing as bad press".

What I mean by that is the people who need this technology the most won't see the tags on it the same way I did because for so many individuals this may be their first exposure to Assistive Technology of any kind. Plus! I am happy for my friends at Freedom Vision, Ash and G.W. Micro getting their names out in a major publication with such a wide distribution range. Taking an ad out in a platform like that could bankrupt an AT company outright. So when I read that link above I open my mouth wide for a very large box of salt filled Star Wars collectable Legos that go for somewhere around three times their value on Ebay.

Now the all over bad ..

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/can-e-publishing-overcome-copyright-concerns/

Wow. My first thought was to blow this off as I don't value David Pogue's, or Walt Mossberg's for that matter, opinions on tech. But if we consider what I wrote above you find that I have to take the good points and apply them to this bad opinion piece as well.

The majority of sighted people already have a weak frame of reference on who Blind people are and what they can and cannot do in their livs. As many of these people age and approach vision loss themselves this small window into what we do and who we are causes them great fear and panic. And when these individuals are faced with this unknown they pick up on things like a dark pair of pants in a room full of Dog Guides. I always thought it was funny that a girl I met in a bar back in 1986 wanted to know what musical instrument I played because I had a cane and that is what people with canes do.. they play music. That was her perception as all the previous Blind people she had met up to that point played music. I, being the underachiever that I am, played music. Just on the radio. And no she didn't find that a suitable alternative as she was way into musicians.

Broad generalizations are one thing but specific examples are another. Enter in Mr. Pogue's comments that all and all go beyond the inference that the two Blind individuals he provided his book to were the genesis for it being on the web 48 hours later. While I realize that there could be a direct correlation between these two events, the chances of coincidence on the Internet is far too great for me not to also acknowledge. I did ask myself these questions...

• Did you watermark the pages of the electronic copies and this is why you know that these are the two copies being distributed online?
• Do you go around all day looking for P2P and torrent sites for your book and if so you do not download anything because of some morral high ground thing?
• And here is an old chestnut. I'm sure you haven't borrowed a book from a friend, read it and then gave it back without buying a copy of that book yourself?

If you read the link you will see that it took seven comments before someone mentions OCR.

Quote: “Actually, authors like me are lucky; our work is, at this point, pretty much protected with unbreakable copy protection. That is, our bound and published books can’t be duplicated infinitely and distributed by the millions online.”

Sadly this isn’t entirely true. While it is prohibitively expensive for most people to make physical copies of a book it is common practice for people to scan even massive books (such as textbooks) and post the resulting documents online. It seems to me that authors are ultimately in a far worse place than the music industry in terms of the amount of damage they might sustain from piracy if good e-book readers become common. It is very difficult to compete with free, but somehow publishers are going to have to find a way to do so as enforcement is unlikely to ever be sufficient to put a significant dent in the online piracy of books. The publishing industry needs to find a way to emulate the iTunes music stores ability to get many people to forgo piracy through convenience and reasonable pricing before piracy becomes a significant threat to their business model. Otherwise they could end up in a very uncomfortable position.

— Posted by Lacci

Thank you Lacci! Because had this man joined us in the 21st Century and found a way to publish electronically no one would have had the need to ask for his books in alternative formats in the first place. And more than likely he would have been paid for his efforts as well.

Instead of doing the right thing Mr. Pogue has now exacerbated the situation by insinuating and condemning all Blind people as pirates who want something for free, tweaking off the more volatile members of Slashdot and by his own actions in this piece he has insured that a career retrospective will now be on the Pirate Bay by this time next week. Way to emulate the RIAA there David.

And now you see why I don't always read articles by these so called famous Tech pundits. Anyone who claims to be a Tech Writer who misses the mark so badly with assertions that the printed word is uncopyable isn't a writer worth his weight in Tech. Sad though that a more critical mass of people have not reached the same conclusion.

