Hi all,
From the ACB radio presentation tonight, we now know the following:
The Apex is about the same thickness as the stream and about the same weight
as the PK.
The need to recallibrate the battery gauge is no more; the Apex handles its
battery in such a way that you no longer need to condition the gauge every
so often.
The keyboard is better: it has the same size keys as the mPower, but not as
much pressure is needed to press a key down, and the keys need to move a
shorter distance than those on the mPower. it can be quieter by not using so
much pressure to type. The thumb keys are slightly smaller, but still
positioned in such a way that they will be easily useable when reading the
Braille display.
There will be at least two more upgrades for the mPower and the PK, nothing
is promised past that point. I would guess that this means the mPower will
not be upgraded to CE 6.
case: there is a magnetic closure for the top flap, instead of Velcro. There
is a pocket on the top flap, though it was not made clear if it is on the
inside or outside. The case has four rubber feet on it, like the mPower does
now (on the body of the mPower, not the case). Velcro is still used for the
side flaps (covering the audio ports, record button, power switch, and reset
button on the left, and the USB client port, plus whatever else is there, on
the right).
The host USB ports, of which there are three, are on the back of the unit.
The client port is on the right side.
Braille cells on the Apex are still KGS cells, though they are newer and
much smaller than the cells used in the mPower or PK.
The Apex can be upgraded from either an SD card or a thumb drive, with no
size limits for the upgrade media; just put the upgrade file on the card or
drive, plug the device into the Apex, and say yes to the upgrade prompt that
will appear when the Apex sees the upgrade file.
serial: no serial port is on the Apex, but each Apex has a free usb-serial
adapter packaged with it. I gather you can just leave this on the serial
cable you used to plug into the mPower and then just plug the USB into the
Apex like you would have plugged the serial into the mPower.
dictionary: if you have a license for this or the Nemeth Tutorial, it will
be transfered to the Apex. All data for the Tutorial or dictionary is now
stored on the Apex's flash disk, so you do not need to worry about putting
in a card just to look up a word.
keysoft is modularized now (offering better multi-tasking options, if hw
includes them)
No SDK is planned for the public; if you want to write programs for keysoft,
you must partner with HW, and it sounded like they want to partner with
companies, not individuals, and the process smacks of being expensive.
The Apex comes with 1 free SMA account, and Keysoft after ks9 will include
Word 2007, so you get it for free with your free account; Word 2007 support
was basically promised, for free, to any Apex owner, though we do not know
if that support will be available to mPower or PK users as well.
Have a great day,
Alex
New email address: [email protected]
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