Glen Dobbs, president of LoganTech describes the completely redesigned 6dot Braille label maker. The unit will begin shipping in May, now contains a powered option in addition to operating on battery power, and much more. Learn more and preorder your unit at 6dot.com.
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Transcript
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Hide transcriptTranscribed by Kayde Rieken
Welcome to BlindBargains.com coverage of CSUN 2015 — the biggest names, provocative interviews, and wall-to-wall exhibit hall coverage — brought to you by the American Foundation for the Blind.
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Joe Steinkamp: Hey, everyone. It's Joe Steinkamp from the weekly Blind Bargains podcast. Did you know that we have an Apple Rundown that happens just about every week? We go over some of the craziest news that happens in the world of iDevices and Macs, and it's right there in text form in our Article section on the News page. Also, don't forget to check out our deals, our classifieds, and so much more over at BlindBargains.com. And now, audio from CSUN 2015.
Now, here's J.J. Meddaugh.
J.J. Meddaugh: We're here at CSUN 2015 with Glen Dobbs. He is the president of LoganTech — LoganTech also related to ProxTalker and the 6dot Braille labeler, which we've covered a couple times. And there's a new version of the 6dot out. So Glen, welcome to Blind Bargains.
Glen Dobbs: Thank you.
JM: So go — why don't you go ahead and tell me what's new with the 6dot?
GD: Well, we — we've taken a — a really great idea and made it awesome. We've — we've completely redesigned the inside and outside and — and it — we've added features. We've listened to all the existing 6dot users to learn what they liked and don't like, what they'd like better, the features that we, you know, didn't have initially — we've added a lot of that, and it promises to be very exciting. Specifically, we have an automatic cutter, which makes it so you no longer have to push — push a lever down. You know, you just hit a button, and it automatically cuts and scores and leaves a little tab for you to peal the label. We also have an optional plug-in transformer that allows you to operate it without using batteries; so you never have to replace the batteries. If you want to be portable, you — it uses 6 AA batteries. The battery loading is — is a lot easier. Also, the tape feeding is a lot easier. When you go to load it with tape, it has optical sensors that pick up the tape and automatically feed it into the end. And so it's got some intelligence that the older model didn't have.
JM: Sure. Just to describe, the button to cut the Braille labeling is kind of in the middle, above the space bar. And then, of course, you still have the — just the six Braille dots — three on either side, of course — the space bar in the middle. And then — so it's optional — is it — what kind of charging is it? Is it USB charging, or is it —
GD: It doesn't — it doesn't charge. It's actually a transformer that just bypasses the battery to run in the circuit. So if you're using it all day long, that would be the — the way you would use it.
JM: Got you.
GD: Yeah.
JM: So not rechargeable batteries, but you can either go plugged in, or you can go on battery.
GD: Correct. Correct.
JM: How long does it run on a set of 6 AAs?
GD: It'll run through about 20 rolls of tape or so; so however many —
JM: Right. Yeah.
GD: — letters that is.
JM: Okay.
GD: And — and the other thing is, if you are not a Braille typist but you want to make Braille labels, you can also plug a QWERTY keyboard into it; and you can just type using a QWERTY keyboard, and you can actually — it spits out the Braille.
JM: I'm assuming that's going to be in Grade 1?
GD: It is, of course, Grade 1. It will only print what — what the — the letters are. If you want Grade 2, you really have to enter it via the — the Braille keypad —
JM: Is —
GD: — which, by the way, you know, it's automatic embossing; so you don't have to apply significant pressure. So ergonomically, it's very easy to use.
JM: Sure. When you type on the computer keyboard, if you — is it computer Braille? If you were to type a period or a comma, how do those come out? Or is it —
GD: It should be as if it were computer Braille.
JM: Okay.
GD: Yeah.
JM: Yeah. Sure. And of course, then the — yeah, the numbers end up as dropped down —
GD: Yes. Yes.
JM: — Nemeth.
GD: You'll get the — you'll get the backwards L.
JM: Right. So that —
GD: Dots 3-4-5-6 will come out, and then the letter B for 2, for example.
JM: Oh, okay. Got you. So any USB keyboard, pretty much, would work with —
GD: Yeah. And — and it's a micro USB, so you will need an adapter cable to plug it into most of them. But most people are using wireless anyway, so there's a couple of dongles you can get at, you know, any — any store. I mean, we'll have them also available. But — but pretty much what you need, you can get locally.
JM: Wait. So to clarify, the keyboard — is it just USB keyboards, or is it bluetooth as well?
GD: It's a — it's a USB keyboard; but if you have a bluetooth keyboard that uses — goes into a USB port —
JM: Ah.
GD: — you can do that.
JM: Yeah. Sure. Fair enough. Okay. What about the — the speed of the labels? Has that been improved at all, or —
GD: When it's plugged in, it'll go faster than when it's on batteries. That's the other aspect of the plugging it.
JM: Okay.
GD: So it's about the same as it was, but — but to go faster, you would use the plug-in transformer. Then it can go faster.
JM: How many characters are in the buffer now when you're typing — if you type faster than the label is printing out?
GD: You know, I'm not sure. But — but I can get that number for you.
JM: All right.
GD: I think it's pretty long.
JM: Yeah. Sure. Fair enough. So the new version is available now? How much is it?
GD: It — it will be available — we'll be — we — we're taking orders now for — for preorders.
JM: Okay.
GD: It'll be shipping in May.
JM: And how much are the — is the preorder for?
GD: It's going to be $599, and a hundred dollars off the preorder.
JM: So $499 now?
GD: Yes.
JM: All right. That — the original, I think was — that did go up a little bit, I think, from the original, right, which was —
GD: Yeah. The original was not — at the time, it really wasn't a realistic price to manufacture at. We — we looked into that, and that's — you know, when — when I got involved with the project, we looked at the — the whole cost to manufacture, and we — we realized that was not a price that was viable.
JM: Do you think it's — at this price point, do you think it's viable that — obviously, you feel like you're going to be able to sell enough of them, even at a — a 500-dollar price point, 600-dollar price point.
GD: I — I haven't had a lot of pushback with the price. The — the — there is another product on the market that is an electronic Braille label maker that is required to be tethered to a computer and plugged in. It does not have a Braille keyboard, and it's $1,200.
JM: Okay. Great. Interesting. If — how much does it weigh.
GD: About a pound and a half.
JM: Okay. Does it come with any sort of a carrying case or other accessories, or —
GD: We're going to have a carrying case option and a strap that you can hang around your neck when you're going to the supermarket, for example, so you can Braille right, you know, while it's hanging over your neck — if you're, like, shopping, and you want to label your product on the spot, that'll be easy to do.
JM: All right. If people want to get more information or get involved with the preorder, what's the best way to do that?
GD: 6dot.com.
JM: That's the number 6.
GD: Yeah. Number 6-d-o-t.com, and also, LoganTech.com is — is going to be housing the 6dot.com. So if you type 6dot.com, you're going to go to the 6dot webpage in the LoganTech website.
JM: Is that L-o-g-a-n?
GD: LoganTech.com.
JM: All right. Thank you so much, Glen.
GD: You're welcome, J.J.
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J.J. Meddaugh is an experienced technology writer and computer enthusiast. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a major in telecommunications management and a minor in business. When not writing for Blind Bargains, he enjoys travel, playing the keyboard, and meeting new people.