By the way I applaud Darrell 's response that he posted over at Blind Access Journal.

http://blog.blindaccessjournal.com/

Quick News: Access World, Firefox And Macs

Access World: This issue focuses on CSUN, Electronic Audio and the Sense View’s Hand Writing camera accessory.

http://www.afb.org/aw/main.asp

Firefox 3 RC1: Ars has a look at what seems to be a great update to Mozilla’s Flagship product.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080519-atantalizing-taste-of-firefox-3-release-candidate-1.html

Apple: The world is a scary place when you can buy a Windows based computer with your Assistive Technology of choice for the same price as a Macbook. Fortune notes in the article below that Apple is selling 66% of the computers/notebooks in the +$1,000 category.

http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/19/report-apples-market-share-of-pcs-over-1000-hits-66/?source=yahoo_quote

Press Release: Win A Free Compact+ Video Magnifier

***

Would you like to become more active and independent? Are you or a loved one in need of a Portable Video Magnifier?

In celebration of it's one year anniversary ShopLowVision.com is giving away a FREE Optelec Compact+ portable video magnifier every month starting in April!
Enter To WIN A FREE Optelec Compact+ Today!

Click Here To Enter

The Compact+ is the perfect combination of sophisticated design and functionality. Take the Optelec Compact+ on the go to read price labels, maps, bus schedules, directions and your favorite restaurant menus. For more information visit the Compact+ product page.
About ShopLowVision.com
ShopLowVision.com is the first e-commerce website with the most comprehensive line (4000+) of low vision solutions with daily living products, video magnifiers, optical products, and professional tools. It is also the first ever low vision e-commerce store with business to business, business to consumer, and business to professional interface all-in-one, and to be aligned with best practice model for low vision rehabilitation (AOA, AAO, AOTA, AER).

CSUN: Eye-Pal, Freedom Scientific And The Official Link To The Humanware Breeze

I'm still getting info back from my friends and spies at the show. Here is some of what I can talk about.

Eye-Pal: ABISEE, known for their Zoom EX and Zoom Twix products, has shown the Eye Pal at their booth. This is a smaller way of performing mass book scanning. It also has some Deaf Blind features as well. The product page is linked below.

http://abisee.com/html/products_eyepal1.htm

Freedom Scientific: Here are some highlights from the last few days from FS.

Onyx Deskset 19'inch Edition: The 17 inch version of this portable Video Magnifier now has a bigger brother.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/

PAC Mate Omni Update: This is an optional update to the new Omni units. Note the announcement of the 6.1 edition in 2nd quarter by the way.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_downloads/dl_pacmate_omni_60_update.asp

Magic Free Trial Until August 2008: 40 minutes and a reboot sound annoying? Weel try Magic for free until August.

http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_MAG110_promo.asp

Trekker Breeze: I've talked about this earlier in the week, however, here is the official product page for the Breeze.

http://www.humanware.com/en-new_zealand/about_us/press_releases/breeze

CSUN Press Releases: GW Micro Shows The Power Of Window Eyes 7,, Sense View Duo, Braille Sense v5.0 And The New Braille Sense Plus

Those people in Fort Wayne are busy on the show floor with just a few product announcements. Below are links to products and upgrades being shown at CSUN.

Window Eyes 7.0

http://www.gwmicro.com/News_&_Events/Latest_News/?newsNo=91

Sense View Duo

http://www.gwmicro.com/News_&_Events/Latest_News/?newsNo=90

Braille Sense Firmware 5.0

http://www.gwmicro.com/News_&_Events/Latest_News/?newsNo=92

Braille Sense Plus

http://www.gwmicro.com/News_&_Events/Latest_News/?newsNo=89

CSUN: A Few Video Magnifiers On That Shopping List

I’m still making a list for others to see stuff at CSUN. Today I point my friends out to 3 Video Magnifiers who are getting the spotlight at this year’s show.

Clarity: I think I have mentioned the Rio before, however, I don’t think I have seen the Lynx. And don’t forget to see the Junior that debuted last year.

http://www.clarityusa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=66

Telesensory: Last year it was the Vertex. This year it is the Vertex and Apex Pro.

http://www.telesensory.com/about5-45.html

Freedom Vision: Last year it was the QuickLook Zoom. This year.. the QuickLook Focus.

http://www.freedomvision.net/1%20QuickLook%20Focus.html

I don’t have a link to it, however, you may also want to go by Magnisight as they have a new unit that may be well worth your *Journey*. I’ll post more when I have a direct link to the unit I speak of somewhat cryptically.

