Talking Tech for March 31 2015

This weeks show is all about Netflix.

 

The other two services mentioned in the show for online streaming were:

 

Stan:

 

https://www.stan.com.au

 

and

 

Presto:

 

https://www.presto.com.au 

 

Netflix: Netflix is a subscription online streaming service which became available in Australia on the 24 of March 2015 for movie and tv shows:

 

http://www.netflix.com.au 

I signed up via the Netflix channel on the Apple TV which requested me to put in an email address to complete signing up on the Netflix website.  

 

Can sign up for a month free trial, and if you want to continue, will auto renewal.  Subscription is on a monthly basis and you can unsubscribe at any time.

 

Subscriptions:

1 screen unlimited streaming $8.99 per month.

2 screens unlimited streaming $11.99 per month.

4 screens plus unlimited streaming $14.99 per month.

 

I signed up for the 4 screens plus subscription as I wanted to access Netflix on 3 Apple TVs, and 2 iPhones.

 

Netflix works on many devices, so far I have watch Netflix on my Mac, Apple TV, and iPhone which were all accessible with VoiceOver.  You can also watch Netflix in your browser which is what I was doing on my Mac.  I haven’t tried out Netflix on Android yet.  I must say though the website is a bit messy and prefer to watch on either my iPhone or Apple TV.

 

The managing of my Netflix account mainly done by the Netflix website: Can set parental restrictions, personal preferences, and setup profiles (unto 5) based on adult, children under 12yrs or children over 12yrs: have done this for my family so that each person can get better recommendations on what they have viewed.

 

You can see (on the iOS app at least: varies on the web version and Apple TV:

Continue watching,

My list (favorited),

Top PicsPopular on Netflix,

Exciting movies,

and so on.

On the Apple TV you can access:

Suggestions,

Recently watched,

Genres,

TV shows,

New Releases,

My list (favorited),

Search, and

Switch profile.

Under a child’s profile, the options are (on the Apple tv) Suggestions for you, Kids characters, Search, and Change profile.

 

Movie Genres include:

Action and Adventure,

Australian movies,

Children and family movies,

Comedies,

Documentaries,

Dramas,

Horror Movies,

Independent movies,

Romantic movies,

Scifi and fantasy,

Thrillers,

World Cinema,

 

Good selection of TV shows.

 

It looks like for the moment Netflix only supports Closed Captioning: no sign of audio description, but I have seen on the web some folks mentioning that they got audio description talking by accident and wanted to know how to turn it off (most likely in the US).

Found the following lists of Movies and TV shows for Netflix in Australia on the web:

List of Movies on Netflix available in Australia:

 

http://www.finder.com.au/netflix-movies 

List of TV shows on Netflix available in Australia:

http://www.finder.com.au/netflix-tv-shows

Talking Tech for March 24 2015

In this weeks show:

 

Releases/updates - iOS 8.2 (with Apple watch companion app), Window-Eyes 9 (March 9.1 update), NVDA 2015.1, Windows 10 preview, iTunes 12.1.1, Netflix available on March 24, Audio Hijack 3 and O S X 10.10.3/iOS 8.3 ongoing beta. testing, Jonathan Mosen’s VoiceOver tutorial on using Amadeus Pro for the Mac, Wrise accessible word processor for the Mac, and Stay Still Squeaky interactive book.

 

iOS 8.2:

 

iOS 8.2 was released on March 10 with the Apple watch companion app.  Not many specific VoiceOver fix’s, but a lot to come in iOS 8.3 for VoiceOver users.

 

Window-Eyes 9:

 

Window-Eyes 9 is released with a number of major improvements including major improvements to web browsing, Office support, and self restart if speech locks up augments other feature improvements.  No touch screen support as yet.

In March 9.1 was released and amongst other improvements support for Chrome.

 

http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/Upgrades/ 

 

NVDA 2015.1:

 

NVDA 2015.1 released with improvements in Microsoft Word, Skype, and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Nv-Access getting funding to support development of NVDA remote.

 

http://www.nvaccess.org/post/nv-access-releases-2015-1-of-free-nvda-screen-reader/

 

And funding Remote access:

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nvda-remote-access 

 

Windows 10 for desktop/mobile to be released later this year:

 

ACB Radio Main Menu carried a recording of the Windows 10 presentation in January in their shows for January 30th (part 1) and Feb 6th (part 2) due to the length of the actual presentation by Microsoft.

You can get to these presentations by scribing to ACB Radio Main Menu in iTunes or from a pod catcher such as DownCast on iOS.

 

iTunes 12.1.1:

 

iTunes 12.1.1 released with accessibility improvements for Windows 64 bit systems.

