All Cool Blind Tech Shows

We put the Monster Bluetooth speaker to a sound and drop test, guess what happens? Your life is an adventure, and you need to have CBT wherever your adventure takes you. With an “everything proof” exterior (weatherproof, rust-proof, dust-proof), the Monster® Adventurer can follow you into the fray and survive the most harsh climates and environment. Be prepared! Charging your devices is easy with Adventurer's battery reserve. As you rise to meet any challenge, the Monster Adventurer's sound performance will thrill and excite you. Meet the Adventurer, Monster’s “All-Proof” speaker for your adventurous lifestyle. Features: * All-proof design: Weatherproof, dust-proof, rust-proof, shock-proof * Charge up your phone: Easily charge your cell phone with the USB charge-out feature * Up to 14 hours continuous play with awesome bass * NFC pairing for super-quick connect to your phone * Superb quality speaker phone with echo cancellation * 4 LED indicator lights to see remaining power

The Victor Reader Stream is ubiquitous in the blindness community with over 36000 units in circulation. Imagine having the latest novels, magazines, your favorite music, audio-described films, texts and your own voice recordings, all in the palm of your hand. With its new lightweight and compact design, Victor Reader Stream delivers hours of listening pleasure ANYWHERE! The new Victor Reader Stream is 28% smaller than its predecessor. Its new sleek design is thinner and features rounded shapes, making it more comfortable to hold. The new Stream opens new possibilities for receiving content wirelessly, from books and newspapers to podcasts and radio. It also features a louder speaker, superior text-to-speech, and improved recording. The high contrast, robust, tactile keypad and popular Victor Reader bookshelf navigation still make this Stream the easiest to use hand-held player on the market. Taking your books, music and much more everywhere you go is so easy with the new Victor Reader Stream’s excellent features: Supports up to 32GB removable SD cards and external USB flash drives; Read books from DAISY libraries: NLS, Bookshare, Learning Ally; Enjoy books and music from iTunes; Play text documents with built-in text-to-speech from Acapela. What's in the box * Power adaptor NA USB-A 5V 1A * Micro USB cable Short * Micro USB cable long * Earbuds * SD card * Silicone case * Color Booklet USA Toll free: 1-800-722-3393 info@humanware.com CANADA Toll free: 1-888-723-7273 info@humanware.com AUSTRALIA/ASIA Tel: 1300-551-864 or 02-9686-2600 au.sales@humanware.com UK/EUROPE Tel: 44-1933-415-800 eu.sales@humanware.com

The Victor Reader Stream is ubiquitous in the blindness community with over 36000 units in circulation. Imagine having the latest novels, magazines, your favorite music, audio-described films, texts and your own voice recordings, all in the palm of your hand. With its new lightweight and compact design, Victor Reader Stream delivers hours of listening pleasure ANYWHERE! The new Victor Reader Stream is 28% smaller than its predecessor. Its new sleek design is thinner and features rounded shapes, making it more comfortable to hold. The new Stream opens new possibilities for receiving content wirelessly, from books and newspapers to podcasts and radio. It also features a louder speaker, superior text-to-speech, and improved recording. The high contrast, robust, tactile keypad and popular Victor Reader bookshelf navigation still make this Stream the easiest to use hand-held player on the market. Taking your books, music and much more everywhere you go is so easy with the new Victor Reader Stream’s excellent features: Supports up to 32GB removable SD cards and external USB flash drives; Read books from DAISY libraries: NLS, Bookshare, Learning Ally; Enjoy books and music from iTunes; Play text documents with built-in text-to-speech from Acapela. What's in the box * Power adaptor NA USB-A 5V 1A * Micro USB cable Short * Micro USB cable long * Earbuds * SD card * Silicone case * Color Booklet USA Toll free: 1-800-722-3393 info@humanware.com CANADA Toll free: 1-888-723-7273 info@humanware.com AUSTRALIA/ASIA Tel: 1300-551-864 or 02-9686-2600 au.sales@humanware.com UK/EUROPE Tel: 44-1933-415-800 eu.sales@humanware.com

