S1: Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: September the 3rd, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
S1: you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia radio, associated
S1: stations of the Radio Reading Network or maybe the Community
S1: Radio Network. There is also the podcast. To catch that,
S1: all you need to do is search for the two
S1: words talking tech and down. It can all come usually
S1: on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. Another
S1: option is to ask your Siri device or smart speaker
S1: to play. Vision Australia radio talking tech podcast. Vision Australia
S1: radio talking tech podcast with me, someone who can explain
S1: all this tech stuff really well. Leading Australian blindness technologist
S1: David Woodbridge. David, we've got a lot to get through today.
S1: Perhaps we should start talking about the BT speak, which
S1: is the running on Linux device from Blazing Blazie technologies,
S1: the little handheld device with the Braille keyboard. There's been
S1: an update, the August update.
S2: There has been. And I must admit, this is quite
S2: a good update because they've updated the documentation, which has
S2: been something that's sort of really been needed for since
S2: the device came out. So that's actually really, really good.
S2: The second thing that I really like is in the
S2: help option. Now, you've actually got a very nice bit
S2: of a tutorial thing to listen to, which is actually
S2: really handy. Now I will give you a tip. When
S2: you listen to that, make sure that you go into
S2: the help about how to play that file, because otherwise,
S2: if you don't know the command to stop it, you
S2: won't be able to stop it because it's actually playing
S2: a media file. So the normal commands that you would
S2: use to stop a media file, that's the one you
S2: would use for that little sort of help starting tutorial.
S2: So that's just a quick tip. And the third thing
S2: is that they've rearranged the menus and the stuff in
S2: the menus actually makes a lot more sense. So that's
S2: actually a really great thing. So I think as I
S2: think we've said on and off, um, this, you know,
S2: this system basically continues to evolve and it just seems
S2: to be getting better and better.
S1: Yeah, it's a great little device, that one. The BT
S1: speak from Blazie technologies on the Living Mindfully podcast from
S1: Jonathan Mohsen. He had some information about Orcam that we've
S1: been waiting on for some time, the Orcam blindness products.
S2: Yeah. So basically Orcam sent a letter to quantum Rlve
S2: reading Learning Vision, and then they passed that particular letter
S2: on to Jonathan at Living Blind Fully. And basically what
S2: they're saying is that, um, they're not going to keep
S2: developing the Orcam range, but what they are going to
S2: be doing is keep distributing the Orcam so that things
S2: like the Orcam read and the Orcam Myeye two, and
S2: so on. So they're still doing the products as far
S2: as Distributorships going, but it looks like from, I guess
S2: from looking around on the internet as well, that they're
S2: going to put more development into hearing type devices, which
S2: I think, you know, when all is said and done,
S2: it's actually really good. I mean, one of the benefits
S2: of the orcam, which none of the other devices really do,
S2: is that it doesn't interact with the internet. So if
S2: you're working in a high secure area, like, you know,
S2: the Department of Defense or Parliament House or some other
S2: place that's got high security, um, you know, as long
S2: as the employer knows that the thing you're using to
S2: read your document isn't accessing the internet at all, it's
S2: all standalone. That's actually really, really good. So that's been
S2: one fantastic thing about the Orcam ever since it came out,
S2: is that it doesn't plug into the internet. It's completely independent,
S2: very private and secure, and it's really great for the workplace.
S1: Living blindfold has for five years now been a go
S1: to place for blindness technology discussion and other blindness issues.
S1: It's coming to an end.
S2: Yeah. Look, it seems to be the time for people
S2: to be moving on. So I'm moving on. And apparently
S2: now Jonathan's moving on. So yes, living blind fully subscription wise.
S2: And the podcast will be coming to an end and
S2: towards the end of September. And he hasn't yet told
S2: us what his new adventure is going to be. Um,
S2: but yeah, he said, unfortunately, um, the new job will
S2: take all his attention, so sadly, he'll have to stop
S2: doing Living Blind fully.
S1: Yeah, it's been a great product. A lot of people
S1: have used it. Indeed. Some good news. Applevis is to
S1: reopen early next week.
