Despite various Internet woes, Jamie Pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp manage to discuss this week’s news stories.

Smartphones

RIM unveils BlackBerry Screen Reader for people with visual impairments

HumanWare Announces Changes to Non-Visual Access Software for BlackBerry Smartphones with discontinuation of Oratio for BlackBerry

Skype killing Windows Phone: Nokia responds

How the Blind Are Reinventing the iPhone

Apple

Apple may launch $799 MacBook Air this year, claims report

Who wants an iPad Mini? About one buyer in two

Apple HDTV rumor roundup

Apple releases iOS 5.1.1

General Tech

Microsoft SkyDrive vs. Apple iCloud and the folly of cloud poaching

Microsoft developing Kinect-like controller that uses sound waves

4 Ways Your Business Can Avoid Being a Menace on Twitter

Social Security Administration starts providing online statements

For anyone in the US, tell me will be discontinued on 1st June of this year.

AT

Important notice of future SPL Studio script development         

AccessTalk has a new RSS feed (as of podcast 5)

Victor Reader Stream updated to version 3.5

Mailbag

Both of the Directv IOS apps are completely accessible.

That means completely. No funny workarounds etc.

The iPhone app allows you to program a dvr from anywhere (very useful when halfway around the world or closer) and the iPad app allows that plus direct control over networked boxes plus even some live playback.

I wonder where Joe heard the DTV apps weren’t accessible?

Then we hear iReports from Veronica and Randy Shelton.

Roundabout

After the news, stay tuned for an interview about the Cisco Academy for the Visually Impaired. Jamie Pauls talks with Joshua Loya and Kerry Hoath.

Welcome to “High Contrast”, the newest offering on SPN, a show that features conversations on topics about living with Low Vision. In this show we introduce ourselves and give you and idea about the visual accuities we have amongst the team. Then we move on to talk about exercise, the new iPad and more.

Running For Fun… And Your Life?

Two legally blind runners to run in Columbia SC races

New England Regional Ski For Light

NPR The New Running Game Where ‘Zombies’ Chase You

What we thought came out of CSUN

Video Magnifiers with Vinnie Rappa of Humanware

Talking Video Magnifiers with Enhanced Vision

A Discussion with Brian Smith of Magnisight

You can always find more CSUN12 coverage at the main SeroTalk page

And be sure to check out Blind Bargains as well for their audio coverage of CSUN 2012

The New iPad Is Here! What’s In Store For Low Vision Users?

The New Camera

The original iPad required you to connect a strange add on Camera kit for taking pictures and the iPad 2’s camera wasn’t anything special. But the new iPad sports a 5 MB camera on the back and this opens up a lot of options for picture taking, reading and more.

Here’s Rodney’s thoughts on using the new ipad as a handheld digital camera replacement:

“Rodney has had pretty good success taking still pictures. “You really have to be steady while the iPad tries to focus and remain stable. Using the iPad as a view finder works pretty well for me. I was able to read whiteboards off at a distance pretty clearly. Anytime you zoom, the focus it will get a little blurry in spots because the sensor isn’t like using a DSLR camera. I guess your mileage may vary.”

To zoom you have to spread two fingers like you would on a webpage, i.e. opposite of a pinch or the “multi-touch” gesture. Once you do that move the slider shows up on the bottom of the screen like in other devices.

Viewing from a Distance

Check out Maurie’s “Zoomed In” blog post, entitled “Viewing From A Distance”, from October 2011 to get an idea of how the iPad 2’s camera works for reading and seeing objects from further away.

The RETINA DISPLAY

Of course the biggest new feature of the new iPad is its amazing display. The device now supports 1080p video and even higher resolutions for displaying text with HD quality video. Here are some thoughts about the new iPad’s nifty visuals from maurie.

“The text  is clear and crisp, and some photos are more vivid depending on the photo’s resolution.

Screen text in message containers (i.e. Mail App – the message body; text in Notes text messages in Message App is better, but not drastically better than the iPad1 and ipad2.

HOWEVER, Screen text (5X) outside of message containers (i.e. Inbox list in Mail App, street names in Maps App, web pages in Safari App) is very noticeably crisper on the NEW iPad.  For example, in the Maps App, I pinched to zoom to the maximum level and then used the highest full screen ZOOM level (5x).  The street names were very easy to read.  On the iPad1 and iPad2, it’s readable but fuzzy, making your eyes work harder, like wearing glasses of the wrong prescription.”

