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Earlier this month, T-Mobile announced it's no contract options and committed to changing the cell phone industry. To avoid being one uped by T-Mobile, the other major carriers also have decided to make changes. A few days after the announcement, Sprint came out with new pricing on their plans and unlimited data for life. And now AT&T has come out with no contract options that look very similar to T-Mobile, but of course are slightly different.

According to an article in CNet, AT&T customers will have the option to pay an installment plan for 20 months rather then an upfront fee with a two year contract. They will then have the option to leave the carrier as long as they finish paying their installment plan. The plans range from $15 to $50 depending on the device. An iPhone 5 would cost someone $32.50 per month and a Galaxy S4 would cost $32. Along with the no contract option, customers will have the option of upgrading their device after one year instead of 24 months. The biggest difference between T-Mobile's plan and AT&T's is that the monthly plans for AT&T have not changed. If you don't think that you have extra money to tack on your already high cell phone bill then a no contract option may not be for you, but if you want the freedom of no contract then you now have another carrier option.

Humanware has announced a new line of magnification products for low vision users. The Prodigi magnifiers will be a new way for low vision users to interact with text. According to the press release: "Prodigi allows low vision users to benefit from a big-screen desktop device and a go-anywhere tablet magnifier at a lower cost than any similar system available. The portable Tablet fits into a patented docking station in the base and becomes both the camera and processor of the desktop system. Unlike other magnifiers, Prodigi captures the image of an entire letter- or A4-sized page and allows the user to magnify and read documents with a comfortable touchpad instead of moving an XY table. Pages are displayed in HumanWare's innovative Diamond Edge TextTM format, which can be magnified up to 80 times with perfect text quality. Text can be presented to the user in smooth-scrolling column or line modes, and can even read aloud, reducing fatigue caused by moving documents under a CCTV camera."
The new devices also come with their own tutorial to help customers learn how to use the product. The tutorial will set up magnification, color contrast, and demonstrate the features of the device. There will be three different models: the duo which includes a desktop model with a removable tablet, the hand held tablet alone, or the desktop model alone. Look for the product to be available next month.

The American Council of the Blind has announced there locations and dates for the next two conferences. Next year will be in Las Vegas. Pre registration starts on the 10th of July with the opening session on the 13th and the final day being the 18th.

If you're not up for Vegas, or need to wait a couple of years before going to conference again, then you can choose to attend in 2015 in Dallas Texas. Pre-registration will start on July 2nd, the opening session will be on July 5th, and and the conference will end on July 10th.

Happy planning.

Wearable computing seems to be the next frontier. The Pebble watch and Google Glass are being raved about, but wearable technology doesn't jus have to be for humans. Researchers at Georgia Tech are working on a system called FIDO, or Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations. The idea is that the dog could activate a sensor that would then transmit either a verbal command into a headset or a visual command onto a screen. For example, a bomb sniffer dog could tell his handler what kind of bomb it is, or a rescue dog could alert someone that he found an injured person. A guide dog could tell us that there is an obstruction to our right or in front of us. According to the article in technology review, "In an early study, the researchers equipped a dog vest with an Arduino microprocessor and tested four different sensors that dogs could activate by biting, tugging, or putting their mouth nearby. The three service dogs participating in the test quickly learned to activate the sensors to set off a tone." Tell us in the comments what you would want your service animal to be able to communicate.

Sendero is very interested in hearing from it's customers. They have set up a page where you can vote on what features you want to see in upcoming versions of their new Seeing Eye GpS app. The features that you can vote on include:

Ability to add your own public and private POIs
Announcing of Sendero's existing User POI database
Increasing the number of items in the route history list
Favorite's list
Ability to add a route from your contact's list
Ability to run the app in the background
Announce intersections at more then 15 MPH
Vibrate alerts on upcoming turns and arrived at destination

You may vote for two of these 8 features. You can also submit one feature that is not on the list that you would also like to see.

If you're planning a trip to a federal recreation site or one of our many National Parks, then you can get your free pass for life with proof of your disability. According to a post in Positively Naperville, "When you visit a federal recreation site or national park, just present some documentation of disability status and ask for the free Access Pass. Documentation includes a physician’s statement, or a document issued by a state or federal agency like the Veteran’s Administration, proof of Social Security Disability Income or Supplemental Security Income, or a letter from a vocational rehabilitation agency. The pass gives you and three adults free admission to national parks around the country."

To learn more about this program, or to find out where National Parks are located, visit the National Park Service website.

Byron Lee, who works for Horizons for the Blind, describes a new Directions for Me app that should be coming to the android platform soon on this week's Serotalk podcast. He starts by describing the main screen which includes the buttons: scan, search, browse, and info. The scan button will allow you to scan bar codes with your phone's camera. Since it can be difficult to find the bar code, the scan mode is continuous allowing you to rotate the product until the camera finds the bar code. Once the bar code is found, you get the product name, description of the product, directions for how to use the product, ingrediants, wanrings and manufacture information. You can also search for a specific product or browse using the directions for me website.

