Top Tech tidbits for Thursday, July 5, 2007
I make this newsletter very brief, and a lot of us like it that way. I try to slip in brief explanations, but I'm sure many readers find some of the news items mystifying. If you wonder what something is good for or what it is about, feel free to ask. If I can, I'll try to clarify.
1) this fall, Freedom Scientific will finally bring its pac Mate up to date when they release the Pac Mate Omni. this ambitious upgrade promises increased memory and battery life, improved searching and mail handling, full keyboard support for windows Mobile 6.0, and protection of data in case of power loss. Most interesting, current owners can upgrade their hardware and software for a reasonable $299 to $699 depending on current ownership arrangements.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/
2) HumanWare promises an August release of version 7.5 of KeySoft for the BrailleNote family, the last upgrade for the classic units. This paid upgrade features braille translator enhancements, multi-language support, improved SD card and USB drive support and some other features.
http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/about_us/press_releases/keysoft_7.5_soon_to_be_released%21
3) Also in August, HumanWare will begin shipping the Victor Reader Stream, a palm-size Daisy-mp3 player for playing books and music. the unit plays many file formats, has a rechargeable battery, and costs $329 US, but ten per cent of the people who order a unit during July will get it free. (The unit is only on sale is the US, so this deal applies to US orders.)
http://www.humanware.com/fr-canada/about_us/press_releases/290607_vr_stream_launch
4) In another Northern hemisphere summer deal, Serotek says that if you buy their screen rader, System Access Mobile, costing $495, during July, you get a year of what is now called the System Access Mobile Network for free.
http;//www.serotek.com
5) And another one: Code Factory is offering free licenses to any of its products to three individuals who answer at least four of six questions correctly in a little quiz about Code Factory.
http://www.codefactory.es/Summer_competition
6) while talking about phones, in a sterling example of "you can find anything on the Internet," an individual is collecting the original ringtones available on all possible mobile phones and putting them up for all to enjoy. Go listen, or add your phone's voice to the collection.
http://andrelouis.com/phonetones
7) Back to useful stuff: North American and overseas dealers announce the Alva BC640, a lightweight braille display equipped to work with a wide range of portable devices as well as pc's and offering an optional braille-audio add-on to create a notetaker/audio player. One of the dealers is Visioncue.
http://www.visioncue.com
8) EVAS is now the North American distributor for Guide, a large print and speech package designed for those who find the standard windows interface challenging or overly complex. they sell Guide for $795 on its own or as part of ready-made systems. they also sell ZoomText systems.
http://www.evas.com
9) Dräger & Lienert, a German company, offers some new products. Max is software to easily create Daisy books from a variety of file formats, and will be shown at the sight Village expo in the UK later this month. they also have Tag It Guide: a system that makes visible information accessible and guides people, Tag It: which makes objects accessible, remembers where you drop an object, and EasyTask: offering Express access to information.
http://www.dlinfo.de
10) there is now a software synthesizer for the Afrikaans language. to get a copy, e-mail
cjdk@mweb.co.za
11) the topic for the tuesday gMT Tek Talk training from Accessible world will be Manage and Edit Sound Files with GoldWave. the fun starts at 00:00.
http://www.accessibleworld.org
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