To sum up…

Original iPad1

Most notable is that it does not have a camera, so taking photos, and videos is not an option.  Even if you’re not interested in taking photos, the lack of camera will prevent you from seamlessly taking advantage of some apps such as OCR apps, Vision Assist, or object recognition apps.  But, you can take photos and videos from other devices and view them on the original iPad1. The speaker is off to the side of the device while iPad 2 and 3 have the speakers placed on the back of the tablet. You can always use an external speaker dock, or a Smart Cover from Apple, to allow you to hear sound beter on the 2 or 3 though. 

iPad1 and iPad2

Visually, they both have similar screen display quality, for example, magnified text looks about the same (that is to say that text can look a bit fuzzy against the display of the new iPad). But if you use VoiceOver, and the Large text in message containers, this may not be an issue.  But if you want to use it as a large screen GPS, the NEW iPad is the best choice.

NEW iPad

The Retina display, a  good camera and more power under the Gorilla Glass will allow you to take advantage of many apps for the sight impaired, And it’s the best choice for GPS and magnifying maps.

So, the sight impaired are big winners in the release of the NEW iPad, even for the fact that the original iPad and iPad2 are more affordable.

the Vision Assist app for iOS allows you to snap an image of text or an object then scroll, zoom in or apply optional color filters similar to those found with handheld Video Magnifiers.

Rodney and the gang mentioned a GPS app called “MotionX”. To learn more about it, visit their official site. Important Reminder: In order to use GPS apps on any iPad, you will need to skip the WiFi only models as the devices with wireless connections are better for those apps.

App Review: jetpack Joyride

Keep Up With Our Hosts

Follow Maurie Hill on Twitter

Check out Maurie’s writing on the AI Squared Zoomed In Blog

Follow Rodney Edgar on Twitter

Check out Rodney on the Tech Access Weekly Blog and Podcast

Follow Jeremy Curry on Twitter

You can also check out GW Micro on Twitter.

Feel free to send your feedback on this show to resources@serotalk.com. You can always find the latest on this show and others on the SeroTalk Podcast Network using iBlink Radio for your iOS device or your Android device. You can even leave us an iReport right from the iBlink app.

Thanks for listening!

Once again, Jamie Pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp settle in for a discussion of what was by all accounts a slow news week. Never fear, though. The gang found plenty to talk about, anyway. The topics discussed in this week’s podcast include the following:

Tablet Computing

An Accessibility Review of the Amazon Kindle 3 by Ricky Enger

For Windows 8 tablets, a weak forecast

Target will yank Kindles–why?

20 improvements I’d like to see in iOS 6

Smartphones

BlackBerry 10: Best feature nobody’s talking about

Samsung leapfrogs Apple as top smartphone vendor worldwide

iPhone 5 launching with 4-inch screen, new Dock connector?

Security

iTunes users griping about Apple’s security questions

General Tech

Hulu’s possible future: A playground for cable subscribers

AT

Skype 4.0 released and claims improved accessibility

EyeRing: Wearable Camera That Detects Objects For The Visually Impaired

Robot sensing and smartphones help blind navigate                                                      

Mushroom Escape – For the Best in Radio Drama and Comedy

Take the WebAIM screen reader user survey

Technology for Blind & Visually Impaired Viewers Debuts in UK

Mailbag

Roundabout

 ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Rick Harmon manages various email lists related to blindness and technology. He also runs the Blind Geek Zone website and Podcast. Since their launch in 2006, the site and podcast have served as portals to hundreds of free tutorials and demonstrations for  the blind community. While he did the majority of these, he has selected high-quality submissions by others for inclusion as well. In 2007, Rick began offering paid training and support services, both in person in his local area, and by phone.

Pratik Patel is the President and CEO of EZFire, a firm dedicated to promoting usability and accessibility to devices, web sites, software, and other electronic material. He is the current chair of the Information Access committee for the American Council of the Blind and serves as the President of ACB’s New York affiliate. His background includes legislation, access to assistive technologies, accessible books and other instructional material as well as many different forms of new devices. His Recent efforts include the implementation of the 21^st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which includes accessibility to videos, interfaces to televisions, DVR’s, and other mobile software and devices.

