Each year we manage to catch up with Adi Kushnir, of the Elita Group, to learn what changes have come to their Windows based notetaker platform. Much has changed since the 4th generation Focus Driven Units from last year and J.J. gets his hands on an ElBraille using a 5th gen Focus in this overview of the ElBraille 40. Pricing, specs and a U.S. release date are all mentioned here and to learn more visit the Elita Group website
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Transcript
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Hide transcriptTranscribed By Grecia Ramirez
Direct from Anaheim, it’s blindbargains.com coverage of CSUN 2019, brought to you by AFB AccessWorld.
For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology; Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings; access technology book reviews and mobile apps and how they can enhance entertainment, education, and employment, log onto AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind’s free monthly online technology magazine, www.afb.org/aw.
Now, here’s J.J. Meddaugh.
J.J. MEDDAUGH: CSUN 2019, outside of the Blind Bargains suite. We had to do at least one podcast outside. I know, a little bit of wind noise, but I think we’ll put up with that in order to be able to talk to Adi Kushnir from the Elita Group. I have a new version of the ElBraille 40 in front of me.
Adi, welcome back to the podcast.
ADI KUSHNIR: Thanks for having me, J.J.
JM: There are a lot of improvements to this, and we’ll go over what we have here, but why don’t you give us the basics of the latest version of the ElBraille that I’m looking at here.
AK: All right. So let’s start from the obvious stuff. We’ve optimized this for the fifth generation Focus 40 Blue displays that Freedom Scientific has now. The previous versions were for the fourth generation displays, so they were not up to date with that. So we have done that.
The second, we’ve improved our specifications. We are now in an official partnership with Intel. This device has been officially certified and approved by Intel. We’re using their latest platforms for what they call integrated computing. So right now, this device is powered by their latest platform at the time called the Intel Compute Card, which is a very tiny credit card-sized PC board --
JM: Okay.
AK: -- PC module, I should say, that fits into this device, which means we have better specs. In the U.S., it’s going to be sold only at the topmost configuration, which is an I5 processor, 8 gigs of RAM, 128SSD drive, which is a – quite a bit of improvement compared to the add-on version we had before with 2 gigs of RAM and 32-gig EMMC drive, so it’s a lot more horse powered now.
JM: And one of the other things that I noticed about this is that the Focus 40 that is sitting in front of me can now be undocked.
AK: Yes. So on the previous generation Focus 40 unit, it was one single unit after you upgrade your Focus to an ElBraille. This one can be docked and undocked like our previous 14. But the dock is a very nice design now. It has been very simplified. So we just pull a handle on the left side of the device, which also appears to be the USB type C plug that goes to the Focus.
JM: Yup.
AK: And you pull the display up. To dock it, it’s very easy. You put it back in, and you press the connector in. And that’s it.
JM: Just trying to see if I can do this with – one-handed.
AK: You have to pinch the handle --
JM: Yup.
AK: -- and pull to the left, like, away from the unit.
JM: Oh. Okay. And then it will pop out?
AK: Yes. It’s going to be –
JM: Yeah.
AK: -- a bit hard because you want the Focus to stay secured, but it will go out --
JM: Sure.
AK: -- eventually.
JM: So I have the Focus 40 –
AK: -- controls.
JM: -- Blue, and of course the regular controls for that. And then behind that –
AK: Yes.
JM: -- are a bunch of additional buttons?
AK: Yes. So if you go from the left, these are our ElBraille function keys. So we have the E1 key, which opens the ElBraille menu. We had this before.
JM: Uh-huh.
AK: Which has shortcuts to some apps, some useful apps. Then you have the volume rocker. You see that’s the rocker button?
JM: Yeah. With a little bit of a divot in the middle.
AK: Yes. And then you’ve got E2, E3 function keys. Then – this is a fan vent. Well, I5 processors, they need some cooling. So –
JM: Okay.
AK: -- this has a fan vent at the center. Then E4, E5, E6, which also uses – which also been used for toggling the Braille Display between ElBraille and a standard PC. You can connect the Focus to a standard PC without disconnecting it from here, without undocking it if you prefer. We had this on the ElBraille 40 previous generation as well. And E7. So we have a lot of function keys now that can be programmed.
