All Cool Blind Tech Shows
400 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 6 years ago - ★★★ - 14 ratingsYOUR SOURCE FOR THE BEST ASSISTIVE TECH NEWS, REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS FROM TOP BLIND AND LOW VISION EXPERTS. AN ENTERTAINING AND TRUSTWORTHY DISCUSSION ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
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Episodes
CBT Live From #CSUN16: Freedom Scientific And Optelec Join Forces
March 27, 2016 18:23 - 4 minutes - 5.71 MBTyler Donnelly from Optelec shows us the new Traveller HD and just how portable and easy it is to use. He also discusses the recent merger with Freedom Scientific and how, combined, the two companies are now providing low vision products to a much wider audience. eSight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 837 4448 You can fill out the Try eSight form here.
CBT Live From #CSUN16: On The Go With Low-Vision Devices From Hims Inc.
March 27, 2016 06:22 - 6 minutes - 7.29 MBGrand Hyatt Hotel Exhibition Hall Entrance Dave Wilkinson from Hims Inc. talks about their latest HD video magnifier the GoVision, which proves that you don't have to give up screen size for portability. Dave also discusses some upcoming updates for owners of current Hims products and the creation of the HimsTastic political party, so make sure to take a listen. eSight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 83...
CBT Live From #CSUN16: Amazon Is On Fire With Accessibility
March 26, 2016 12:52 - 44 minutes - 42.6 MBNeed to find a great SteakHouse, listen to last night’s sports scores or just have a good book read to you? Just say “Alexa” and let Amazon’s virtual assistant do the work. Peter from Amazon shows us all the things you can do with Alexa on the different speakers available for the family of Echo products. Additionally, he shows us just how accessible the Fire tablets are with its latest release of VoiceView, Amazon’s very own screen reader for the Fire tablets. eSight enables people with le...
CBT Live From #CSUN16: MatterHackers 3-D Printing To Provide Solutions For All Needs
March 25, 2016 12:32 - 7 minutes - 8.18 MBGrand Hyatt Hotel Exhibition Hall Entrance Mara Hitner from MatterHackers demonstrates 3-D printing using an affordable printer that can be used to provide tactile models of printed items from animal pictures to complex maps. Listen to her provide information on how easy and affordable it is to provide the blind with a tactile world that only years ago was far out of reach for most. eSight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team...
CBT Live from #CSUN16: BAUM VarioUltra Braille Display and Notetaker
March 25, 2016 10:33 - 8 minutes - 9.01 MBJoel interviewing David Bradburn from Baum USA at CSUN 2016 Who Said that notetakers can’t be slick and stylish? Listen to David Bradburn from BAUM Inc. describe the VarioUltra 20 and 40 cell notetakers. Described as the MacBook pro’s of notetakers, these slick devices prove that performance and beautiful image can go hand-in-hand. eSight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 837 4448 You can fill out the Tr...
NVDA Remote: A Fast and Free Remote Access Tool
March 24, 2016 12:55 - 7 minutes - 8.71 MBIn this podcast, Alex demonstrates NVDA Remote, a free add-on for NVDA that makes it possible to control another computer using speech and Braille. This lends itself to many uses: tech support, accessibility testing, remote programming and just all around fun. Visit NVDARemote.Com to download the add-on. eSight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 837 4448 You can fill out the Try eSight form here.
Aipoly Vision: Artificial Intelligence for Your iDevice Camera
March 20, 2016 16:46 - 11 minutes - 12.3 MBThere are several apps out there that can identify an object in front of your camera, as well as its color. Apps like TapTapSee for example, use a conventional method to do this called crowdsourcing. This means that as soon as you take a picture of an object, it is transmitted to a server where it is then analyzed by a group of people. Once they determine what the image represents, the result is instantly sent back to you. This insures that you will almost always get accurate results, but the...
