WEBVTT - Talking Tech 20th August 2024 0:00:21.438 --> 0:00:25.278 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:25.278 --> 0:00:29.028 August the 20th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have 0:00:29.028 --> 0:00:33.258 you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia radio associated 0:00:33.258 --> 0:00:37.188 stations of the Radio Reading Network, formerly RPA Australia or 0:00:37.188 --> 0:00:40.698 the Community Radio Network. There is also the podcast. To 0:00:40.728 --> 0:00:42.948 catch that, all you need to do is search for 0:00:42.948 --> 0:00:46.158 the two words talking tech. And you can all come 0:00:46.188 --> 0:00:49.368 usually on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. 0:00:49.368 --> 0:00:52.008 Another option is to ask your Siri device or smart 0:00:52.008 --> 0:00:56.478 speaker to play Vision Australia Radio talking tech podcast Vision 0:00:56.508 --> 0:01:00.558 Australia Radio talking Tech podcast with me, someone who can 0:01:00.558 --> 0:01:04.398 explain all this tech stuff really well. Vision Australia's national 0:01:04.398 --> 0:01:09.528 advisor on access technology, David Woodbridge. David, let's start with 0:01:09.528 --> 0:01:13.368 the product. Minute information about a product from the vision 0:01:13.368 --> 0:01:17.928 store of Vision Australia. What's the Tony Only box. 0:01:18.078 --> 0:01:23.988 It's basically a little foam box, um, that you put 0:01:23.988 --> 0:01:26.508 these little characters on. I should say up front, the 0:01:26.508 --> 0:01:30.648 whole range is from Disney. And depending on what the 0:01:30.648 --> 0:01:36.468 character is, it will tell you stories. It will basically 0:01:36.468 --> 0:01:41.778 play a range of songs. So really, it's your your 0:01:41.778 --> 0:01:45.618 special treat from the character, using it with this little 0:01:45.618 --> 0:01:47.778 soft box and what the soft box is doing, really, 0:01:47.778 --> 0:01:51.498 it's magnetically connecting to the if you like the circuit 0:01:51.498 --> 0:01:54.918 chip stuff in the character, and then it's got a 0:01:54.918 --> 0:01:57.528 built in speaker, and you can also plug in headphones 0:01:57.528 --> 0:01:59.298 and do other sort of cool things. And if you 0:01:59.298 --> 0:02:03.288 think of all the major characters from Disney, then you've 0:02:03.288 --> 0:02:06.138 already got them covered. So I've already ordered one, of course, 0:02:06.138 --> 0:02:10.398 for my three year old grandson. So what happens is 0:02:10.398 --> 0:02:12.618 you order a starter kit and that normally comes with 0:02:12.618 --> 0:02:15.348 like a default character. So the one that I got 0:02:15.378 --> 0:02:19.108 was It's a light blue Tony box and it comes 0:02:19.108 --> 0:02:20.998 with a little puppy. Now, I've got no idea what 0:02:20.998 --> 0:02:23.578 the puppy is yet, but we'll soon find out. And then, 0:02:23.608 --> 0:02:28.168 of course, because my grandson's into Mickey Mouse, I had 0:02:28.168 --> 0:02:31.078 to buy the Mickey Mouse one. But there are lots 0:02:31.078 --> 0:02:35.428 of other ones that I'd love to buy. Things like 0:02:35.458 --> 0:02:40.948 Thomas the Tank Engine, Nemo, and The Little Mermaid. And 0:02:40.948 --> 0:02:43.648 I just hope The Little Mermaid has got that. You know, 0:02:43.678 --> 0:02:47.188 the Sebastian, the crab. He's so laid back and cool. 0:02:48.028 --> 0:02:51.208 And I just hope we have some songs from him 0:02:51.208 --> 0:02:54.058 as well. So the final thing I want to say 0:02:54.058 --> 0:02:58.858 about is you can also get a pirate and a unicorn. 0:02:58.858 --> 0:03:01.918 Now those ones are what are called sort of the 0:03:01.918 --> 0:03:05.608 open ended characters. And that's where parents and grandparents and 0:03:05.608 --> 0:03:08.398 anybody else, you can do your own music and stories 0:03:08.398 --> 0:03:11.608 and everything else on those as well. Um, but I 0:03:11.608 --> 0:03:14.908 believe all up, I think there's about 30 or 40. 