JM: And there’s one button behind – is it behind E1?
AK: Yes. It’s a recessed button. It’s a Power button.
JM: Ah. Of course.
AK: Yeah.
JM: How long does it take to power on the unit these days?
AK: Ah, very fast. It’s an I5 processor and a PCIe NVMe SSD –
JM: Will it come on –
AK: -- if you really want to be on the geek side of technology, so it’s very fast.
JM: Will it come on if I – do we have power right now?
AK: Yeah. Sure. I think we have enough battery.
JM: Let’s just – beep.
AK: Yes. Now it starts beeping at you. And we have to wait. Now, it –
JM: And the clock – the time is showing on the screen.
AK: It’s the Focus output.
JM: Ah.
AK: Yeah. It’s the standard Focus time. Now it powers up the Intel card. Now it vibrated. You see that?
JM: Uh-huh.
AK: Once it’s vibrated – that means that the Intel card is on and it’s now starting Windows. So you have to count from the vibration.
Also, another feature from the previous ElBraille, this has normal Sleep mode support, so you can put it to sleep and wake it up in seconds from Windows. There we go.
JM: Ah.
AK: You see that the sound is quite improved as well?
JM: Yes. Is that stereo sound?
AK: Yes. We have two stereo speakers, which are very nice?
JM: And they are top-facing left and –
AK: Top-facing.
JM: -- right side.
AK: Yes. And you hear, shortly, JAWS.
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: JAWS professional.
AK: -- should come. And you see that the Focus is now – here it is. It’s now connected and –
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Display connected.
AK: -- you can do your standard Windows commands like do Windows+M for desktop.
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Desktop. Folder view, list view: Not selected, user, one of seven.
AK: You see that?
JM: Uh-huh.
AK: Now, JAWS speaks. I think that you see that the sound is very clear and some – a little bit basy. So it has very good speakers now. I can move, you know, it’s a standard Windows machine. I can press tab, which is dot 4-5 chord.
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Start button. Task bar: Google Chrome button.
JM: Right. It’s all of the regular Focus commands.
AK: Yeah. Task bar, show disk top –
COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Desktop. Folder view, list view, not selected, user.
AK: The desktop list view, et cetera. So this has not been changed.
JM: There are a lot of additional ports as well on the sides?
AK: Yes. So if you – if we go to – for a quick tour, on the right side, starting from the side closest to you, you have a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack.
JM: Uh-huh.
AK: Then an SD card slot. It’s a standard full-sized SD card slot. Now, it supports SD cards up to 2 terabytes, so that’s quite a bit of expansion. And below it, you have a Micro SIM slot for LTE support. So we have the LTE modem like we had before. Then you got two –
JM: Is that for GSM and CDMA or just GSM?
AK: Right now, it’s just AT&T and T-Mobile, so just GSM in the U.S.
JM: Okay.
AK: We will be adding a CDMA variant in the future also. Keep watching for that.
You have two USB type A ports, three – USB3 ports type A for data. And then, you have a USB type C port after them, which has been used for charging the ElBraille and for connecting the Focus to a PC without undocking it if you want to.
JM: And that is, for lack of a better term, the mini type C, the same one that is being used on Mac computers and such.
AK: It’s the same one –
JM: Yup.
AK: -- that’s been used everywhere, on smartphones –
JM: Yup.
AK: -- on Macs.
JM: Well, I say that only because some laptops have a full-sized USB type C.
AK: No. No. This is a –
JM: This is the regular – the small one.
AK: Yes. The regular, smaller type C port.
JM: Yup. Absolutely.
AK: And on the left side, you’ve got an HDMI port. On the previous one, it was a mini HDMI, now it’s a full-sized HDMI port. Because we have more space, so we can easily connect a monitor.
JM: Okay.
AK: Of course, 802.11AC Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, improved Wi-Fi antennas, thanks to Intel this go-round. So –
JM: So looking at this versus a laptop, what do you consider as advantages of using the ElBraille 40 versus using a laptop plus a Braille Display, like a Focus 40?