 

Netflix:

 

Netflix to be available in Australia from March 24.  you’ll find the channel on your Apple TV, and you can download the Netflix app from the iOs store at:

 

 

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/netflix/id363590051?mt=8

 

More about Netflix and how it is to navigate next week.

 

  

Os X 10.10.3 currently in beta, and iOS 8.3 currently in beta:

 

Apple still testing OS X 10.10.3 and iOs 8.3.

 

Audio Hijack 3:

 

Audio Hijack 3 released for the Mac and fully accessible with VoiceOver..

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/ 

A demo of Audio Hijack 3 from Jonathan Mosen

 

https://audioboom.com/boos/2819298-exploring-audio-hijack-3-for-os-x-from-rogueamoeba-with-voiceover 

 

Amadeus Pro VoiceOver tutorial:

 

Jonathan Mosen’s Amadeus Pro Audio Tutorial is fantastic for those that want to learn how to use this sound editor on the Mac with VoiceOver..

 

http://mosen.org/index.php/become-an-amadeus-pro-maestro/ 

 

Wise accessible word processor for the Mac:

 

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/wrise/id938050665?mt=12 

 

Stay Still Squeaky interactive iBook for children who are blind:

 

https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/stay-still-squeaky!/id955814086?mt=11

Talking Tech for March 17 2015

In this weeks show:

 

A quick note about CSUN conference first week in March, and the Apple Keynote from last week 10/3/2015.

 

CSUn Conference 1st week in March 2015

 

Nothing dramatically jumped out at me from this years CSUN Conference which took place in the first week in March.

 

Blind Bargains has over 20 audio interviews from the conference which you can listen to via the following link or downloading their app from the iOS or Android app stores.

 

http://www.blindbargains.com/audio/ 

Blind Bargains podcast number 8 was a quick run down of some of the notable things at the conference.

 

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=12490 

 

Apple Keynote event March 2015

 

As I said last week, we have now had a bit of a chance to think about the stuff covered in the Apple Keynote event, and how it effects us in Australia.

 

CarPlay:

 

Every major car manufacturer committed to CarPlay for new models from 2015: talk to your phone rather than looking at your dashboard controls.  Compatible with iPhone 5, 5c, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 plus. With compatible cars, go in to Settings, General,CarPlay.

 

http://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/ 

 

Research kit:

 

Introducing research kit to turn iPhone in to a powerful medical diagnostic tool, examples and video of how research kit is applied.  Will be open source.

Released in April and the first 5 apps available today US only.

Apple stating again will not see your health data.

 

http://www.apple.com/researchkit/ 

 

New Macbook (available in April):

13.1mm thin (thiner than the original iPad).

12 inch retina display.

Gold, space grey or silver.

Full size keyboard edge to edge.

Trackpad with force touch with haptic feedback.

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth.

New UsB-C port to support charging, external display, and UsB transfer.

FaceTime camera, internal Microphone, and ear phone port.

All day battery life (up to 9 hours).

$1779 starting price.

 

http://www.apple.com/macbook/design/ 

 

Apple also outlined updates to the Mac air and Macbook pro available from the day of the keynote.

 

Apple watch

Overview of the Apple watch - time, watch faces, glances, read/send messages/Mail, make/send calls from your wrist (not covered in last years demo), sending tactile taps to others with an Apple watch, health and fitness, and demo of using Siri.

 

Demo of a few Apple watch apps (a very cool demo of opening a garage door remotely from the Apple watch).

 

All day battery life (which this time means 18 hours smile).

 

Apple watch is water resistant not water proof, so ok to ware it out in the rain, washing your hands etc.

 

Apple watch companion app  available with iOS 8.2 released on the day of the Keynote March 10.

Not much in the Apple watch app at the moment as there is no Apple watch to pair with: mainly watch videos about the Apple watch.  My short demo of the Apple watch is at:

 

http://www.podbean.com/media/player/embed/postId/5527276?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdavidwoodbr.podbean.com%2Fe%2Fdemo-of-the-initial-release-of-the-apple-watch-companion-app-march-2015%2F 

 

Video demos of manufacturing the sports and stainless Steel Apple watch’s, a brief mention of the gold Apple watch and its price (will only be available at select Apple retail stores and other selected retail stores).

 

Pre-release April 10 and available April 24 with the two weeks before release, customers being able to go in to an Apple store and try on the different Apple watch’s and bands.

 

Still no news on accessibility.

 

Pricing for the Apple watch:

Apple watch sports: $499 38MM and $579 42mm.  

Aluminium case with display protect by Ion-X glass.

Colours - Silver or space grey cases.

 

Apple watch (Stainless Steel): $799 38MM $799 and 42MM $879.