Randy Rusnak is probably best known in the community for his work on the Accessible Devices Website and Podcast. He is the producer of that podcast, and is one of four co-hosts. Randy works as a tech trainer at the Lighthouse Center for Blind and Low vision in Duluth, MN, and Enjoys communicating – with people, his five dogs, and parrots. Other hobbies include playing with all manner of Tech devices. And old and new time radio

KIDS

Twitter gets an A+ in kindergarten classroom

Meet the Fifth-Grader Who Made a Video Game for His Blind Grandmother

COMMUNITY

Are Internet Friends Real Friends?

APPLE

New iPad ranked top tablet by Consumer Reports

AT&T’s iPhones: Free at last

Getting Started with the iPhone and iOs5 for Blind Users

Top 10 iPhone Apps for the Visually Impaired

Next iPhone said to ditch glass for Liquidmetal, arrive in June

SECURITY

What the Cloud Means for Data Security

 Does Your Password Pass the Test?

With 600,000 Macs Worldwide Reportedly Infected by Flashback Trojan, here’s how to check if your machine is one of them

WINDOWS

 Computer Maintenance Tools Available In Windows 7

Windows 8 Release Preview to Become Available First Week of June

Accessibility

American Cancer Society Continues Information Accessibility Initiative

Publishers Call for Industry Cohesion on Accessible e-Books

With Ricky Enger enjoying a well-deserved week’s vacation, Lisa Salinger joins Jamie Pauls and Joe Steinkamp as they explore the top news stories of the week.

Privacy and Security

Living in Public: What Happens When You Throw Privacy Out the Window

Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0

Windows 8 Release Preview in June

Cloud Storage

How to use Google Drive with keyboard shortcuts

Dropbox Sharing Gets Easier with Direct Links to Anything in Your Dropbox Folders

General Tech

Stage set for Windows 8 hybrid, iPad showdown

Apple

Tim Cook Prefers Settling To Suing and Has a Huge Quarter

 Apple may unveil new MacBook hybrid this year, says analyst

Why we shouldn’t get too excited about a ‘Liquidmetal’ iPhone 5

AT

Top 10 iPhone Apps for the Visually Impaired

Braille Reference

Formerly Recording for the Blind, Serving Veterans Since 1948

Introducing DBT 11.1sr4

Braille Formats: Principles of Print-to-Braille Transcription, 2011.

Feature Writer Alena Roberts – Paying For a Taxi in New York Just Became More Accessible

Descriptive Camera, 2012

Mailbag

Oh yeah, I remember those Talking Book records in the boxes with straps.

They had a unique smell too, musty library basement, but somehow really comforting.

And I thought I was hot stuff at age 7 when I could replace a record player needle with the new one they sent me from the Cleveland Public Library.

Ok, down the old tech road, does anyone remember the Type and Talk external synthesizer? It was one of the first external synths and the fun thing about it was that you could turn the little speed wheel to the point where you could hear each little electronic blip it made to make one sound.

As for the whole employer checking you out on Facebook thread, it should scare some people. I know I pay more attention to my Facebook posts and tweets but also make sure my grammar and spelling are as good as I can make them.

From my Old Fogey side, I read some posts from blind people on Facebook who also say, there and in other forums, that they are seeking jobs, and I just shake my head. Horrific grammar, bad spelling, which I’m as guilty of as anyone, but with bad grammar it’s a double whammy, inane feuds with other people on Facebook and generally immature posts add up to someone I wouldn’t hire, blind or sighted.

I got unfriended by someone at work because she had trouble posting personal stuff to her Facebook page then those of us from work she’d friended calling her on some of it. I felt badly because I like her and enjoy some of her non-work stuff, but whew, she’

S young enough to be my daughter, which is depressing in and of itself, but she also doesn’t have many boundaries.

The other weird thing about Facebook is that people are starting to use it like email and I doubt they realize that everything, even their emails to each other that land on Facebook pages, is archived, by the Library of Congress no less.

My husband was involved with a non-profit organization for rare diseases. It was for one specific condition and much talk had moved from its email list to its Facebook pages. He tried a Facebook account and freaked at the public nature of it and what people posted about their medical conditions. Being a good conspiracy theorist, he said he bet the insurance companies just loved it.

He said this loudly and often to the organization executive director, seeing it as irresponsible to promote the sharing of pretty sensitive medical info in an open forum like that. Things have shifted a bit since he’s been complaining but still …

Sadly too I see it with guide dog handlers. They’ll put out on Facebook that they have this or that issue with their dogs, never contact the school for help or anything. I know sometimes people have issues with their guide dog schools, but we can’t help you if we don’t know you’re having problems and we won’t know that probably because we don’t friend every grad or ask them to friend us. Whew.