Keyboard Shortcuts for iOS: Quick and Painless Typing
March 20, 2016 03:59 - 5 minutes - 6.27 MBIn this podcast, Justin explains what keyboard shortcuts are, and explains how to use them. Although they cannot be used with braille screen input or the handwriting features on the iPhone, they still can make typing much easier. eSight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 837 4448 You can fill out the Try eSight form here.
Cool Picks: MARCH 18, 2016
March 18, 2016 09:17 - 9.53 MBThis week, Alex Justin and Joel Explore the accessibility features on the latest Cool Picks: Focus for iOS Launch center pro fongo
VIP: International Men of Mystery or Tin Foil Men
March 18, 2016 04:38 - 43 minutes - 41 MBThis week, Alex Justin and Joel Explore the new accessibility features on the latest release of Android N developer edition. They also discuss the latest updates from amazon that may be better suited to a 007 movie. Opinions on the latest accessibility claims from Microsoft and this week's Cool Picks round off another great edition of VIP. If you enjoy what we do here at Cool Blind Tech, you can support us by using our Audible link when you want to sign up with Audible.com eSight enables p...
All About Viewing and Changing NVDA Keyboard Commands
March 13, 2016 13:40 - 8 minutes - 9.17 MBIn this podcast, Alex describes the NVDA gestures dialog and remapping or adding keystrokes for NVDA's commands. Visit the NVDA Homepage eSight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 837 4448 You can fill out the Try eSight form here.
Cool Picks: MARCH 9, 2016
March 09, 2016 14:14 - 8.53 MBJoel, Alex and tomi discuss their latest Cool Picks: Avira antivirus TeamTalk for iOS Undead Assault
VIP: Mobile World Congress Wrap Up and CSUN Dreams
March 09, 2016 03:17 - 46 minutes - 44 MBFrom Barcelona Spain to San Diego California, this week's show has you virtually travelling the world like a pro and making sure you don't miss out on the happenings in the world of accessible tech. Joel, Alex and tomi discuss upcoming tech recently presented at Mobile World Congress (MWC). The team then shares it's opinions on the ongoing battle between Apple and the FBI. They share their wish list for the highly anticipated CSUN convention. Finally, without a bit of jet lag between them, t...
Frotz for iOS: Interactive Fiction at Your Fingertips
March 01, 2016 08:31 - 30.7 MBNostalgic for a simpler time? Then take advantage of those crisp high-resolution fonts to relive the glory days of the Great Underground Empire, or play any of hundreds of great works from the Interactive Fiction archive. Frotz lets you play free works of Interactive Fiction (a.k.a. text adventure games) on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Frotz plays titles written in the Z-Machine format. This format was invented by Infocom and was used to produce classic text adventures from the 80s such ...
Cool Picks: FEBRUARY 28, 2016
February 28, 2016 15:44 - 11.9 MBThis week Joel, Leo and Alex discuss Cool Picks: Quartz for iOS Capriccio for iOS Aipoly Vision for iOS
VIP: Benefits of Battling Best Browsers
February 28, 2016 04:47 - 29 minutes - 28.6 MBChanges, changes and more changes in the world of accessible tech are brought to you this week by Joel, Leo and Alex. Your VIP hosts discuss how podcasting as we know it will soon be changing with an update from Facebook and a new app called ZCast. The battle for top mobile browser is also making it possible for people to switch from PC to Mac and your smart phone with ease. As always, the team's Cool Picks round off this can't miss show. ESight enables people with legal blindness to act...
TeamTalk for iOS Is Here, Bringing Clarity to Voice Communication
February 26, 2016 20:18 - 15 minutes - 15.9 MBIn the world of VOIP (Voice Over IP) communication, apps abound which provide you with many functions and features for good voice communication. Some of these are straight forward, used for simplicity like Skype. Others, such as Ventrilo, TeamSpeak and TeamTalk offer a more flexible approach, with servers and channels that people use to attain higher depths in voice quality. TeamTalk, which is available for Android and other platforms such as Linux, Windows, And Mac OS, has just made an ...
