S1: Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: January the 9th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
S1: you with us listening maybe through Virgin Australia Radio, Associated
S1: Stations of Australia or the Community Radio Network. There's also
S1: the podcast. To catch that, all you need to do
S1: is search for the two words talking tech. And Dan.
S1: It can all come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just
S1: after it's been produced. Another option is to ask your
S1: Siri device or smart speaker to play Virgin Australia Radio
S1: Talking Tech podcast, Virgin Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast with me,
S1: someone who can explain all this tech stuff really well.
S1: Vision Australia's national adviser on access technology, David Woodbridge David,
S1: we've passed looking back at last year and looking forward
S1: to this year and down into the nitty gritty of
S1: developments this year, and let's start with the World Braille
S1: Day last Thursday, January the 4th, which is the anniversary
S1: of the birth of Louis Braille, the man who started
S1: it all.
S2: It certainly is. And it's always amazing that you think
S2: such an invention has made a huge difference in lots
S2: and lots of people's lives over the years, even though
S2: I guess I'm primarily a screen reader user. Uh, across
S2: all my stuff, I use manual braille in particular quite
S2: a lot. So I still have a Perkins Braille, a
S2: bra labeler. I've got a little brow device in front
S2: of me, and I thought it was really fantastic that Microsoft, Google, um,
S2: celebrated Braille was all the International Braille Day. I was
S2: a little bit disappointed that Apple didn't. So I thought, hmm,
S2: that's something to keep an eye on. Uh, and of course,
S2: Vision Australia celebrated in style by posting an email about
S2: Braille last week as well. It's one of those things
S2: that we just take for granted, and I really do
S2: think it's nice to celebrate these things. Like I just said,
S2: that we do take for granted, but still is really
S2: very relevant today, particularly for literacy, Braille.
S1: And this particular World Braille Day was a bit special
S1: for me and my wife Vicky, because fresh in our
S1: memory is our visit to the Louis Braille Museum, where
S1: we happen to be for a very special couple of
S1: hours in May last year. Very nice. Now, Braille is
S1: as relevant today and changing as much today as ever. Muse. Score.
S1: Tell us about that app.
S2: So music Score is a composing music score application. So
S2: it's open source. And they announced that in version 4.1
S2: there will be a Braille view. And what the brow
S2: view will allow people to do is to not only
S2: visually see the brow representation of the print music score
S2: on the screen, but you'll also be able to read
S2: it in Braille as well, which means you've got direct
S2: access to quote music Braille in live while you're doing
S2: your music school. And then later on this year, I
S2: believe with version 4.2, they'll be introducing Braille keyboard input.
S2: So they'll be using your SDF, JKL keys as the
S2: Braille input keys. The other thing about this, too, is
S2: it allows teachers who are blind or sighted, or students
S2: who are blind or sighted to collaborate on producing music scores.
S2: And if you're learning Braille music, you can get the
S2: screen reader to say, you know, this is A44 time
S2: signature and so on. So this has lots of implications.
S2: And if you don't know who the developer of music
S2: score is, it's the same folks that produce audacity.
S1: Great news for all their brother and sister musicians who
S1: use Braille. Tell us about the web Aim Screen Reader survey.
S1: It happens every year.
S2: Indeed. And this is the 10th one. So this is
S2: a survey that not only covers screen readers across all platforms,
S2: such as, you know, windows, Apple, Linux and so on,
S2: but it also covers other things like what browsers do
S2: you use? Uh, whether you use more mobile than desktop
S2: systems and so on. So it's it's quite a wide
S2: ranging survey. It's open till the 31st of Jan 2024.
S2: So what I advise people to do is please actually
S2: add your comments to it, because this is a really
S2: great way of finding out what's really going on in
S2: the world and what people actually use.
S1: So it's a worldwide survey, is it?
S2: Yes it is. Yeah.
S1: Closing at the end of January. Now, what's all this
S1: nonsense with the Apple Watch Series nine and the ultra two?
S2: Right. So in a nutshell, a metal company has taken
S2: Apple to court about them using a bit of hardware
S2: technology that's in the Apple Watch Ultra two and the
S2: series nine watch. And what that. Company is saying basically
S2: because we want royalties for our hardware patent. Apple saying no,
S2: because if we make a software change, it'll be different.
