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Do you have a success story to share regarding the use of one of HumanWare's products? Tell them in your own words before June 8, 2011! Not only could you see your story posted on their website, but you could also win a Trekker Breeze talking GPS or a $300 HumanWare gift certificate!
To submit your story, select the link on this post.

We've obtained some literature on what appears to be some upcoming products from AI Squared. AI Squared appears destined for the mobile arena with ZoomReader, a $19.99 electronic reader and video magnifier for the iPhone 4 and 3GS and ZoomIt, a $4.99 product with just the video magnifier. The ZoomReader product also appears to possibly include some OCR
capabilities. The description from AI Squared is after the jump, though remember nothing has been released yet and things may change. Update: The ZoomIt app may not come to fruition, from the info we are receiving.

Index Braille is introducing a new embosser, and we may get our first opportunity to see it at ATIA in Orlando. The Braille Box offers high-volume embossing using a higher quality sheet feeder. It prints up to 800 pages per hour, which equates roughly to one page every 4.5 seconds. Index also brags about the quietness of the embosser, due to some new production techniques.
It's priced at $12,995, so they're marketing this one toward production houses and large quantity producers for sure. At that price point, it's certainly competitive compared with other available models. We'll be sure to post more info on this one soon as we learn about it.

Back in October, we learned of KeySoft 9.1, the first major upgrade for the BrailleNote Apex family including support for WPA2 wireless encryption, Microsoft Word files, epub books, and NLS audiobooks. The update appears to be nearing release, as Humanware will be presenting on this week's Accessible World Tek Talk program. Interested persons can learn more on Monday at 8 PM eastern. We'll give you a full report as a part of our ATIA coverage next week.

LS&S has the Kapten portable GPS navigation system on clearence for $225. With about $17 for shipping, it's less than half the original cost of this unit. A newer model of the Kapten is now available for close to $500. The Kapten is a self-contained GPS system which offers several route navigation modes.

Kohl's has posted their online Black Friday sale including nearly 500 online deals.
There's lots of great buys on apparel, home items, toys, cosmetics, and much more. Plus, use coupon codes CONTACTFR to get free shipping and EXTRA20 to save an additional 20 percent off your order. In an effort to make the Kohl's ad more accessible, we've included direct links to all 490 deals. Sale ends today.

Freedom Scientific has released Jaws 12 to the public. New features implemented in jaws 12 include: a settings center, an alternative interface to the Microsoft Office ribbon, a text analyzer, automatic update notifications, and much more. For a full listing of new features and download links visit the link above for all the details on this major new release.

Freedom Sientific has released version 6.5 for their PAC Mate Omni PDA, as well as lowered prices for the entire line of PAC Mate Omni devices.
The speech-only PAC Mate is now $1495, the 20-cell version costs $2895, and the 40-cell model costs $4695. The 6.5 release adds support for RealSpeak Voices, Mundu® IM and FS DAISY Player is now built-in to the firmware. Version 6.5 is available for free to existing PAC mate Omni customers.

Nuance has released the first version of Talks for Windows Mobile phones, that's not sold through Verizon Wireless. This version runs on phones running Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1 and 6.5 standard, and does not support touchscreen devices. We are unsure as to pricing and licensing information.

A Blind Bargains reader has listed an EBay auction for a used Braille Scrabble Board Game with a starting bid of $9.99, or Buy It Now for $30.00. With about $13 for shipping, this is still $7 under the cost for a new game. Auction ends September 23.

The Sendero Group has released their Sendero GPS LookAround iOS ap for $3.99. This app announces the current Heading, street, city,
cross street and nearest point of interest to your location. The ap is only compatible with the iPhone 4 and 3gs, and not with the iPod touch.

The first public beta of Jaws 12 has been released. Jaws users can download the beta version of this product and use authorization from jaws 11 until the full SMA upgrade is released later this year. Freedom Scientific recommends checking for updates weekly to insure users have the most up to date software. Features of this new release include: Jaws BrailleIn, contracted braille typing, Settings Center, Virtual Ribbon Menu, and more. visit the link above for more information on the Jaws 12 public Beta and all of its new features.

Buy.com has the Kingston 4GB microSDHC (Class 4) High Capacity micro Secure Digital Card for $10.74. Plus, shipping is free. Note that an SD adapter does not come included with this item. It's great for multimedia and music on your cell phone, or to hold those larger GPS map bundles for Mobile Geo, for example.

Blind Mice Mart has refurbished i.d. mate Omni Barcode Scanners for $699.88. With free shipping, this is at least $500 off the cost of the i.d. Mate Summit. The Omni has the capability to hold the current bar code database and comes with all standard accessories.

According to several sources, Humanware is planning to raise the price for two of their popular notetakers in September. the 32-cell version of the BrailleNote Apex will list for $6,379, a $184 increase over the current price. That's nearly $400 over the price of a Braille Sense Plus and just under $800 over the retail price of a PAC Mate Omni, the latter including 8 more cells.At the same time, the price of the 18-cell version of the Apex will jump to $4,529, a $134 increase. Finally, the price of the VoiceNote Apex, to be released in September, has been set at $2,049. That's just over $50 more than the price of a VoiceSense, but nearly $350 under the price of a PAC Mate Omni without a braille display.

For a reader, OpticsPlanet.com has the Brunton Braille Compass for $57.99. With free shipping, we couldn't find this item for less elsewhere. It includes braille labels at the four cardinal directions and dots for other points.

Handy Tech North America has the Olympus DM-4 Digital Voice Recorder for $299. With about $10 for shipping, we weren't able to find a better deal on this item. The Dm-4 features a 2.2-inch color LCD display, 8GB of built-in storage, the ability to play and record in MP3, WMA and Wav formats, 29 hours of battery life, and support for Daisy, audible and other books. The DM-4 also features voice guidance, which speaks the device's menus and settings, as well as Nuance Vocalizer text-to-speech for reading TXT and Daisy books. To this point, no NLS support has been included in the unit.

The National Federation of the Blind Convention in Dallas was the highlight for nearly 2,500 attendees this past week. And while we could only do and see so much, there were certainly some things we learned from this year's conference. Here's our list for 2010.

Blind Mice Mart has introduced a new talking thermometer with an expanded range, making it ideal for a multitude of situations. This new thermometer has a temperature range from -58 to 572 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Mice asked for it and it was built!
Cook meats to their proper internal temperatures accurately.
In addition to the kitchen, other recommended uses include
checking bath water, pool, or spa temperatures,
the temperature of the air, or soil temperature. The temperature is spoken by a female voice and batteries are included. It's available for $35.95 plus about $8 for shipping.

KNFB Reading Technology, Inc. has released version 6.4 of their KNFB Reader Mobile software. This latest release adds color recognition, glare detection, tilt feedback, the ability to export captured text to the notes application, and various bug fixes. This version is free for all existing KNFB Reader Mobile customers.