Random CSUN PR Goodness: Code Factory, Humanware, Freedom Scientific and Telesensory

I am making a shopping list for a few friends heading out to L.A. for CSUN. And I thought why not dump some of these links here on TRS as well. So here are some links to company PR with their booth numbers or specific product announcements.

Code Factory
http://www.codefactory.es/blog2/index.php?q=node/4

Humanware
http://www.humanware.ca/web/en/Newsletter/7.html

Freedom Scientific
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_news/PressRoom/en/2008/CSUN-2008-Announcement.asp

Telesensory
http://www.telesensory.com/about5-45.html

CSUN 2008 Press Releases: And So It Begins…

This is just a small taste of the things in my mailbag. I’m sure there is more to come over the next week or so. For now let us start with these bits of info.

***
Dear Victor Reader Stream Customer:

HumanWare has released the latest Stream software version 1.2.18. This is a free software upgrade that can be downloaded and installed on your Stream. To download the software visit:

http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/support/victor_reader_stream

Select the link to download the new software version 1.2.18. On the same page, you will also find a What's New document describing installation procedures and listing all the features of the new version. Among the new features you will find the following:


- Support of NIMAS text books in United States
- Support of System Access Mobile from Serotek Corporation (http://www.serotek.com/)
- Go To Time feature for non-structured audio books and recorded audio notes
- Faster data transfer rate when the Stream is connected to the computer with the USB cable
- Increased volume on the built-in speaker
- Bass and treble control for music
- Control over announcement of music folder and file names
- An optional built-in SD formatting utility should your SD card ever require reformatting

Please refer to the What's New document on the Stream page for a complete description of all new features and improvements. An updated FAQ document (frequently asked questions) can also be found on the web page. It provides answers to frequently asked questions about Audible, battery, Bookshare.org, CNIB, NLS, Recording, RFB&D, SD cards, and Serotek.

With this announcement, version 1.2 is available in English and Norwegian. As other version 1.2 languages become available they will be posted on the same download page. Currently, the previous version 1.1.15 software is available in Dutch, German, French, and Swedish.

We are also working on a second English U.S. male voice (Tom) and a U.K. male voice (Daniel). These will be posted as alternate version 1.2 software downloads as soon as possible. We will announce their availability on this News Wire.

The next Stream software release project will start soon and is intended to provide support for WMA and BRF. We are also planning an update to the Stream Companion software.

HumanWare values your continued support of the Victor Reader Stream. We remain committed to existing and future customers to make the Stream the most powerful, flexible, and enjoyable product used for listening to books, computer files, and music.

Thank you,
The HumanWare Team

***
OPTELEC INTRODUCES THE FIRST EVER CLEARVEW+ 22" WIDESCREEN DISPLAY
Vista, California – Optelec US Inc, the world leader in innovative and assistive technology for visually impaired people, showcased its new Clearview+ 22” widescreen at the ATIA Conference 2008 in Orlando, United States, January 30th – February 2nd, 2008

From one button simplicity to endless possibilities. Optelec’s new 22” widescreen complements the existing ClearView+ line of 17” and 19” CRT and TFT displays. Optelec’s screens are highly valued because of their unique screen technology offering now a choice four different displays. Each ClearView+ features a glossy display, providing more vivid colors and deeper blacks, resulting in perfectly crisp and clear images. In addition, these unique Optelec glossy displays provide about fifty percent more light than a standard off-the-shelf matte display.

The ClearView+ with 22” display combines the well known user-friendly one-button-simplicity with stylish widescreen technology, making reading and writing more comfortable than ever before. With only one button, the user can increase or decrease magnification and switch from text mode to photo mode and back. Users that require more features can upgrade the system anytime by selecting one of the Feature Packs.

Through our continuous focus on versatility and modularity, we are able to deliver a solution that meets today’s and tomorrow’s requirements of customers with different lifestyles, and thus requiring different features, stated Ivar Illing, International Product Manager of Optelec B.V. “Whether a customer is seeking for simplicity or extensive features, our attractive and user-friendly ClearView+ line of video magnifiers is ready to meet requirements of each individual user.”

