S1: Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: January 30th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have you
S1: with us. Wherever you're listening, perhaps through Virgin Australia Radio,
S1: Associated Stations of Australia or the Community Radio Network, there
S1: is also the podcast. To catch that, all you need
S1: to do is search for the two words talking tech.
S1: And then it can all come, usually on a Tuesday
S1: afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is to
S1: ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play Virgin
S1: Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast, Virgin Australia Radio Talking Tech
S1: podcast with me, someone who can explain all this tech
S1: stuff really well. Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology,
S1: David Woodbridge David, let's start by talking about the Dean
S1: Blazey device, which started from the device that came out
S1: over 30 years ago. Now, the 21st century version we
S1: were talking about this last week, the BT Lasi technology speak.
S2: So as we talked about last week, uh, there's two
S2: versions of it. So it's the BT speak, which is
S2: the basic version, and there's the BT Speak Pro, which
S2: by the sound of it, yes, is the more professional,
S2: the pro version. Uh, and just as a reminder, the
S2: Pro version has everything in it that the BT speak does,
S2: plus a little bit more. And I was sort of
S2: speculating last week about the price. And I've actually ordered
S2: one of these and of course maybe me. I ordered
S2: the pro version. Now what I sort of forgot in
S2: the back of my mind was when I looked at
S2: the website to confirm the prices, the BT speak the
S2: basic version. The note taker was 795 US. Uh, the
S2: Pro version was 1195 US. And I thought, oh, well,
S2: you know, that's not too bad. But when it came
S2: to ordering it and getting it shipped to Australia, the
S2: shipping cost was actually $200 US. And given our current
S2: exchange rate, that ended up being just slightly over $2,100.
S2: So what I might suggest people might want to do
S2: is exactly what they're going to do with the Vision Pro.
S2: Let's let these, uh, first people that like to use,
S2: you know, get their hands on the first technology. So
S2: the Vision Pro, we're going to have a couple of
S2: months of looking at what the US people think about it. Well,
S2: when the BT speak and the BT C Pro starts
S2: selling direct properly in March 1st, uh, then people like
S2: me and lots of other people that have always wanted
S2: a modern day rail and speak, we'll have pre-ordered, we'll
S2: get our hands on it. And I'm certainly going to
S2: do lots of different types of audio demos, and you
S2: can base your decision based on that. But if you're
S2: not a diehard Roland Speak user and you just want
S2: a modern version of it, um, maybe just sit back
S2: a little bit and don't get too caught up in
S2: the hype and see what it's all about.
S1: Last week we went through a number of items that
S1: are available from the vision store of Vision Australia that
S1: might be of help to people, uh, at the uh,
S1: workplace or in study one area we didn't get around
S1: to but be good to cover is keyboards.
S2: That's right. So there's lots of different types of keyboards around.
S2: And of course, if we just break them down into
S2: the basic ones, you've literally got a wired keyboard and
S2: then a basically a Bluetooth keyboard. And there's different varieties
S2: of that as well. But what my main thing to
S2: remind people about is it's all well, good. And having
S2: a Bluetooth keyboard that you connect to your smartphone or
S2: your computer. But if that keyboard goes flat because they
S2: normally battery operated, um, then you need an alternative, either
S2: another Bluetooth keyboard or you buy yourself a very cheap
S2: basic USB keyboard. And yes, you can convert them to
S2: USB C with an adapter, which means you can then
S2: just plug them in and they literally run, if you like,
S2: off the power, off the the computer that you're using
S2: them on. Now just so happens that Virgin Australia sells
S2: are quite a few of these large print keyboards. So
S2: they're standard keyboards with larger characters on them. So the
S2: different versions of them, there's a black and white one,
S2: a white on black and a yellow on black, and
S2: they only cost about $19. Now, when you consider that
S2: most Bluetooth keyboards probably started about 70 or $80 and
S2: go up, having a back up keyboard for $19 is
S2: a really good idea. So even if you're not a
S2: low vision person like I am, uh, it's always a
S2: good idea to have a backup wired USB keyboard. And
S2: I've always said to my wife as well, because she
S2: uses a magic trackpad, which is, of course, Bluetooth again. Uh,
S2: we've also got a cable, of course, lightning bass that
S2: plugs that, um. Head into the back of the Mac
S2: as well. Um, although that one's a little bit different
S2: because it's got a built in battery, but it gets
S2: the charge off the off the Mac. So just be
S2: aware that there are benefits of having not only a
S2: Bluetooth keyboard, but a wide one as well.