Great show as always. Keep it up!

Jenine Stanley

From the blog:

Tim Sniffen writes:

As promised, here is a link to the Main Menu show featuring a demonstration of SkyDrive.

Roundabout

Join the event live via Accessible Event this Thursday beginning at 9:00 p.m. Eastern in the U.S.

In this week’s podcast, Jamie Pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp must do battle with a thunderstorm and a really loud lawn mower. There is one casualty as a result of the ensuing battle, but the show must go on and so it does. Who is forced off the island, so to speak? What are the top stories of the week? All of that and more awaits you as you listen to this week’s episode!

Entertainment

Social Media

Why Facebook needs to build a browser

Legal Department

Apple prepared to go to trial in the US over e-book pricing

Internet

FedEx Office teams up with Google Cloud Print

Windows

Computer Maintenance Tools Available In Windows 7

How to bring the Start menu back to Windows 8

Cell Phones

Next iPhone said to ditch glass for Liquidmetal, arrive in June

Carriers ponder Apple iPhone subsidy uprising: Will it work?

Will Windows Phone 8 makers be more free to tweak the OS?

Ebooks

Why e-book DRM will die, and why this will make no difference to Amazon and Apple

AT

Product Evaluation: BrailleNote Apex from HumanWare

Roundabout

For just $25 per voice, you can purchase UK male and female voices Brian and Amy, American male and female voices, Eric and Jennifer, and now Kendra and Joey — two additional American voices!

Listen to a sample of Ivona Text-to-speech.

If you would like additional options, we also offer RealSpeak, Eloquence, and NeoSpeech voices. Remember, if you’d like to hear how a particular voice sounds reading your favorite text, or you want to know how responsive it is, you can access trials of these voices under the My Account option in your Serotek software. To access this area, press Modifier+F, followed by the letter A. If you have had a trial of Ivona voices previously, your trial has been reset so you’ll be able to sample all Ivona voices again.

Whether you use System Access, the System Access Mobile Network, DocuScan Plus, or all of these, the voices you select will interface seamlessly with all our products to provide you with a quality listening experience.

If you would like more information, please email us at info@serotek.com or call us at (612) 246-4818.

The Serotek Team

This week, Jamie Pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp once again discuss the top stories of the week which include:

Social Media

Should I Keep My Personal and Professional Identities Completely Separate Online?

Facebook buying Instagram for $1 billion, won’t cut off access to Twitter

Facebook hits a tired tech playbook: The rollup

Security

 Does Your Password Pass the Test?

 RIM executive calls Google Play “chaotic cesspool”

Cell networks to form phone database to fight theft

Are Macs safer than PCs?

General Tech

Iran expected to permanently cut off Internet by August

Cell Phones

AT&T’s iPhones: Free at last

Smartphone charging over an open fire

One-fifth of third-graders own cell phones

Mailbag

http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones-for-seniors/

Roundabout

 Remind yourself to take stretch breaks with BreakTaker

Can you handle total silence?

April Fools Day

Introducing Gmail Tap

The Amazing Race to CSUN

The Biggest Note Taker Just Got Larger

Last year’s original G.T.O. Announcement

LSocial Media

3 Twitter Rumors and What They Could Mean for Brands

Twitter and Facebook degrade humanity, says Skype

Apple

Apple should dump the iPod Touch

New iPad ranked top tablet by Consumer Reports

6 Tips to Improve Typing on the iPad

AT

iTunes Hotkeys 1.0.0.0

Download the Braille version of the iPhone user guide here

Zello Brings Real-Time Group Chat to Your iOS Device

Say Zello To The World!                                                           

Hadley School for the Blind podcasts

Assistive Technology Movie Review – The Hunger Games

American Cancer Society Continues Information Accessibility Initiative

General Tech

Google Nexus tablet images leaked?

Dropbox doubles referral rewards, offers up to 32GB for those dripping in charisma

Mailbag

Kind regards,

Jake Joehl, Illinois

Hi all,

I finally got into the 20th century and started listening to podcasts and one of the first was your 101st broadcast. Great job.

I first wanted to address the article you all mentioned about the boy getting a guide dog as he loses his sight.

