Hello, For further information, go to the link: www.knfbreader.com/products-mobile.php
With regards, Gopalakrishnan ----- Original Message ----- From: "sabari priya" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 11:25 PM Subject: Re: [AI] The KnfbReader Mobile: > Hello, > Thank you for sending useful information. > Can you specify the download link for trial version. It will be off great > help. > Thank you. > > R. Sabari Priya. > > On 5/4/08, Sanjay <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> The KnfbReader Mobile: >> An Individual Perspective >> by Michael D. Barber >> ************ >> From the Editor: Michael Barber is president of the NFB of Iowa. He >> is also a technology specialist who works at the Iowa Department for the >> Blind. He has been using the new knfbReader Mobile. Here is his report: >> ************ >> It is late Thursday evening, and I have just checked into my motel >> room in a small Iowa town. After I get my computer set up (always a high >> priority), I start looking around for printed material I know exists in >> this room. For instance, I want to know what TV channels are available. I >> search to the left of the TV, and there it is--a letter-sized sheet of >> paper. >> From my pocket I take my Nokia N82 cell phone and turn it on by >> pressing a button on the top of the phone. Soon I hear the familiar Nokia >> music sounds letting me know the phone is active. Then I press a button >> just to the left and a bit above the five-way scroll box on the phone. I >> hear a message that says, "Hello. I am the knfbReader Mobile." >> Yes, that's right, reading software is now available in a small >> cell >> phone. Ray Kurzweil, the world-acclaimed inventor, promised us six years >> ago that by 2008 we would enjoy reading portability we could put in our >> shirt pockets, and now it's here. It's the knfbReader Mobile, and it does >> fit in my shirt pocket. >> This is amazing to me considering where all this began. You see, I >> remember the very first reading machine back in 1976. That machine took >> up >> two tables and cost about $50,000. It was Ray Kurzweil who invented that >> machine as a result of a conversation he had on an airplane with a blind >> person who told him that, although he could accomplish many tasks >> independently, it would be nice if he could read printed material on his >> own. Back in those days we were impressed with a machine that could scan >> and read back to us a letter, a memo, or even a book. Even then Mr. >> Kurzweil was promising reading portability within the next twenty-five >> years. >> Years went by, and many of us will remember the Arkenstone and >> Arkenclone machines, the VERA, and other systems that helped us to read >> the >> printed page. But none of these was portable. We first saw portability as >> a >> reality in 2005 with the advent of the Kurzweil-National Federation of >> the >> Blind Reader. This was comprised of a standard PDA with a digital camera >> attached to it. With this device we could read our mail, office memos, >> printed receipts, and later U.S. currency. Portable as this was, it was >> still too bulky to put into a pocket comfortably. >> But now we have a truly portable reading device combined with a >> cell >> phone. With the addition of screen-reading software such as Mobile Speaks >> or Talks, it is now possible to access the other functions of the phone, >> including making and receiving phone calls and managing personal >> information such as names and phone numbers of contacts and appointments >> in >> the calendar. The phone also offers an accessible GPS program, an Adobe >> PDF >> reading program, a voice recorder, a music player, and much more. >> Wonderful >> as it is, this particular phone, the Nokia N82, offers access to AT&T or >> T- >> Mobile only. It will not work with Verizon, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, or >> other >> non-GSM networks. >> The Nokia N82 is about the size of a Milky Way candy bar, and >> unlike >> too many other cell phones, its keypad is very easy to feel. The buttons >> have just the right amount of space between them and are raised enough so >> that they can be located easily by touch. And the phone has two gigabytes >> of memory. (For those of you who may not be techno geeks like me, that's >> a >> whale of a lot of memory.) Above the keypad is a square box, which is >> called the five-way scroll box. This box contains up, down, left, right, >> and enter buttons. To the left of the box is a button that activates >> different functions, depending on what area of the button you press. >> Pressing the top of this square button will activate the knfbReader >> Mobile. >> Pressing the very small button on the extreme left edge of the phone will >> activate the phone's Send feature. Pressing the bottom edge of the button >> will bring up the phone's main menu. To the right of the five-way scroll >> box is the End Call button, the top edge of which can be pressed to exit >> the knfbReader Mobile. If you turn the phone around so that the back of >> it >> is facing you, you'll find a slide switch that moves from left to right. >> When this switch is moved to the left, the camera lens is closed; when >> it's >> moved to the right, the lens is open, and you can take a picture. >> Back in my motel room I position the cell phone over the page and >> about a foot above it. My finger moves to the bottom edge of the five-way >> scroll box, and I gently press