S1: Might be a good time this week to talk about
S1: some of the hardware devices that you have that are
S1: probably not available through the vision store of Vision Australia,
S1: but they can be located around the place. Let's start
S1: with tags. You've got two kinds of tags. That's some
S1: ways of identifying where objects are.
S2: That's right. And the reason why I've got two is
S2: because the famous one, of course, is everybody knows about
S2: the tags where you put them in the little holder
S2: and you attach that holder to your keys, your baggage
S2: or in your purse and that sort of stuff. So
S2: that's all well and good. If you've got an iOS
S2: things such as an iPhone and iPad or a mac. Now,
S2: if you don't have that and you've got an Android
S2: system of some sort, um, then the toe tag is
S2: another one where it actually has a little hole drilled
S2: into the actual toe tag itself, so you can tag
S2: it straight to a keyring or a lanyard and everything else.
S2: Not only does it work on Android, but it's also
S2: iOS plus the fact it does something that the attacks
S2: don't do, and that is you can hold a little
S2: button down on the toe tag and it plays a
S2: little tune on your Android smartphone or your iPhone so
S2: you can find out where you put down your iPhone.
S2: So that's really nifty. So that's something that the AirTags
S2: don't do.
S1: So how do you identify other objects with it? What
S1: does it indicate to you if you're trying to find
S1: out where the device is, like a case or a
S1: bag or something.
S2: So the way it works is any AirTag or tile tag,
S2: you have a tile tag or an AirTag per item,
S2: and then in your tile app or your Find My
S2: app on your iPhone. Each one of those tags is labeled,
S2: so I've got things like David's keys, David's cane, and
S2: then you play the appropriate sound of whatever AirTag or
S2: tile tag you're choosing.
S1: The actual AirTag makes the sound it does. Okay, so
S1: that's tags. Let's talk now about the gaming headset that
S1: you've got, the steel series.
S2: So this one's been around for several years now. So
S2: the one that I've got is called the Steel Series
S2: three Gaming Headset. Effectively, what it gives you is two
S2: sound cards, one for chat, so audio and mic and
S2: one just for sound output. So what I can do
S2: on my Mac or my PC is, say, assign zoom
S2: to the sound card that supports both sound and Mike
S2: and the other one to voiceover. So at any stage
S2: during what I'm doing on my computer, I can turn
S2: one sound card up or down and vice versa. Quite handy.
S3: Hmm.
S1: You've also got a Bluetooth transmitter, so.
S2: These come in really handy when the device that you're
S2: using doesn't allow Bluetooth transmission. So normally we're thinking about
S2: things that only have a 3.5mm headphone jack, and that's
S2: about it. Or maybe an internal speaker. So you literally
S2: plugged this 3.5 mil Bluetooth transmitter into the headphone jack.
S2: It then transmits and then you connect your headphones, whether they're,
S2: you know, aftershocks or whatever else there might be to
S2: that Bluetooth transmitter. So effectively when you're playing audio out
S2: of the non Bluetooth device, because you've got the transmitter
S2: plugged into the headphone jack, it turns it into a
S2: Bluetooth transmitting device so that you can use your headset
S2: with it.
S1: Now let's talk about your zoom powered track P4. You've
S1: had that for a little while.
S2: I have I want to say I've almost had this
S2: for about 4 or 5 years now, and the reason
S2: why I like about it is because it's small, it's
S2: easy to use, and because I use a number of
S2: different devices, I've got them all running into the pod track.
S2: So normally I've got my two mics plugged in, I've
S2: got my PC or my Mac plugged in, and I've
S2: got my either my iPhone on my iPad plugged in.
S2: So it literally means that I can just use one
S2: device for switch between a few devices that are plugged
S2: into it, and it's just nice having this external unit
S2: that I can get better recording out of if you like.
S1: Yeah, and it's very small, isn't it?
S2: It is very small. It's not tiny. Tiny. Um, but
S2: you certainly can fit it in, like a little over-the-shoulder
S2: tech bag and doesn't take up much room at all.
S2: It's a very expensive, pretty round, about $300.