CBT gives you the first impressions of the new Essential Phone. The Essential Phone’ has a stunning edge-to-edge Full Display and is a large-screen device that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. Essential PH-1 features Materials * Titanium body * Ceramic back * Corning Gorilla Glass 5 cover glass Dimensions * Height: 141.5mm * Width: 71.1mm * Thickness: 7.8mm * Weight: Display * Resolution: 2560 x 1312 QHD * Aspect Ratio: 19:10 * Diagonal Size: 5.71” with radiused corners * Brightness: 500 nits (typical) * Contrast Ratio: > 1000:1 (typical) * Technology: CGS / LTPS Human Input + Sensors * 10 finger multitouch; palm and water-error rejection * Fingerprint reader: fastest available technology * Proximity / Ambient light sensor * Volume buttons, Power button * Environmental pressure sensor (barometer) * Accelerometer, Magnetometer and Gyroscope Audio * Microphone: 4x microphones with noise cancellation and beam forming * Low Audio (earpiece) * High Audio: (loudspeaker) Rear Camera * 13MP Dual RGB + Mono camera with image fusion technology * 13MP True Monochrome mode * f/1.85 lens * Hybrid Auto Focus combing Contrast, Phase Detect and IR Laser * Video at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps Front Camera * 8MP resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio * f/2.20 fixed hyperfocal lens * Video at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps Battery * 3040mAh. * Fast charging via USB Memory & Storage * RAM: 4GB * Storage: 128GB UFS 2.1 Connectivity * Bluetooth: 5.0 LE * WiFi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO * NFC: yes * Positioning: GPS and GLONASS Network / Bands * UMTS/HSPA+: 1, 2, 4, 5 6, 8 * GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz * CDMA EV-DO Rev. A: 0, 1, 10 * FDD-LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 17, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66 * TDD-LTE: 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 * TD-SCDMA: 34, 39 System Architecture / OS * Android * Qualcomm® Snapdragon 835 * CPU: Kryo 280 Octa-core (2.45GHz Quad + 1.9GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10nm processor * GPU: Adreno 540, 710MHz, 64bit Ports * USB Type-C * 60GHz, 6 Gbps Wireless Accessory Connector * 2x accessory power pins * NanoSIM tray with pin eject * Water and Dust Resistant * IP54 From Andy Rubin, Essential CEO, Android Founder Why I started Essential I know people are going to ask me a lot of questions about why I started this company. Why didn’t I just travel the world, ride my motorcycle, tinker with my robots, hang out at my bakery with friends and family. And to be honest I still do ask myself that sometimes…but not too often. So why did I create Essential? Well, my hardware engineers wanted me to talk about how we are bringing real passion and craftsmanship back into this category. My software engineers wanted me to talk about our vision for making all devices, even those we don't make ourselves, play well together. My partners wanted me to talk about how we are using methods that could change how successful technology companies are built forever.

CBT gives you the first impressions of the new Essential Phone. The Essential Phone’ has a stunning edge-to-edge Full Display and is a large-screen device that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. Essential PH-1 features Materials * Titanium body * Ceramic back * Corning Gorilla Glass 5 cover glass Dimensions * Height: 141.5mm * Width: 71.1mm * Thickness: 7.8mm * Weight: < 185 grams Display * Resolution: 2560 x 1312 QHD * Aspect Ratio: 19:10 * Diagonal Size: 5.71” with radiused corners * Brightness: 500 nits (typical) * Contrast Ratio: > 1000:1 (typical) * Technology: CGS / LTPS Human Input + Sensors * 10 finger multitouch; palm and water-error rejection * Fingerprint reader: fastest available technology * Proximity / Ambient light sensor * Volume buttons, Power button * Environmental pressure sensor (barometer) * Accelerometer, Magnetometer and Gyroscope Audio * Microphone: 4x microphones with noise cancellation and beam forming * Low Audio (earpiece) * High Audio: (loudspeaker) Rear Camera * 13MP Dual RGB + Mono camera with image fusion technology * 13MP True Monochrome mode * f/1.85 lens * Hybrid Auto Focus combing Contrast, Phase Detect and IR Laser * Video at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps Front Camera * 8MP resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio * f/2.20 fixed hyperfocal lens * Video at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps Battery * 3040mAh. * Fast charging via USB Memory & Storage * RAM: 4GB * Storage: 128GB UFS 2.1 Connectivity * Bluetooth: 5.0 LE * WiFi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO * NFC: yes * Positioning: GPS and GLONASS Network / Bands * UMTS/HSPA+: 1, 2, 4, 5 6, 8 * GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz * CDMA EV-DO Rev. A: 0, 1, 10 * FDD-LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 17, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66 * TDD-LTE: 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 * TD-SCDMA: 34, 39 System Architecture / OS * Android * Qualcomm® Snapdragon 835 * CPU: Kryo 280 Octa-core (2.45GHz Quad + 1.9GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10nm processor * GPU: Adreno 540, 710MHz, 64bit Ports * USB Type-C * 60GHz, 6 Gbps Wireless Accessory Connector * 2x accessory power pins * NanoSIM tray with pin eject * Water and Dust Resistant * IP54 From Andy Rubin, Essential CEO, Android Founder Why I started Essential I know people are going to ask me a lot of questions about why I started this company. Why didn’t I just travel the world, ride my motorcycle, tinker with my robots, hang out at my bakery with friends and family. And to be honest I still do ask myself that sometimes…but not too often. So why did I create Essential? Well, my hardware engineers wanted me to talk about how we are bringing real passion and craftsmanship back into this category. My software engineers wanted me to talk about our vision for making all devices, even those we don't make ourselves, play well together. My partners wanted me to talk about how we are using methods that could change how successful technology companies are built forever.

