Blind Bargains: Audio Content Index

Often, we end up taking advantage of the deals we post to Blind Bargains. The Eton FR300 emergency crank-powered radio is one such deal, and J.J. offers a quickfire review in this podcast. While the Newegg special is sold out, you can search for more deals on this and other similar emergency radios. Also, you can Read the product information and manual for this radio.

We recently received the new Thermoworks Instant Read Talking Thermometer, and it's time to put it to the test. Listen in as Matt and J.J. describe the unit as well as testing it in boiling water. If you wish to purchase one, Blind Mice Mart has them for $35.95 plus shipping.

Canon has introduced several accessible solutions for their copiers and printers, especially marketed toward small businesses. Paul Albano, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Solutions Marketing, explains Canon's new accessible solutions for several of their portable business machines in this audio interview.

En-Vision America has once again created a smaller and lighter I.D. Mate, this time naming it the Summit. We talk with David Raistrick, Vice President of Envision America, about the new device and the differences between the Summit and the I.D. Mate Omni in this audio interview.

Enhanced Vision brought a new version of the Pebble 4.3 and a prototype for a new USB magnification system called the Transformer to CSUN. Marc Stenzel, Vice President of Sales and Business Development, shows us these new products in this audio interview.

It's great to see innovative products which take advantage of mainstream technology, regardless of disability. One example is a piece of software for the iPhone which aids those who are unable to speak in communicating. Samuel Sennott, a Ph.D. Student at Pennsylvania State University and creator of Proloquo 2 Go, explains how his product has the potential to change another disability market.

Yet another competitor in the portable reading machine field has emerged, and this one also includes a built-in magnifier. Erik Bondemark, CEO of Low Vision International, shows us how MagniLink Go can not only read printed material, but serve as a magnifier as well in this audio interview.

Yes, there really is a Blio, and we have the audio demo to prove it. James Gashel, Vice President for Business Development at KNFB Reading Technology, gives us an extended tour of this potentially revolutionary program in this audio interview. Note: a couple of the books in this demonstration contain some strong language.

Sitting near the end of one of the aisles was a stationary exercise machine which caught our attention. It's actually a very useful tool for those with limited movement to help gain more control of their muscles. Eric Lewis, Account Manager for Flexiciser, explains more while we try the machine out in this audio interview.

GW Micro announced several new products in conjunction with Hims earlier in the conference, and we wanted to find out more about them. So we once again speak with Raul Gallegos, Product Specialist for GW Micro, to learn more about them in this audio interview. Raul also gives a hint or two on the forthcoming 18-cell BrailleSense notetaker, a story Blind Bargains was first to break last week.

Braille2000 makes several departures from the traditional braille transcription model, one of which is the ability to lease a copy. Listen as Robert Stepp, owner of Computer Application Specialties Company explains this along with some of the features of this WYSIWYG braille translation program in this audio interview.

The search has ended, and the American Foundation for the Blind has chosen Lee Huffman as the new editor of its popular and long-running AccessWorld technology publication. Huffman has written a variety of articles for the magazine in the past and will oversee an expansion to monthly publication this summer. Listen in as we learn more about the magazine's history and its future direction in this audio interview.

Serotek has made some enhancements to its RIM remote access service which includes claimed responsiveness improvements. We talk about this, but also much more including CSUN conference observations and the answer to the question of where J.J. stayed for $26 a night, in this extended audio podcast with Michael Lauf of Serotek.

The DAISY book player competition may have just become a bit more interesting with the pending support for wireless file sharing, podcasts, and Internet radio streams in the Plextalk Pocket. We speak with Plextor's Chief Engineer, Tatsu Nishizawa, to learn about the new and forthcoming capabilities of the device in this audio interview.

The Sendero Group recently announced two new GPS applications, one which brings basic navigational information to the iPhone and another which offers virtual map exploration in Windows, similar to the old Atlas Speaks product. Listen in as we speak to Charles LaPierre and demo these new applications as well as discuss the new features in GPS 2010 for the BrailleNote family of PDA's..

Windows isn't the only operating system with free and open-source screen reading alternatives and Gnome wants you to try their fully-accessible Linux solutions, including Orca. Eitan Isaccson, accessibility activist, and Willie Walker, leader of the Gnome Accessibility project explains the project and talk about the current and future development status in this audio interview.