S2: The other company is saying, no, it won't. So they
S2: did a suspension of those two Apple Watches on December 26th.
S2: Apple very quickly then appealed that and it got taken up.
S2: So the appeal got disappeared. Whatever the word is for that. Withdrawn.
S2: So the Apple Watch Ultra two and the Apple Watch
S2: Series nine is now on sale again. But it's pending
S2: the appeal. So at the end of the day, really
S2: all Apple has to do is to start paying a
S2: couple of cents per unit to the company that says they.
S2: I was brought his only old patent hardware, and they're
S2: pretty convinced that changing the software is not going to
S2: make any difference to the patent dispute.
S1: One of many legal disputes that seem to go on
S1: in the tech world, isn't it?
S2: Indeed, yeah.
S1: The textbooks and expos and things already underway this week.
S2: Indeed. So let us not forget the famous Consumer Electronics
S2: Show in Las Vegas. This is where manufacturers of all
S2: sorts demonstrate either concept custom previews, whatever you want to
S2: call it, technology that they're working on for sale in
S2: retail this year. So some of this stuff may not
S2: even come to pass. And this year, of course, funnily enough,
S2: there's a lot of stuff about AI, artificial intelligence. So
S2: we can be looking at indoor car info slash information systems.
S2: We'll be looking at robots and then of course, all
S2: the other sort of general stuff about laptops, desktops, monitors, smartphones,
S2: smart devices, you name it, it'll be there. And there's
S2: been also some talk about some different accessibility stuff that
S2: will also be there. So what I thought we would
S2: do is wait till CES throws everything against the wall.
S2: We'll pick out some of the major things, and we'll
S2: cover more about it next week when we've got more
S2: of idea what's been covered.
S1: Are people able to tune in to any sessions online?
S2: You can. The link in the show notes takes you
S2: to one of the the Tech blog websites, and they'll
S2: be adding stuff so you can go and watch specific manufacturers. So,
S2: you know, Honda might have one. Um, Samsung will have
S2: one and someone so you can tune in when those
S2: ones are on. But there's not like a sort of
S2: a main stage that's continually broadcast each particular manufacturer or developer, uh,
S2: if they're doing a keynote or a presentation online, um,
S2: it just has different times of the day and most
S2: of the course being in Las Vegas, it's probably going
S2: to be somewhere in the morning at the time.
S1: Samsung they have an event coming up on the 18th
S1: of January.
S2: Yep. So of course that's our time. Uh, and it's
S2: the unpacked event for 2024. The first one what we're
S2: looking at is most likely a new Galaxy phone. I
S2: wouldn't be surprised if we saw a new Galaxy Watch.
S2: And it probably most likely a new Galaxy set of
S2: buds as well. Earbuds. Uh, and who knows, they might
S2: even also talk about putting AI more into the Samsung
S2: operating system for phones. So poor old Bixby might be
S2: living very dangerously on the end of its lifespan.
S1: Now, copilot, which is the AI tool from Microsoft going
S1: to more platforms.
S2: I got very excited when I saw this because now
S2: the copilot itself, the app is not only available on
S2: the iPhone, but it's also available on Android. And of course,
S2: this is the, you know, the open source back end
S2: or front end when they want to call it, of
S2: the AI system from Microsoft. So as with any other
S2: large language model, you can ask it questions. The weird
S2: thing is, on my iPhone, I can say open Copilot
S2: on Android where I can normally say open and then
S2: I have an application to start Copilot. I've got to
S2: say launch. So if anybody's listening out there in Android Land,
S2: if you can tell me why some applications need the
S2: word launch versus the word open, I'd be really interested
S2: to hear about it.
S1: You might be able to clear up a bit of
S1: confusion that may arise for some people. People who use
S1: iOS may be familiar with Bing. Now there's copilot. They're
S1: both from Microsoft.
S2: That's right. So basically Bing's morphed into or changed into copilot.
S2: Because when you think about what an original large language
S2: model is, it's just a large language model. It doesn't
S2: really interact with the internet. So what Microsoft's done is
S2: they've married both the Bing, the search side of things
S2: with the AI, large language model side of things, and
S2: both of them give you the result of using copilot.