The Clearview + 22” display will be available soon on ShopLowVision.com. The additional of the 22” display along with other Optelec engineered products brings top technology with easy-to-use simplicity to ShopLowVision.com, truly making the company the leading one-stop shop for low vision and daily living products. All Optelec Video Magnifier products are featured on ShopLowVision.com.

About ShopLowVision.com ShopLowVision.com is the first e-commerce website with the most comprehensive line (4000+) of low vision solutions with daily living products, video magnifiers, optical products, and professional tools. It is also the first ever low vision e-commerce store with business to business, business to consumer, and business to professional interface all-in-one, and to be aligned with best practice model for low vision rehabilitation (AOA, AAO, AOTA, AER). Our sister company LowVision.com serves professionals and consumers with education, resource information and materials on living an active life with Low Vision. With the launch of both sites, ShopLowVision.com and LowVision.com serve the world as the one stop shop for all low vision needs. Visit us at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0016RTPDbrv1t4LSUCH5H2QCTMXmg765FjOlJXoxvHy1PS6euUaIEUrEAoHgsE81sMoi4AkHXA4rW3rVn5R_ulZzKxj4SQieX1pYlo5KSFz9NJjTU-WA9m1QA== and http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0016RTPDbrv1t640Zn2DPDacEDQRGJo5ZdJXy_dInECdstDMdj0ZpwI4DazgnTxoPCPHWC7v4NygraiF-zidvX0biJGh0JQYfEpi15n-FDcEEq6gHjEj5TSag==. ShopLowVision.com and LowVision.com feature premium products from Optelec (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0016RTPDbrv1t7oVq0ALAdSS2UTXGaC9lgHStpH8kO3l1todQSSfKrwLmQQ1mQNRZSQPq4jZgRhtwv8RJhHEWkhcaQ4Yc8oIZZldwmGapEYt4yPDjwt8jLQOg==), and are owned and operated by Optelec U.S., Inc.

***
Welcome to the CSUN special edition of the Dolphin Alert
Contents:
· Alternative Format Workshops
· Presentations by Dolphin at CSUN
· Come and see Dolphin during the conference on Booths 317 & 318
· Meet the Dolphin team at CSUN
· Meet your local Dolphin Expert at CSUN
· Does your Community College want Free SuperNova licenses?
· American River College discovers the benefits of the Dolphin SMA
· Lunar the World’s best Screen Magnifier - celebration offer
· YourDolphin.com. NOW ready to accept your online orders
· Dolphin’s Paul Thompson joins the board of the ATIA
· Dolphin Sponsors the Alliance for Technology Access (ATA) Gala Dinner
· Come and see us soon

Alternative Format Workshops
DAISY, NIMAS, E-Text, Alt Format. Do you have more acronyms than answers when it comes to meeting the alt format needs of your students with print disabilities? Ron Stewart from Dolphin Computer Access can offer you some help. We will be setting up a full production station and providing FREE private hands on trainings using our Easy family of products at the CSUN conference March 13 & 14th. You will be taken step by step through the process from scanning to final production of the specific form of alt media that your students need to be successful.
These trainings will be offered on a first come first serve basis to a limited number of participants, ensuring each attendee is involved in the creation process. During the workshop why not pick Ron’s brain on everything AltFormat whilst enjoying the complementary croissants and bagels.
The trainings will be held in our training room at the Courtyard Marriott hotel just a five minute walk or a short shuttle hop from the conference location at the Marriott LAX. Please book your place today to avoid missing out on this opportunity to attend this workshop conducted by one of the world’s foremost DAISY/AltFormat experts.
Presentations by Dolphin at CSUN

During the 23rd Annual CSUN Conference, members of the Dolphin team will be showcasing a number of interesting and informative seminars. All of the presentations will be held at the:

Los Angeles Airport Marriott
5855 West Century Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90045

Supernova Scripting: Powerful scripts for the World’s most flexible Screen-Reader & Screen Magnifier
Washington Room, 13th March 2008, 13:45 to 15:00

This session, by Mike Hill and Steve Bennett of Dolphin, will offer a live and technical demonstration of the new powerful Dolphin scripting facility for speech, magnification and Braille solution, within Supernova (Screen Reader and Screen Magnifier), Hal, Lunar and LunarPlus.