Reaper Part 2: Rudimentary Recording for Windows
February 22, 2016 20:19 - 9 minutes - 10.4 MBIn this episode, Alex quickly shows you how to start recording with REAPER. He then edits out a burp and explains the various ripple modes used for splitting and removing items. ESight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 837 4448 You can fill out the Try eSight form here.
Parcel for iOS: A Popular Way to Track Packages
February 12, 2016 17:48 - 10.5 MBIn this podcast, Justin shows us how to use the Parcel app to track incoming packages on your iPhone. He proceeds to explain what the app does, demonstrate the settings, show off tracking information, and add a new delivery that can be tracked on Parcel. ESight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 837 4448 You can fill out the Try eSight form here.
How to See the Actual Signal Strength of Your iPhone: Breaking Through the Bars
February 11, 2016 17:40 - 6.34 MBIn this podcast, Justin takes us through all the basics of seeing your iPhone's signal strength in DBM, or decibel-milliwatts. Though this may extremely complicated, Justin reveals that it is actually very simple and demonstrates how to change your signal strength to DBM, then how to take it back to the default settings.
Reaper on Windows Part 1: General Introduction, Why Reaper is Awesome
January 25, 2016 13:49 - 9 minutes - 10 MBWelcome to the Reaper on Windows series. In this series, Alex will show you how to start using Reaper for your audio needs. Reaper is a full-featured digital audio workstation (DAW) with tons of capability for a reasonable price tag. In this episode, Alex demonstrates installing the unofficial OSARA keymap and explains some features of OSARA and Reaper. At the end we make silly noises with effects. This is intended as a general overview and why Alex enjoys REAPER so much. We'll get into spec...
Feel the Vibe: Creating Custom Vibrations in Contacts for iOS
January 21, 2016 15:42 - 5 minutes - 6.4 MBIn this podcast, Justin takes us through the custom vibrations on iOS. He shows us how to assign vibrations to specific contacts, the default ones that iOS comes with and how to create new custom vibrations. ESight enables people with legal blindness to actually see. Want to try eSight? Get in touch with their team by calling : 1 855 837 4448 You can fill out the Try eSight form here.
Virtualize This: Install Windows 10 On a Virtual Machine
December 04, 2015 13:28 - 11 minutes - 12.1 MBIf you have always wanted to try out an operating system but you don’t want to risk losing your files, one good solution is to install it on a virtual machine. A virtual machine allows you to install an OS in an isolated environment, so even if anything goes wrong, your primary OS is still intact. It also lets you experiment without forcing you to part with your current OS. In this podcast, Leo walks you through installing Windows 10 on VMware Player, a free software which allows you to insta...
Using Samsung’s S-pen with Talkback: a case for the phablet
November 26, 2015 21:16 - 7 minutes - 8.6 MBNo doubt the word phablet has entered every day vocabulary among the general population. The larger screen allows not only for more precise on-screen navigation, but also provides an opportunity for more content and video to be viewed. On some phablets, such as Samsung's Galaxy Note 5, a stylus is included which can detect not only precise finger movement, but also pressure in the form of greater line thickness. For professionals, artists, and general consumers alike, this provides the abil...
Boost the VoiceOver Maximum Speech Rate for Your Mac
November 21, 2015 21:35 - 6 minutes - 7.09 MBIn this podcast, we show how you can increase your VoiceOver TTS above the standard 100% on a Mac. This was recorded using OSX Mavericks, but still works great in El Capitan and Yosemite. If text is more your thing, the same instructions may be found here: First, get everything in VO set up the way you want. Then, go into VO utility, and Command-shift-e to export your settings. Export all of them, and save the .voprefs somewhere you'll remember. Open this .voprefs in textEdit by press...
Speedtest for iOS: Geekiness Made Easy
November 18, 2015 15:06 - 9.68 MBIn this podcast, Justin goes over the Speedtest.net app for iOS. He explains what it is used for, how it is useful in real world applications, and demonstrates how to proficiently navigate the application.
