Showing posts with label PAC Mate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PAC Mate. Show all posts
Monday, October 19
JAWS 11 released
Greetings. Today Freedom Scientific has released the new JAWS version 11 in time for the upcoming release of Windows Seven expected later this week. Check this link for all the details of what's new and, perhaps of more interest to some, what's been improved. Note that when you receive your JAWS 11 on disc, it will be on a DVD that will contain boht the 32 and 64 bit versions of JAWS. When you start the installation process, JAWS will detect what version of Windows you're using and automatically adjust to install that particular version. For instance, if you have a 32 bit version of Windows, then that's what will be installed. Also, since JAWS will now come on a DVD, there's more room to include the Daisy training material, the free copy of FS Reader 2.0, and more. Enjoy.
Tuesday, August 11
FS Reader now free
Greetings. For those interested, Freedom Scientific has announced a change in pricing for their FS Reader program that allows you to read Daisy material on the PAC Mate and PAC Mate Omni machines--in short, it's now free! Read the official press release regarding the free FS Reader. This is a good thing and will allow more people to be able to read Daisy content. Others would theorize why this was done; I won't. I'll just say this: I'm still waiting for a ntoetaker manufacturer to step out and add the ability to read the new NLS digital talking books with their Daisy program. Thus far, no one has done this. When this happens, I think that said company's Daisy program will see it's popularity soar! In the press release above, it is hinted that FS Reader will also be fre with the new JAWS 11 to be released later this year, and also for demonstration versions of JAWS. This is a good thing for students or those who may not have the funds to purchase a full license of JAWS. Enjoy.
Friday, July 3
Using your PAC Mate as a Jaws Authorization
Greetings. I received the following information via an email list. I posted this, or something similar to it, back in 2005 but it's probably time for a reset. I'm not certain, but I believe this works best if you're using PAC Mate versions before the Omni. I believe you can accomplish the same thing with the Omni, but have to use a Bluetooth connection. Not sure on that though. Perhaps someone can post a reply with those steps. Anyway, enjoy.
***
Did you know that if you own a PAC Mate you also own a copy of Jaws for
the PC? Your PAC Mate acts as an authorization. This is something not a
lot of people are aware of but there are times when it can come in
handy. The option is called "Active Sync Remote PAC Mate". Not only does
it allow you to use Jaws on a PC but it also allows you to use the
keyboard and c display from the PAC Mate to control the PC.
The following steps will get you started:
1. Install Jaws. You must use a version later than 6.2 for this to work
properly. You don't need to activate the Jaws but you can if you wish
to.
2. Establish an active sync session between the PC and the PAC Mate.
3. From ere there are 2 ways to go. There is a program included with
Jaws called Pac Mate Desktop. This needs to be running before this will
work. You can run this directly from the Start Menu, Programs, JawsX [X
being the version of Jaws you have installed], tools, PAC Mate Desktop.
If you want this program to automatically start when your computer does
then you need to start Jaws. Press JawsKey J to move to either the Jaws
window or the Context menu. Go to the Options menu, locate Basics and
press enter. Tab until you hear "automatically start PAC Mate Desktop"
and make sure the check box is checked. Press Enter to exit the Basics
dialog. Now exit Jaws.
4. Your PAC Mate has a built in command for starting Jaws. Note that if
you don't do it this way Jaws will not recognize the PAC Mate as an
Authorization. To start Jaws press Insert Shift F4 on the QX. Press
DOTS 1-2-7-8 CHORD, D or DOTS 1-5-7-8 CHORD, D. Your PAC Mate will say
"PAC Mate remote mode on" and Jaws will start. You now have control of
your PC through the PAC Mate and a fully authorized Jaws.
If you wish to use the PAC Mate functions you can turn off the Remote
Mode with the same keystrokes you turned it on with. This will not shut
down Jaws on the PC and you can still use Jaws with the PC keyboard.
To stop working in remote mode, press Insert F4 on the PAC Mate if you
have the QX. If you have the BX press DOTS 1-2-8 CHORD, D or DOTS 1-5-8
CHORD, D. You will hear "Do you really want to quit JAWS? Press Enter to
quit now or Escape to cancel." Press ENTER to unload JAWS from the PC
and the PAC Mate returns to normal mode.
Note that because the BX does not have many of the keys necessary to
control a PC alternatives have been set up. See your PAC Mate BX
documentation for more details.
***
Did you know that if you own a PAC Mate you also own a copy of Jaws for
the PC? Your PAC Mate acts as an authorization. This is something not a
lot of people are aware of but there are times when it can come in
handy. The option is called "Active Sync Remote PAC Mate". Not only does
it allow you to use Jaws on a PC but it also allows you to use the
keyboard and c display from the PAC Mate to control the PC.
The following steps will get you started:
1. Install Jaws. You must use a version later than 6.2 for this to work
properly. You don't need to activate the Jaws but you can if you wish
to.
2. Establish an active sync session between the PC and the PAC Mate.
3. From ere there are 2 ways to go. There is a program included with
Jaws called Pac Mate Desktop. This needs to be running before this will
work. You can run this directly from the Start Menu, Programs, JawsX [X
being the version of Jaws you have installed], tools, PAC Mate Desktop.
If you want this program to automatically start when your computer does
then you need to start Jaws. Press JawsKey J to move to either the Jaws
window or the Context menu. Go to the Options menu, locate Basics and
press enter. Tab until you hear "automatically start PAC Mate Desktop"
and make sure the check box is checked. Press Enter to exit the Basics
dialog. Now exit Jaws.
4. Your PAC Mate has a built in command for starting Jaws. Note that if
you don't do it this way Jaws will not recognize the PAC Mate as an
Authorization. To start Jaws press Insert Shift F4 on the QX. Press
DOTS 1-2-7-8 CHORD, D or DOTS 1-5-7-8 CHORD, D. Your PAC Mate will say
"PAC Mate remote mode on" and Jaws will start. You now have control of
your PC through the PAC Mate and a fully authorized Jaws.
If you wish to use the PAC Mate functions you can turn off the Remote
Mode with the same keystrokes you turned it on with. This will not shut
down Jaws on the PC and you can still use Jaws with the PC keyboard.
To stop working in remote mode, press Insert F4 on the PAC Mate if you
have the QX. If you have the BX press DOTS 1-2-8 CHORD, D or DOTS 1-5-8
CHORD, D. You will hear "Do you really want to quit JAWS? Press Enter to
quit now or Escape to cancel." Press ENTER to unload JAWS from the PC
and the PAC Mate returns to normal mode.
Note that because the BX does not have many of the keys necessary to
control a PC alternatives have been set up. See your PAC Mate BX
documentation for more details.
Tuesday, March 10
Thoughts on Street Talk version 2
Greetings. I learned from reading the daily deals from the Blind Bargains site today, that Freedom Scientific is poised to release the next version of street Talk for the PAC Mate. It will be called Street Talk VIP and the you can read all about it from the link above.
While I'm pleased that they're finally going to release the long awaited Street Talk version 2, even though that's not what they're calling it, there are several things of note here. First, it's not called Street Talk version 2. Since the PAC Mate went to the Omni, all we heard from FS is that they were "working on the next version of Street Talk." However, this grows even more curious and interesting when you consider where they went with Street Talk. If you read the Blind Bargains post carefully, you se that FS has adopted the Sendero GPS program model and pricing for their GPS solution. Why is this significant? For the longest time, what differed Street Talk and the Sendero Group GPS solution, among other things, was the price. Street Talk 1 was around $600 for the full package, of hardware GPS, Street Talk 1.0 software, and appropriate connection cards for the PAC Mate. Verses the varying cost of the sendero GPS product, which usually ends up being around $1,500, which included their GPS software and minimum specs on storage cards and connection. Since I've never invested in either of these solutions, my quoting of what they include might be slightly off. However, the fact remains that FS was charging less than half of what the Sendero Group was charging for similar GPS software. If you look at all of the products that use the Sendero GPS software, such as the Braille Note line, the Voice Sense and Sense Nav products, and others, they tend to revolve around the $1,500 pricing point. Why so expensive? From what I've heard, it's due to the extremely accurate GPS data and that these programs are customized for the blind user. Street Talk was customized for the blind user, but only in the since that the Street Talk software itself was customized for the blind PAC Mate user. The other parts of the Street Talk package, including the off the shelf Destinator software that also ran with Street Talk, were just that--off the shelf. In other words, they were what any normal sighted geek would use on their mobile device. Okay, perhaps the mobile device of the sighted geek didn't use an older version of Destinator, but they did use the same software in that regard as blind folk with their PAC Mates. Now though, that's not the case.