Seating is limited so please reserve your seat for the SuperNova Scripting presentation to avoid disappointment.

Accessibility of Next Generation Screen Reader Technology for Smartphones
Atlanta Room, 13th March 2008, 16:15 to 17:30

This informative and interesting session, by Gareth Collins of Dolphin and AFB Consulting, will offer a live and technical demonstration of Smart Hal. The powerful Dolphin Screen Read for Windows powered Smartphones.

Included in the session will be demonstrations on the Smartphones general features, contact, call status, missed call, text messaging as well as some third party applications.

Seating is limited so please reserve your seat for the Smartphone presentation to avoid disappointment.

DAISY Track: Demand DAISY OK
Scottsdale Room, 14th March 2008, 10:30 to 11:45

Find out what "DAISY OK" means for book producers, tool developers and most importantly, what it means to those who read DAISY books.

The following DAISY experts will be presenting: Ron Stewart from Dolphin, Lynn Leith, George Kerscher, Markus Gylling from the DAISY Consortium and Niclas Bergstrom.

Seating is limited so please reserve your seat for the DAISY Track presentation to avoid disappointment.


Accessible2 Development: An accessibility API that works for ATs and applications
Washington Room, 14th March 2008, 16:15 to 17:25

Mike Hill, Dolphin’s Development Director, has been invited to join a panel discussing the future of Accessible2 Development, alongside representatives from several world renowned companies in the Technology Sector.

The panel will consist of Richard Schwerdtfeger, IBM Software Group; Michael Squillace & Peter Brunet, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center; Mike Hill from Dolphin and others from Sun Microsystems Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc.™

Seating is limited so please reserve your seat for the Accessible2 presentation to avoid disappointment.

Come and see Dolphin during the conference on Booths 317 & 318

If you require any product information, want to see a demonstration or simply want to have a quick chat regarding our easy-to-use, yet life-changing software solutions then we would be delighted if you joined us on our stand in booths 317 & 318 within the Los Angeles Airport Marriott.

Meet the Dolphin team at CSUN

This is the perfect opportunity for you to come and meet members of the team of your favourite Assistive Technology organisation.

Mike Hill, Dolphin’s Development Director, will be available on the stand for you to come and talk with. His knowledge of the future developments of Dolphin’s products offers you an incredible opportunity to perhaps influence the direction of our new software solutions.

Thanks to Mike, Dolphin has managed to develop a close working relationship with Microsoft’s Accessibility Team and the AIA (Access Interoperability Alliance), to name just a couple of world renowned organisations.

Through the relationship with Microsoft and the membership of the AIA, Dolphin (unlike other well known assistive technology companies who decided not to participate with the AIA) has the opportunity to steer the future development of Assistive Technology, ensuring that the end user is always at the forefront when considering possible future AT developments.

Meet your local Dolphin Expert at CSUN

CSUN will also offer you the opportunity to meet or have a chat about your personal requirements with your local Dolphin expert. All of Dolphin’s dealers attending the conference will be within the Los Angeles Airport Marriott:

· Access Ingenuity will be on booth 271
· Adaptive Technology Consulting will be on booth 210
· Beyond Sight will be on booth 305
· EnableMart will be on booth’s 275 & 276
· EVAS will be on booth 224
· Optelec US, inc. will be on booth 323
· Vision Cue will be on booth 277

Does your Community College want Free SuperNova Licenses with an affordable Software Maintenance Agreement (SMA)?
SuperNova from Dolphin is the world’s only fully combined full Screen Reader and full Screen Magnifier with Braille display support available today. SuperNova offers total flexibility to its users by offering your visually impaired students their optimal and unique combination of Speech, Magnification and Braille.
The American River College in California is just one of many US colleges that have adopted Dolphin’s Annual Software Maintenance Agreement (SMA) promotion for US Education. It is this simple, your college purchases a 3 year SMA and we will give you the SuperNova licenses free of charge. There are NO catches.