Nippon Telesoft Co., makers of the Seika braille display, have developed a system which allows blind people to read the lyrics from a karaoke music system. The lyrics which are normally displayed on a monitor are shown in grade 2 on the display. Listen as J.J. tries out the system and sings part of a Stevie Wonder classic. We think they may regret ever creating this system after hearing this recording. Cover your ears.

Japanese Company KGS Corporation, also makers of many braille display components, has created an automatic braille labeling system designed for those who need to create large quantities of labels quickly. Listen in as Tony Schenk, President of Enabling Technologies, the U.S. distributor for the labeling system, demonstrates the BL1000 in this audio interview.

With all of the costs for attending a major conference, there is a definite incentive to get your money's worth. Not missing an opportunity, J.J. procures some free advertising in the exhibit hall.

Perhaps some of the most interesting interviews at conferences like CSUN are the ones we never planned on doing. We met up with Lucy Greco who has partnered with Yahoo! to provide a view of the conference via her guide dog. Listen into this audio interview to find out exactly what is going on and how you can follow along. You can view the Flicker Feed here and follow follow Lucy's blog.

We were first to report last week on the forthcoming BookSense DS, a new model of the portable media player with a built-in screen. In this audio feature, we get our first hands-on look at the device, tour the keyboard layout, and give some initial impressions, all with the help of Regional Sales manager Marc Solomon.

Freedom Scientific brought something completely new to CSUN, and it may help many with readingbooks quickly. Listen in as Trainer Dan Clark gives us an early look at the Pearl, a new portable digital camera solution which works with OpenBook.

Viewplus brought some new and upcoming products to CSUN, including a prototype color print/braille magazine-style embosser for the professional sector. In this audio interview, Marketing Representative Steve Young explains how these new products might benefit those looking to print braille and ink on the same page.

After our Intel Reader review, we heard several comments about how the use of the Portable Capture Station (sold separately) would improve our results. Listen in as J.J. Meddaugh tries it out to see if reading is actually improved during this audio podcast.

Oratio, Humanware's screen reading solution for Blackberry smartphones, has garnered a lot of press, both positive and negative. In this extended audio interview, we talk to Michel Pepin, Product Manager for Humanware about the current and future features of Oratio, its future compatibility with other devices, and some of the recent statements which have been made about the software.

No trip to Orlando would be complete without a visit to our best friend, perched just outside of tower 2. Listen in as we say goodbye to ATIA and our good buddy Sierra.

It's time for our audio recap of the festivities at ATIA 2010. Listen in as J.J. Meddaugh and Matt McCubbin discuss the high and low points of the conference and some of the new products on display.

The Book Port Plus was certainly the talk of ATIA, marking the return long-awaited return to the digital book player marketed by the American Printing House for the Blind. Larry Skutchan, Technology Product Leader for APH, gives us a hands-on demonstration of some of the features which will be present in this forthcoming product.

We have made several mentions to the newly-crowded OCR field seen at this year's ATIA conference. Sal Terranova, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Guerilla Technologies, explains how their OCR product which uses a netbook and a digital camera differs from the rest in this audio interview.

eSight Corporation was showing off some rather unique optical gear at ATIA. We speak with Rob Hilkes, President, about evSpex, a new custom solution which can solve a variety of vision problems through technology. J.J. also was wearing a pair of evSpex during the interview, though they don't do much for totally blind people.

There's been a lot of talk about Freedom Scientific's signed braille driver initiative but what do other companies think of the move? Sigi Kipke, CEO and Owner of HandyTech, is one who has chosen to speak out and gives his comments, along with some background on HandyTech's new iRead OCR product and the OpenBraille initiative in this audio interview.

The next major release to ZoomText is slated for the summer of 2010. Derek Bove, Sales Specialist for AI Squared, talks about the latest with the product and why he feels specialized screen magnification software is still relevant in this audio interview.

Freedom Scientific introduced a new version to its long-running OpenBook OCR product at ATIA in Orlando. Dusty Voorhees, Senior Product Manager, talks to us about OpenBook version 9, MAGic 12, and the latest from the company in this audio interview.

GW Micro recently announced support for SAMNet content on the Booksense media player. Jeremy Curry, Director of Training for GW Micro, talks about this and the company's latest products, his thoughts on the latest screen reading trends, and what's on the horizon in this audio interview.

Mobile technology dominated several of the booths at this year's ATIA conference. In this audio interview, Greg Gladman, Chief Technical Officer for Code Factory, talks to us about the recently-released Mobile Speak 4 and the future of Code Factory screen readers.