A Quick Look at Firefox for iOS
November 18, 2015 13:25 - 6.68 MBIn this podcast, Alex takes us on a brief tour of the recently released Mozilla Firefox for iOS. There are some bugs and issues, but overall it's a smooth browsing experience. See Marco Zehe's post for more information.
Claria: a new vision of technology
November 15, 2015 18:47 - 16 minutes - 16.3 MBThis week on Spotlight the Cool Blind Tech Team features Claria Zoom. Claria Zoom is an all-in-one application helping elderly & people suffering from eye diseases (AMD, glaucoma…) stay active and independent. Download it now Claria Zoom won the Golden Silmo award at the 2014 World Optics Fair in Paris. Unrivalled reading & writing comfort Extra large characters Contrasted color themes Big keyboards Speech activation available on any screen Interface Claria Zoom FeaturesGrey copie 20+ rede...
KNFB Reader, compared on both Android and iOS
November 10, 2015 16:10 - 14 minutes - 14.6 MBWith the recent release of KNFB Reader for Android, we can now see how text recognition and accuracy can differ among various smartphones. Does iOS still have an edge over recognition quality? What are some of the shortcomings of the Android app? Taking the same document, we run it through the camera of a Galaxy Note 5 and an iPhone 6s, which offer the 2015-era top notch camera quality from both Apple and Samsung. You can grab the Android version of KNFB Reader here Or grab the iOS one fr...
Spotlight with iMerciv: Feel the Buzz! Not the Bump!
October 30, 2015 02:32 - 21 minutes - 21.6 MBIn the Spotlight we talk to Bin Liu and Arjun Mali developers of the BuzzClip. iMerciv has developed a small, discreet and versatile wearable for people that are blind or living with significant vision loss. The BuzzClip, uses ultrasound to detect obstacles that may lie directly in one's path. It then notifies the user of these obstacles through intuitive vibrations, allowing the user to safely navigate around any objects that they may walk into. PRE ORDER NOW!
Comics for the Blind: A Spotlight Interview with Guy Hasson from Comics Empower
October 22, 2015 11:13 - 23 minutes - 23.1 MBComics Empower is featured in this weeks Spotlight Interview. The online comic book shop that was created by Guy Hasson. who makes comics for the blind and the visually impaired! After more than 20 years writing for theatre, writing science fiction stories and books, and writing for film, Guy created the indie comic book company New Worlds Comics. Among other things, he initiated the Comics Empower Project, where real people told their real stories about how comics empowered, helped, or ins...
VIP Android Event: Enter the Nexus, or “Nexai!”
October 08, 2015 13:36 - 42.8 MBThe grammar-precise side of me cringes a little when using the word "nexai," but from an accessibility perspective, it fits well! Join Me, Leo, and Quentin on a Marshmallow expedition in this edition of the VIP roundtable podcast, as Cool Blind Tech dissects the Google event and uncovers an array of nexus devices. First, we have the Nexus 5X. The device features a 5.2 inch screen at a resolution of 1080 x 1920, a Snapdragon 64-bit 808 processor, and 2 gigabytes of ram. It comes in 16 or 32...
3D Touch On the iPhone 6s: Just Press Deeper
October 05, 2015 10:28 - 12 minutes - 13.2 MBIn this podcast, Justin goes through how to use the 3D Touch features on the iPhone 6s. He shows us how to do this on the home screen, to peak into things as well as pop into them and finally the settings available for this new feature.
CrowdViz: A Spotlight Interview with the Person Behind the Eyes
October 01, 2015 07:15 - 19.7 MBIn this Spotlight interview we feature Akash Khanolkar the CEO of CrowdViz. CrowdViz is an iOS app that unites blind people with our trusted sighted assistants. Blind users can receive immediate sighted assistance by connecting to an assistant and it is as easy as a click of a single button.
