[DSM-Iowa] Braille Technology Marches Forward

[rjray at q.com]

Pam, The ever changing Braille display market is indeed interesting. Has
progress been made? Absolutely. Do we still have a long way to go?
Certainly.

 

The points you raised about the size and usability of the EReader are right
on. Until I started using an Orbit Reader I didn't believe a 20 cell display
would be enough. I have seen people who are just starting to build their
reading speed pick up a 20 cell display and improve their skills.

 

The new displays give us another choice in the ongoing evolution of
electronic Braille rading. Are they perfect? No, they have too high a price
point, they also suffer from the never ending limitations that items with
moving parts have always had. 

 

When they add audio to these it is going to be terrific. Is that far off?
No, my guess it will be fairly soon. 

 

Am I going to rush out and buy anything at this point? No, but it is sure
tempting. I just purchased a QBraille so no more displays in my immediate
future. During the next two months we are likely to see even more
announcements of new and exciting technology. Stay tuned and see what
happens next.

 

Bob

 

From: DSM-Iowa <dsm-iowa-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Pam Quinn via
DSM-Iowa
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2021 11:45 AM
To: Des Moines Chapter List, NFB of Iowa <dsm-iowa at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Pam Quinn <pamandpoodles at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [DSM-Iowa] Braille Technology Marches Forward

 

    The NLS E-reader is absolutely awesome, and the 20-cell is perfect for
me. I love how with the case, it looks just like a small hard-cover book
that you can just throw in your purse or whatever. The advantages of these
new displays of course would be the addition of bookshare and Newsline, and
the ability to create files. I've heard that eventually text to speech might
be included as well. Wondering which speech it would be as I prefer the
synthesized as opposed to the more "human sounding" speech. That would be
great if it happened to be Eloquence, although not holding my breath on that
one. Thanks for the info. I'm off to check out the tutorial. 

 

Pam Quinn

 

 

From: Robert Ray via DSM-Iowa <mailto:dsm-iowa at nfbnet.org>  

Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2021 10:30 AM

To: dsm-iowa at nfbnet.org <mailto:dsm-iowa at nfbnet.org>  

Cc: rjray at q.com <mailto:rjray at q.com>  

Subject: [DSM-Iowa] Braille Technology Marches Forward

 

Greetings,

 

This week Humanware has released two new Braille displays. They are of
course part of the Brailliant line of displays. 

 

The first one is the BI 20 X. This display is very much like a display the
APH announced last summer. A few of the highlights of it are

20 cell Braille display

If you have  the E-reader from NLS this machine will look for all purposes
identical.

It does all of the things that the e-reader does plus having a notepad built
into it.

It not only will connect with BARD but also, Bookshare and NFB Newsline.

 

If you are interested in having a device that has these features it is
currently priced at $1,895.

 

Next is the BI 40X.

 

This device has

40 cells

The same basic design as the BI 20X .

 

The differences for the 40 are that it does not have an SDcard slot.
However, you can put files on it from a jumpdrive. In addition, the 20 has
16 Gigabytes of memory and the 40 has 32 gigabytes of memory.

The price of this device is $3,195.

 

No, these devices have not gone to the newer lower priced braille cells but
they are good solid devices and even though they are higher price points
than any of us would have liked to see they are available ready to go.

 

I should also remind you that Pat Fisher with Nanopac will work with you for
discounted pricing.

 

One last thing on this subject. Humanware has a contract with Mystic Access
to provide audio tutorials for their devices. If you wish to have one of
these tutorials go the 

www.mysticaccess.com/free <http://www.mysticaccess.com/free>  downloads

 

and download the tutorial you wish to try.

 

Bob Ray

 

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