Depending on the software you wish to use, the access to Adobe products varies widely. One accessibility advocate within the company is Andrew Kirkpatrick, Senior Product Manager for Accessibility. We speak with him about Adobe's accessibility initiatives and future access for Adobe Digital Editions, Adobe Air, and other products in this audio interview.

Braille readers may have been introduced to GH, LLC, because of their involvement in producing the braille program guides at this year's conference. In this audio interview, we speak with Shashank Patel, Director of Sales and Marketing for GH, LLC, about their new DAISY software for the Macintosh platform and the company's other initiatives.

We've finally been able to hear an audio demonstration of the forthcoming Blio software. In this audio clip, James Gashel demonstrates the Blio software running on a laptop computer and the iPhone at the National Federation of the Blind's Washington Seminar.

Optelec has made improvements to the Clearview Plus, offer a new one-on-one magnification option while the recently-released Compact Mini offers portable magnification for under $500. We speak with Kelly O'Neill, Marketing Director for Optelec, about the latest magnification tools from the company and their new line of custom skins to personalize your device.

For nearly 20 years, AbleData has provided a free, searchable database which provides information on thousands of assistive technology products and companies. To learn more, we speak with Project Director Katherine Belknap about the services offered at this popular, free website.

Earlier, we posted a quick audio demo of a ClickAndGo Map, a new service which provides pedestrian-friendly directions taylored for blind and visually impaired travelers. We speak to Joe Cioffi, founder of InTouch Graphics, the company behind these innovative maps in this audio interview.

It's often interesting to talk with some of the companies which provide tools to help those with other disabilities and understand how they overcome challenges that are presented. Roberta Scherf, Founder of Thinking Moves, talks about a new DVD called Me Moves, designed to help in theraputic sessions and in the classroom.

Dancing Dots is primarily known for their music editing software, but now have announced their expansion into a new market with the introduction of a product for low vision users. Founder and President Bill McCann, explains how a new touchscreen music magnification system can provide new opportunities for students and musicians alike in this audio interview.

A lot is happening in the world of accessible GPS solutions. In this audio interview, We talk with Mike May, CEO of Sendero Group about the latest versions of their GPS software, some of the new features of version 6.3 and version 7,, the upcoming integration of Google Transit feed data for GPS users, and the hole left by the departure of Wayfinder Access.

Remember the TransCend? It was an innovative device which allowed you to put print and braille on the same page. Now, the device has been reborn. Charlie Kiefer, Product Manager for Enabling Technologies, explains how it works in this audio interview.

Deane Blazie was a recipient of the 2010 Migel Medal, for his work on the Brraille 'n Speak and his contributions to the assistive technology field. In this exclusive audio interview, we talk to Blazie about his career and some history of Blazie Engineering, as well as his involvement in a project which may yield a forthcoming affordable notetaker.

Talks will soon be available for many Symbian touchscreen devices, including the N97. We speak with Torsten Brand, Talks and Zooms Product manager for Nuance, about the upcoming release of Talks 4.5, which also includes Email support for newer Nokia devices, in this audio interview.

Educators, parents, and students are always seemingly looking for new ways to learn how to to use their assistive technology. To help solve this problem, we speak with Amanda Peters, Product Manager for Atomic Learning, about their online video and audio tutorial service, which includes more than 5,000 solutions for over 80 products including JAWS for Windows and other hardware and software.

So how fast is the MIS OCR solution? Don Leary, Software Developer for EVAS, demonstrates the software as it processes and OCR's a page in the booth in this audio podcast.

The options for portable and semi-portable OCR solutions continue to multiply. Jerry Swerdlick, CEO of EVAS talks about a new all-in-one solution called MIS which will read a page in about 6 seconds, in this audio interview.

Humanware has been busy over the past few months with new product releases and several free updates for existing products. In this extended audio interview, we speak with Dominic Gagliano, Vice President of Sales for the U.S. market and Greg Stilson, Product and Support Specialist for Humanware about a variety of topics. We discuss the design of the BrailleNote Apex as well as some of the changes planned for the next release of Keysoft, the forthcoming free update to the Victor Reader Stream which includes support for a new book format, a free update to the Trekker Breeze, the status of Trekker, Humanware's take on the Intel Reader, and the current status of Orator.

InTouch Graphics has provided pedestrian-friendly directions for navigating around the hotel and conference center here in Orlando, taylored for blind and visually impaired travelers. In this podcast, we put a ClickAndGo map to the test, as we locate one of the meeting rooms for an interview.