I can't help but wonder why FS chose to go in this direction of going for one of the "blind oriented" GPS packages, rather than continuing to innovate with Street Talk. We may never know, at least not publicly, but I would like to ask an FS rep this question,along with the following: is this a sign of things to come? Are you going to move more toward what the other GPS packages and related note takers for the blind on the market are doing, such as with the Braille Note and Voice Sense, in that they are in a closed operating system? This could be a sign of things to come, or, it could just be a small piece in the over all FS product catelog. Either way, it's an interesting move. I'm sure that they will promote the new Street Talk VIP heavily over the next few months, at CSUN and the summer convensions, and at the other trade shows they go to throughout the rest of the year. I can't help but return to that initial question though of "Why the switch to the Sendero Group products?" Time will tell I suppose.
While I'm pleased that they're finally going to release the long awaited Street Talk version 2, even though that's not what they're calling it, there are several things of note here. First, it's not called Street Talk version 2. Since the PAC Mate went to the Omni, all we heard from FS is that they were "working on the next version of Street Talk." However, this grows even more curious and interesting when you consider where they went with Street Talk. If you read the Blind Bargains post carefully, you se that FS has adopted the Sendero GPS program model and pricing for their GPS solution. Why is this significant? For the longest time, what differed Street Talk and the Sendero Group GPS solution, among other things, was the price. Street Talk 1 was around $600 for the full package, of hardware GPS, Street Talk 1.0 software, and appropriate connection cards for the PAC Mate. Verses the varying cost of the sendero GPS product, which usually ends up being around $1,500, which included their GPS software and minimum specs on storage cards and connection. Since I've never invested in either of these solutions, my quoting of what they include might be slightly off. However, the fact remains that FS was charging less than half of what the Sendero Group was charging for similar GPS software. If you look at all of the products that use the Sendero GPS software, such as the Braille Note line, the Voice Sense and Sense Nav products, and others, they tend to revolve around the $1,500 pricing point. Why so expensive? From what I've heard, it's due to the extremely accurate GPS data and that these programs are customized for the blind user. Street Talk was customized for the blind user, but only in the since that the Street Talk software itself was customized for the blind PAC Mate user. The other parts of the Street Talk package, including the off the shelf Destinator software that also ran with Street Talk, were just that--off the shelf. In other words, they were what any normal sighted geek would use on their mobile device. Okay, perhaps the mobile device of the sighted geek didn't use an older version of Destinator, but they did use the same software in that regard as blind folk with their PAC Mates. Now though, that's not the case.
I can't help but wonder why FS chose to go in this direction of going for one of the "blind oriented" GPS packages, rather than continuing to innovate with Street Talk. We may never know, at least not publicly, but I would like to ask an FS rep this question,along with the following: is this a sign of things to come? Are you going to move more toward what the other GPS packages and related note takers for the blind on the market are doing, such as with the Braille Note and Voice Sense, in that they are in a closed operating system? This could be a sign of things to come, or, it could just be a small piece in the over all FS product catelog. Either way, it's an interesting move. I'm sure that they will promote the new Street Talk VIP heavily over the next few months, at CSUN and the summer convensions, and at the other trade shows they go to throughout the rest of the year. I can't help but return to that initial question though of "Why the switch to the Sendero Group products?" Time will tell I suppose.
Saturday, February 28
PAC Mate Omni and YouTube
Greetings. I came across this tidbit for the PAC Mate Omni in my Inbox and thought it might be worht putting here. I haven't tried this myself. This is taken from an email to the Gui-Talk discussion list, one of many lists run through the NFB Net list serve. Links are provided where appropriate. Enjoy.
***
Yes! You can access YouTube videos using a Pac mate Omni. This is the
first Blindness Note Taker that will support this using off the shelf
programs available to any Windows Mobile user. There are 2 programs you
need to install. Both are completely free. Please note: I do not know if
this will work on Pac Mate 4.1 or earlier. I have only tested this on
Omni with the 6.2 upgrade.
To listen to YouTube content on your pack mate download the following
files:
http://www.pacmategear.com/files/tcpmp-pacmate.cab
http://www.pacmategear.com/files/flashvideo-pacmate.cab
Copy these files to your Pac mate either directly Via USB or onto a
flash card and install them. Once they're installed you should do a warm
reset of the Pac Mate.
Your start menu now has a new item: Video Sites. Launch this and select
YouTube from the list.
To play a video press enter on the link. You will be given several
choices. Press enter on Play Video. When the download is complete TCPMP
will launch and you should start hearing audio. If you don't try
pressing enter to start playback.
***
Yes! You can access YouTube videos using a Pac mate Omni. This is the
first Blindness Note Taker that will support this using off the shelf
programs available to any Windows Mobile user. There are 2 programs you
need to install. Both are completely free. Please note: I do not know if
this will work on Pac Mate 4.1 or earlier. I have only tested this on
Omni with the 6.2 upgrade.
To listen to YouTube content on your pack mate download the following
files:
http://www.pacmategear.com/files/tcpmp-pacmate.cab
http://www.pacmategear.com/files/flashvideo-pacmate.cab
Copy these files to your Pac mate either directly Via USB or onto a
flash card and install them. Once they're installed you should do a warm
reset of the Pac Mate.
Your start menu now has a new item: Video Sites. Launch this and select
YouTube from the list.
To play a video press enter on the link. You will be given several
choices. Press enter on Play Video. When the download is complete TCPMP
will launch and you should start hearing audio. If you don't try
pressing enter to start playback.
Saturday, January 17
Omni 6.2 maintenance release
Greetings. For those that have the PAC Mate Omni from Freedom Scientific, you might be interested to know that a maintenance release was put out a couple of days ago. This is not a major release, just some bug fixes and other small enhancements. If none of the following fixes/enhancements offer anything to you, then you can probably skip this one. The issues addressed are as follows:
• Added support for new non-PCL based HP printers.
View a list of compatible printers.
• Corrected an issue with Printing documents from FSEdit using a Bluetooth equipped printer.
• Added the ability to emboss via the infrared port.
• Corrected an intermittent problem where the PAC Mate would not always turn on after being left off for a period of time.
• Continued refinements and enhancements of global contracted braille entry and Unified English Braille Code (UEBC) support.
To download the update and read other related information, then visit this page to get the Omni 6.2 maintenance release. Enjoy.
• Added support for new non-PCL based HP printers.
View a list of compatible printers.
• Corrected an issue with Printing documents from FSEdit using a Bluetooth equipped printer.
• Added the ability to emboss via the infrared port.
• Corrected an intermittent problem where the PAC Mate would not always turn on after being left off for a period of time.
• Continued refinements and enhancements of global contracted braille entry and Unified English Braille Code (UEBC) support.
To download the update and read other related information, then visit this page to get the Omni 6.2 maintenance release. Enjoy.
Monday, August 4
Omni 6.1 released
Greetings. freedom scientific today released version 6.1 for the PAC Mate Omni. This link provides an overview of the new features and instructions on how to download and install the update. Enjoy.
Saturday, August 2
Omni 6.1 preview
Greetings. To those that attended any of the summer conventions and went to Freedom Scientific's PAC Mate presentation, the following news may not be news to you. To everyone else, the July 2008 edition of FS Cast, from Freedom Scientific, has Jonathan Mosen going over the new features and enhancements in PAC Mate version 6.1 for the Omni. Among the many enhancements and interesting items is the following:
* Support for entering contracted or uncontracted Braille in more places than ever before, wehther you're using a BX or QX.
* Data retension when performing an upgrade/update, ensuring that none of your data, installed programs, or other settings will be lost during the update process. (This alone is worth its weight in gold to me).
* Support for many more of the Quick Keys available on the web with JAWS, something that has needed to be done for a long time.
* Ability to read PDF files on the Omni. Granted, you have to get a third party program in order to do this, but there is indeed support for opening PDF's, which makes the PM the first note taker in another category.
* And more.
The 6.1 update is not out yet, but watch the FS site. I'll put a link to it when it does come out. The link above is the direct link to the MP3 file, which you can listen to in the browser or download. Jonathan demonstrates in the podcast all of the things I mentioned above. Enjoy.