I can’t talk directly about the GDB program to allow this to happen, but I do work for a guide dog school, Guide Dog Foundation, and I can say generally that all of the schools are looking for ways to expand their services because, let’s face it, funding is hard to find these days and whatever works, works. You can argue that this could, and I say could, not will, hurt the average blind guide dog handler, but whether it’s veterans, service dogs, dogs for kids with autism or whatever the program is, if it brings in money to support the entire program, that’s good. Believe it or not, some of these additional programs do benefit the average handler in that instructors learn new skills that can make guide dog use a better experience for all of us. That’s not just the company line either as GDF does have a program, America’s VetDogs, that trains service dogs and from that we’ve learned a lot about how to help people who are encountering additional disabilities to blindness.

All that said, is this idea of giving blind children dogs, either as pets or as guides, a good idea? I won’t professionally berate my colleagues at GDB, but honestly, no, it’s not, as guides anyway. Pets are a great idea, but why not just a pet dog? Pilot dogs did an experiment in the 1970′s with blind children getting dogs at age 11. The kids raised a litter of puppies donated by someone who demanded that the dogs be given to kids. The dogs were then matched, not necessarily with the kids who raised them, and all were trained to use them as guides. This worked only in a few cases where the parents were supportive. Only 2 of the kids, and I want to say there were around 6 kids involved, remained guide dog handlers after the first dog retired.

Any time you have people under age receiving guide dogs, you have that third factor of parents and other family members, not that this doesn’t happen with legal adults too, but we’re talking legal control with parents.

GDF does accept people who are 16 and in rare cases we make exceptions to that, but those applicants have to be mature and able to direct the dog. And yes, guys, you really do need to have the orientation part of O&M down before getting a dog because, and I wish I knew who said this, “You can get lost faster with a dog than with a cane.”

Enough about dogs. As you see I can go on and on forever about that subject.

Thanks for the tip about changing categories of people on Facebook. It is somewhat accessible but as with so many things on facebook, it’s clunky and not accessible from the mobile site. I did relegate many of those unfortunately chosen “friends” to “acquaintances” and make my viewing of Facebook much more pleasant. So giant thanks for that tip.

Love the podcast!

Jenine Stanley

Thanks guys and gals for that wonderful piece of comedy.  I always enjoy the content that comes from your company.  Keep up the great work!

Thanks,

Steven Whiteker

Comments on “The Biggest Note Taker Just Got Larger” ‹ SeroTalk — WordPress

Sue Ward

Wow have we come a long way in speech synthesizers. When I heard that how in the world could you understand that? It reminded me of keynote gold, and that old computer in the background with the loud fan, sounds like the kind of system I worked with in school in the 80s back in the days of MS dos. Windows is so much better along with NVDA and Window Eyes, along with the other screen readers that are out in the market, glad we have choices.

John Herzog

I purchased a GTO last year, and I love it! It is the best computer I’ve ever used. What’s most  impressive is that when it broke two days after I ordered it, Serotek was able to return the unit to me in an impressively short ten month time frame. I love the highly customized parts that cannot  be replaced anywhere else other than Serotek’s top secret headquarters. These last two months have been the most productive of my life. I owe it to Rusty Metals and Hew Morris who convinced me last year to purchase this product. I cannot wait to purchase the S.U.C.K.E.r, and I am pleased Serotek 

is continuing to innovate with the government money spent on this gadget. Now my only question is, when are you selling the speech upgrade you demonstrated as the GTO read its press release?

I’m familiar with various discussions you’ve had regarding braille in previous podcasts but haven’t had availability to respond.  I would argue that with the advancement of computer technology and the improvements in accessibility braille is more important than ever and cheaper to obtain long-term with the advent of electronic braille displays.  As I’m constructing this email I’m able to focus in on conversation without being distracted by speech because of my ability to read braille and make use of a display.  In a business meeting I can see many scenarios where braille will allow me to multitask more efficiently because I will be able to contribute to conversations while reading power points, checking emails, and performing other essential tasks as it relates to my occupation. 

It will be far less expensive to provide textbooks in braille as electronic displays are slowly becoming compatible with more devices. 

Finally, there are some real social advantages to making use of braille.  Students are becoming more mobile and completing their studies with multiple devices in varies places.  I think it would be fantastic if students were able to use a braille display as an avenue to keep up with their peers while in social situations like when watching televisions or movies in a non-intrusive way.

These are just my thoughts.

Thanks,

Greg Rogers

Roundabout