Whether you are looking for SuperNova to support 5 students or 50 students, when you purchase Dolphin’s 3 year SMA, we will give you the software licences absolutely free.

Plus the great benefit of the Dolphin SMA is that you receive free upgrades and updates, supporting everything from new operating systems to internet improvements for the entire 36 months without any further cost to your organisation. Stopping the frustration when a new version of the software is released only a few weeks after your purchase.

For more information contact Dolphin or your local Dolphin Dealer.

American River College discovers the benefits of the Dolphin SMA
Over the past year ARC has taken progressive steps in its Assistive Technology facilities, in particular they have benefited from the use of SuperNova in conjunction with their Software Maintenance Agreement or SMA with Dolphin Computer Access.
“Our Software Maintenance Agreement has allowed flexibility to insure that any computer a student may use anywhere on our campus and its outreach centers can have Dolphin SuperNova (Screen Reader and Screen Magnifier software) obtainable, opening an era of universal access.” Shane Lake, Alternative Media Specialist at the American River College.
Read the full case study from Shane and the American River College to find out exactly how SuperNova and the accompanying Software Maintenance Agreement (SMA) is making a real difference to the lives of the visually impaired students in California’s Community Colleges.
Lunar the World’s best Screen Magnifier celebration offer
To commemorate Lunar’s victory in the “Magnify the Difference” group test of the world’s leading screen magnifiers during CSUN 2007. Dolphin is delighted to continue to offer to all of our customers who purchase Lunar or LunarPlus on a Dolphin Pen a FREE CD licence. Saving you an incredible $235 on Lunar and $355 on LunarPlus!
To order Lunar or LunarPlus on a Dolphin Pen and receive your free CD licence, simply select the Buy Online link, talk to sales or contact your local Dolphin Dealer. When buying online, simply enter the e-voucher code FREECD and a free CD license of will be included with your Lunar or LunarPlus Pen!
Discover how the Houston Colleges have increased their commitment to student’s access to education through use of the Dolphin Pen.

YourDolphin.com, NOW ready to accept your online orders

It’s with great delight that Dolphin can announce the official opening of http://www.yourdolphin.com/index.asp?utm_source=uscsunalert&utm_medium=email as a full e-commerce website.

Dolphin values its customer’s personal information and to this end we have incorporated a sophisticated security system within the site to ensure your purchases are safe and secure.

If you have any questions regarding buying online or the online security Dolphin has incorporated into the site, please feel free to contact us.

Dolphin's Paul Thompson joins the board of the ATIA
Dolphin is delighted to announce that Paul Thompson, Dolphin Sales Manager for the US, was elected onto the board of the ATIA (Assistive Technology Industry Association).
Find out more about Paul’s career at Dolphin in both the UK and the US.
Dolphin Sponsors the Alliance for Technology Access (ATA) Gala Dinner
Dolphin Computer Access is delighted to Sponsor the 20th Anniversary Gala Dinner of the Alliance for Technology Access (ATA).
The event, to be held on the 14th March 2008 in Los Angeles, will be a celebration of the people and companies whose hard and dedicated work has advanced the field of Assistive Technology during the previous 12 months.
Find out more about what the ATA hope to achieve with the support of Dolphin Computer Access

Come and see us soon

Don’t worry if you can’t make it to CSUN, as Dolphin will be criss-crossing the US to ensure we are at an event near to you. Just some of the events we are currently planning to visit are:


· California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped (CTEVH) Conference28th February to 2nd March 2008, Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel, 5855 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, California
· Dolphin Drop-in Day at the College of the Desert7th March, 10am to 3pm, College of the Desert, 43 – 500 Monterey Ave., Palm Desert, California
· American Library Association Conference26th June to 1st July, Anaheim Convention Center, 800 Katella Ave., Anaheim, California

Dolphin are always adding additional events they are scheduled to visit, so please keep checking the events pages on YourDolphin.com to see when we are visiting a city near you.
If you have an event which you think Dolphin should attend please contact us and if it’s feasible for us to attend, we will.

