Good Friday to you one and all I've just spent a happy couple of hour teaching a client to use her new Braille Sense Polaris, whilst at the same time gaining an insight into the product myself.
Whilst the Polaris has some interesting facits, it isn't a device that's on my own shopping list, for a number of reasons. So, let me tell you a little about the device, and why I've formulated my opinions of it. Firstly, like the Braille Sense U2, there is no touch screen on this tablet. I use that word very guardedly, for that very reason. Hims do call it a tablet though, so I guess I must also. The Polaris has a very Braille Sense look and feel. It has 11 physical keys on the keyboard. One key is a Return key, and there are also control and Altogether keys, harping back to Windows. The device is powered by Android 5.1 Lollipup. However, as the operating system evolves, so will the Polaris, to a degree. Some of the frameworks of Android are not yet updated for accessibility, which prohibits the same kind of rapid growth that we are seeing with Android. As I was saying. Their are 11 physical keys on the keyboard, plus touch-sensitive function keys which, again, resemble quite closely the Braille Sense U2. The Braille display has 32 cells. Interestingly, the display itself has a Braille cell cover, protecting the display from dust and other possible harm whilst not in use. That is, I must admit, a very welcome a.ition. For reasons best known only to her, my client did not bring her case with her. So I didn't get to see that. But I am given to understand that it is, like the U2, a nice soft leather case with reinforced plates where the controls are located. The device looks almost identical to the U2. With the noteable exception that the LCD unit is flipable, enabling easy access for someone with vision. The technical specifications ofthe device are very interesting. It has an Octa-core Samsung processor, clocked at 3.1GHZ. It has 3GB of RAM, and a 64GB flash disk. The SAID-XC card reader is just the same as that of the U2. Network support is good. It supports the new ACCORDING dual-band protocol, and is backward-compatible. It has the usual built-in software tools typical of the Braille Sense family, including electronic scientific calculator, word processor, UEB and Nemath compatible braille math support and a schedule manager. There is also the usual Contacts app, and all the other things you would expect of a Braille Sense. I'm given to understand that all of the Sense tools have been re-written from the ground up, so they are not just ported from Windows Mobile. As I said earlier, the processor is a 64-bit Samsung Octa-core, <meaning it has 8 cores>, and one thing I will say is that it is us very very very fast! It came out very favourably when I loaded a -plex PDF document into the reader. The rendering took just a fraction of a second. On the old U2, it takes upwards of 5 seconds to process the same ducument. It directly supports wirless charging, has a USB 3.0 host port and can be charged wired using either it's own charger, <same charger as the U2>, or via the USB Micro client. On the front of the unit are the same media keys that you'd find on the U2, and the media player is handled in the same way as the U2. Needless to say, Google is fully supported, so it is possible to import all of the apps you'd find in the Play Store. The stereo speakers on the device sound quite good. I only had a quick listen, as I spent most of the time first sejting it up for my client, then showing her around the device. For me, as somebody used to the Hims way of doing things, it took no learning time. That, for some reason, amazed my client. She expected that she's have to leave the device with me so that I could set it up for her. No need for that. I was also a# to import her own network profile, so she can go home and start using it right away. The web browser is quite interesting. those who like Chrome will be pleased that learn that the Hims browser is just a modified version of Google's browser. Modified so as to enable accessibilyoung right out of the box. In summary, whilst I'm looking forward to helping Claire familiarise herself fully with her new device, it is not a device that I personally will be considering. I still believe that the BrailleNote Touch, whilst lacking in some respects, is a better all-round Android device. My main reason for saying that is because the Touch adopts a much more main stream approach to tablet uie. Whilst the Braille display itself supports multitouch gestures on the Polaris, I still like to be able to utilise the fully-fledged touch screen. I hope to acquire an ElBraille shortly, so will give you my thoughts when I do on that device. I'd give the Polaris 7 out of 10. I'm sure Hims have their reasons for their apfroach. But it isn't an approach for me. ============================== My Compliments And Kindest Regards Gordon Smith 'Accessibility And Information Technology Support Specialist ------------------------------