The CBT Team is back again with another Fanmail show? Keep sending us your emails and messages from social media and we will read or play your feedback on our show. You can contact us via email to cbt@coolblindtech.com or call our new toll free number at 1-855-330-2665 anytime night or day. From: Kelley Armstrong Hi everyone, I just want to say thank you for putting all of this educational information out there! I have been a long time listener for years! This is my weigh in on the iPhone ten unboxing! You know I opted not to ever set up emergency sos because of the fear of accidentally activating the darn thing! I am one who has severe anxiety and sudden loud noises scare me! My family had an alarm system and I had a medical alert pendant! So did my mom and dad and my grandmother! I triggered mine accidentally and it scared the bejesus out of me! Sirens going off and lights flashing and the loud voice of emergency services! Never mind that the alarm system contracts are the hardest things to get out of and I don’t recommend it! I am really surprised that apple made this feature so easily accessible! The 911 system has been overloaded with calls that were accidentally made! However I’m glad to know what it sounds like! There should be a prompt before a call is sent out! Hit okay or cancel! Something apple should have took more time to think it through! I think the watch would be better suited for a feature like this! From: Dr. Lester I am looking for a smartphone to replace my iPhone 7, in your pro opinion do you think that the android screen reader “talkback” is better then Voice Over for the iPhone at this time? Before I lost my vision I was user of android and at that time talkback was a pain to use…. I would be grateful for any help you could be to me in this. From: Henk-Jeroen van Groningen schinkel Thank you for your wonderful Podcasts. Although the products you’re presenting aren’t all available in The Netherlands, I love to hear about the tech possibilities for blind folks. And it was your podcast that made me buy the Sunu band. This will arrive soon. And I am the First to experiment in this country. Go on with your wonderful shows. And perhaps, once I can join your podcast. But First I have to buy some good microphone and other stuff. ;-) Kind regards, Bilthoven The Netherlands

In this week’s VIP, Nelson and James are joined by Jackie Brown from the British Computer Association of the Blind. They discuss the top stories from Cool Blind Tech and give you some of their favorite Cool Picks. Established in 1969, BCAB is the oldest association of blind and partially sighted technology users in the world. Members include people of all skill levels, ages and interests. Top Stories RUDY The Robot Is Now Available To Care For Seniors Engineering Students Develop Pulse, An Advanced Sensory System For The Blind Cool Picks Wemo® Switch Smart Plug Sleep Sounds lets you play ambient sounds to help you sleep peacefully or block out unwanted noise at work or home. Bubble Level for iPhone and iPad

Nelson Régo demonstrates the new gestures and button controls for the iPhone X! Oh yeah, just one more thing… Nelson shows a hidden trick for a virtual Home button.

CBT is back setting up the new iPhone X!

CBT is back with the unveiling of the new iPhone X! Is this iPhone for you? Find out by listening in as we give our impressions and show what happens when you call emergency services! From Apple: Our vision has always been to create an iPhone that is entirely screen. One so immersive the device itself disappears into the experience. And so intelligent it can respond to a tap, your voice, and even a glance. With iPhone X, that vision is now a reality. Say hello to the future. iPhone X Features: * Face ID * TrueDepth Camera * Dual 12MP Cameras * A11 Bionic * Wireless Charging and more…

In this week’s VIP, Nelson and James are joined by Carlos Alvarez. They discuss the top stories from Cool Blind Tech and give you some Cool Picks to think about. Top Stories Airport Announces New Service For Blind and Low Vision Passengers Reviewing the Windows 10 Fall Creators update, Microsofts revision to a vision: Part 1 Reviewing the Windows 10 Fall Creators update, Microsofts revision to a vision: Part 2 LG Electronics Releasing Voice-Command Washers to Visually Impaired This Year Cool Picks Google Home Mini Mini is powered by the Google Assistant. So whenever you need help, it’s by your side. Get personalized help with your schedule, reminders, calls, news and more, whenever Google Home Mini recognizes your voice. Mini works with Chromecast, so you can stream shows, movies and music on your TV or speakers. LastPass remembers all your passwords, so you don't have to. Once you save a password in LastPass, you'll always have it when you need it; logging in is fast and easy. WiFi Guard - Protect your network from intruders Laggy Wi-Fi? Maybe your neighbor has hacked your password and quietly use it. With WiFi Guard app you will be able to prevent unauthorized access to your network. This application scans your Wi-Fi and detects all connected devices.