* Support for entering contracted or uncontracted Braille in more places than ever before, wehther you're using a BX or QX.
* Data retension when performing an upgrade/update, ensuring that none of your data, installed programs, or other settings will be lost during the update process. (This alone is worth its weight in gold to me).
* Support for many more of the Quick Keys available on the web with JAWS, something that has needed to be done for a long time.
* Ability to read PDF files on the Omni. Granted, you have to get a third party program in order to do this, but there is indeed support for opening PDF's, which makes the PM the first note taker in another category.
* And more.
The 6.1 update is not out yet, but watch the FS site. I'll put a link to it when it does come out. The link above is the direct link to the MP3 file, which you can listen to in the browser or download. Jonathan demonstrates in the podcast all of the things I mentioned above. Enjoy.
Tuesday, May 13
Another trade-in program from FS
Greetings. I just read of another trade-in program for current HumanWare customers to obtain a new Pac Mate Omni, until October 31. Read more from Freedom Scientific on the official press release. At first glance, it looks like the prices being offered are better than the last trade-in program prices they offered nearly two years ago.
Personally, and this is just speculation, they may just be offering this trade-in opportunity out of the goodness of their hearts. However, again simply speculating here, I'm inclined to think that if they're giving an opportunity to trade in at reduced cost for a PM Omni, then there may be something juicy coming down the line for the Omni, perhaps in the convention season. Time will tell. As if having an Omni wasn't enough of an insentive, you also have this speculation to consider. So what are you waiting for? Trade in that old outdated BrailleNote for a brand new, versitile and Windows-like Pac Mate Omni! If you need more convincing, consider the fact that you don't lose any data if the battery runs down to 0, or if you perform a hard reset. Also, consider the words of a former BrailleNote user, Jonathan Mosen, as quoted in the press release link above.
Personally, and this is just speculation, they may just be offering this trade-in opportunity out of the goodness of their hearts. However, again simply speculating here, I'm inclined to think that if they're giving an opportunity to trade in at reduced cost for a PM Omni, then there may be something juicy coming down the line for the Omni, perhaps in the convention season. Time will tell. As if having an Omni wasn't enough of an insentive, you also have this speculation to consider. So what are you waiting for? Trade in that old outdated BrailleNote for a brand new, versitile and Windows-like Pac Mate Omni! If you need more convincing, consider the fact that you don't lose any data if the battery runs down to 0, or if you perform a hard reset. Also, consider the words of a former BrailleNote user, Jonathan Mosen, as quoted in the press release link above.
Thursday, January 3
PAC Mate documentation
Greetings. While browsing the Freedom Scientific site today, I came across their documentation page. Typically, I don't spend too much time on documentation pages, unless I really need help or if a product/upgrade is coming out that I want to read about. I found the documentation for the PM Omni. The Omni docs aren't that much different from the prior PM version 4, but there are some differences which you will want to be aware of. If you're anxiously awaiting your Omni from FS or want to do some reading, or want to read about any of the other PM related software/hardware (Braille display, Street Talk, deaf blind solutions, etc), then check the following pages out. Enjoy and happy reading.
FS PM related documentation page:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/doc_accessiblepda.asp
What's New in Omni:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
QX HTML user guide:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
QX user guide in self-extracting zip file:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
BX HTML user guide:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
BX user guide in self-extracting zip file:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
FS PM related documentation page:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/doc_accessiblepda.asp
What's New in Omni:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
QX HTML user guide:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
QX user guide in self-extracting zip file:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
BX HTML user guide:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
BX user guide in self-extracting zip file:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/PACMATE-HQ/BulletinSearchOnly.cfm
Tuesday, December 18
PM Omni released!
Greetings. For those faithful PAC Mate users who have been patiently, or perhaps not so patiently, waiting for the Omni to be released--your wait is over, partially. Freedom Scientific has officially released the PAC Mate Omni today. On this page, you will find a what's new link with much of the information that we've been told up until now. You will also find information on how the upgrade process will be handled, including sending your unit in for the upgrade. Remember that this is both a hardware and software upgrade, so it will be necessary to send your unit in. Since the Omni has been highly anticipated, I'd recommend filling out the upgrade form to send your unit in, as soon as possible. Also, make sure your hardware/software agreements are up to date. Prices range from $299 (if your agreements are up to date) to $699 (if you have no current agreements). Refer to the link above for more details. When filling out the form, FS promises to get back to you within one business day, so be sure you provide them with a valid email address.
Note that it will be possible to send your unit to FS in plenty of time before the date you receive back from them in the email. If you miss this date, it will make your wait longer, and in essence take you out of the order, or of line, and you will have to wait a longer time after many others have their units upgraded. In other words, save yourself the time and trouble by sending your PM in within a reasonable amount of time before the date it will be upgraded. I'd recommend at least a week before so you can ensure enough leadway.
Though it will be hard to be without my beloved note taker, it will be worth the upgrade. Also, it looks like there's a great effort to have the unit back to the user in as short amount of time as possible, which is good. When I filled out the form, I chose to have my unit sent back via 2 day UPS Ground, which had a nominal cost with it. There was an over night/one day option, but that was too expensive. The default is 3 day UPS Ground. Any way you choose, you'll have it back within probably 10 to 14 days or so from when you send it to Florida, which again is good. Enjoy, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Note that it will be possible to send your unit to FS in plenty of time before the date you receive back from them in the email. If you miss this date, it will make your wait longer, and in essence take you out of the order, or of line, and you will have to wait a longer time after many others have their units upgraded. In other words, save yourself the time and trouble by sending your PM in within a reasonable amount of time before the date it will be upgraded. I'd recommend at least a week before so you can ensure enough leadway.
Though it will be hard to be without my beloved note taker, it will be worth the upgrade. Also, it looks like there's a great effort to have the unit back to the user in as short amount of time as possible, which is good. When I filled out the form, I chose to have my unit sent back via 2 day UPS Ground, which had a nominal cost with it. There was an over night/one day option, but that was too expensive. The default is 3 day UPS Ground. Any way you choose, you'll have it back within probably 10 to 14 days or so from when you send it to Florida, which again is good. Enjoy, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thursday, November 22
Thanksgiving message and PM update
Greetings. First off, happy Thanksgiving to all. Its nice that we have this day to be thankful, however, may we always be thankful throughout the year and not just on the forth Thursday in November.
As for the PM update: no, its not the big one, the Omni. For whatever reason, I just now came across the update that was posted last week. So, if you have not done so yet, then click here to read about the PAC Mate Battery Driver and Firmware Update. This is available for all BX and QX units, and can be installed either through Active Sync or by using a compact flash card. According to the information on the page, this update is offered to maximize the battery life and is recommended for everyone, whether or not you plan on getting the Omni when it comes out.
I find this update's timing of particular interest. According to the What's New in JAWS 9 audio file that Freedom Scientific put out not long ago, the Omni would be released not long after the JAWS 9.0 version was officially released. So, since JAWS 9 is out, and since we have this battery/firmware update, I'm inclined to think that the Omni isn't that far away; perhaps in the next few weeks before Christmas. I've said it before in other posts, but what a wonderful Christmas present: a totally new and upgraded PAC Mate! Enjoy, happy Thanksgiving, and hook 'em Horns!
As for the PM update: no, its not the big one, the Omni. For whatever reason, I just now came across the update that was posted last week. So, if you have not done so yet, then click here to read about the PAC Mate Battery Driver and Firmware Update. This is available for all BX and QX units, and can be installed either through Active Sync or by using a compact flash card. According to the information on the page, this update is offered to maximize the battery life and is recommended for everyone, whether or not you plan on getting the Omni when it comes out.
I find this update's timing of particular interest. According to the What's New in JAWS 9 audio file that Freedom Scientific put out not long ago, the Omni would be released not long after the JAWS 9.0 version was officially released. So, since JAWS 9 is out, and since we have this battery/firmware update, I'm inclined to think that the Omni isn't that far away; perhaps in the next few weeks before Christmas. I've said it before in other posts, but what a wonderful Christmas present: a totally new and upgraded PAC Mate! Enjoy, happy Thanksgiving, and hook 'em Horns!
