[NFBMT] More about ElBraille

Thu Mar 2 22:15:08 UTC 2017

This is information from last year's CSun conference about ElBraille.  Joy 

#CSUN16 Freedom Scientific Spills Beans on ElBraille 

Blind Bargains

Scott Davert

Saturday, 26-Mar-2016 2:52 PM ET

Following is information presented in FSCast 123 which covered 2 new
announcements from Freedom Scientific that were also made at CSUN. This
information is presented in textual format so that those who prefer to read
rather than listen can also have access to it. From an accessibility
perspective, this

article is for those who are not able to hear podcasts, who may find the
information helpful. Any errors made in the below information are that of the

author s, and it may also be worth noting that the author has a significant
hearing impairment as well.

ElBraille

Adi Kushnir came to the podcast to discuss ElBraille. Think of the ElBraille
as a computer inside the form factor of a notetaker. The components are
housed

on one part of the device, while a Focus 14 makes up the other part. The
Focus can be disconnected from the rest of the device, so if you wish to take

your Focus 14 and not the full version of the ElBraille somewhere for some
reason, that is also an option. The ElBraille has a full 32-bit version of
Windows

10 on it along with JAWS 17.

Here is a physical description of the ElBraille as presented in the podcast.
The device measures 7.4x4.7x1.5 inches. With the Focus 14 attached, the
entire

package weighs 1.65 pounds. On the front, you have the Focus 14. As such, all
of the controls that you will find on the Focus 14 are what make up the front

of the device. ON the right side of the ElBraille, you have 1 button which
allows you to detach the Focus 14 from the ElBraille. Continuing along the
right

side, you have the headphone jack, a SD card slot, USB port, and the power
button. The back and left sides of the ElBraille do not contain any buttons,

ports, or controls. On top of the ElBraille, behind the Perkins style
keyboard of the Focus you have 6 buttons: E1, E2, volume down, volume up, E3,
and

E4. The top of the unit also contains speakers, a Braille label, and a micro
SIM card for cellular connectivity in the upper left corner of the surface

of the device.

The internal parts of the device include: 1.8 GHZ quad-core processor, 2 GB
of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory, comes with a 64 GB SD card that is
internal,

SD card reader that supports cards up to 256 GB, a built-in microphone,
stereo speakers, a vibration motor, 3G modem, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 N wifi
and

all protocols before it, built-in GPS, accelerometer, a USB port, and a
battery life that they advertized as lasting over 20 hours even with wifi in
use.

The ElBraille also features a rescue mode button which will launch a menu
separate from JAWS that self voices and has braille output.

While it does have a full-blown copy of Windows and comes in the flavor of a
notetaker, Adi Kushnir indicated that it takes between 20 and 30 seconds to

boot when in hibernation mode. It resembles a notetaker, but because it s
running a full version of Windows, it s not possible to turn the unit on and

be ready to add to a new note quickly. The 3G modem is GSM only, which, for
those in North America, means that the device will only be compatible with

T-Mobile and ATT.

Pricing of the ElBraille is dependent on what the user already has. For
example, if one already has a Focus 14 and JAWS 17, they could use their
existing

purchased stuff to lower the cost of the ElBraille significantly. This user
would only pay for the docking station which includes the components listed

above. The price will, of course, go up from there if you do not already own
JAWS 17 or a Focus 14. No specific prices were mentioned and Freedom
Scientific

indicated the information was not yet available. IT was also made clear in
the podcast that Freedom Scientific does not have an anticipated release
date,

other than it should be in the second half of 2016.

Looking ahead, Adi Kushnir indicated that they are already working on a
second generation of the product, and will also be releasing a version which
will

fit the Focus 40. Hardware, according to Kushnir, is expected to be updated
annually. The cost of upgrading, according to both Mosen and Kushnir will be

much cheaper than what it would cost to upgrade standard notetakers, because
the user only needs to replace the docking station. The JAWS license and
display do not need to be replaced. 

For now, users wanting more information can contact info at eliagroup.ru At the
moment, the website is only in Russian, but they will have an English website
coming soon.

Joy Breslauer, President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana 

Web Site: http://www.nfbofmt.org <http://www.nfbofmt.org/> 

Live the life you want

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.