CBT shows some creative uses for Bubble Level for iPhone and iPad. The 5 in 1 app could be the handiest utility app and it is FREE! Grab it now! New and UNIQUE features and functionalities: * Object alignment. * Angle measurement. * Surface flatness. * Metal detection - detect wire inside the wall before drilling it. * Inclinometer - Also known as a tilt – meter; will help drivers during off-road journeys, to control and minimize the risk of roll-over. With all the new features of this app, you'll always have carpenter and off-road navigator with you! From now, with the help of Bubble Level, you’ll never have the issues regarding: * Alignment of the picture, board, furniture, wall and etc.! * Calculation of different angles in various situations! * Checking your table, shelf and surface level of every face-up objects! * Detecting metal and even wire inside the wall. * Tracking the inclination of bike, car and etc. These are the main occasions of app usage, but you’ll find MUCH MORE in practice! Get Bubble Level here! What's New in Version 3.0 * Huge update came with lots of news and improvements! * - New GUI * - Plumb Line added * - Metal Detector added - now you can even detect wire inside the wall before you drill Updated: May 02, 2017 Size: 25.5 MB Compatibility: Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

The CBT Team is back again with another Fanmail show? Keep sending us your emails and messages from social media and we will read or play your feedback on our show. Win a chance to get a $50 Amazon gift card by helping us renaming the Fanmail show. Keep sending us your suggestions and we will pick the best one. Eligible entries must have an Amazon.com or Amazon.ca account. You have until November 15, 2017. You can contact us via email to cbt@coolblindtech.com or call our new toll free number at 1-855-330-2665 anytime night or day. From: Charlie Smith I started listening to the podcast about 2 years ago, and have been hooked ever since. This podcast is most definitely in the top 5 best podcasts on my iPhone. Anyway, just writing to encourage you all, to keep up that great work, have as much fun as possible, and above all, keep up that laughter. From: Pat Hornell I just heard your latest Fan Mail podcast, and I took note of the comment someone made about not having a separate podcast for the Cool Picks. Personally, I like to have these separate podcasts the way they are right now. Sometimes I like to listen to the VIP, including the Cool Picks. However, there may be a Cool Pick that sparks my interest, and so I may come along later and just want to hear the Cool Picks without listening to the entire VIP podcast. So I hope you continue to do exactly what you are doing on this one. If anybody else doesn’t like the redundancy of the separate Cool Picks podcast, they can always delete that one. On another note, I just recently purchased a Google Home, and I have found it very advantageous to go to your web site and review all the podcasts and even the articles about the Google Home. They have been a great help for me to set up my Google Home device and also my Chromecast Audio devices. My next job will be to set up the Chromecast Ultra for my flat screen TV – not exactly 4K, but I am sure that will happen soon, as my wife, who is fully sighted, will surely want one of those soon. One point of caution I would like to mention, though, and it’s a minor one, but when you are doing the unboxing podcasts, make sure to keep tabs on your microphone. Most of the time, it’s pretty good, but there was one recent unboxing – I think it was for the Series 3 Apple watch, where Mr. Nelson got a little far away from his microphone, and so his voice became a little faint at times. Thanks for your fine podcasts. Keep up the good work. Your friend from the great White North, eh. From: Rebecca Skipper Are there accessible games designed for the Apple TV? From: Scott Voice message

The CBT Team cranks it up with this test! According to Apple the latest iPhones are 25 percent louder than last years version, can you tell the difference? We compare the loudness between the iPhone 7 Plus and the new iPhone 8 Plus.

In this week’s VIP, Nelson and James are back talking about the top stories from the world of assistive tech and give you their Cool Picks. News Flash Say Goodbye to Groove Music and Hello to Spotify Be My Eyes is Now Available for Android You Can Now Change Your Google Assistant in to a Male Amazon Echo Can Now Call Canada, US and Mexico for Free More Accessibility Features Come To Forza Motorsport 7 Pornhub Gives Blind and Visually Impaired Users More Accessibility Top Stories Google’s Pixel Event In 6 Minutes Google announced the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL; a camera called Google Clips; Google Home Mini and Max; a Pixelbook and a new Google Daydream. Sonos Smart Speaker Unveils with Multiple Personal Assistants and AirPlay 2 Support The Sonos system has been accessible for blind and low vision users for the past few years and now they have unveiled a new ‘Sonos One’ smart speaker that is capable of supporting multiple voice services. New Tactile Reading System Claims to be Easier to Learn Than Braille According to the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), just 1% of the blind population is born without sight; the vast majority of the estimated 10 million Americans who are blind or visually impaired lost their vision later in life. In 1987, Andrew Chepaitis’s grandmother became part of that statistic: She started to lose her vision due to macular degeneration. It was this experience that would lead Chepaitis, 13 years later, to found ELIA Life Technology, a company that wants to mass-produce an easy-to-learn tactile reading system based on the Roman alphabet. Cool Picks Introducing Google Pixel Buds Google Pixel Buds are designed for high-quality audio and fit comfortably in your ear. The all-new Pixel 2. When you purchase a Pixel 2, you'll get a promo code for a Mini.