Exactly. I'am a very happy owner of a HumanWare Brailliant BI 40 which I have paired with my iPhone 4S via BlueTooth.
I read and compose email just using my Brailliant and it works great. I read and compose text messages. I use different text editors to take notes which are synced to all my devices like the PC etc. In fact you can use all accessible apps just using your Braille device. One more example is that I use my iPhone to control my Sonos sound system. I have installed the Sonos Controller for iOS and when I listen to music on my Sonos connected to my hifi it's hard to listen to VO and control the music at the same time. I always mute VO and can use my Brailliant to control the Sonos. No need to mute my hifi to be able to hear VO on my iPhone just to be able to skip track, add a song to the playlist etc. Braille support on iOS is working well but there are some shortcomings but I can't remember at the top of my head. I really believe that Apple will have most if not all sorted out in iOS 6. I have not tested using my iPhone and Brailliant to extensively note taking purposes though but I suspect it would work just fine. -----Original Message----- From: techno-chat-boun...@techno-chat.net [mailto:techno-chat-boun...@techno-chat.net] On Behalf Of Martin McCormick Sent: 20. juli 2012 17:36 To: Techno-Chat ... Technology Enthusiasm! Subject: Re: Braille Devices Such as NoteTakers Etc. I have never had such a device and there was a time when it seemed like a very neat thing to have, but I am not sure that Braille note takers are as necessary as they used to be, given their rather high prices and specialized application. How responsive is the iPad with a bluetooth keyboard? One could use that to take notes plus all the other things we do with tablet computers. The advantage would be that it is off-the-shelf technology of the level we only used to dream about. Please understand that I am not at all saying that the note takers are not useful but I am wondering if technology has leap frogged over them. If the voiceover technology in the iPad has the Braille support that the Macintosh voiceover does, you could still interface with a Braille display. It is amazing to think that we live in a time where we could buy a device in a normal public technology store that has 90% of the technology needed to function as a note taker for a person who is blind. If you don't need the Braille display, it has 100% of the necessary technology. When I break down and buy an iPad, it will probably be for just such applications besides being a book reader and a whole bunch of other things. This is all very individualized technology depending a lot on what you hope to use it for and what your needs are so I could be way off base. This is just one person's opinion. Martin "Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith" writes: > Hello everybody > > I'm seriously looking at this situation now. Has anybody used, or does > anybody use the current generation of BrailleNote note-takers from > HumanWare? I am asking because, as some of you might know, it looks as > though Gordon is in line for a job working as, amongst other things, a > Braille transcriber for a secondary school's Visually Impaired department > in Middlesbrough. He might also be given the responsibility of acting as > a liaison officer between parents and the academy in respect of equipment > and software that students use. Plus, on top o that, they are talking > about possibly arranging for Gordon to work towards a base level teaching > qualification which would allow him to participate in the tuition of the > visually impaired on the subject of I.T. He went for his first > preliminary informal interview, a tour of the V.I department at the > academy and a very long chat with the deputy head, (soon to be head of > department). The interview went better than anybody had dared to hope > for. and as I say, although they were initially only discussing > transcription work on a part-time basis, they are now looking seriously > at creating the other posts within the department as they say Gordon is > ideally suited for the job and he would be able to hit the ground > running, which is another huge plus. > > I'm sorry for the babbling; but I'm bursting with pride just at the > moment. Given his situation 6 months ago, everybody is saying that he has > made terrific progress and is now well on the road to recovery. > > Anyway, i'm curious as to whether any members may have comments regarding > the Humanware or similar note-takers. We think that something like this > might be necessary equipment for the job, and I want to have something > concrete so that when he's asked to put together a shopping list to > submit to "Access To Work" and the other support organisations who are > already assisting him, we'll have something ready for them. > > Open for comment, for better or for worse. ;-) > > Lynne > > > ======================================= > > The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, > virus and worm-free > > To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated > web pages located at > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group > at either of the following websites: > > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html > > Or: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/techno-chat@techno-chat.net> > you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. 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