Tuesday, November 6
What's New for JAWS 9.0
Greetings. For those interested, Freedom Scientific has posted an audio recording nearly 45 minutes long on What's New in JAWS 9.0. This is simply a short recount on the highlights of JAWS 9 and a few demonstrations on what it can now do. One of the tidbits thrown in was the release of JAWS 9, and of the PAC Mate Omni. JAWS 9 will be released, according to this recording, around the middle of November, and the Omni likely shortly after that. Either way, look for some good software/hardware updates from Freedom in the next 30 days or so. This link comes from the current "What's New" page for the JAWS 9 public beta cycle. Enjoy.
Tuesday, August 7
PM Omni news
Greetings. Here's a couple of items relating to the upcoming PAC Mate Omni release. First, Jonathan Mosen was on the Tech Talk Internet broadcast from Accessible World on July 30 to demonstrate and talk about the new PM Omni. Download the PM Omni demonstration and Q&A from Tech Talk. In the July 2007 monthly edition of the Freedom Scientific podcast, Jonathan takes the Omni through its paces and explores many parts of this upgraded machine. Click here to download the July FS Cast on the PAC Mate Omni. Both of these programs are around the same length, at about 90 minutes. Enjoy.
Sunday, July 8
The PAC Mate Omni
Greetings. After long last, an upgrade for the PAC Mate is coming. It was officially announced this past week at the National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the Blind conventions. For those that missed the convention or announcement, or want more details, then check out the PAC Mate Omni press release. As a PAC Mate user, I'm grately looking forward to this upgrade. Though I hate to be apart from my technology I rely upon, I'll gladly send my unit in if they're going to perform this sort of upgrading to it. In case you're interested, it would be a good thing to do any maintenance or repairs to your unit before the new version comes out. FS in fact said that they won't do any upgrading if your unit is not working perfectly. Also, the pricing structure that FS has announced is pretty great too; think of it, paying from only $299 to $699 for an upgrade like this. That sounds a lot better than the nearly $2,000 that HumanWare was charging a few years ago when they introduced the BrailleNote mPowers. Since my hardware and software agreements are up to date, I'll only pay $299 for this upgrade. As the date gets closer, Freedom Scientific will announce other details about how the upgrade process will work, as well as other enhancements to the PAC Mate. For now though let's enjoy the moment and the news.
Tuesday, August 8
PAC Mate 4.1 Released
Greetings. If you have a PAC Mate with version 4.0, the free PAC Mate 4.1 Update came out yesterday. This update was mainly put out to fix some reported problems with FS Edit in terms of saving files. Its good to see FS fix problems like this right away, instead of pushing the fixes back to the next update or upgrade. Version 4.1 also introduces some new minor features, such as giving the PAC Mate Help the appearance of big JAWS help. In other words, you can use JAWS Key+W for Windows related help, and JAWS Key+H for PM specific hotkey help. Read more about the update on the page above. Note that if you don't have a compact flash card, you can get the update from Freedom Scientific for a slight fee. So, if you don't have one yet for some reason, I'd advise getting a compact flash card for updating your unit, as well as for storing files and other things on. A card between 16-512 megabytes is recommended. I've heard of problems where people with a 1 gig card or larger were not able to update their units, for whatever reason. Enjoy.
Thursday, March 30
PM 4.0 Released
Greetings. This was actually released yesterday, but I first heard about it from a coworker this morning, so I am just now getting around to posting it here.
PAC Mate version 4.0 has been released. Read about the new features/fixes here. I've only just downloaded it myself, haven't yet installed it, but from the list of new features and fixes, it looks like a great release. At first glance, I'm extremely glad they're listing the fixes as well as the new features. I'm not sure why they didn't before, since JAWS releases always did. They are now though, and that's what counts. Other things that jump out at me include: the ability to have 2 FS Edit documents open at once; the enhancements to FS Edit in general, especially opening and saving files; and the built in check register template in Pocket Excel. I did speak with a tech support person this afternoon about the check register, asking him if credit and debit cards were accounted for, as well as written checks, and he said they were not in this release. He did suggest that I email Freedom Scientific and let them know of my ideas, which I have done. I dont' know about others, but I'm at a point in my life where I make more purchases with my debit card than I do actually writing checks. I could probably count on one hand the number of places I still write checks to. Anyway, this looks like a very promising program. And, you can save it to the flash disk or storage card, which pleases me greatly.
For more on the features/fixes in this release, refer to the link above. Enjoy. I'll write back later about anything else that jumps out at me. By that point, I'll have had some time with the new release. Rest assured, I'll go to work tomorrow with version 4 on my PM!
PAC Mate version 4.0 has been released. Read about the new features/fixes here. I've only just downloaded it myself, haven't yet installed it, but from the list of new features and fixes, it looks like a great release. At first glance, I'm extremely glad they're listing the fixes as well as the new features. I'm not sure why they didn't before, since JAWS releases always did. They are now though, and that's what counts. Other things that jump out at me include: the ability to have 2 FS Edit documents open at once; the enhancements to FS Edit in general, especially opening and saving files; and the built in check register template in Pocket Excel. I did speak with a tech support person this afternoon about the check register, asking him if credit and debit cards were accounted for, as well as written checks, and he said they were not in this release. He did suggest that I email Freedom Scientific and let them know of my ideas, which I have done. I dont' know about others, but I'm at a point in my life where I make more purchases with my debit card than I do actually writing checks. I could probably count on one hand the number of places I still write checks to. Anyway, this looks like a very promising program. And, you can save it to the flash disk or storage card, which pleases me greatly.
For more on the features/fixes in this release, refer to the link above. Enjoy. I'll write back later about anything else that jumps out at me. By that point, I'll have had some time with the new release. Rest assured, I'll go to work tomorrow with version 4 on my PM!
Tuesday, July 19
PM Vs. mPower: a biased, but comprehensive, review
I welcome any comments, positive or otherwise, on the following review.
On Thursday July 14, I saw the BrailleNote mPower. A sales representative from HumanWare, who shall be nameless, came to my workplace to promote this newest product in the BN line. Note that when I say "BN", I'm referring to the BrailleNote. I've tried to refer to the mPower by name when I talk about it, but "BN," might also mean mPower. I have several thoughts on this product and on what the representative said. This is one of the longer posts that I have done, so get comfortable with your favorite beverage, and let's get started.
First off, let me say this: its about time the BN caught up to the PAC Mate (PM). The new mPower has many things that the PM has had for quite awhile, such as a USB port, stereo sound when wearing headphones, streaming audio, a built-in microphone and the ability to make recordings, and more. The major hardware differences that the mPower has added are extra USB ports, an SD card slot, and built in Bluetooth. However, the Bluetooth isn't that big of a deal since a PM user can buy a Bluetooth card to go in one of the two compact flash slots.
Software differences are not as long, but there are some notable ones, such as: an X-scale processor, which improves the speed of activities within the mPower, 128MB of internal storage area (the PM has only 10.5MB), and several minor differences in menu structure.
As I said before though, the PM has had many of these things for quite some time. And, what it doesn't have, I'm certain Freedom Scientific either has or is looking into implementing. Though, before anyone writes me on this, I have no inside information on any PM development, as much as I wish I did. What I do know is that FS does buy at least one of every kind of note taker when the said device comes out, in order to evaluate what the competition has that the PM doesn't have.
I'm going to break this entry down into sections, with my comments and the representative's comments sprinkled throughout.
Open or closed. As many may or may not know, the PM has an open, Windows style interface and the BN family has a closed, custom design system. The open interface means that you can add, if you wish, third party applications and programs. Verses the closed system where you can't add anything, even if you wanted to; you're stuck with the system you use. The representative came back several times to the fact that it has to do with design, interface and marketing. He said that their products are marketed so that a second grader can sit down and start using the device immediately, with minimal instruction. The downside of this is that you cannot add third party applications, which is a huge selling point to the PAC Mate, in my opinion. Sure, the programs you add may or may not work, but the fact is, you can add them to see if they do work. And many times, JAWS can be scripted to work with the new program. At one point, I even asked him, "But what you're really saying to someone is, 'You have to conform to our interface'." At which he said, after a short pause, "You're right."
The representative said that the major groups that purchase BN's are in education related fields, such as teachers and students, of many different backgrounds. When I asked him about adding third party applications, I mentioned things like a freeware thesaurus or dictionary. He asked me how well this dictionary or thesaurus might work, and what the person would do if the program is not supported by HumanWare. He pointed out that he cannot sell a product that runs programs which are not supported. I responded with, "But if it doesn't work, just uninstall it and try something else." He said that he could not do that; that it goes against his design principles and marketing, of selling products that may or may not work with programs. This point came up again and again in our discussions.