Stainless steel cased with display protected by Sapphire crystal.

Colours - stainless steel and space black stainless steel cases.

 

Apple watch edition (gold): from $14.000.

Note - different types of bands for the Apple watch and Apple watch edition add to the overall cost.

Bands include: rubber (fluroelastomer), leather, Milanese loop (s steel mesh), and stainless steel link bracelet.

The rubber style bands are for all models, but the Sports only has the rubber style band available in 5 colours.

the Apple watch edition also has gold bands to choose from.

 

http://www.apple.com/watch/

Talking Tech for March 10 2015

In this weeks show:

A quick note on the Apple event which took place today 10/3/2015 to be talked about in more detail on next weeks program, completing the top 10 assistive technology events from Blind Bargains for 2014, some highlights from the ATIA conference held in January this year, and AccessWorld two editions for Jan & Feb.

 

Apple event for 10/3/2015:

As this event only took place this morning, we decided to put it over to next weeks program by which time we have had more time to digest what was covered in the announcement.

 

Remaining items from Blind Bargains top 10 assistive technology events for 2014:

4. The reorganisation of Serotek.

3. Merger of AI Squared and GWmicro.

2. Window-Eyes for Office.

1. KNFB Reader.

 

ATIA Conference Jan 2015:

The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Conference took place earlier this year, Some of the tech covered by Blind Bargains in their interviews included:

HIMS: Pre-release versions of the Smart beetle 14 cell Braille display, and the Blaze et.

AISquared: Window-Eyes 9 with improved web support, complete restart feature (no more screen reader lock ups), and an announcement that AI Squared will be releasing Zoomtext with a full screen reader inbuilt.

Voice Dream Writer: the developer speaks about the product and how it differs from other text editors.

Signaids: talking NFC signs and prescription bottles.

 

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=12149

 

 AccessWorld two editions for Jan & Feb 2015:

AccessWorld for Jan 2015 article of note:

Comparing screen magnification in iOS 8 and Lolly pop V5.

Access world for Feb 2015 main articles of note:

A review of the Be My Eyes sighted assistance app for iOS.

ATI Conference highlights from the exhibit hall.

A review of the HIMS E-Bot Pro remote controlled video magnifier with OCR, Computer, and tablet compatibility.

 

http://www.afb.org/aw/main.asp

Talking Tech for March 3 2015

We’re back!!!

 

A big thank you to Tony Egan for keeping the technology fires burning for Talking Tech Summer editions.

 

In this weeks show:

 

A note about CSUN taking place this week from the 2nd  until the 7th of March, The Hills Talking Set top box no longer manufactured, Apple event scheduled for the 9th of March,  and a look at the top 10 assistive technology related activities for 2014 by Blind Bargains.

 

CSUN Conference 2015:

As we speak, the CSUN 30th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference is taking place from March 2 until March 7 2015.

This is the major disability conference for the year particularly for people who are blind or low vision and we will be letting you know what items of note come out of the conference.  The following link will take you to a list of exhibitors at the conference.

https://www.csun.edu/cod/conference/2015/rebooking/index.php/public/exhibitors/ 

 

Hills talking set top box:

The Hills talking set top box is no longer manufactured in Australia leaving consumers without a dedicated set top box.  Will need to start looking at tv sets that have voice guidance such as the Panasonic Viera range of smart TVS.

A review of the Panasonic Viera from Media Access Australia is at the folioing link:

http://www.mediaaccess.org.au/latest_news/general/review-of-the-panasonic-smart-viera-th-l42e6a-a-‘talking-tv’-with-voice-guidance 

Apple event for March 9 10am (March 10 4am Australia) in the US titled “Spring Forward”:

 

Everyone is fairly sure that this keynote event will be all about the Apple watch.  You can use the following link to go to the Apple page and listen live when the event is being broadcast or listen to it on the Apple tv.

 

http://www.apple.com/live/ 

Blind Bargains top 10 assistive technology related events for 2014:

10. Baum VerioUltra Braille display for flipping ] between  multiple devices, basic note taking applications, and 20 or 40 cells.

http://www.baumusa.com/braille-solutions/varioultra.html .

9. Google improving accessibility to Google docs for Windows and in iOS.  Eg NVDA or Window-Eyes with Firefox using Google docs.

8. iBill for the US currency to tell the denominations of their paper notes.

7. Quick Books accounting package used in the US became accessible.

Note - Cash Manager from New Zealand is also accessible and support is provided for screen readers and screen magnification.

6. Lego Braille printer.

5. iOS 8: how buggy it was and the BT VO keyboard issue.

Top 10 completed in next weeks program.

 

 

http://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=12149