Now that we've done the unboxing, it's time to do an in-depth hands on look at the Intel Reader. We explore virtually every function of the device and try it out with several documents in this over 40 minute audio demo. You may be surprised at how it works. Stay tuned for the final part of this series, where we will do a head-to-head OCR and speed comparison with the KNFB Reader Mobile.

When other gadget sites receive a new product in the mail, they'll often post a video unboxing, showing the opening of the package with their initial impressions. We're audio fans on Blind Bargains, so here we present the audio unboxing of the Intel Reader, one of the latest handheld OCR devices on the market. Join us as we find out what's in the box including a general description of the unit. In part 2, we'll take the reader for a test spin.

A lot has been said about the Book Sense, but we thought it may be appropriate to hear from the unit itself. We sit down with Raul Gallegos, Technical Support Specialist for GW Micro, for an in-depth hands-on look into this new device.

Earlier this year, ABISEE, the makers of Zoom-Ex, introduced a new self-contained reading machine which recognizes a printed page in about five seconds. Listen in to a hands-on demonstration of the Eye-Pal Solo with Product

The Refresh-A-Braille 18 has some rather unique qualities in a braille display including a whopping 80 hours of battery life. Larry Skutchan, Technology Project Leader for the American Printing House for the Blind, joins us for a quick hands-on tour of this brand new, lightweight device in this audio interview.

Many new online and home-based courses are available in a wide variety of areas, from business and job hunting skills to training in Microsoft Excel. In this audio interview, Dawn Turco, Senior Senior Vice President of Educational Operations at the Hadley School for the Blind talks about the latest courses offered from the school, which are all available to take for free.

Earlier, we learned a bit about the history and function of the Si Recognizer. Now, we sit down with CEO Marco Gregnanin for a hands-on demonstration, reading everything from printed text to round cans. Listen to find out how the software performs, and more.

We've heard a lot about the SI Recognizer (pronounced See Recognizer) but have not been able to get a good hands-on idea of how the product actually works. In the first of an expanded two-part audio interview, we speak with CEO Marco Gregnanin about the product and explore its functions. Stay tuned for part two where we try out the text recognition software on a variety of objects.

ABISee, Inc. has improved on its text recognition software to make it more friendly for totally blind users. Sales Representative Peter Golfman tells us all about the latest happenings from the company in this audio interview.

National Braille Press has been producing some of the most useful braille reference and leisure reading titles for decades. In this audio interview, we talk to Customer Service Representative Antonio Guimaraes about the latest releases including new reference books for Office 2007 and a guide to labeling just about anything.

There has been much movement recently on the development of the Dolphin product line. Gareth Collins, Technical Support Manager, tells us about the latest features for both PC and mobile users in this audio interview.

The folks over at Plextor are about to introduce a new entry into the portable DAISY recording arena. Though it doesn't even have a name yet, listen in as we talk to Hiroaki Mizukami, International Sales Manager, about a full-featured DAISY recorder that can fit in your pocket.

Blind people in other countries often use different techniques for accomplishing the same tasks. Sam Kim, Sales Manager for AD Information and Communications Company talks about an alternative technique used for reading printed material involving the use of bar codes in this audio interview.

As soon as we entered the exhibit hall, our ears were immediately drawn to this audio exhibit from NASA. Listen as we walk on a virtual sun and make music while Marty Quinn,, founder of Design Rhythmics Sonification Research Lab, tells us all about it.

The latest version of the Icon has added support for Audible books while braille display support is planned. Marc Mulcahy from LevelStar tells us all about it and more in this audio interview.

Those with diabetes are gaining more and more choices when it comes to medical supplies. Elissa Preston, Manager for Homecare Supply of America explains one such option, the Prodigy Blood Glucose Meter in this audio interview.

After months of anticipation, GW Micro has released a public beta of Window-Eyes 7.0. In this audio interview, we talk with several representatives from the company about new features as well as their hardware products.

Buried amongst the high-tech demonstrations in the exhibit hall was a new company dedicated to something completely low-tech. In this audio interview, we speak with Brian Davis, Chairman and CEO of Unipeg North America, who tells us about Wizzpeg, a new product which can ensure those socks stay together.

The big news from Vision Q, the United States distributors for Optelec products, comes in the release of their long-anticipated feature pack for the Alva BC640 braille display. In this audio interview, we talked with Larry Lake, Director of Vision Cue about the latest developments with the company.