Infra-Red (IR) control. Both the PM and BN have an IR port on them, however there are differences in how they use them. The PM allows you to beam to and from the IR port, files, contacts, appointments, or other things. Both the PM and BN allow you to use your cell phone as a modem and use the IR port as a wireless connection. However, on the BN side, this is the only thing that they have done with their IR port. I sited, as an example, the FS Commander remote control program that Freedom Scientific has developed for the PM, in which you can program in various remote controls into your PM. So you can sit on your couch and only use one device, instead of several, or so you can control your stereo, or any device that receives IR beams. The representative said that this kind of program would not sell as well in the educational market. For whatever reason, he kept coming back to this point in our discussion, even when we had moved on to other things. I'm not sure what he was trying to communicate by doing this. I suppose he was saying that they couldn't develop third party programs like FS Commander and effectively distribute them, given the education sector they mainly sell to. However, when I countered with the fact that they could open their system up to dictionaries or thesauruses, the question of how usable they would be on the BN was constantly brought up. Anyway, the point is, the PM can interface with an unlimited number of things with its IR port, whereas the BN can only interface with a cell phone. I asked him if other programs or devices would or could be made to work with the BN with its IR port, and truthfully, he never answered the question. He danced around it and eventually came back to why FS would develop a remote control program and the fact that HumanWare couldn't sell that kind of program to their market audience.
BN and Maestro. I'm sure many people by now know that PulseData HumanWare and VisuAide merged in early 2005. HumanWare Canada (formerly VisuAide), manufacture, market, and sell the Maestro Hand held Organizer, which is an off the shelf PDA that has been made accessible, but which gives access to off the shelf programs in a Pocket PC environment. The question has been asked many times, by myself and others in the blindness field, including people inside HumanWare I'm sure, of which product will stay and which will go. Or, if HumanWare will keep and continue to develop both. I asked the representative about this, prefacing that many companies have only one product line for a given type of product. They may have several different models or kinds of that product, but they only have one product. Like Freedom Scientific's screen reader is JAWS. Anyway, he made clear that he was only a sales representative and not in upper management. However, he basically said he didn't know. He gave the company line of, "We'll continue to develop and sell both products." However, he also said, keeping in mind that he was speaking personally here and not in any affiliation with HumanWare, that he would like to see them drop Maestro and only support the BN line. He said that if someone wants a speech only note taker, that they could buy one of the classic models of VoiceNotes, which have recently been lowered to about the price of a new Maestro. Again, this was him speaking personally only.
We did get into an interesting talk about the kind of note taker that Maestro is, verses the BN or PM. He said, again, in his words and paraphrasing, who would want to use a note taker with limited note taking ability, such as the Maestro. He said that you can only keep track of phone numbers, addresses, and other small things on there. That the Maestro's interface is such that prolonged text input is troublesome, since you can enter in braille, but you have to enter each dot one at a time and then hit a confirm button. And, that this wasn't meant for taking notes for a long period of time. I mentioned that this is how many mainstream PDA's are though, that they are not meant for prolonged note taking, like the Palm Pilot or other Pocket PC PDA's. I even went so far as to suggest that we as blind people might actually be spoiled, since we have had real note taking devices for many years, dating as far back as the Braille Lite and Braille N' Speak. He didn't really have any comment on this, except to return to his comment that he would rather spend $1300 on a new VoiceNote, than $1300 on a new Maestro, if only for its note taking ability.
Interface. This section may tie in more with the closed operating system, but bare with me. The PM interface allows someone to learn how to use the PM, Windows, and a stripped down version of JAWS. Whereas, the BN interface is very simple, designed specifically for a blind user, in that to create a document, you bring up the Word Processor menu. Its literally that simple. And, for those that may not be familiar with Windows, even though Windows is everywhere and one will have to be familiar with it to get anywhere in this world (in my humble opinion), I can see how a simplified interface might be helpful. However, and this goes back to the operating system, with a simple interface, you limit yourself in what you can do. I brought this up to the representative, with respect to adding other applications. He came back to the support of those applications, and that this is not what HumanWare was about: selling a product that didn't support applications. He went on to comment on the interface and say that certain keystrokes on the Braille oriented (Perkins) PM, were inconsistencies. That the Braille chords used didn't make sense, like L-chord to go to the top of a file. He said that instead of using this, someone could use T-chord, for top of file, etc. I then responded with, "Well, to be fair, on the BN QT (QWERTY or computer style keyboard model), the keystrokes are not consistent either. You press one keystroke to delete one way and another to delete another." He agreed, for what its worth. He said that the QWERTY keystrokes should be written better, but probably won't be since they don't sell a lot of QT units. I then asked him, "So, since you don't sell a lot of QT units, you're not going to rewrite the keystrokes?" His answer, "I didn't say that."
Upgrading. With regards to upgrading a BN that you already have, to a new mPower, the representative said that it would cost $1,995 to upgrade, which involves sending your old BN in, and them switching the display from the old unit to a new mPower, and then returning it to you. He said that the new VoiceNote mPower costs $1,995, so in a sense, people would be buying a VoiceNote mPower with a display. I said that, though I was sure that they would sell a lot of upgrades and mPower's themselves, what about the average user who may not have the $2,000 just laying around for the upgrade. He never really gave a definite answer on this, except to say that given the blind market, there will always be those who can't afford to buy certain kinds of technology. So, as with other things, I suppose that even if you really want it, if you don't have the money, you're stuck. This is a fact of life, but I would have liked to see the upgrade price be a little less, especially for the people who already have a BN. I can understand charging full price fora new unit, which full price is about $6,000, but $1,995 for an upgrade--boy! Looking back on the Freedom Scientific side of things, when they initially came out with their current BX and QX PM units, they offered an upgrade price of about $800 for people that had the first generation PM's, the BNS and TNS units. That seems more reasonable to me than twice that much.
The Battery. Though HumanWare has updated the kind of battery they use in the mPower, over the older BN model, the battery life is still the same: about 20 hours for a BrailleNote and 25 hours for a VoiceNote, on average. They have also, with the new battery, improved the recallibration process for the battery. So, if you have to recallibrate your BN battery, whereas it used to take a weekend, it now takes about 10 hours with the mPower. I'm not sure how long it takes with the PM, since I haven't had to recallibrate my battery yet.
The point about the battery that I found different from the PM is the amount of time you're given to plug it in to charge. The PM gives you 72 hours, from the time that the battery hits 0, to plug in and to charge the battery. Otherwise, you lose all your data in the main memory. The mPower has nothing like this. The representative said that you do have a few minutes, maybe 5 or so, but not hours like the PM. This is unfortunate in my view, since you might have a user that travels a lot and may not be near an outlet when the battery hits 0, which means that they're stuck. The representative said that there has been some talk in HumanWare to allow people to have external battery packs in just these situations. That's better than nothing, but I've heard differing opinions on these external batteries. Some people say that since the battery sticks out, there's a greater chance of bumping it against things and damaging the equipment. Then the unit may have to be sent in for repair. One person told me that she'd rather send in her PM to get an internal battery, than have an external one that might be damaged from contact with things in her environment. This person also told me that after moving the battery in and out many times, that corrosion can build up, and cause problems with the battery's operation, and even that it can bring down the charge the battery provides.
Braille Displays. There is one more major difference between the PM and the BN: the navigation on their Braille displays. Specifically, the fact that there are Whiz Wheels on the PM displays. Freedom Scientific have introduced these wheels, which appear on either side of the display, and allow you to set each wheel to move in one of 4 different increments: lines, sentences, paragraphs or focus panning. What's neat is that you can set each wheel independent of the other. For instance, you can have the left wheel move by lines, and the right wheel by focus panning. The other thing that's great about these Whiz Wheels is that if you set the left wheel to lines, you can change it at any time. For example, if you want to scroll through a file and look for a particular paragraph, you can set the left wheel to paragraphs until you find what you're looking for, and then set it back to lines. I'm sure that the BN's thumb controls are nice, but can you program each thumb control to move by a set increment, e.g., line, sentence, etc? And, can you change these settings on the fly?
In conclusion: the mPower has gained a lot of ground from the classic style of BN. However, it still comes down to a question of interfaces, as the representative admitted. For me, it comes to a question of: Do you want to be in a closed system where you're stuck, or an open system where you can freely try things, that admittedly may not be supported, and see how well they may work? And, if they don't' work, then just remove them and try something else. Plus, there's simply more possibilities with the PM in this regard. For instance, if you know how to script, you can make an application accessible with JFW, or you could even write your own program, which several people have done in the PM community. This cannot be done with the BN, since they have not, and in my opinion will not, released their Software Developer's Kit (SDK).