0:03:14.968 --> 0:03:18.598 We're not certainly stocking all of them, but price wise 0:03:18.598 --> 0:03:21.898 you're probably looking at about $200 for the the box. 0:03:22.048 --> 0:03:23.758 So the starter kit, like I said, it comes with 0:03:23.758 --> 0:03:26.728 the puppy and the box. And then each character is 0:03:26.728 --> 0:03:30.148 round about $29. Now when I checked the comparable price 0:03:30.148 --> 0:03:33.748 on Amazon in Australia, we're selling it for exactly the 0:03:33.748 --> 0:03:37.498 same price. So um, that's actually a really good thing 0:03:37.498 --> 0:03:41.218 as well, but it just sounds so fantastically cute that 0:03:41.218 --> 0:03:43.378 I just could not resist buying one. 0:03:43.408 --> 0:03:47.848 So you mentioned your three year old grandson. What's really 0:03:47.848 --> 0:03:50.308 the market for this? The the age group. 0:03:50.338 --> 0:03:52.528 Around about that age. So you know, three to probably 0:03:52.528 --> 0:03:57.898 3 to 5 literally. It's like having your own personal speaker. Um, 0:03:57.898 --> 0:04:00.958 or a very simple sort of almost like not a 0:04:00.958 --> 0:04:05.368 Bluetooth speaker, but having a speaker. There used to be a, um, oh, 0:04:05.398 --> 0:04:06.988 it used to be a character that used to get 0:04:06.988 --> 0:04:10.078 a long time ago and they were called Skylanders. And 0:04:10.078 --> 0:04:12.088 what you do with the Skylanders was you've got the 0:04:12.088 --> 0:04:16.598 the physical Skylander character and then on your smartphone, Android 0:04:16.598 --> 0:04:20.018 and iPhone. It would detect that you had that character 0:04:20.018 --> 0:04:22.838 and then the really cool things on on the app. 0:04:22.868 --> 0:04:27.098 So it's been tried lots of different times. Um, the 0:04:27.098 --> 0:04:32.618 influencer that my wife follows on Instagram, she said it 0:04:32.618 --> 0:04:35.948 was really good for her son that was a bit 0:04:35.978 --> 0:04:39.458 reluctant to speak. And now that he's been listening to 0:04:39.488 --> 0:04:44.798 music and stories on the Toby box, he asks Mum 0:04:44.798 --> 0:04:47.378 and Dad at the kitchen table a lots of times 0:04:47.378 --> 0:04:50.738 about can he get another character and what's his story about, 0:04:50.738 --> 0:04:53.108 and can he listen to that song again? And so 0:04:53.108 --> 0:04:56.138 it's really increased his participation, particularly in speaking. 0:04:56.138 --> 0:05:02.138 The Tony box, Tony box from the vision store of 0:05:02.138 --> 0:05:06.008 Vision Australia. The cost for the basic unit, you said $200. 0:05:06.038 --> 0:05:08.948 $200, including the puppy, and then each character is around 0:05:08.948 --> 0:05:12.698 about $29. Now, I said roundabout because of course, I 0:05:12.728 --> 0:05:15.578 guess the more branded well-known ones are going to be 0:05:15.578 --> 0:05:19.118 a bit more expensive, but average wise it's about $29. 0:05:19.148 --> 0:05:23.528 To find out more, go to shop Dot Vision australia.org. 0:05:23.558 --> 0:05:29.378 Shop dot Vision australia.org. Poor Vision Australia's vision store. Let's 0:05:29.378 --> 0:05:34.658 talk about iOS 18, which will be with us publicly 0:05:34.658 --> 0:05:38.678 in a few weeks time. And you found something doing 0:05:38.678 --> 0:05:44.078 a comparison of the current Siri in iOS 17 and 0:05:44.078 --> 0:05:46.238 the early days of iOS 18. 