[Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind [Signal Strength]

Pamela Dominguez geodom at optonline.net
Sun Dec 24 13:12:02 UTC 2017 

Well, this signal strength that bops up and down was also happening in the 
city.  Sitting at Lynnea's table, it could tell me I had seven bars, and 
then turn around and tell me I had one bar, or no signal.  It did the same 
at my house.  Pam.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Arlene via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2017 4:27 AM
To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
Cc: Arlene
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind [Signal Strength]

Pam, hopefully when you move to the city you'll have better signal strength.

Arlene
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pamela Dominguez via Electronics-Talk" <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: "Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances"
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Pamela Dominguez" <geodom at optonline.net>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind [Signal Strength]


> Well, the lower the signal is, the worse it is.  What do I do to improve 
> it? It depends.  Sometimes I try to move the phone around in different 
> directions, or go somewhere else.  It depends on where I am when I don't 
> like the signal I'm getting.  Pam.
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: cheez via Electronics-Talk
> Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 6:14 PM
> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
> Cc: cheez
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind [Signal 
> Strength]
>
> Gotcha.  So what is a poor signal to you, and what do you do to improve 
> the
> signal?
>
> Vince
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Pamela Dominguez via Electronics-Talk" 
> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> To: "Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances"
> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Pamela Dominguez" <geodom at optonline.net>
> Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 1:18 PM
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind [Signal 
> Strength]
>
>
>> Sometimes, if a call is breaking up, I want to be able to check the 
>> signal strength.
>>
>> -----Original Message----- 
>> From: cheez via Electronics-Talk
>> Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 12:10 PM
>> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
>> Cc: cheez
>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind [Signal 
>> Strength]
>>
>> Educate me on this.  Why are people so concerned with signal strength?
>> I mean, if you are able to place/receive calls, access the Internet, 
>> etc.,
>> then why is it so important?
>> I vary seldom check the signal strength.  Usually when I do, it's just to
>> see if my iPhone is using wi-fi or Verizon when something isn't right.
>> And don't take this the wrong way, but, the only people I know whom are
>> concerned with signal strength are blind.
>>
>> Vince
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Pamela Dominguez via Electronics-Talk" 
>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> To: <steve.jacobson at visi.com>; "Discussion of accessible home electronics
>> and appliances" <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: "Pamela Dominguez" <geodom at optonline.net>
>> Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 9:26 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind
>>
>>
>>> Yes; I liked my Alcatel phone when I first got it, but I am finding 
>>> things about it that frustrate me, like the silent times you mention.  I 
>>> also think that sometimes, I can accidentally turn off the screenreader 
>>> without knowing it.  Also, it says strange things that don't make sense. 
>>> If I am choosing menu items, say on newsline for example, all of a 
>>> sudden, the screenreader will sound like it's telling me that it is 
>>> calling somebody. I forget the exact word it uses.  Another thing is, I 
>>> found out how to check battery level, but can't find out how to check 
>>> signal strength.  I had the Nokia n95 with mobile speak and it told me 
>>> battery level right away.  It told me in bars, and it told me the signal 
>>> strength in bars. This phone gives me the battery level in percentages. 
>>> That's okay, but I can't find signal strength in anything, bars or 
>>> percentages anywhere. Pam.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message----- 
>>> From: Steve Jacobson via Electronics-Talk
>>> Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2017 10:47 AM
>>> To: 'Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances'
>>> Cc: Steve Jacobson
>>> Subject: [Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I would very much like to complete the electronic part of the discussion
>>> surrounding a Smart Phone for the Blind.  After going to the website on 
>>> this
>>> particular device, I couldn't help but think about what it is that we 
>>> might
>>> need in terms of a special smart phone.  First, I tend to take the 
>>> approach
>>> that if a company markets their product honestly and they succeed in 
>>> drawing
>>> customers, it really does not matter if I think their product is a good 
>>> one
>>> or not.  The demand proves that the product has something to offer.  In 
>>> this
>>> particular case, I can also see the advantage in being able to pull out 
>>> a
>>> phone and use it easily without the need to pair another device, pull 
>>> out a
>>> separate keyboard, or pull out a braille display.  I am an iPhone user 
>>> and
>>> have successfully used a keyboard and a braille display and realize that
>>> both approaches work and that both approaches are sometimes 
>>> inconvenient. I
>>> frankly don't know how sighted people use touch screens on a bus. 
>>> <smile>
>>>
>>> What I am wondering, though, is whether people who feel we need a 
>>> special
>>> phone are really going to be happy with a phone like this.  I have had
>>> frustrations with learning and using an iPhone, but frankly, many of my
>>> frustrations are related to bugs or unpredictable behavior in the 
>>> operating
>>> system itself.  Some may be related to VoiceOver but some are not.  This
>>> smart phone is apparently an Androidphone which, of course, is different
>>> than the IOS operating system used on an iPhone.  However, I also have a
>>> BrailleNote Touch device in my household, which is an android device, 
>>> and I
>>> see some of the same unpredictability there as well.  As an experienced
>>> computer user, I have little trouble dealing with it, but the mechanical
>>> keyboard and the specialized Keysoft software does not eliminate Android
>>> processes from interrupting the workflow, for just one example.  It 
>>> means
>>> that the user has to consider which automatic updates to turn off and 
>>> which
>>> need to happen.  In other words, there is a lot in a complex operating
>>> system that will still impact the user and will probably be the case on 
>>> even
>>> a specialized Android phone.
>>>
>>> Moving back to phones, as has been the case with other specialized 
>>> phones,
>>> this one only works on certain networks, being a GSM phone.  The website
>>> itself says this leaves out Sprint and Verizon.  We also don't know, as 
>>> far
>>> as I can tell, exactly what one is getting for a phone in this special 
>>> smart
>>> phone.  While the price is not unreasonable for a good Android phone, is 
>>> it
>>> reasonable for what is being offered as the base phone?  Which Android
>>> phones only can use GSM, for example?  What is a fair markup for a 
>>> special
>>> phone for the blind?
>>>
>>> My wife gave up on using an iPhone and we purchased one of the Alcatel
>>> phones that Sprint has with a built in voice.  It is a flip phone with a
>>> keyboard that is fairly easy to use.  However, even on this phone which 
>>> is
>>> not an Android or an IOS phone, there are periods of silence where one 
>>> does
>>> not know what is happening, and some of what is spoken is not clear. 
>>> This
>>> is a relatively inexpensive phone and it is working better for her than 
>>> did
>>> her iPhone, but it isn't the perfect solution I had envisioned when I
>>> started my research, even though it might well have been the best choice
>>> that could have been made at the time.  I would frankly hesitate to say 
>>> this
>>> phone would work well for a Senior who doesn't have some understanding 
>>> of
>>> technology.  The Odin phones seem to me to be pretty good, but their use 
>>> is
>>> limited to certain networks, and there has been rumors that the 
>>> cellphone
>>> technology they use will soon be phased out.  It seems likely that they
>>> started out with an older phone as the base, although I don't know this 
>>> for
>>> certain.
>>>
>>> As usual, I am finding this issue to be more complex than I thought when
>>> first looking at it.  We need to be careful to completely define the 
>>> problem
>>> that is being solved and be a little careful before putting down $500 or
>>> more for a special phone that may leave many problems unresolved.  To 
>>> really
>>> judge these new phones fairly, we need to hear from people who have some
>>> experience with them.  This is a topic that is worth some intelligent
>>> discussion.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Steve Jacobson
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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