COOL BLIND TECH

YOUR SOURCE FOR THE BEST ASSISTIVE TECH NEWS, REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS FROM TOP BLIND AND LOW VISION EXPERTS. AN ENTERTAINING AND TRUSTWORTHY DISCUSSION ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Reviews

iOS 10 and Watch OS 3 Preview: Version Is Just A Number, Features Are What Matter

There comes a time in the lifecycle of a product which I jokingly like to call the “floodgate”. It is when the pearly gates open, when the public can finally enter a new realm of unity with their parent company, and find new features galore. Oh, the dream of every and any testing enthusiast, provided they like Apple. Whether you’re a hard-core programmer, someone that likes risk and adventure and might tinker a bit on the hardware side, or just in general have above-average technical knowledge, these gates are yours to enter. If you are the type who enjoys stability, reliable functions, non-crashing apps, don’t you worry. Your time comes in September. read more

Goodreads For iOS: Reading Gone Social!

Have you ever found yourself at the end of a good book, not wanting to put it down for fear of losing good reading material? Have you been searching for that perfect book to take you to far off lands, teach you that skill nobody else has, or help you gain the upper hand in your career? Have you read something amazing that you think your friends might enjoy? Well now you can find that perfect book and share it with others from your favorite devices. Goodreads is an innovative social networking platform built just for readers! Features include community book reviews, a searchable book database, author biographies, the ability to follow your favorite authors for the latest updates, and a handy news feed to keep up with what your friends are reading. There are several platforms to accomodate everyone, including the website, the app for iOS devices, and the Android app. This article provides an overview of how to navigate Goodreads for iOS, along with an explanation of some key features. read more

Linux On Windows Goes Beyond Developers, Reflects On The Future of Microsoft

The Microsoft Build Conference took place a few weeks ago, and as always, it gave us a good glimpse into how Microsoft is shaping up and the ways in which it can entice developers. Let’s face it: Windows 10, in its current state, features only 60-70% of apps people would want — and the problem is compounded further on the phone platform. For the past few years, the reality of so-called universal apps has materialized, though even that still only created minor ripples in the Windows App Store quality. We finally heard of projects which allow for developers to (relatively easily) port over apps they created for the iPhone to Windows last year, along with a similar bridge for Android. This Android bridge was codenamed Project Astoria, and unfortunately was killed off earlier this year (which is quite a shame, as Android apps are far greater, though one could debate the quality of those in either store depending on price or content). read more

Dungeons And Dragons: a How-To For Blind And Low Vision Tabletop Enthusiasts

Have you ever been curious about the mystical world hidden within the realm of Dungeons And Dragons? Have you ever wanted to join your sighted peers on a campaign to, for instance, stop some rogue thieves from getting your treasure in real time? Well come out from behind your keyboard, fellow gamer, because the world of tabletop gaming is now fully accessible to those of us who can’t fill in pen and paper character sheets. The same technology that brought us online multiplayer role playing games, iCloud, Dropbox, and spreadsheets, can now be used to interact in live action tabletop games. This brief guide will show you how to create an accessible character sheet and roll dice other than D6. A potential accessible battle grid is proposed. Additional resources are also provided to help you get acquainted with the world of Dungeons And Dragons. read more

How Secure Is Your Internet Connection? A Review of PIA VPN

If you frequently connect to public Wi-Fi hotspots, it is possible for anyone with the right tools to eavesdrop on your online activity. Perhaps you wish to browse the web without revealing your IP address—which exposes your identity to the world. There’s a solution to all of these potential problems called a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between your connection and a trusted VPN server, so that way when you access the internet, it looks like you’re connecting from a different IP Address. Furthermore, your connection becomes more secure and cannot be easily tracked by malicious hackers.

There are several VPN providers out there. One popular VPN service is called PIA VPN. The best thing about PIA VPN is that it is entirely cross-platform. This means that you have the ability to run it on any operating system you use. PIA also gives you the freedom to connect from several regions, so you don’t have to stick to one particular location.

Would you find aVPN useful? Do you use a different one? Let us know what you think! read more

Aipoly Vision: Artificial Intelligence for Your iDevice Camera

There are several apps out there that can identify an object in front of your camera, as well as its color. Apps like TapTapSee for example, use a conventional method to do this called crowdsourcing. This means that as soon as you take a picture of an object, it is transmitted to a server where it is then analyzed by a group of people. Once they determine what the image represents, the result is instantly sent back to you. This insures that you will almost always get accurate results, but then one drawback to this method is that you usually have to wait a while for your image to be recognized; not to mention that the device you’re sending the image from has to be connected to the internet the entire time. read more

Skip to content