0:05:46.268 --> 0:05:49.028 Correct. And look what it really boils down to when 0:05:49.028 --> 0:05:51.848 you look at it. As far as we're concerned, yes, 0:05:51.848 --> 0:05:55.088 we are getting better voices with Siri, which to me 0:05:55.088 --> 0:05:57.278 as a blind person is actually very important because I 0:05:57.278 --> 0:06:01.178 particularly like nice voices running on my iPhone. But the 0:06:01.178 --> 0:06:05.828 second thing to remember is that Siri is no longer 0:06:05.828 --> 0:06:11.408 just a smart speaker Siri thing, like the a lady 0:06:11.408 --> 0:06:15.818 in Australia. Um, okay G in Australia and so on. 0:06:15.818 --> 0:06:20.228 What it's turning into is more of a conversational type 0:06:20.228 --> 0:06:26.078 personal assistant, and when it comes in properly, it'll remember 0:06:26.108 --> 0:06:29.858 of things that you've spoken about in the past. Um, 0:06:29.858 --> 0:06:34.388 it'll also remember your conversations. So, for example, in the 0:06:34.388 --> 0:06:38.048 next story, we're going to be talking about the pixel phones. Um, 0:06:38.048 --> 0:06:42.458 and I understand that you can say things like, tell 0:06:42.488 --> 0:06:44.918 me about the pixel phone, and then you can say, okay, well, 0:06:44.948 --> 0:06:47.768 tell me about the second phones you mentioned. Then you 0:06:47.798 --> 0:06:49.508 can go back and say, okay, so you've talked about 0:06:49.508 --> 0:06:51.668 the second phone. What about the first one? So you 0:06:51.668 --> 0:06:54.038 don't have to keep reminding it what you're talking about. 0:06:54.038 --> 0:06:58.688 It's very much a conversational type system now. And you 0:06:58.688 --> 0:07:00.728 can do all sorts of other things coming up. You 0:07:00.728 --> 0:07:05.708 can ask it to summarize a screen, summarize a document. Um, 0:07:05.708 --> 0:07:09.308 it's got better. Um, I to do with messaging and 0:07:09.308 --> 0:07:14.358 all that sort of cool stuff But at the bottom line, um, 0:07:14.358 --> 0:07:17.988 series been so prescriptive, I want to say from the 0:07:17.988 --> 0:07:22.128 years dot 2010 roughly, um, that I think we're going 0:07:22.128 --> 0:07:25.038 to get a huge surprise when it starts behaving properly. 0:07:25.038 --> 0:07:28.308 And there's really been no excuse about why Apple shouldn't 0:07:28.308 --> 0:07:30.168 have done this a lot earlier. In some ways. 0:07:30.198 --> 0:07:34.278 And it's going to take weeks and possibly months for 0:07:34.278 --> 0:07:38.178 each of us to adjust to it and realize the 0:07:38.178 --> 0:07:40.968 potential of it, and it's going to grow as the 0:07:40.968 --> 0:07:43.998 different updates come out as well, isn't it? 0:07:44.028 --> 0:07:47.478 That's right. I'm probably going to still keep treating my 0:07:47.508 --> 0:07:50.028 s lady as the dumb s lady, so it's going 0:07:50.058 --> 0:07:51.648 to take me a while to sort of get used 0:07:51.648 --> 0:07:54.168 to the new, improved workability stuff that we'll be able 0:07:54.168 --> 0:07:55.668 to do with it now. 0:07:55.728 --> 0:07:58.758 So you mentioned these phones. Let's talk about the Google 0:07:58.758 --> 0:08:00.678 event that took place recently. 0:08:00.708 --> 0:08:05.628 Indeed. So basically we've got four new pixel phones. So 0:08:05.628 --> 0:08:09.648 the pixel nine, the pixel nine Pro, the XL which 0:08:09.648 --> 0:08:12.828 is the bigger one, and then the Pixel Fold, which 0:08:12.828 --> 0:08:18.318 is Google's second version of their folding phone. So that's 0:08:18.348 --> 0:08:20.238 actually really cool. That's similar in some ways to the 0:08:20.238 --> 0:08:25.788 Samsung Fold. What's really interesting about, of course, this new 0:08:25.788 --> 0:08:30.168 series is, funnily enough, it's all about AI. So Google's 0:08:30.168 --> 0:08:33.858 Gemini AI, it's going to be sort of baked into 0:08:33.858 --> 0:08:38.238 the operating system. Um, it's going to integrate the, you know, 0:08:38.268 --> 0:08:43.008 the EKG function as well as all the conversational AI 0:08:43.038 --> 0:08:47.538 type stuff summarizing, helping you write emails, helping you rewrite stuff, 0:08:47.538 --> 0:08:50.178 all that sort of cool stuff. And the other thing 0:08:50.178 --> 0:08:53.358 they released alongside the phones, and of course, they've got 0:08:53.388 --> 0:08:58.608 better screens, better battery, better camera, uh, different colors and 0:08:58.608 --> 0:09:02.538 so on was the Pixel Buds. And what's really cool 0:09:02.538 --> 0:09:06.588 about the Pixel Buds is