I must admit that I've been very impressed with my BN PK. It is easy to use and logical. My only criticism of it is that it will only synchronise with Microsoft Outlook, etc. At work we use Lotus Notes. Sometimes I need to send work related emails when I am working at home for which I would prefer to use my work email address. But I can't access my work emails through my BN but I would be able to through my phone. So, I think that Humanware needto look at developing the BrailleNote so that it can work with more email clients. The only other thing that I was shocked about was that it didn't have a To Do list as somehow it doesn't seem logical to use the planner and I believe that it should be a separate function. That's my two pennies worth anyway. What's everyone else's opinion? Karina -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of pann1 Sent: 18 September 2007 04:21 To: Alex Parks Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Braillenote] re: HumanWare opening world for the Blind
I think HumanWare is going in the wrong direction. Although I like my Motorola Q and I think it's a great phone, I don't want to send email using my phone. My doctor sent me an email using his Blackberry device and he said it was very hard to use and he made lots of mistakes. I don't want to use my cell hone for a notetaker either. It's just too slow and the keys are small. I'm afraid the BrailleNote is going to be treated like a stepchild, but I hope I'm wrong. Is the guy who took over the company sighted or blind? He's going against HumanWare's philosophy of making notetaking devices designed for the blind, not adapting some pda designed for the sighted. I would never buy a Maestro and I don't want a Windows environment for a notetaker. That's why I like the BN. We'll have to watch and see how HumanWare treats the BrailleNote. Terri, Amateur Radio call sign, KF6CA. Army MARS call sign, AAT9PX California On Mon, 17 Sep 2007, Alex Parks wrote: I wonder, though, where their idea of adapting commercial devices will put the BN project, and how they will be different from FS then? I like my BN exactly because it is so easy to use, not based on a Windows platform look or anything. If I wanted that, I would get a Braille Sense or Maestro. Have a great day, Alex > ----- Original Message ----- >From: Sharon Campbell <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "Chris Hallsworth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [email protected] >Date sent: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:30:00 -0500 >Subject: HumanWare opening world for the Blind > Here is another article from the Blationews email list. > New Zealand Herald >Monday, September 10, 2007 > HumanWare opening world for the blind > By Peter Griffin > Richard Mander is steering an ambitious expansion of >HumanWare's product line-up. > Whatever way you look at it, the past two years have been a >period of seismic change for Christchurch hi-tech darling >HumanWare. > It was two years ago that the company's founder, Dr Russell >Smith, a pioneer in technology to assist the blind, and his wife, >Marian, boarded their Cessna 182 to fly home after a technology >conference held by venture capitalist Jenny Morel. > Their plane crashed off the north Canterbury coast, killing the >couple and leaving a company without the person who had steered >its technology development since 1973. > Based a short drive out of central Christchurch, HumanWare is >known worldwide for the BrailleNote, a mini-computer that allows >blind people to access most of the tools a laptop user with 20-20 >vision enjoys -- word processing, email and web-surfing included. > The BrailleNote has been largely responsible for HumanWare >claiming a 60 per cent share of the global market for assistive >devices for the blind. > Blind children all around the world -- the lucky ones, anyway >-- pick up a BrailleNote when they're between 10 and 12 years >old. Many will stick with it for the rest of their lives, giving >HumanWare a hugely loyal customer base and recurring revenue for >years to come. > But HumanWare is also playing in the much bigger and more >competitive market for devices aimed at those with learning >disabilities and the visually impaired -- everything from digital >magnifiers to talking-book players. > In HumanWare's small manufacturing plant in Christchurch, >technicians assemble devices bound for Europe, Asia and the >United States, on a just-in-time production line that's been >radically overhauled since chief executive Richard Mander took >the reins last March. > As the second anniversary of the plane crash passes, there's a >sense that the company is finally able to move on. > A montage of photos in HumanWare's reception area shows Smith >throughout the history of the company, originally called >PulseData. > One black-and-white shot shows him demonstrating his Binaural >Sensory Aid, a sonar system built into a pair of glasses to help >the blind navigate using sound. > "We put that display up in reception the day of the shareholder >meeting. Russell died two years ago. It had a huge impact. >Some of the staff had worked with him for 20 years," says Mander. > That shareholder meeting in May was held to seek approval for a >major restructure of HumanWare's ownership. The result is that >dozens of shareholders have been bought out by Australian >investment firm Jolimont Capital and HumanWare's senior managers. > "A lot of the shareholders had been with us for a long time and >put their money in a long time ago," says Mander. > "They wanted dividend payments; we wanted to reinvest in the >company." > The investment is necessary to fund an ambitious expansion of >HumanWare's product line-up. > The Business had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to set eyes >on the more significant