AK: This is for the people who want the all-in-one notetaker form factor. I can see myself using it very well without carrying two devices. I mean, this is the main point of it, to carry one device. If you are a person who is accustomed to a Braille keyboard, who likes Braille keyboards and wants the notetaker form factor but don’t want to compromise on features, well, it’s mainstream Windows, so you can install whatever you want on it. There’s other kinds of people who will primarily be Focusing on it. And also, of course, students, school students and universities, colleges, you know, all of these organizations.
JM: Some would say that the specs, although much improved, still could be a little bit limiting at 128 gigs or a solid-state drive where a laptop, you can configure up to a terabyte or more or 8 gigs of memory. Are there ways around that or –
AK: Since we’re partnering with Intel, right now, we’re selling whatever they give us, the best in this current form factor. But Intel -- you know Intel -- they update hardware every year or two, so this unit, in terms of storage, you can add an external SD card to expand that.
JM: Okay.
AK: But in terms of RAM and other stuff, we are committed now, because we are fully Intel certified and we’re supported by Intel, we have committed to Intel that we will upgrade our devices whenever they have a new platform that fits this form factor. So if -- next year, for example, they’ll update the hardware on their side, we’re upgrading immediately with no delays anymore.
So that means that the ElBraille will always be upgradeable, and you will not have to purchase the whole unit again. You just upgrade the internal software over your existing one.
JM: Would you theoretically have to send it in to do that upgrade, or is the –
AK: Yes.
JM: -- card pretty easy to take out?
AK: No. No. You will have to send it in for upgrades.
JM: Because it’s very deep into the unit somewhere?
AK: Yeah. We did not want to make it user accessible because then people can, you know, press a button and lose it, and we don’t want that to happen.
JM: Uh-huh.
AK: And who knows if Intel will continue with the card form factor or switch to something else. We don’t know that. But what we do know is that whatever Intel makes for this form factor and for integrated computing platforms, we will be following closely with them and releasing new boards to support it. So we’ll be very easily upgrading now.
JM: What’s the battery life like?
AK: It’s between 17 to 20 hours. It depends on your usage. Of course, that’s with Wi-Fi enabled.
JM: Which is perhaps another advantage versus using a laptop –
AK: Yeah.
JM: -- because there are not too many laptops that have 17 to 20 hours of battery life.
AK: Yes. I agree. Of course, if you turn on the LTE modem and use it full time, it can get a little bit down. But without LTE, with Wi-Fi turned on, it’s between 17 to 20 hours.
JM: And what is the pricing looking like?
AK: All right. So in the U.S., the device is going to be shipping in May. This has been announced here, at CSUN, and it’s going to be shipping in May. The pricing for people who have nothing, who need Focus and this, the price is fifty-six ninety-five. And for people who have a fifth generation Focus already and want to add the dock to it, the price of the dock alone is twenty-six ninety-five. So it’s basically the dock plus the price of the Focus.
JM: And do you have to buy JAWS as well, or does that come with it now?
AK: Right now, no. We will ship some kind of JAWS, maybe demo license, with this for some period. I don’t know yet. Freedom Scientific will announce it officially in May on their website. But you’ll have to put your own JAWS license on there. And now, especially with these annual subscriptions that have been launched, it’s very affordable now.
JM: Are there plans to update the 14-cell version, or are you focusing more on the 40 now?
AK: Yes. We are releasing the 40-cell now, and once we finish with that, we’re going to be working on the 14-cell. So the 14-cell is coming. And also, there are plans to upgrade the existing fourth generation Focus 40 and 14 variants to the new Intel platform, so more news on that later.
JM: If people want to get more information about ElBraille, what’s the best way to do that?
AK: All right. So they can Email me at Adi, A-D-I, at Elita Group, which is spelled E-l-i-t-a-G-r-o-u-p, dot com. I’m one of the lead technical people on this project. Or they can go to the Freedom Scientific website and very soon, new information about the new device will be posted there.
JM: Well, thank you so much for sharing the latest. I guess I’ll have to give this back to you for now, but I do appreciate you –
AK: Oh, yeah.
JM: -- coming by and sharing the latest.
AK: Thank you for having us, as always.
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Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.