In my view, there are three things which distinguish the PM from the BN, and are the main reasons why I will not switch anytime soon: the closed operating system, the fact that you cannot add external programs, even if you just want to try them, and the Whiz Wheels. Until HumanWare incorporates something like this into their displays, I don't see them, or anyone else for that matter, catching up to FS anytime soon.
On Thursday July 14, I saw the BrailleNote mPower. A sales representative from HumanWare, who shall be nameless, came to my workplace to promote this newest product in the BN line. Note that when I say "BN", I'm referring to the BrailleNote. I've tried to refer to the mPower by name when I talk about it, but "BN," might also mean mPower. I have several thoughts on this product and on what the representative said. This is one of the longer posts that I have done, so get comfortable with your favorite beverage, and let's get started.
First off, let me say this: its about time the BN caught up to the PAC Mate (PM). The new mPower has many things that the PM has had for quite awhile, such as a USB port, stereo sound when wearing headphones, streaming audio, a built-in microphone and the ability to make recordings, and more. The major hardware differences that the mPower has added are extra USB ports, an SD card slot, and built in Bluetooth. However, the Bluetooth isn't that big of a deal since a PM user can buy a Bluetooth card to go in one of the two compact flash slots.
Software differences are not as long, but there are some notable ones, such as: an X-scale processor, which improves the speed of activities within the mPower, 128MB of internal storage area (the PM has only 10.5MB), and several minor differences in menu structure.
As I said before though, the PM has had many of these things for quite some time. And, what it doesn't have, I'm certain Freedom Scientific either has or is looking into implementing. Though, before anyone writes me on this, I have no inside information on any PM development, as much as I wish I did. What I do know is that FS does buy at least one of every kind of note taker when the said device comes out, in order to evaluate what the competition has that the PM doesn't have.
I'm going to break this entry down into sections, with my comments and the representative's comments sprinkled throughout.
Open or closed. As many may or may not know, the PM has an open, Windows style interface and the BN family has a closed, custom design system. The open interface means that you can add, if you wish, third party applications and programs. Verses the closed system where you can't add anything, even if you wanted to; you're stuck with the system you use. The representative came back several times to the fact that it has to do with design, interface and marketing. He said that their products are marketed so that a second grader can sit down and start using the device immediately, with minimal instruction. The downside of this is that you cannot add third party applications, which is a huge selling point to the PAC Mate, in my opinion. Sure, the programs you add may or may not work, but the fact is, you can add them to see if they do work. And many times, JAWS can be scripted to work with the new program. At one point, I even asked him, "But what you're really saying to someone is, 'You have to conform to our interface'." At which he said, after a short pause, "You're right."
The representative said that the major groups that purchase BN's are in education related fields, such as teachers and students, of many different backgrounds. When I asked him about adding third party applications, I mentioned things like a freeware thesaurus or dictionary. He asked me how well this dictionary or thesaurus might work, and what the person would do if the program is not supported by HumanWare. He pointed out that he cannot sell a product that runs programs which are not supported. I responded with, "But if it doesn't work, just uninstall it and try something else." He said that he could not do that; that it goes against his design principles and marketing, of selling products that may or may not work with programs. This point came up again and again in our discussions.
Infra-Red (IR) control. Both the PM and BN have an IR port on them, however there are differences in how they use them. The PM allows you to beam to and from the IR port, files, contacts, appointments, or other things. Both the PM and BN allow you to use your cell phone as a modem and use the IR port as a wireless connection. However, on the BN side, this is the only thing that they have done with their IR port. I sited, as an example, the FS Commander remote control program that Freedom Scientific has developed for the PM, in which you can program in various remote controls into your PM. So you can sit on your couch and only use one device, instead of several, or so you can control your stereo, or any device that receives IR beams. The representative said that this kind of program would not sell as well in the educational market. For whatever reason, he kept coming back to this point in our discussion, even when we had moved on to other things. I'm not sure what he was trying to communicate by doing this. I suppose he was saying that they couldn't develop third party programs like FS Commander and effectively distribute them, given the education sector they mainly sell to. However, when I countered with the fact that they could open their system up to dictionaries or thesauruses, the question of how usable they would be on the BN was constantly brought up. Anyway, the point is, the PM can interface with an unlimited number of things with its IR port, whereas the BN can only interface with a cell phone. I asked him if other programs or devices would or could be made to work with the BN with its IR port, and truthfully, he never answered the question. He danced around it and eventually came back to why FS would develop a remote control program and the fact that HumanWare couldn't sell that kind of program to their market audience.
BN and Maestro. I'm sure many people by now know that PulseData HumanWare and VisuAide merged in early 2005. HumanWare Canada (formerly VisuAide), manufacture, market, and sell the Maestro Hand held Organizer, which is an off the shelf PDA that has been made accessible, but which gives access to off the shelf programs in a Pocket PC environment. The question has been asked many times, by myself and others in the blindness field, including people inside HumanWare I'm sure, of which product will stay and which will go. Or, if HumanWare will keep and continue to develop both. I asked the representative about this, prefacing that many companies have only one product line for a given type of product. They may have several different models or kinds of that product, but they only have one product. Like Freedom Scientific's screen reader is JAWS. Anyway, he made clear that he was only a sales representative and not in upper management. However, he basically said he didn't know. He gave the company line of, "We'll continue to develop and sell both products." However, he also said, keeping in mind that he was speaking personally here and not in any affiliation with HumanWare, that he would like to see them drop Maestro and only support the BN line. He said that if someone wants a speech only note taker, that they could buy one of the classic models of VoiceNotes, which have recently been lowered to about the price of a new Maestro. Again, this was him speaking personally only.
We did get into an interesting talk about the kind of note taker that Maestro is, verses the BN or PM. He said, again, in his words and paraphrasing, who would want to use a note taker with limited note taking ability, such as the Maestro. He said that you can only keep track of phone numbers, addresses, and other small things on there. That the Maestro's interface is such that prolonged text input is troublesome, since you can enter in braille, but you have to enter each dot one at a time and then hit a confirm button. And, that this wasn't meant for taking notes for a long period of time. I mentioned that this is how many mainstream PDA's are though, that they are not meant for prolonged note taking, like the Palm Pilot or other Pocket PC PDA's. I even went so far as to suggest that we as blind people might actually be spoiled, since we have had real note taking devices for many years, dating as far back as the Braille Lite and Braille N' Speak. He didn't really have any comment on this, except to return to his comment that he would rather spend $1300 on a new VoiceNote, than $1300 on a new Maestro, if only for its note taking ability.
Interface. This section may tie in more with the closed operating system, but bare with me. The PM interface allows someone to learn how to use the PM, Windows, and a stripped down version of JAWS. Whereas, the BN interface is very simple, designed specifically for a blind user, in that to create a document, you bring up the Word Processor menu. Its literally that simple. And, for those that may not be familiar with Windows, even though Windows is everywhere and one will have to be familiar with it to get anywhere in this world (in my humble opinion), I can see how a simplified interface might be helpful. However, and this goes back to the operating system, with a simple interface, you limit yourself in what you can do. I brought this up to the representative, with respect to adding other applications. He came back to the support of those applications, and that this is not what HumanWare was about: selling a product that didn't support applications. He went on to comment on the interface and say that certain keystrokes on the Braille oriented (Perkins) PM, were inconsistencies. That the Braille chords used didn't make sense, like L-chord to go to the top of a file. He said that instead of using this, someone could use T-chord, for top of file, etc. I then responded with, "Well, to be fair, on the BN QT (QWERTY or computer style keyboard model), the keystrokes are not consistent either. You press one keystroke to delete one way and another to delete another." He agreed, for what its worth. He said that the QWERTY keystrokes should be written better, but probably won't be since they don't sell a lot of QT units. I then asked him, "So, since you don't sell a lot of QT units, you're not going to rewrite the keystrokes?" His answer, "I didn't say that."