S1: Let's talk USB now. You've got a USB sound card
S1: and you still use it.
S2: I do mainly on poor old windows because for some
S2: reason or another, sometimes the sound card software on my
S2: Windows Surface Pro tends to go into nowhere land, and
S2: as soon as I plug in my little external USB
S2: sound card, uh, windows goes, oh, hello, I know what
S2: to do with that sound device. I'll start playing audio
S2: through it. So of course, as soon as I plug
S2: in a a little mic and a headset into the
S2: 3.5mm headphone jack, I've got speech back via my screen reader,
S2: whether it's Nvda, narrator, or Jaws. So it's just a
S2: bit of a backup that if the sound goes on
S2: my windows computer, I've always got that as an alternative.
S1: Tell us about your usb-C port hub.
S2: So the port hub is when you're using a computer
S2: that may not have enough ports on it. So you
S2: might only have 1 or 2 usb-C ports, or you
S2: may not have like an SD card or a micro
S2: SD card slot, and so on. So what these port
S2: hubs do is they give you a number of these
S2: different types of ports, and the only thing you have
S2: to plug in to the computer is just one cable.
S2: So they're pretty little amazing cheap devices.
S1: Hmm. And you've got a USB hard drive. It's a
S1: usb-C one.
S2: This one's a USB, but I do have an adapter
S2: that converts it from USB to usb-C. And the reason
S2: why I mentioned this was because I always get worried. Like,
S2: I mean, I stole my stuff in the cloud, which
S2: like most people do. But there's something there's something about
S2: having a physical medium that you can actually physically touch
S2: and look at that you know, you've got your backups
S2: on as well. Now, it.
S1: Was some years ago when the HomePods came out from
S1: Apple that you got hold of a couple. You still
S1: use them?
S2: I do, so people might remember the big one. So
S2: the original HomePod, I've got about four of those. Um,
S2: when they updated to the new full size HomePod too,
S2: I didn't bother. But I also have several HomePod minis
S2: hanging around the house. And because primarily my house is
S2: an Apple house, it fits in very nicely. So, you know,
S2: if you happen to be a Google or an Amazon
S2: type household, then remember you can also get Google smart
S2: speakers and of course the Amazon Echo range of speakers
S2: as well.
S1: And for such a small speaker, they're pretty good quality
S1: aren't they?
S2: They are. So I've got quite a number of Echo Dots.
S2: I've got a few Google Minis or Nest Minis as
S2: they're called these days, and even the HomePod minis. They
S2: actually really do have good sounding stuff. So, you know,
S2: the days of wanting to use an Echo Studio or
S2: a full size HomePod or a full size nest, a
S2: full size nest Max hub, I think is pretty much
S2: gone by the wayside because a lot of these speakers now, um, yes,
S2: the speakers are tiny, but they produce some really great sound.
S3: Yeah.
S1: Very good. Um, so have you got advice for people
S1: that are wanting to really find out what's what's available?
S1: Like you can start with the vision store with lots
S1: of technology. And what about other things like what we've
S1: been talking about here.
S2: Yeah. Well you can always contact the IT helpdesk at
S2: Vision Australia. And that's of course main via the main
S2: one 308 4746 number and 308 4746.
S1: Yeah. Correct.
S2: And that the people on that helpdesk are all techie
S2: people like I am. And you know, they've probably got
S2: different devices than to what I've got but very similar.
S2: So it's you know it's one benefit is you're getting
S2: different opinions about different hardware. And they can certainly point
S2: you in in other directions as well. Or if you
S2: need more of an assessment to find out what you
S2: really need at home, study or work, then you can
S2: arrange an assessment with one of the technology consultants directly.
S1: Very good. Before we go, a reminder of weather, a
S1: details of what we've been talking about in this and
S1: previous editions of the program.
S2: You can always check out my blog site, which is
S2: David would be dot Podbean pad Bain comm.
S1: David would be dot podbean pod b e a incom
S1: to write to the program.
S2: You can write to me in Australia, where I work
S2: which is David Woodbridge heart sounds at Vision australia.org David.
S1: Dot Woodbridge at Vision australia.org. This has been talking tech
S1: with me has been Vision Australia's national advisor on access
S1: technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolley take care. We'll talk
S1: more tech next week. See you.