Blind Bargains

VideoDirect.com has the Olympus DM-4 Digital Voice Recorder for $269.99. With free shipping, it's $40 off our last mention and the lowest price we've seen for this new item. The Dm-4 features a 2.2-inch color LCD display, 8GB of built-in storage, the ability to play and record in MP3, WMA and Wav formats, 29 hours of battery life, and support for Daisy, audible and other books. The DM-4 also features voice guidance, which speaks the device's menus and settings, as well as Nuance Vocalizer text-to-speech for reading TXT and Daisy books. To this point, no NLS support has been included in the unit.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Each week, a bigger prize. Each week, another chance to win. It's your opportunity to win your share of nearly $2,000 in prizes, including some of the hottest products of the year. It's the A T Guys Summer of Prizes. This summer, A T Guys will be giving away a mountain of cool merchandise including gift cards, talking products, useful gadgets, and much more. Each week, the prize will get bigger, and you will have another chance to win. It all leads up to the grand prize, an HTC S743 with a copy of Mobile Speak Adventure and an iBlue GPS receiver, sponsored by A T Guys and Code Factory.

This week's prize is a Kingston 32GB USB Flash Drive

Please check the link on this post for more information and to enter the drawing for week 4. Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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The NFB's Assistive Technology Team has posted audio from two of its sessions during the recent convention in Dallas. During the Apple session, participants gained hands-on experience with several products including iPods and Macbooks. Later, eBay described some of the improvements they are making to increase accessibility to their website and services. Check the link to download either or both of these recordings.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Roughly half of bestselling books available for Amazon's Kindle book reader have text-to-speech functionality disabled, according to an informal survey performed by Blind Bargains. Amazon lists whether TTS is enabled or disabled on the book page for Kindle titles. 6 out of the top 10 titles in Amazon's own bestseller list had speech enabled while a survey of the New York Times' top-selling fiction books gave less favorable results. In addition, Amazon's Kindle 2 has the ability to remotely kill TTS functionality, an option which has already been performed on titles by Random House and other publishers in 2009. Some larger publishing houses including Harper Collins appear to have left that TTS feature intact, however.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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HandyTech is planning to release a new 40-cell braille display based on Active Tactile Controls (ATC). named the Active Braille, the new display employs patented technology which responds to the users touch and position on the display, allowing for gesture-based commands and automatic scrolling. No further information is available, but the new display will be demonstrated at the ATIA Chicago conference at the end of October.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Amazon has announced the pending release of the Kindle 3, a model they are calling more refined and for serious book readers. To be released in August, the new edition includes a battery that will last for up to a month depending on use, and some of the much-wished-for accessibility improvements. These include voice-guided menus and other text-to-speech improvements. A version with wi-fi capabilities will be available for $139, while $189 will get the version with 3G data capabilities. Despite these improvements and a lower price, many in the accessibility field still question Amazon's commitment to full accessibility. A press release from the National Federation of the Blind lauded Amazon for making a real commitment to accessibility. But the NFB's Director of Public Relations Chris Danielsen remains cautiously optomistic. The press release was published based on Amazon's willingness to improve the Kindle and include voice-guided menus. But testing will still need to be performed on the device to see if it includes real accessibility improvements. Rumors have been floating around online about the lack of some basic functionality. Namely, it is unknown whether blind users can enable accessibility in the Kindle 3 without sighted assistance, browse Amazon's Kindle Store using the device, or experience increased navigational options. As for the NFB's position, Danielsen says the organization plans on withholding further comment until the device can be tested in their lab. This response from Amazon's customer service seems to indicate some work still needs to be done.