While there are several products for listening to audio podcasts and radio stations wirelessly, few are completely accessible. In this audio interview, we speak with Werner Han, owner and founder of Solutions Radio, about a wireless audio solution that is completely accessible and also includes features taylored for blind users.

New safeguards to prevent against data loss are among the features slated for version 6.1 of the PAC Mate Omni. In an exclusive audio interview, Jonathan Mosen, Vice President of Blindness Hardware Product Management for Freedom Scientific talks about this and many other features of this free update, which should be released very soon. Also, a few hints are dropped concerning JAWS 10 and we discuss the company's convention presence.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated summer product releases is Code Factory's Mobile Geo, the latest entry into the ever-growing GPS software landscape. In this audio interview with Chris Grabowski, technical support specialist for Sendero Group, we hear an initial hands-on demonstration as well as discuss the features of the upcoming product.

With the release of Window-Eyes 7.0, we've been able to make our life a bit easier by using bar codes. In this short demonstration, listen as J.J. uses a bar code scanner and a Window-eyes script to identify packages and read product directions.

Serotek's mantra at the ATIA conference in Orlando was the accessible digital lifestyle. Mike Calvo, founder and CEO, explains what this means for consumers and how the company is increasing access to a wide variety of modern applications including MP3 players, the Victor Reader Stream, and social networking sites. We also talk about Serotek's partnership with Lenovo through the AIR Foundation and the promise of a sub-$1,000 laptop with included screen access software.

Perhaps the highlight of this year's ATIA coverage wasn't the technology on display. Rather, our attention was often drawn to a talking parrot outside of tower 2 of the Caribe Royale Orlando. Listen to this short clip to realize why.

Dancing Dots has been opening doors for professional musicians for over a decade. Bill McCan, founder and President along with Bryan Smart, Lead Technical Support and Trainer give us a live demonstration of an accessible music scanning and braille output system as well as their accessible JAWS scripts for Sonar 7. Not only do these programs function extremely well for professional musicians, the music scanning software would work great for school-aged students who wish to have braille music in their band class.

Read How You Want, a small startup which originally produced large print books, is planning an expansion into the commercial DAISY book market. We talked with Rosanne Goodwin, head of marketing and sales for North America about the company's new accessible book offerings which will be available for close to the price of print books.

We had a chance to look at perhaps one of the most advanced refreshable braille displays on the market. Listen in as we speak with Gert Jan van Barneveld, Account Manager for Optelec, who talks about the ALVA BC640 with Audio Feature Pack, a modern braille display with audio capabilities.

One of the companies who perhaps has released the most new and updated software products in the past year is Code Factory. Greg Gladman, Chief Technical Officer and Irja Gerdes, Internal Sales Director join us to talk about what's new in accessible mobile phone and PDA software as well as what's on the horizon.

We've been waiting patiently to hear more about the upcoming scripting support in Window-Eyes 7.0. In this audio interview, Doug Geoffray, Vice President of Product Development and Support for GW Micro, answers questions about the upcoming release and talks about some of the ways the new language can be used and the scripts that will be included.

On Monday, January 28, a press conference was held at the Holiday Inn Capitol in Washington, DC to announce the KNFB Reader Mobile, the new cell phone-based reading software. Here is the full audio from the event which includes a demonstration of the reader andquestions from the audience.

AIR, standing for Accessibility is a Right, is a new nonprofit foundation initially formed by members of Serotek to promote and increase free access to assistive technology. In this audio interview, Michael Fox tells about System Access to Go, the first product to become freely available as a result of the new initiative as well as the goals of the foundation.

Perhaps one of the biggest product announcements of this year's ATIA conference is the new KNFB Reader Mobile. To tell us all about it, we spoke with James Gashel, Vice President of Marketing for KNFB Reading Technologies. Learn about many of the features of the new phone-based product as well as the future of the KNFB Reader Classic.

We spoke with Jonathan Mosen, Vice President of Blindness Hardware Product Management for Freedom Scientific about the latest hardware and software from the company. Listen to hear about the Pac Mate Omni, JAWS 9, MAGic Pro Scripting Edition, and OpenBook 8 as well as his thoughts about the screen reader industry.

Larry Lewis is the founder of Flying Blind, LLC and a representative for Baum, makers of braille displays and portable CCTV's. In this audio interview, we discuss the latest products from the company including how braille displays can greatly enhance the use of a mobile phone.

GH, LLC makes one of the most advanced software-based DAISY audio players on the market. Listen in as CEO Dave Schleppenbach tells us about the product and the latest enhancements and also demonstrates some of its functionality.