Voice Dream reader on Android: A Spotlight Interview with Michael Scott
September 18, 2015 11:00 - 36 minutes - 34.8 MBAt the very tail end of August, Voice Dream Reader, the wildly popular book reading app, launched on Android. This opens up a huge potential market, ranging from students who want to read college coursework on-the-go, to professionals who drive a lot and need an easy way of reading materials with high-quality voices. Because of the excellent price range of Android devices, you can now own a book reader for under $100. We've interview Winston Chen who developed the iOS application, which...
Windows 10 Start Menu is Traditional and Trendy
August 19, 2015 14:38 - 12 minutes - 13.2 MBWas your most favorite part of Windows 7 the handy search box that you first landed in when you opened it? Were you fighting against upgrading to Windows 8.1 because you could not be parted with your beloved search box companion? Well, not to worry, as Microsoft has heard you loud and clear. The new Windows 10 start menu combines the traditional look and feel of Windows 7 and merged it with many of the modern features of Windows 8. In this podcast, Cory demonstrates how NVDA is navigating th...
NVDA Is Living On The Edge
July 28, 2015 08:58 - 4 minutes - 5.35 MBJust when we thought Microsoft’s new modern browser Edge would not be accessible, the folks over at NV Access had to show everyone that NVDA is literally on the Edge. While the functionality demonstrated here is only available at this time in the next release versions of the NVDA software and certainly is not recommended for production environments, the fact that it seems to be working very well gives us a very promising glimpse at what we can expect from Microsoft’s accessibility support an...
Windows 10 Rises
July 28, 2015 06:51 - 1 hour - 74.1 MBWe are back to tell you the latest and greatest when it comes to Windows 10. Join us to hear our take on it and how you can best have an enjoyable experience with this revolutionary new version of Microsoft’s newest release. Cory Martin, Thomas Geczy and Leonid Prazdnik all welcome Quentin Christensen from 22 Point, a blogger and developer who also happens to be writing a book on Windows 10 from a blindness/low vision perspective. To view Quentin's excellent blog, click here. So pull up a c...
A Keyboard Worth Typing on for Android, Designed with Accessibility in mind
July 21, 2015 13:06 - 13 minutes - 14.1 MBIf you are a fan of Android, you might be aware of how different the typing experience on most keyboard solutions can be for the platform. Samsung, LG, and even Google all design specific keyboards which differ in the way they present key layouts or even speak some of the names for keys. For some, typing on Android might also seem slower than on rival operating systems. Usually this sluggish behavior is noticed when your finger makes contact with the keys on the keyboard - it takes a few sec...
Adding Web Pages To the Home Screen On iOS – A Very Handy Short Cut
July 01, 2015 15:55 - 3 minutes - 5 MBIn this podcast, Justin shows us how to add web pages to the home screen on iOS. He also demonstrates how to give the icons custom names and launch them. You can support the Cool Blind Tech Community By giving us a 5 star rating in iTunes. CBT would like to thank our loyal listeners for listening to this podcast by inviting you to join our Community and possibly join the CBT Team, where you can submit your own podcasts or articles.
Galaxy Talkback on the new Samsung Galaxy S6
June 25, 2015 23:07 - 18 minutes - 18.1 MBIn this podcast, Yannick gives us an introduction to the new Samsung Galaxy S6, and its own screen reader named Galaxy Talkback. Feel free to send Yannick any comments or suggestions below or via twitter at @YPlassiard. CBT would like to thank our loyal listeners for listening to this podcast by inviting you to join our Community and possibly join the CBT Team, where you can submit your own podcasts or articles.
Exploring the roots of Nexus Root Toolkit
June 23, 2015 15:05 - 17 MBThe Nexus Root Toolkit is a very useful utility which can help you easily root your Google Nexus device. Despite its name however, this utility has much more to offer. It can lock or relock your bootloader, help you flash custom and stock roms, perform a backup and restore of your device among many other things. In this podcast, we walk you through the NRT interface and demonstrate a few of its features. Please keep in mind that NRT relies on ADB and Fastboot in order to work properly. Let u...
iOS 9 Accessibility
June 18, 2015 18:06 - 32 minutes - 30.8 MBiOS has transformed the lives of many users with a range of physical and learning disabilities. Learn how to create apps that leverage the power and simplicity of Apple's assistive technologies to make them accessible to the broadest audience possible. Hear about the latest advancements in iOS accessibility and how you can take advantage of them today. You can support the Cool Blind Tech Community By giving us a 5 star rating in iTunes. CBT would like to thank our loyal listeners for listen...
