Amazon recently introduced the ability to activate Alexa’s Always Listening Feature on the Tap. This podcast shows you how to activate this feature, mute and unmute the mic, and conserve power by putting the Tap in sleep mode.
Nokia Announces 360° Audio for Cameras and Smart Phones.
Virtual reality has strived to take advantage of 360° video technology, but Nokia believes that 3D audio must also be a part of the experience to make it feel as real as possible. That is why Nokia developed their OZO Audio technology to work with their OZO camera which can not only create 3D images, but thanks to the audio software and 8 built in microphones, it can also record 3D audio.
But wait, you don’t need to run out and buy a OZO camera. Nokia is now offering their OZO Audio technology to anyone who has a camera or smart phone with at least two microphones. The microphones don’t have to be built in to the device. They can be add-ons. Nokia says that the software works best with three or four microphones.
For people who are blind, this is important because, for us, 3D audio is our version of virtual reality.
Warning, there is a 10 to 15 second delay before the video below begins to play.
Cool Picks: March 2, 2017
Join Joel, Jessica and Cool Blind Tech’s newest team member Rachel as they discuss their Cool Picks.
Waverly Labs Develops Universal Translating Ear-Piece.
Each year, Mobile World Congress is held in Barcelona Spain, and it is dominated by the announcement of new phones. However, there are also many other devices that are announced as well, and this year a new universal translator ear-piece is one that stands out.
Waverly Labs has developed wireless earbuds that come in black, white, or red. Much like Air pods, they are independently wireless, and are charged in a separate case. You can use these wireless earbuds in the normal way, but if you also download the Waverly app, the ear-pieces will translate foreign languages. If you are speaking English, and the other person needs to hear Spanish, the app will display your words in Spanish on their phone, and a Text to Speech synthesizer will speak the words in their ear. The reverse is true when they speak to you. The ear-pieces currently run $249 on pre-order, and $299 once they are publicly released. You do not need an ear-piece to hear the translation, but it is much better than hearing it over your phones external speaker. Currently, the app supports English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.
a $20 OCR solution becomes a reality with KNFB Reader for Windows
KNFB Reader has been a household name in text recognition for quite some time now, at least within the community. The original dreams of the Kurzweil solutions was to make KNFB affordable, even though back then it was still exclusively on Nokia phones.
VIP: Live! From the Mobile World Gaming Assistive Tech Convention!
This week the team has way too many conventions to choose from and they all have great assistive technology to talk about. Join Joel, Jessica and Cool Blind Tech’s newest team member Rachel as they discuss the happenings in A.T. Whether this cool Tech shows up in Barcelona, Spain or San Diego, California you can guarantee that the team has an opinion and plenty of techie details.
YouTube Announces Live TV Streaming Service, Offers Unlimited DVR
It seems that chord cutters will soon have another live TV streaming service to choose from. Google has announced their upcoming subscription service called YouTube TV. This service will compete with already existing providers such as sling and DirecTV Now. According to the Official YouTube blog, YouTube TV will offer networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, regional sports networks and much more. Google also promises to include DVR with unlimited storage. The service is expected to roll out soon, with the subscription starting at just $35. This will also include access for up to six accounts.
NeoBraille Display Incorporates Amazon Alexa at CSUN 2017.
Irie-at will be showing off their impressive braille display at this year’s CSUN conference on disability. It is a 32-cell display that automatically scrolls while you read. It has 64GB of internal memory with a 128GB SD card, and it runs on Android Lollypop.
What makes it impressive is it has an AT&T* LTE connection, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. It also comes with the Amazon Alexa voice assistant built in. You can even use it to check your email and make Skype calls. It is currently listed at $4995. If you are visiting the CSUN conference, it is available for viewing at booth 605 in the exhibit hall.
A Quick Demo of Reverb for Android
This short tutorial takes a quick look at Reverb on an Android device, an App that allows you to take the power of Alexa anywhere with you. It is available to download for free on the Play Store.
A Braille Display Mod Could be Coming to the Moto Z.
Ryan Poltermann, of Virginia Beach, has long known that there is a missing piece of technology for those who are blind. When using a smart phone, people can look at their screen and interact with it, but blind people must carry around a bulky braille display that pairs to the phone via Bluetooth. When the initial concept of modular phones was announced about two years ago, Ryan realized that a braille display mod could be the solution for this problem. It is virtually impossible to develop a specialized braille display phone, considering how much it would cost the manufacturer, and how small the target market is. The advantage of modular phones is that they can be customized by the manufacturers and the users to meet the needs of even small groups. Motorola has made it clear that they will continue to back the Moto Z, which is a modular phone. Motorola promises twelve new mods each year for the Moto Z.
Ryan Poltermann is currently running an Indiegogo campaign to raise the money necessary for his Braille Moto Mod. The Braille Moto Mod
Has two versions. The first is a single cell version, which I assume allows the user the ability to purchase the number of cells which is best suited and cost effective. The second version is a multi-cell mod that has up to 110 cells.
It is difficult to know all the details, because Ryan is having to maintain some secrecy since he still has some patent and funding issues to resolve.
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