S1: There's going to be a new key on windows keyboards.
S2: And of course people are saying this is the first.
S2: Major thing that Microsoft has done with the windows keyboard
S2: for the last three decades. Um, so besides your application
S2: key on upcoming Microsoft keyboards and laptops and so on,
S2: there'll be a dedicated co-pilot key. Now, I'm assuming on
S2: keyboards that don't have a dedicated co-pilot key like your
S2: applications key. They'll definitely be a keyboard workaround. So hopefully
S2: it uh, so yes, this week we'll find out more
S2: about that. Um, believing Acer's releasing a laptop that's got
S2: the copilot key already on the keyboard. So that's going
S2: to be really nice. Like the home button originally on
S2: your iPhone or your iPad. You can sit now back and, uh,
S2: press your co-pilot button on your windows keyboard and chit
S2: chat away.
S1: Tell us about Tom Tom teaming up with Microsoft.
S2: This is another area where Microsoft is really getting into
S2: artificial intelligence. So not only in computer side of things.
S2: So laptops and desktops, but also in car infotainment systems.
S2: So normally when you use Tomtom, which is the navigation system,
S2: you can look up and find the nearest petrol station. Well, now,
S2: because it's going to be using AI and search, you'll
S2: be able to say to the AI system in your car,
S2: naturally speaking, for example, I'm just leaving Gosford here. I'm
S2: travelling to Sydney. Can you tell me what the next
S2: petrol station on the left hand side of the road
S2: will be? That's got the cheapest petrol available and it
S2: will come back and let you know. So rather than
S2: just saying all or putting in petrol stations on your route,
S2: you'll be able to interrogate the system much better. And
S2: of course you'll also be able to control your cars,
S2: so you'll be able to say, close open windows, uh,
S2: change your air conditioning, all that sort of stuff. So
S2: to me, Stephen, this reminds me of the Knight Rider 2000. So, Kit,
S2: I want Tomtom to actually use the guy that did
S2: the kit voice. I want that now in the Tomtom system,
S2: and it's going to be available in various manufacturer cars, uh,
S2: this year.
S1: Hopefully it's come a long way from that magical device
S1: a few years ago that would give you your GPS info,
S1: hasn't it?
S2: I know, yeah. I mean, you sort of look back
S2: and you think, oh my goodness, how do we use
S2: that type of device? It was so primitive. Now it's
S2: on my sky's the limit. So I'm really looking forward
S2: to this year and see how it goes. Because I
S2: think it's just going to be absolutely amazing where AI
S2: and search takes us in particular.
S1: Tell us about grok. Grok.
S2: This may have been available overseas in X or as
S2: I still like to call it, Twitter. So this is
S2: the Twitter app on your iPhone. I'm pretty sure it's
S2: on Android, but I haven't double checked that. So it's
S2: one of the tabs down the bottom. So we've got
S2: home and notifications. And the grub tab allows you to
S2: use the AI large language model of the system, which
S2: is called grok grok. And this is part of the
S2: premium subscription. So you'll need to pay for it. So
S2: you get all the wonderful things that a premium subscription
S2: gives you a i.e. things like being able to delete
S2: or redo a tweet properly and so on. So part
S2: of that deal is also to use the AI system.
S2: I think it ended up being about 31 or $32
S2: a month. So I thought, well, I don't use systems
S2: that much at the moment and I don't need the
S2: premium features of the grok system and the other stuff.
S2: So I thought, yeah, you know what, I'll just mention it.
S2: It's there. And if you want to pay for the
S2: premium version of X, go for it.
S1: Just before we go, a reminder of where there are details.
S1: If what you've been talking about in this and previous
S1: editions of the.
S2: Program, you can check out my blog site, which is
S2: David would be r dot podbean Podbean com.
S1: David would be dot podbean Podbean. Com to write to
S1: the program.
S2: You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work,
S2: which is David Woodbridge how it sounds a division Australia.
S1: Org David Woodbridge at vision Australia. Org this has been
S1: talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national advisor
S1: on access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolley take care.
S1: We'll talk more tech next week. See you.