it. knfbReader Mobile announces, "Taking >> picture," followed by the sound of a camera snapping a picture. This is >> followed by some fifteen seconds in which I hear periodic beeps while the >> image is being processed. Then I hear the various channels available to >> me. >> My curiosity leads me to other printed material in the room, and I learn >> that, if I had forgotten my toothpaste, toothbrush, or shaving cream, all >> I >> would have to do is to call the front desk to get help. Most important, >> though, I can tell which package of coffee is not decaffeinated. >> Additionally, I am able to use the reader to read the dialing >> instructions >> on the room phone just above its keypad. >> But that's not all this device is capable of. I recently visited an >> ATM machine and withdrew $50. I had three bills. I knew that one was a >> ten- >> dollar bill, but which one? All I had to do was to position the reader >> above the bill and press the zero key on the keypad. A picture was taken, >> and the bill was recognized as the ten I was looking for. And, by >> pressing >> the pound key followed by the zero, I could tell whether I was looking at >> the back or front of the bill and which direction it was facing. >> You can customize the reader by changing the many user settings >> available to you. For example, by pressing the number 7 key on the >> keypad, >> you can enter the audio settings and change the rate, pitch, and volume >> of >> the speech as well as changing to any installed voice. If you have some >> vision, you can adjust the size of the print on the screen by pressing >> the >> number 9 key and choosing between small, medium, and large. There is also >> a >> setting here for turning the display off. >> Thus far I've been able to read my personal mail (including bills, >> junk mail, etc.), some catalogs, pages in a phone book, memos, receipts, >> and business cards. As noted earlier, I've also been able to scan and >> recognize various denominations of bills. Additionally, I was visiting a >> financial institution very recently where I was waiting for my wife to >> fill >> out a document. In front of me on the counter was a stack of printed >> material. I almost forgot and asked my wife what they were, but then I >> remembered I had my knfbReader Mobile with me and found that it was a >> personal survey a person could take to see if he or she was ready for >> retirement. >> I have been impressed with the clarity of speech from this little >> device as well as the accuracy of the optical character recognition. As >> with any scanning and reading software, you do not always get 100 percent >> accuracy, but in many instances it's very close. Reading catalogs or >> magazines with a lot of colored text can sometimes be a challenge and may >> slow down the recognition process. >> So how does this device compare with Kurzweil 1000 and OpenBook, >> the >> two desktop solutions that are in wide use today? The most obvious >> comparison is that you can scan and read documents with all three >> systems. >> You can also scan and recognize currency with all three systems. All >> three >> systems will let you save your scanned document, but both OpenBook and >> Kurzweil 1000 allow you to save your document in many different file >> formats. The huge difference is portability. With both Kurzweil and >> OpenBook, you must have both a computer and scanner, and neither of these >> is truly portable. With the knfbReader Mobile, you have a system that >> truly >> can be carried in a pocket. >> As I think about the future of this device, I would like to see the >> following: >> A few more available file formats for saving documents; right now there >> is >> only one. >> The ability to send a file to yourself or someone else by email. >> The ability to use a Braille display so those who are deaf-blind can >> enjoy >> reading portability. >> All in all, this is an excellent piece of technology and will prove >> to be very useful to me both at home and at work. It will be very useful >> for the person attending conferences or seminars where there may be >> handouts. It would also be useful for the college student who goes to a >> class where the instructor distributes handouts that must be read >> immediately. I do not recommend using the knfbReader Mobile to recognize >> money handed back to you while you're at the head of a long checkout line >> at a department store or supermarket; the task of scanning each bill is >> still time consuming. >> Finally, I found that the excellent audio tutorial, narrated by >> James >> Gashel, was very easy to follow and had me up and running in no time at >> all. Everything you need to know about the reader to get you started >> scanning documents or recognizing currency is delivered in very clear >> terms. >> You can obtain more information about the knfbReader Mobile, >> including where to buy, directly from knfbReader Technologies. The Web >> address is <http://www.knfbreader.com/products-mobile.php>. The phone >> number to call is (877) 547-1500. The knfbReader Mobile sells for $2,195. >> This price includes the reading software and the Nokia N82 phone but not >> a >> calling plan or the Talks or Mobile Speak software. >> >> To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> with >> the subject unsubscribe. >> >> To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, >> please >> visit the list home page at >> >> http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