Upgrading. With regards to upgrading a BN that you already have, to a new mPower, the representative said that it would cost $1,995 to upgrade, which involves sending your old BN in, and them switching the display from the old unit to a new mPower, and then returning it to you. He said that the new VoiceNote mPower costs $1,995, so in a sense, people would be buying a VoiceNote mPower with a display. I said that, though I was sure that they would sell a lot of upgrades and mPower's themselves, what about the average user who may not have the $2,000 just laying around for the upgrade. He never really gave a definite answer on this, except to say that given the blind market, there will always be those who can't afford to buy certain kinds of technology. So, as with other things, I suppose that even if you really want it, if you don't have the money, you're stuck. This is a fact of life, but I would have liked to see the upgrade price be a little less, especially for the people who already have a BN. I can understand charging full price fora new unit, which full price is about $6,000, but $1,995 for an upgrade--boy! Looking back on the Freedom Scientific side of things, when they initially came out with their current BX and QX PM units, they offered an upgrade price of about $800 for people that had the first generation PM's, the BNS and TNS units. That seems more reasonable to me than twice that much.
The Battery. Though HumanWare has updated the kind of battery they use in the mPower, over the older BN model, the battery life is still the same: about 20 hours for a BrailleNote and 25 hours for a VoiceNote, on average. They have also, with the new battery, improved the recallibration process for the battery. So, if you have to recallibrate your BN battery, whereas it used to take a weekend, it now takes about 10 hours with the mPower. I'm not sure how long it takes with the PM, since I haven't had to recallibrate my battery yet.
The point about the battery that I found different from the PM is the amount of time you're given to plug it in to charge. The PM gives you 72 hours, from the time that the battery hits 0, to plug in and to charge the battery. Otherwise, you lose all your data in the main memory. The mPower has nothing like this. The representative said that you do have a few minutes, maybe 5 or so, but not hours like the PM. This is unfortunate in my view, since you might have a user that travels a lot and may not be near an outlet when the battery hits 0, which means that they're stuck. The representative said that there has been some talk in HumanWare to allow people to have external battery packs in just these situations. That's better than nothing, but I've heard differing opinions on these external batteries. Some people say that since the battery sticks out, there's a greater chance of bumping it against things and damaging the equipment. Then the unit may have to be sent in for repair. One person told me that she'd rather send in her PM to get an internal battery, than have an external one that might be damaged from contact with things in her environment. This person also told me that after moving the battery in and out many times, that corrosion can build up, and cause problems with the battery's operation, and even that it can bring down the charge the battery provides.
Braille Displays. There is one more major difference between the PM and the BN: the navigation on their Braille displays. Specifically, the fact that there are Whiz Wheels on the PM displays. Freedom Scientific have introduced these wheels, which appear on either side of the display, and allow you to set each wheel to move in one of 4 different increments: lines, sentences, paragraphs or focus panning. What's neat is that you can set each wheel independent of the other. For instance, you can have the left wheel move by lines, and the right wheel by focus panning. The other thing that's great about these Whiz Wheels is that if you set the left wheel to lines, you can change it at any time. For example, if you want to scroll through a file and look for a particular paragraph, you can set the left wheel to paragraphs until you find what you're looking for, and then set it back to lines. I'm sure that the BN's thumb controls are nice, but can you program each thumb control to move by a set increment, e.g., line, sentence, etc? And, can you change these settings on the fly?
In conclusion: the mPower has gained a lot of ground from the classic style of BN. However, it still comes down to a question of interfaces, as the representative admitted. For me, it comes to a question of: Do you want to be in a closed system where you're stuck, or an open system where you can freely try things, that admittedly may not be supported, and see how well they may work? And, if they don't' work, then just remove them and try something else. Plus, there's simply more possibilities with the PM in this regard. For instance, if you know how to script, you can make an application accessible with JFW, or you could even write your own program, which several people have done in the PM community. This cannot be done with the BN, since they have not, and in my opinion will not, released their Software Developer's Kit (SDK).
In my view, there are three things which distinguish the PM from the BN, and are the main reasons why I will not switch anytime soon: the closed operating system, the fact that you cannot add external programs, even if you just want to try them, and the Whiz Wheels. Until HumanWare incorporates something like this into their displays, I don't see them, or anyone else for that matter, catching up to FS anytime soon.
Monday, July 11
Notes on PM Desktop
I'm writing this from the PM QX perspective. The keystrokes for the BX can, and probably are, different. Refer to PM or JAWS documentation for those commands. You need to have both JFW 6.2 and PM version 3.0 installed in order to use PM Desktop.
You can use the PM Desktop program with either a USB or wireless connection. If you want a wireless card, then check out the hardware compatibility list on PacMate Gear. Many have and use the SanDisk CF Connect + 128MB + Wi-Fi card, and others like the Ambicom or other cards. Prices will vary depending on what you want.
1. To start PM Desktop, you must start it from the PC/laptop that you have JFW loaded onto. Go to the Start menu, then JAWS 6.2 (or whatever the program icon is called), then Tools, then PAC Mate Desktop. You can send this to the Desktop for easier access, or if you're running Windows XP, pen it to the Start menu.
2. To start the program from your PM, after its started on the ddesktop: you will first need to open Active Sync on your PM. It might have already have popped up if you're using a USB connection. When it comes up, press Alt, then arrow to and press Enter on Sync. This will start the sync process, if it has not already started. Once this is done, you can press Insert+Shift+F4. Insert is also called the JFW key, and unless you have changed this in the settings, you can also use the Caps Lock key as the JFW key.
This is a toggle command, which means that if you need to check something on your PAC Mate, like amount of battery percentage left on the Today screen, you can turn off the PM Desktop with the Insert+Shift+F4 command, go to the Today screen, and then toggle the program back on again. This is handy if you want to bring up the FS Commander program (free from Freedom Scientific), and turn on your TV or stereo.
3. To stop using the PM Desktop program, go to Active Sync on your PM, hit the Alt key, and arrow to and press Enter on the Stop item. This will stop wireless syncing between the PM and PC, and allow you to remove your wireless card. If you're using a USB connection, then simply remove the cable from your PM or PC. Note that since you stopped the PM Desktop utility, this in effect has unloaded JFW from your PC. You will need to start JAWS again from the shortcut on the Start menu or your Desktop, or however you start JFW. If you don't have icons on your desktop or Start menu for JAWS, you may have to restart your computer.
When not running PM Desktop, you can go to the JFW Basic Settings dialog, found in the Options menu, and hit Enter on the Advanced button. This will take you to a smaller dialog with two check boxes. The first controls where the speech goes, and the second controls the Braille. If these boxes are checked, then the speech/Braille will come through your PM. If they are not checked, then the speech or Braille will come through the desktop. Once you finish checking or unchecking, press Enter on the OK button, then tab to and press Enter on the OK button in the Basic Settings, which closes the dialog.
These check boxes are useful if you want to move around your house or apartment and still be able to hear and feel what your desktop outputs with your PM. I've heard of people who do this, control their desktop and have the speech and Braille come through their PM, while they're sitting on their patio. One reason why you might not want the boxes checked would be if you live in an efficiency, like I currently do, and might want the speech to come through your computer speakers, but want the Braille to come through the PAC Mate.
Have fun!
You can use the PM Desktop program with either a USB or wireless connection. If you want a wireless card, then check out the hardware compatibility list on PacMate Gear. Many have and use the SanDisk CF Connect + 128MB + Wi-Fi card, and others like the Ambicom or other cards. Prices will vary depending on what you want.
1. To start PM Desktop, you must start it from the PC/laptop that you have JFW loaded onto. Go to the Start menu, then JAWS 6.2 (or whatever the program icon is called), then Tools, then PAC Mate Desktop. You can send this to the Desktop for easier access, or if you're running Windows XP, pen it to the Start menu.
2. To start the program from your PM, after its started on the ddesktop: you will first need to open Active Sync on your PM. It might have already have popped up if you're using a USB connection. When it comes up, press Alt, then arrow to and press Enter on Sync. This will start the sync process, if it has not already started. Once this is done, you can press Insert+Shift+F4. Insert is also called the JFW key, and unless you have changed this in the settings, you can also use the Caps Lock key as the JFW key.
This is a toggle command, which means that if you need to check something on your PAC Mate, like amount of battery percentage left on the Today screen, you can turn off the PM Desktop with the Insert+Shift+F4 command, go to the Today screen, and then toggle the program back on again. This is handy if you want to bring up the FS Commander program (free from Freedom Scientific), and turn on your TV or stereo.