This issue remains separate from the lack of TTS support from publishers, according to Danielsen. A post on the NFB_voice Twitter account adds, "We are still urging publishers to enable TTS on more books." Update: ACB President Mitch Pomerantz has added his accolades about the improvements in the Kindle 3 but states there's still more work to be done.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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We recently received the new Thermoworks Instant Read Talking Thermometer, and it's time to put it to the test. Listen in as Matt and J.J. describe the unit as well as testing it in boiling water. If you wish to purchase one, Blind Mice Mart has them for $35.95 plus shipping.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Buy.com has OmniPage 17 standard for $62.99. With free shipping, this is the best deal we could find on this program by about $30. Don't let the standard version fool you. It still includes the same highly-accurate OCR engine as its much more expensive pro cousin with 99.9 percent text recognition accuracy.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Without fanfare, Cambium Learning Group has raised the cost of Kurzweil 1000 licenses for 10 users to $7,950. This drastic change has occured due to the elimination of the 10-seat site license, formerly available for $2,895 for up to 10 computers in a single location. Now, those needing multiple licenses must pay $795 per license (minimum of 5) or $995 per license for quantities under 5. We reached out to Cambium's Director of Product Management Roger Steinberg who states the reason for the change was twofold. First, some users were abusing the old system and license terms. In addition, Steinberg said many dealers were requesting a change in pricing structure. In addition to the $5,055 price increase for 10 licenses, it positions the product at nearly $2,000 over a similar license for Freedom Scientific's openBook software. Customers under the old Kurzweil 1000 site license can upgrade to version 12 for $375, but will need to pay per license to upgrade to future versions. Was the old license too cheap, or is this price increase way out of line? Leave your thoughts in the comments.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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TheNerds.net has the Nokia 6700 slide Smartphone for $192.99 plus about $10 for shipping. This phone is one of the latest to be compatible with the KNFB Reader Mobile, making it the cheapest option available for users looking for a compatible phone model. This phone includes a numeric slide-out keypad, 5 megapixel camera, and a Micro SD high-capacity memory card slot. In addition to the KNFB Reader Mobile, it's compatible with Talks and Mobile Speak.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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KNFB Reading Technology has released a free update to the KNFB Reader Mobile. Version 6.4.1 supports two new Nokia handsets, both of which are cheaper than most of the existing models. Both the Nokia C5 and Nokia 6700 Slide include a numeric keypad, though the Slide includes a better 5 megapixel camera compared with the 3.2 megapixel camera on the Nokia C5.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Since the last time we mentioned Groupon, they have added dozens of new cities including many mid-sized areas such as Toledo, Little Rock, and Grand Rapids. Now serving over 80 cities and growing, Groupon offers one deal each day, usually at half off or greater. Deals are available for everything from restaurants to baseball games,. Plus, the site is refreshingly accessible. Each day, visitors are presented or Emailed the Groupon for the day and can purchase it. Since the site is based on collective buying power, a low minimum number of people need to commit to the deal before it is set in stone. Not to worry, though, since this almost always happens. Each deal includes user discussions, so you can get an idea of what others think of the merchant before purchasing. The restrictions and rules for each Groupon are also clearly indicated. If you do a lot of traveling, it may be worth checking out Groupons for cities you will be visiting soon to save some money once you arrive. Follow the link on this post to check out the site, and sign up for their Email newsletter to receive daily coupon offers, which is totally free. Then you too can get your Groupon.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Handy Tech North America has the Olympus DM-4 Digital Voice Recorder for $299. With about $10 for shipping, we weren't able to find a better deal on this item. The Dm-4 features a 2.2-inch color LCD display, 8GB of built-in storage, the ability to play and record in MP3, WMA and Wav formats, 29 hours of battery life, and support for Daisy, audible and other books. The DM-4 also features voice guidance, which speaks the device's menus and settings, as well as Nuance Vocalizer text-to-speech for reading TXT and Daisy books. To this point, no NLS support has been included in the unit.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Not everyone needs a massive hard drive. If that's you, Walmart.com has the Western Digital Elements 120GB Portable Hard Drive for $27.54. It's shipped free to your local store, or pay a buck to send it to your house. This drive is USB-powered and includes a USB cable for connectivity.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Through 10 AM on Tuesday only, ActiveForever.com has the Victor Reader Stream digital book player for $276. To get the deal, use coupon "24hour" to save 20 percentoff. It's the cheapest price we've ever seen for brand new units. These streams are brand new and come with standard accessories. Note: no memory card is included.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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As part of an ongoing process, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has issued a ruling which puts into play new exceptions for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, clarifying many gray areas of the law and making certain practices legal. While the mainstream media will be talking mostly about the legal ability to jailbreak the iPhone, Blind Bargains readers may also be interested in the very last rule which allows for circumventing of restrictions on eBooks. Essentially, screen readers can enable the reading aloud of electronic books without facing copyright restrictions, at least in cases where the publisher does not offer an accessible alternative. Here's the exact wording: Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling either of the book's read-aloud function or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format. This is certainly a big step forward for book readers, though it does not require or compel companies like Amazon to enable this feature for all titles. Via Kotaku Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Today only at our sister site, save $20 off orders at ATGuys.com. This includes products like Mobile Speak, bar code scanners, and Mobile Geo GPS. The iBill is excluded from this sale. The discount is in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Use coupon "ada20" to get the deal.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Today only, AI Squared takes 20 percent off ZoomText for end-users. That's a potential savings of around $120 off the list price. To take advantage of the deal, call 800-859-0270 and mention ADA.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Bookshare is offering free trial memberships to all who have a qualifying disability. The free memberships will include up to 20 downloads for three months. If persons wish to continue their membership, the $25 activation fee is waived. Students already can receive free memberships from Bookshare while in school. Deal ends August 30.Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
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Each week, a bigger prize. Each week, another chance to win. It's your opportunity to win your share of nearly $2,000 in prizes, including some of the hottest products of the year. It's the A T Guys Summer of Prizes. This summer, A T Guys will be giving away a mountain of cool merchandise including gift cards, talking products, useful gadgets, and much more. Each week, the prize will get bigger, and you will have another chance to win. It all leads up to the grand prize, an HTC S743 with a copy of Mobile Speak Adventure and an iBlue GPS receiver, sponsored by A T Guys and Code Factory. This week's prize is a Talking Instant Read Probe Thermometer. Please check the link on this post for more information and to enter the drawing for week 3. Post a commentA T Guys has the KNFB Reader Mobile
Buy with the Nokia N86, and save on Mobile Speak or Talks,. Share: | Twitter, Facebook, del.icio.us, Digg, Yahoo