***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Handy Tech North America Newsletter March 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
-- Apple Offers Support For Handy Tech Braille Displays
-- Handy Tech North America Now Distributors of Index Braille Products
-- Reading In a Flash
-- Handy Tech North America Offers Full Line of Serotek Products
Hi all from the staff at Handy Tech North America,
As we spring forward into the week of daylight savings time, we are also looking forward to meeting many of you at the CSUN Center on Disabilities' 2008 Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference in Los Angeles California. Please stop by booth #302 Marriott where representatives from both our North American and European offices are looking forward to visiting with you and answering your questions.
Apple Offers Support For Handy Tech Braille Displays
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Handy Tech North America, leading providers of adaptive technology solutions for people who are blind or have low vision, is proud to partner with Apple computers in offering support for Handy Tech Braille displays in Apple's OSX 10.5 operating system, code named leopard. Imagine the ability to walk up to any Apple computer with your Easy Braille, Braille Star 40, or have an Apple desktop work station equipped with the elegant Braille Star 80 and have immediate, grade 2 access to your computer without spending a penny on a screen reader. Well, this most recent collaboration between Handy Tech and Apple has made this a reality. Now enjoy the ability to manage e-mail, browse the Internet, create and spell-check documents, synchronize your mobile device and so much more right out of the box using rich human quality speech and grade 2 Braille output with the integrated Voice Over screen reader. Read more about the impressive line of Handy Tech Braille products at:Handy Tech North America
Handy Tech North America Now Distributors of Index Braille Products
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Handy Tech North America is now national distributors of the world's most popular, reliable, quietest and light weight Braille embossers from Index Braille. Whether you are looking for a personal embosser or a production model, Handy Tech North America now offers distribution, full service and repair for outstanding Braille embossers such as the Index Basic D, Everest, 4 wave and 4 wave pro. Read more about these outstanding Index Braille embossers at:Handy Tech North America
Reading In a Flash
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The K-NFB Reader Mobile has arrived and people everywhere are reading in a flash! Handy Tech North America is very proud to offer the world's most portable reading solution, the new K-NFB Reader Mobile. This revolutionary advance in optical character recognition (OCR), runs on a Nokia N82 mobile phone and is intended for use by people who are blind or have low vision. It's sibling product, the K Reader Mobile, is intended for people with information processing disabilities such as dyslexia.
Handy Tech North America offers both products with accessories such as a Qwerty Bluetooth keyboard, choice of Talks or Mobile Speak screen readers as well as Way Finder Access GPS navigation software. For the first time ever, all of these products are available in one power packed portable device that easily fits in your pocket or purse. For more information, or to hear an audio demo, visit the Handy Tech Web site at:Handy Tech North America
Handy Tech North America Offers Full Line of Serotek Products
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whether you already own another screen reader, or are in search of a screen access solution that transcends the realm of conventionality, Handy Tech North America is proud to offer the full complement of revolutionary yet affordable Serotek products. Such products include System Access Mobile, the screen reader that not only makes access to any Windows XP or Vista computer possible from a U3 Smart drive regardless of Internet availability, but offers a host of access solutions such as Document Scan scan and read technology, Neo Speech human quality speech, E-mail, internet radio, chat and entertainment all from within one intuitive user interface. Add remote access from any computer with an internet connection, and it is clear to see why Serotek products offers something for everyone from the rank novice to the experienced technician.
Can't afford the upfront cost of an expensive screen reader? No problem. Handy Tech North America now offers a 48 month buyout plan for only $24.95 a month or a walk away with no penalty and no questions asked plan for the low monthly cost of only $39.95. Both plans include the System Access Mobile screen reader with free upgrades and access to the System Access Mobile Network. For more information, please call:651-636-5184
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: earle@handytech.us
phone: 651-636-5184
web: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0010sKPqbPrO4c0OH5leZmyMZqmESolKLqoiH9j_iaWZoyqNmVbrWGMY-cCTFhAfTXclCm4_AXOMfnNV-pjOnDtx3bLSLtyB9SxH5SlZ9t2FCY=
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~