S2: Yeah, this is actually really exciting. So as we learned
S2: last week, um, be my eyes, the very famous volunteer
S2: type system which also uses AI and all sorts of
S2: other wonderful things, um, has actually taken over the running
S2: of Applevis They're employing two staff to maintain the site,
S2: moderate the site, support the site, etc. they're also having
S2: the existing editors, if they so wish, to keep continuing
S2: with the actual, um, website itself. And they the statement
S2: that I heard was the fact that, um, as with
S2: everything that Baby Boys does there, it's, you know, the
S2: fact about supporting people out there in the world on
S2: all the different types of stuff they use, including technology.
S2: And they felt that because iOS and all the stuff
S2: that goes with iOS, i.e. the Apple TV, the Mac
S2: OS and so on, um, is a is a basically
S2: intrinsic part of people's lives these days, and that's why
S2: they're continuing with it. So I believe it'll be coming
S2: online before the Apple event happens on in the US
S2: on September 9th. And they'll do their normal editorial stuff
S2: on all the stuff coming out from Apple. So that's
S2: a bit of a great start to restart the new
S2: look for Applebee's.
S1: Just to explain to those who are not familiar with Applebee's.
S1: It has a marvelous library of articles going back years
S1: and years. And a terrific library of podcasts, hasn't it?
S2: It's got a good range of podcasts, good range of articles.
S2: But what it's also got is an absolutely fantastic thing.
S2: Of all the different apps across all the different categories
S2: that you could possibly think of, like entertainment, travel, navigation
S2: and so on. And they have comments on those apps.
S2: So you know, this this app is accessible. This app
S2: is sort of accessible if you want to fight long
S2: enough with it. This one's not. Don't even bother. And
S2: so on and so on. So when I left Virgin
S2: Australia I had to work out some accounting type stuff
S2: and my source was Applebee's. So I went in there
S2: because it's only retailing at the moment. Went in there
S2: and was able to look at quite a few different
S2: apps for accounting. Get if they get the information, if
S2: they work with VoiceOver or not. And hey presto was
S2: off and running. So in that way, I'm really pleased
S2: to see it coming back again because it really is
S2: truly a fantastic resource.
S1: And speaking of the podcasts, I find them a very
S1: good go to place around the time of the iOS
S1: updates because there's some great guides to using new features
S1: or change features, etc..
S2: That's right. And look, I'm sure Thomas Donville, if he
S2: hasn't done it already, I'm sure he'll be releasing a
S2: whole whole plethora of podcasts to do with all the
S2: new features in iOS 18 and so on.
S1: Now, recently you acquired a Tony Box. Mhm. Tell us
S1: again what it is and how did you go with it.
S2: Yeah. So the Tony Box is basically it's a little
S2: audio box which is covered by foam. And you've got
S2: a little character which is all from Disney like Mickey
S2: Mouse and all those sort of ones. And you pop
S2: the little character on top and based on that particular character, it'll,
S2: you know, play different songs, it'll play a story and
S2: you can control that device. You can, you know, you
S2: can whack it on the side to go to the
S2: previous and next song. If it's got a song based system, um,
S2: you can also tilt it left and right to go
S2: fast forward and rewind. So from that point of view,
S2: it works absolutely perfectly now because it's a mainstream device. Um,
S2: when you first set it up, you will need side
S2: assistance if you're completely blind because it had these wonderful
S2: little lights and it says if the light is blinking
S2: or if the light is a certain colour and so on,
S2: then you do this and, you know, being blind, you
S2: actually can't see that happening. Um, so that's why I've
S2: said on the internet that once you've got it set up,
S2: you just basically buy your all your new characters, whack
S2: them on there, and it just works flawlessly. So it's
S2: just that initial setup itself with the box itself, which
S2: is a bit difficult. But once that's done, hey presto
S2: and off you go and enjoy all the different Disney characters,
S2: stories and songs.
S1: You've been having some experience in the wearables world. How
S1: is your AR headset?