upcoming additions, but it's safe to say >that one product in particular is set to capture global attention >when it debuts in the run-up to Christmas. > In general terms, HumanWare's game plan for future growth >involves adapting existing popular consumer electronics and >business devices so the blind and sight-impaired can use them >too. > That means a more intensive focus on software development for >HumanWare, which had revenue of $58 million in the year to June >last year. > A partnership it struck with Research in Motion, the company >behind the wildly successful BlackBerry handheld computer, is a >breakthrough deal for Mander's team and points the way forward. >Early next year, HumanWare software which talks blind people >through the BlackBerry's menus will be available for the >phone-cum-email device. > "In the longer term it's about getting revenue out of >software," says Mander, whose vision for HumanWare is that it >becomes the company automatically associated with adapting >popular products so they can be used by the blind or visually >impaired. > "If we can have HumanWare inside the box, we'd be happy," he >adds. > Mander spent seven years working at computer-maker Apple -- he >met his wife, Amanda, there when the two started at the company >as interns on the same day. > The pair learned a great deal about so-called user-orientated >design at Apple, much of which has rubbed off on HumanWare. >Amanda Mander, working through her company Zanzara, was a design >consultant to HumanWare before her husband came on board. In a >bid to improve the look and feel of HumanWare products, the >Manders drove a move to bring the industrial design of products >in-house. "Up to six months ago, that was done externally," says >Richard Mander. > HumanWare has also moved to bolster its RandD capability by >underwriting an assistive technology research group in the >University of Canterbury's fledgling UC-I3 innovation centre. > A bare patch of land on the university campus indicates where >UC-I3 will take shape when construction begins next month. >Funded by the Government to the tune of $9.7 million, UC-I3 >matched the public funding dollar for dollar through >contributions from IBM, Hewlett Packard, HumanWare, Jade Software >and Tait Electronics. > The idea is that postgraduate students and staff will >collaborate on research projects with the tech sector, creating >spin-off companies and intellectual property that generates >income for its owners. > The resume of the man recently hired to lead the centre >indicates exactly the direction the university is taking with >UC-I3. Dr Darin Graham hails from Canada where, as the president >and chief executive of Communications and Information Ontario, he >forged joint ventures between academic researchers and industry >heavyweights like Research In Motion and Nortel. > "The Kiwi approach to innovation is very entrepreneurial," says >Graham. > "For me, I think this could have huge impact not only for the >university but the industry itself." > The centre has seven research themes, one of which is >geospatial technology, led by another import, British scientist >Dr David Parker. > Parker's students may spend a good deal of their time tinkering >with miniature planes assisted by the Model Aircraft Association, >but the research has a serious -- and commercial -- focus. > The geospatial team works on image sensor and >global-positioning technology, some of which can be mounted on >unmanned aerial vehicles. > Parker rattles off the potential applications of the group's >technology: testing water uptake in crops, finding lost people, >atmospheric testing, setting up airborne communications networks >in time of disasters. > Started with a $2 million investment from the Government and >$900,000 from the Canterbury region, the geospatial group landed >11 commercial contracts worth more than $500,000 in its first >nine months of operation, said Parker. > "We're attracting PhDs from around the world." > Mander, for his part, hopes to attract some top engineering >talent to the area of assistive technologies and HumanWare is >working with the Christchurch City Council to set up the city as >a test-bed for new assistive technologies. "There's no reason >why New Zealand couldn't become a global centre for this type of >thing." > Helping hand > * The BrailleNote is a mini-computer that allows blind people >to access tools such as word processing, email and web-surfing. > * It has been largely responsible for HumanWare claiming a 60 >per cent share of the global market for assistive devices for the >blind. > * Blind children pick up a BrailleNote at 10-12 years of age, >giving HumanWare a recurring revenue for years to come. > * HumanWare is also working on other devices such as digital >magnifiers and talking book players. >httpccwwwddnzheraldddcoddnzstauthorststoryddcfm"aid equals >18andobjectid equals 10462132andpnum equals 0 > -- >Blationews mailing list > To contact a list moderator about a problem or to make a >request, send a message [EMAIL PROTECTED] > The Blationews list is archived at: httpccGeoffAndWenddcom/blst > To address a message to all members of the list, send mail >to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Access your subscription info at: >httpccblprogrammingddcom/mailmanstlistinfostblnewsblprogrammingdd >com > To unsubscribe via e-mail: send a message >[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word >unsubscribe in either the subject or body of the message > "Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real >action is -- where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell >converge." >--Robert C. Shannon > Coffee Shop phone number: 773-572-3094. ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. 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