you can use all the 0:09:06.588 --> 0:09:09.208 Gemini commands. At least you understand on the on the 0:09:09.208 --> 0:09:13.738 internet with the Pixel Buds. So you can do you know, 0:09:13.768 --> 0:09:18.928 your hands free communication to your phone. And the other 0:09:18.928 --> 0:09:23.398 thing they also released was the Pixel Watch. Now, what's 0:09:23.398 --> 0:09:27.808 important about the Pixel Watch is you may remember I 0:09:27.808 --> 0:09:29.368 think it was a year or two ago, or maybe 0:09:29.368 --> 0:09:33.898 even longer. Google bought Fitbit and the new Pixel Watch 0:09:33.898 --> 0:09:37.558 replaces the Fitbit. I don't know if that means they've 0:09:37.558 --> 0:09:40.678 just dropped the whole line of Fitbit, but they did 0:09:40.678 --> 0:09:42.268 say in an article that I read, or one of 0:09:42.268 --> 0:09:44.938 them on the internet that said, the Pixel Watch is 0:09:44.938 --> 0:09:48.568 actually replacing the Fitbit, so we'll see what happens from there. 0:09:48.568 --> 0:09:52.558 And as far as accessibility is concerned, there's been some 0:09:52.558 --> 0:09:55.708 lots of talk on the on the internet about how 0:09:56.038 --> 0:10:00.118 Google is improving things like the lookout app, which is 0:10:00.118 --> 0:10:02.998 the eye thing for object recognition and so on, and 0:10:02.998 --> 0:10:07.678 text OCR. So that's going to be all improved and also, 0:10:07.678 --> 0:10:11.518 the other thing to remember about these pixel phones is 0:10:11.518 --> 0:10:16.648 that you're getting the original Android version from Google itself, 0:10:16.918 --> 0:10:21.568 because when you get phones from Samsung, Motorola or those 0:10:21.598 --> 0:10:26.098 other companies, they they put their own overlay or flavor, 0:10:26.098 --> 0:10:31.018 if you like, of Android on that phone. So I've 0:10:31.018 --> 0:10:34.408 always preferred Samsung to some extent, but if I was 0:10:34.408 --> 0:10:39.208 to recommend a good solid phone that's going to get updates, 0:10:39.208 --> 0:10:41.998 I think it's for the next seven years. I always 0:10:41.998 --> 0:10:45.778 go for the pixel phones. And of course with other 0:10:45.778 --> 0:10:48.238 stuff coming out that will plug into phones like the 0:10:48.238 --> 0:10:53.188 smartphone for doing orientation mobility, the pixel phone is absolutely, 0:10:53.188 --> 0:10:57.328 extremely well situated. So if you're in the market for 0:10:57.328 --> 0:10:59.878 a new Android phone, I would certainly have a look 0:10:59.908 --> 0:11:02.608 at the pixel nine series of phones. Plus the watch, 0:11:02.638 --> 0:11:04.468 of course, and the buds. 0:11:04.498 --> 0:11:09.208 Let's talk about another podcast that you found recently about 0:11:09.208 --> 0:11:12.628 the sounds of Apple and Apple devices do make lots 0:11:12.628 --> 0:11:14.308 of different useful sounds. 0:11:14.338 --> 0:11:18.778 They do. Now, this was a podcast on a podcast 0:11:18.778 --> 0:11:24.148 called 20,000Hz, and it's from a company or a studio 0:11:24.148 --> 0:11:26.818 that does lots of stuff to do with audio. And 0:11:26.818 --> 0:11:32.848 they had a combined podcast presentation with Apple itself on 0:11:32.848 --> 0:11:37.438 how all the different sounds that Apple device uses, particularly 0:11:37.438 --> 0:11:41.878 the iPhone, how they customize them, how they come to 0:11:41.908 --> 0:11:48.118 actually arrive at a certain particular audio tone, and so on. 0:11:48.328 --> 0:11:50.968 But it was just fascinating because what they said now, 0:11:50.968 --> 0:11:54.478 these these tones are sort of so famous now. So 0:11:54.478 --> 0:11:57.718 in movies and so on. If you hear the default 0:11:57.718 --> 0:12:00.658 iPhone ring, you know it's an iPhone. If you hear 0:12:00.658 --> 0:12:05.498 that little ping sound, you know you've got a male Um, 0:12:05.498 --> 0:12:08.318 if you've got other different types of sounds going on, 0:12:08.318 --> 0:12:11.708 like if you're seeing a send