3. To stop using the PM Desktop program, go to Active Sync on your PM, hit the Alt key, and arrow to and press Enter on the Stop item. This will stop wireless syncing between the PM and PC, and allow you to remove your wireless card. If you're using a USB connection, then simply remove the cable from your PM or PC. Note that since you stopped the PM Desktop utility, this in effect has unloaded JFW from your PC. You will need to start JAWS again from the shortcut on the Start menu or your Desktop, or however you start JFW. If you don't have icons on your desktop or Start menu for JAWS, you may have to restart your computer.
When not running PM Desktop, you can go to the JFW Basic Settings dialog, found in the Options menu, and hit Enter on the Advanced button. This will take you to a smaller dialog with two check boxes. The first controls where the speech goes, and the second controls the Braille. If these boxes are checked, then the speech/Braille will come through your PM. If they are not checked, then the speech or Braille will come through the desktop. Once you finish checking or unchecking, press Enter on the OK button, then tab to and press Enter on the OK button in the Basic Settings, which closes the dialog.
These check boxes are useful if you want to move around your house or apartment and still be able to hear and feel what your desktop outputs with your PM. I've heard of people who do this, control their desktop and have the speech and Braille come through their PM, while they're sitting on their patio. One reason why you might not want the boxes checked would be if you live in an efficiency, like I currently do, and might want the speech to come through your computer speakers, but want the Braille to come through the PAC Mate.
Have fun!
Setting up wireless sync on the PAC Mate and desktop
Greetings. As the title says, here are the instructions for setting up wireless sync on the PAC Mate (PM) and the Desktop,through Active Sync. Thanks to David E., from the PAC Mate list, for these instructions. You will need to get setup for wireless sync in order to use PAC Mate Desktop with JFW. If you have any questions or have trouble, then contact tech support at Freedom Scientific: (727) 803-8600, between 8:30-7 Eastern, Monday-Friday. Here we go:
Note: You should still be able to synchronize over USB, even after these
steps are followed.
Prerequisite: set up a partnership with your desktop via USB and verify that
step 4 below is true.
Disconnect the USB cable from your PAC Mate.
1. Be sure your network connection for your wireless card is set to "work"
Press the windows key, arrow to Settings and press enter.
ctrl+tab to the Connections tab.
Arrow to the Connections Applet and press enter.
Press ctrl+tab to the Advanced tab.
Tab to the Network Card button and press enter.
Arrow to the name of your wireless network and press enter.
Make sure the Connect to combo box is set to work.
Press enter to save the settings.
Press escape to go back to the Advanced page of the connections applet.
2. Be sure your network settings are set to have any connections that
automatically connect to the internet use your work network. (This way you
can still use Internet Exploder and stuff)
Tab to the Select Networks button and press enter.
Be sure that the "programs that automatically connect to the internet combo
box" is set to "my work network"
4. To use the Windows network protocol (such as file sharing), you cannot
have any special characters in your partnership name. This means that the
default network name of Pocket_PC
will not work because of the underline character in the name.
5. Make sure that in ActiveSync on your desktop you have the Allow network
(Ethernet) and Remote Access Service (RAS) checkbox checked.
Open ActiveSync on your desktop.
Press alt+'f', arrow to Connection Settings and press enter.
Tab to the Allow network (Ethernet) and Remote Access Service (RAS)
checkbox and
use the space bar to check it if it is not already checked.
Tab to the OK button and press enter to save the settings.
6. In ActiveSync on your PAC Mate by default everything is set up except
for:
a. Sync with this PC during manual syn checkbox needs to be checked.
Press the Windows key, arrow to ActiveSync and press enter.
Press the alt key, arrow to Tools and press enter.
Arrow to Options and press enter.
Verify that the name of the computer you want to sync wirelessly with is in
the Use this PC combo box.
Tab to the Sync with this PC during manual sync checkbox and use the space
bar to check it.
Press Enter to close the dialog.
7. To use the wireless ActiveSync connection with PAC Mate Remote, you'll
need to make sure the PAC Mate stays connected even after synchronization is
complete:
Tab to the Options button (in ActiveSync on your PAC Mate), and press enter.
Tab past the "Enable PC Sync using this connection" combo box to the radio
button group.
Be sure that "Maintain Connection" is selected.
Note: Don't worry that the "Enable PC Sync using this connection" combo box
is set to USB, that is what it should be.
Now Press enter to save the changes.
Tab focus away from the Options... button and press enter to close the
Options dialog.
8. Press the alt key, arrow to Sync and press enter.
If you hear the disconnect sound and then the connect sound right next to
eachother then you are not set up properly yet.
Sometimes it takes a second for the PC to connect the first time. You
should hear the connect sound on your PAC Mate, then the connect sound on
your desktop within a minute or so.
Additional note:
If you want the connection to be maintained:
1. Open ActiveSync.
2. Press the alt key, arrow to Tools and press enter.
3. Arrow to Options and press enter.
4. Tab to the Options button and press enter.
5. Tab to the Close connection after synchronization is complete radio
button, up arrow to Maintain connection.
6. Press enter to save the changes.
7. Tab off of the options button and press enter to save the changes.
Don't worry about the "USB" in the combo box. It'll still work.
Have fun and happy wireless syncing!
Note: You should still be able to synchronize over USB, even after these
steps are followed.
Prerequisite: set up a partnership with your desktop via USB and verify that
step 4 below is true.
Disconnect the USB cable from your PAC Mate.
1. Be sure your network connection for your wireless card is set to "work"
Press the windows key, arrow to Settings and press enter.
ctrl+tab to the Connections tab.
Arrow to the Connections Applet and press enter.
Press ctrl+tab to the Advanced tab.
Tab to the Network Card button and press enter.
Arrow to the name of your wireless network and press enter.
Make sure the Connect to combo box is set to work.
Press enter to save the settings.
Press escape to go back to the Advanced page of the connections applet.
2. Be sure your network settings are set to have any connections that
automatically connect to the internet use your work network. (This way you
can still use Internet Exploder and stuff)
Tab to the Select Networks button and press enter.
Be sure that the "programs that automatically connect to the internet combo
box" is set to "my work network"
4. To use the Windows network protocol (such as file sharing), you cannot
have any special characters in your partnership name. This means that the
default network name of Pocket_PC
will not work because of the underline character in the name.
5. Make sure that in ActiveSync on your desktop you have the Allow network
(Ethernet) and Remote Access Service (RAS) checkbox checked.
Open ActiveSync on your desktop.
Press alt+'f', arrow to Connection Settings and press enter.
Tab to the Allow network (Ethernet) and Remote Access Service (RAS)
checkbox and
use the space bar to check it if it is not already checked.
Tab to the OK button and press enter to save the settings.
6. In ActiveSync on your PAC Mate by default everything is set up except
for:
a. Sync with this PC during manual syn checkbox needs to be checked.
Press the Windows key, arrow to ActiveSync and press enter.
Press the alt key, arrow to Tools and press enter.
Arrow to Options and press enter.
Verify that the name of the computer you want to sync wirelessly with is in
the Use this PC combo box.
Tab to the Sync with this PC during manual sync checkbox and use the space
bar to check it.
Press Enter to close the dialog.
7. To use the wireless ActiveSync connection with PAC Mate Remote, you'll
need to make sure the PAC Mate stays connected even after synchronization is
complete:
Tab to the Options button (in ActiveSync on your PAC Mate), and press enter.
Tab past the "Enable PC Sync using this connection" combo box to the radio
button group.
Be sure that "Maintain Connection" is selected.
Note: Don't worry that the "Enable PC Sync using this connection" combo box
is set to USB, that is what it should be.
Now Press enter to save the changes.
Tab focus away from the Options... button and press enter to close the
Options dialog.
8. Press the alt key, arrow to Sync and press enter.
If you hear the disconnect sound and then the connect sound right next to
eachother then you are not set up properly yet.
Sometimes it takes a second for the PC to connect the first time. You
should hear the connect sound on your PAC Mate, then the connect sound on
your desktop within a minute or so.
Additional note:
If you want the connection to be maintained:
1. Open ActiveSync.
2. Press the alt key, arrow to Tools and press enter.
3. Arrow to Options and press enter.
4. Tab to the Options button and press enter.
5. Tab to the Close connection after synchronization is complete radio
button, up arrow to Maintain connection.
6. Press enter to save the changes.
7. Tab off of the options button and press enter to save the changes.
Don't worry about the "USB" in the combo box. It'll still work.
Have fun and happy wireless syncing!
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