[BlindTlk] Reading TXT and BRF Files on the BrailleNote Touch

[kelby carlson]

I honestly have no idea why Humanware would remove such basic features that they had to know people would rely on.

It looks like you can open text files in the Victor Reader app, but you are unable to do word searches, which is again a very basic feature of document apps. Any product like this that was released to the sighted public would be laughed off the market. Then again, this is pretty typical of companies that make blindness products; always years behind the sighted equivalents and missing obvious features. This is just an especially bad example. It's clear the future is going to be peripherals that integrate with sighted technology. But the Touch can't even do this successfully because of terrible lag as a Braille display and an inability to stably connect to iOS devices. It's pretty much the worst notetaker I've ever encountered; unfortunately I assumed it would work like an upgraded version of an Apex and I was drastically wrong. It's really surprising, too, because very few of the reviews I have found of the device mention these defects.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 2, 2019, at 2:59 AM, Humberto Avila via BlindTlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Kelvy:
> 
> Yes, the Braille note touch is able to read .TXT files. at least, when I open .TXT files, I am able to open them successfully. I don't know about large text files though; I have not tried those files. 
> On the .BRF side of things... I feel you'd just get by using your Braille display for this since you can not use speech. I understand this is an issue for a lot of folks, but personally it works well for me. KeySoft now runs under Android and this is why you are getting different ways of doing these things. 
> Not sure about all of the Nasty bugs have been improved in the Braille note Touch + running Android 8.2.  But that's my $0.02 
> Humberto 
> 
> “Positive thinking leads to a positive attitude which leads to positive actions which lead to positive outcomes.”
> — ME
> 
>> On Jun 1, 2019, at 9:33 AM, kelby carlson via BlindTlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I have a large collection of books and resources that I've collected over the years. Many of these files are in TXT and BRF format. When I received my new BrailleNote Touch, I found that KeyWord was unable to open many of the TXT files, which were books and often large; it would just result in a blank loading screen. Similarly, I realized KeyWord could no longer open BRF files; there is a separate app for that, KeyBRF. However, it comes with an absolutely astonishing flaw: you cannot read BRF files with audio speech.
>> 
>> So, I go from an Apex to a Touch, and I can no longer read many TXT files at all, and can't use speech to read BRF files. I would like to know if there are any third party apps that might solve either of these problems. Ihave had numerous issues with the Touch since I received it, and Humanware support has not been helpful—in many cases they acknowledge whatever it is is a basic problem but that there is not a way to fix it. (This includes iPhone connectivity, where the Touch will not stay connected to the iPhone as a Braille display if you lock the iPhone's screen and unlock it). So if anyone knows of a way to read TXT files, and BRF files with speech, I would love to know about it.
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> _______________________________________________
>> BlindTlk mailing list
>> BlindTlk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for BlindTlk:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/humberto_avila.it104%40outlook.com
> _______________________________________________
> BlindTlk mailing list
> BlindTlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for BlindTlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/kelbycarlson%40gmail.com