a thumbs up, it's 0:12:11.708 --> 0:12:14.288 a pop up sound, and if you send us a 0:12:14.288 --> 0:12:17.588 thumbs down, it's a pop pop sound and so on. 0:12:17.588 --> 0:12:20.558 So they were just going through the whole thing about 0:12:20.558 --> 0:12:24.908 how they were designing the sounds, what effect they had 0:12:24.938 --> 0:12:28.808 on people actually using the phone. And I thought, it's 0:12:28.808 --> 0:12:31.718 not just Apple type stuff. When you think about sounds 0:12:31.718 --> 0:12:35.138 in the community now, you really associate it with different 0:12:35.168 --> 0:12:38.108 types of things. So that very famous sound with the 0:12:38.108 --> 0:12:41.498 audio traffic light signals with the beep, beep and then the. 0:12:41.528 --> 0:12:44.708 Beep beep beep beep beep to across the road, there's 0:12:44.708 --> 0:12:48.518 all these sort of ubiquitous sounds that we have, you know, 0:12:48.548 --> 0:12:51.728 just not just on technology. Um, so things like the 0:12:51.728 --> 0:12:54.068 start up sound for the Mac, but also in the 0:12:54.068 --> 0:12:58.238 general community. So I just think it's amazing that, you know, 0:12:58.268 --> 0:13:02.768 we we live our lives surrounded by visual stuff. But 0:13:02.768 --> 0:13:07.928 as they said in the the podcast on 20,000Hz, sound 0:13:07.958 --> 0:13:10.808 is just as important. And they they said from a 0:13:10.808 --> 0:13:14.108 design point of view, they put as much work into 0:13:14.138 --> 0:13:17.858 sounds as they do into creating graphics and icons. 0:13:17.888 --> 0:13:20.468 These podcasts go into a fair bit of detail, don't they? 0:13:20.498 --> 0:13:22.748 There's actually two episodes. 0:13:22.778 --> 0:13:24.788 There is. The first one is sort of more of 0:13:24.788 --> 0:13:29.798 an overview of the default sounds from the Mac, the 0:13:29.798 --> 0:13:32.198 iPhone and those sort of stuff. And then the second 0:13:32.198 --> 0:13:37.148 one really goes into how they constructed the sound. And, 0:13:37.178 --> 0:13:40.838 you know, they take a particular sound that a kalimba makes, 0:13:40.838 --> 0:13:44.048 and then they look at the beginning, middle and end 0:13:44.048 --> 0:13:46.718 of the sound and then sort of try and tweak 0:13:46.718 --> 0:13:48.938 it a little bit until they get the ultimate type 0:13:48.938 --> 0:13:53.648 of audio tone they want. But it was just incredible 0:13:53.678 --> 0:13:55.388 how they have to go into this huge amount of 0:13:55.388 --> 0:13:58.958 detail and make sure that these sounds are sort of 0:13:58.988 --> 0:14:01.778 like more common sensical type ones that you'd find everyday 0:14:01.778 --> 0:14:02.748 in the community. 0:14:02.778 --> 0:14:05.958 And you've got links to these podcasts in the show notes. 0:14:05.988 --> 0:14:08.178 I certainly do, and like I said, they were absolutely 0:14:08.178 --> 0:14:09.408 brilliant to listen to. 0:14:09.438 --> 0:14:15.528 The podcast is called 20,000Hz. Very good. Now, before we go, 0:14:15.558 --> 0:14:17.688 a reminder of where there are details of what we've 0:14:17.688 --> 0:14:21.078 been talking about in this and previous editions of the program. 0:14:21.078 --> 0:14:24.018 Indeed. So as always, you can check out my blog site, 0:14:24.018 --> 0:14:29.268 which is David Woodby dot podbean podbean.com. 0:14:29.298 --> 0:14:32.778 David would be our dot podbean p o d b 0:14:32.778 --> 0:14:35.988 e a n.com to write to the program. 0:14:36.018 --> 0:14:38.598 You can write to me at Vision Australia, which is 0:14:38.598 --> 0:14:43.698 David Dot Woodbridge how it sounds at Vision australia.org. 0:14:43.728 --> 0:14:48.678 David Dot Woodbridge at Vision australia.org. This has been talking 0:14:48.708 --> 0:14:52.068 tech with me has been Vision Australia's national advisor on 0:14:52.068 --> 0:14:56.118 access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolly. Stay safe. We'll 0:14:56.118 --> 0:14:57.678 talk more tech next week. See you.