Apple Watch Accessibility
June 18, 2015 14:03 - 30 minutes - 29.2 MBBuilding on the strong accessibility support in iOS, Apple Watch offers assistive features like VoiceOver and Zoom. Gain insights into how these accessibility features work on Apple Watch, and how to make sure your app can be accessible to all users. You can support the Cool Blind Tech Community By giving us a 5 star rating in iTunes. CBT would like to thank our loyal listeners for listening to this podcast by inviting you to join our Community and possibly join the CBT Team, where you can ...
WWDC Highlights: Apples are becoming self aware through watching us, and now they can make music, too!
June 16, 2015 14:56 - 1 hour - 78.7 MBWhat a busy week! We return with another VIP Roundtable podcast, with me as your host alongside Hugo, Nelson, and Justin. This year's WWDC event was a large one, as it is where Apple reveals to us its mysteries at their core. OK, maybe not quite, but we did gain a nice glimpse into what is coming down the pipe especially in terms of software. Join us as we talk about Mac OS 10.11 and how mature the platform might be, iOS 9 and its features or surprises, along with the Apple Watch which is b...
Googlicious: Macadamia Moment
June 16, 2015 14:45 - 54.8 MBGreg, Leo and Cory welcome a new crew member, Dan Mathis to the show to discuss what's new and up-coming with the world of Google and the latest from Google IO. First up was the newest version of Android, Internally Code Named: Macadamia Nut Cookie, which is focusing on polish and quality It was announced that Android M should be available for Q3 2015, September of this year. The newest version of Android will initially be Launched on most of the flagship Devices: Nexus 5, 6, 9 and playe...
Google I/O 2015 – Improve your Android app’s accessibility
June 07, 2015 18:22 - 40 minutes - 38.9 MBWhen you improve your app's accessibility, you improve your product for everyone, including the billion people worldwide who live with a disability. This talk will introduce you to Android accessibility services and show how they make your app work in new ways for a wide range of users. You will learn some accessibility best practices, and get introduced to new automated testing tools that bring accessibility into your existing app development workflow.
Paying With Fruit – Using the intuitive and easy Apple Pay System
June 04, 2015 13:45 - 8 minutes - 9.34 MBApple introduced NFC-based digital technology into their iPhone last year with the 6 and 6+, a technology which has been present in many other phones for a long time. The hardware allows you to make seamless purchases at supporting stores with only a touch of your finger on the home button. In this quick demo, we take a look at adding a card to the Apple Pay system, as well as making purchases at a sandwich store. Besides letting you enter in the details manually, there's another option t...
Williams Legato Digital Piano Review
June 03, 2015 14:39 - 10 minutes - 11.3 MBIn this first Cool Blind Tech podcast of mine, I give you a short review of the new Williams Legato Digital Piano. I do my best to explain the button layout and functions, and at the end there is a demonstration of the main piano instrument that I just sort of came up with on the spot. Enjoy, and feel free to send me any feedback. My email address is [email protected] We want to hear from you. Just leave a comment below to share your thoughts. You can support the Cool Blind Tech Com...
Uber On iOS – Is it really worth it?
June 01, 2015 16:02 - 27 minutes - 26.5 MBIn this tag team review of Uber for iOS, Hugo demonstrates his personal experience with the Uber services and finds out you don’t always get what you pay for. Justin follows with a quick demonstration of Uber on an Apple Watch. We want to hear from you on your experiences with Uber or similar taxi services. Just leave a comment below to share your thoughts with our community. You can support the Cool Blind Tech Community By giving us a 5 star rating in iTunes. CBT would like to thank our ...