S2: It's actually going really well. So the Vision store did
S2: a bit of a webinar on this last week as
S2: we go to air this week. And I must say,
S2: the things they covered were extremely accurate. It does suffer
S2: from a little bit of AI delusion. So for example,
S2: it thinks my wife's car is currently driving through a
S2: field of flowers, which sounds pretty cool. So really, when
S2: you're using these for that type of AI stuff, just
S2: take some with a grain of salt. It's not too
S2: difficult to work out what's right and what's incorrect. I mean,
S2: you wouldn't necessarily have an elephant in your lounge room,
S2: for example. But as far as documentation stuff is concerned,
S2: reading documents, the short text stuff, the queue information. So
S2: the question where you can actually use AI to then
S2: interrogate a document. So if you were looking at your
S2: electricity bill, you can say, how much do I owe
S2: on the bill? Or if it was a restaurant menu
S2: or a menu from a cafe, you can say, what's
S2: the breakfast choices and how much, what's the cheapest one,
S2: and so on. So all that sort of stuff works
S2: absolutely perfectly. And I'd like to remind people about is
S2: this is an external camera to your phone so you
S2: can keep your Android phone currently and hopefully later this month,
S2: your iPhone 15 or above in your pocket and just
S2: use this camera. And of course it's three apps. It's
S2: the AR app itself. It also works with the Seeing
S2: Eye app. So all the functions you've got in the
S2: Seeing Eye app will work through the camera. And of
S2: course the Navy lens, which is sort of the the
S2: QR code type labelling system, which works really nicely. I've
S2: got to get mine replaced because the right temple earbud
S2: doesn't seem to be working very well, and that's where
S2: the camera is. So it might have just got bumped
S2: in transport and whatever else might have happened. But, um,
S2: I'm sure I'll be able to take it back and
S2: exchange it and and off we go. But as a
S2: headset for only $1,399, it's really fantastic when you compare
S2: to what other stuff's on the market.
S1: Just tell me, how does it feel with the camera
S1: on your head, rather than on a phone that you've
S1: got to manipulate with your hands? Yeah.
S2: Look, one thing I know, we I think we might
S2: have talked about this a year or so ago when
S2: I tried the first one. It does get a bit
S2: hot with the camera module. So what they've done now,
S2: they've got a little silicone sleeve that goes over the
S2: camera module, so it makes it more comfortable when it's
S2: against your skin on your face. I must admit, after
S2: I started wearing it, because it really does feel like
S2: you're wearing a headset, so you really do forget about
S2: the camera. Um, and it's actually very comfortable. It's not
S2: that heavy. And I also use it on my Mac
S2: because it's a bone conduction headset, effectively, with a camera
S2: on it, I can just keep wearing it so I
S2: can take it the USB-C out of my Android phone,
S2: which I bought to support the AR headset, whack it
S2: into my Mac or Windows, and I can use it
S2: as an audio device as well. So that's actually pretty,
S2: pretty cool. So no, it there's no problem wearing it
S2: for extended periods of time. Like I just said, you
S2: actually even forget about that. You're wearing it.
S1: Next Tuesday morning Australian Eastern time. That'll be at 3 a.m..
S1: So it's 10 a.m. Monday morning in the US. Is
S1: the Apple event, which will be announcing new hardware and
S1: will get release dates for software, etc..
S2: That's right. So I'm getting up for it as usual.
S2: And then you and I will be doing a coverage
S2: of that particular event. It's actually worked out really nicely
S2: because we can do sort of fresh off the press,
S2: as it were. And so I'm really looking forward to it.
S2: It should be a really exciting event. I'm looking forward
S2: to what they're going to be talking about with the
S2: iPhone 16. There's speculation there's going to be an iPad mini. Um,
S2: there's going to be stuff about the next version of
S2: Mac OS. So this time around, particularly with all the
S2: Apple AI stuff, this is one event I'm really looking
S2: forward to.
S1: The timing for this is perfect, David, because it's actually
S1: going to be the last of your regular talking texts.
S1: We'll have you back from time to time more often
S1: than not, I hope, but it'll be the last of
S1: your regular weekly appearances on Talking Tech, and for it
S1: to be an Apple event, well, there's something amazing about that.
S2: I know it's actually worked out really well, and I
S2: will let people know that I'm starting my new job
S2: actually next Monday as we speak this week.
S1: So talking tech next week. Make sure you tune in
S1: for that one. Before we go, a reminder of where
S1: there are details of what we've been talking about in
S1: this and previous editions of the program.
S2: Indeed. So as always, you can check out my blog
S2: site which is David Woodburn dot Podbean.
S1: Podbean.com David Woodburn podbean podbean.com. To write to the program.
S2: You can use my personal email address for the last
S2: time next week, which is David would be R. So
S2: it's like David Woodbridge without the EJ at gmail.com.
S1: David would be R at gmail.com. This has been talking
S1: tech with me has been leading Australian blindness technologist David Woodbridge.
S1: I'm Stephen Jolly. Stay safe. We'll talk more tech next week.
S1: See you.