Sendero announced today that the Seeing Eye GPS app has been submitted to the app store and is now available. The app can be downloaded for free, but you must have a subscription in order to use it. A one year subscription will cost you $69.95 and for three years the cost is $129.95.

According to the description of the app, some of the features that make this app particularly useful for blind users include:

Route, POI's, and Location are available at any time
At intersections the cross street and it's orientation are announced
Intersections are described such as four way or two way
Routes are available for both vehicle and pedestrian mode
To hear what is around you, point your phone in a direction and the LookAround Wand tells you nearby POI's
POI's and intersections are automatically announced as you get close to them.

GW Micro announced today a new app for the PC called SocialEyes. If you wish that you could interact with facebook better but you find the website too difficult and inaccessible, then SocialEyes is for you. According to the press release: "
SocialEyes offers Facebook users the ability to access their newsfeed, read comments, create comments, like posts, search for events, pages, friends, groups, and more. Users can also read notifications, messages, chat with their friends, write on timelines, manage friend requests, and access event information."

The app will be compatible with most PC screen readers and magnification software. For a limited time, a one year subscription can be purchased for $25. You can preorder SocialEyes today by calling 260) 489-3671. Once the promotional period is up, the yearly subscription will go up to $50.

To see SocialEyes in action, visit <a target="_blank" href== "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULm6DW4zAmw&feature=youtu.be"> GW Micro's You Tube Page .

If you're looking for career tips, job seeking pointers, employment advice and career connect updates, then the new Career Connect blog is for you. The first post features Lesson Plans for Professionals and is the first in an upcoming series.

If you have wanted to become a beta tester for IOS, but feel like you don't know enough, join Jonathan Mosen on Saturday July 6 to learn all that you need to know.

According to the webinar description, some of the topics that will be covered include:

Becoming legally entitled to run iOS betas
Downloading the latest build
Taking precautions before you take the plunge
Reporting bugs, being a beta tester who adds value
Your obligations under Apple’s Nondisclosure agreement (NDA)

The webinar will take place at 3 PM EST or 1900 UTC

If you can't attend the live webinar, you will be eligible for a copy of the archive. Purchase your spot today for $19.95.

If you haven't tried out Blind Square yet and you're going to either the NFB or ACB national conventions, then now is your chance. The makers of BlindSquare have come out with BS Event. This app will allow you to use the app in demo mode if you are attending events that are important to the blind. Some of the features include: learning about interesting places around you, access to phone numbers and addresses, ability to search for specific places, ability to input a destination into your favorite turn by turn app, and ability to checkin at your location using foursquare. This app is only intended for those who do not own the full BlindSquare app. If you're not attending a convention, a virtual mode is also available. The full BlindSquare App is available for $19.99.

There are a number of braille typing apps already available for IOS devices. Some may wonder then do we need another one. For me, MBraille is my favorite so far. Some of the benefits include: contracted braille, ability to type with the device on a table or facing away from you, free access to twitter and the clipboard, and a tutorial mode.

The app is very similar to Fleksy because it uses gestures to add spaces, new lines, and deleting of text. The help section of the app reviews all of the gestures and the other features that the app has available. One feature that speeds up the posting process are commands. For example, to tweet, write your message followed by a new line. Then write .twitter and the message will be sent.

The free version only gives you access to sending tweets and adding text to the clipboard. If you want the full list of features including email, Facebook, text messaging, and editing capability, the app will cost $30. The benefit of course is that you get to try out the app before spending any money.

It is important to note that the voice that you use for voiceover will determine your braille table. If you are using the Australian voice for example, you can only write contractions that exist in UEB.

For blind golfers, the need for their caddy to tell them everything from how far the hole is to where their ball landed can be frustrating. A new device can increase a blind golfers independence through the use of GPS and text to speech. The Golf Buddy Voice is a device that will tell you the distance to the center of the green, front of the green, or back of the green. The device can be purchased from Amazon for $122.79 with free shipping. The Golf Buddy Voice can be clipped to a pocket or be worn like a watch, it has 36,000 golf courses already loaded, and it just needs to be connected to a computer to be upgraded. Though we have reports of blind golfers using the device, we're not sure if it's completely accessible without sighted assistance. If you've tried or seen one of these units, let us know what you think in the comments.

Progress was made when ATM's first got braille, and then they were even more usable once they started talking, but the machine still spit out a paper receipt. Wells Fargo is now going to start offering you your receipt either via email or text message. The company is doing this to help cut down on paper waste, but it ends up being a great option for the blind. Customers must have an online account with Wells Fargo to be eligible for the new receipt options.

To celebrate Independence Day, AI Squared is offering a discount of 15% on all orders. You can get the discount by either using the code: INDEPENDENCE, or by calling 800-859-0270 and mentioning the word independence. Happy shopping.

AI Squared is offering a number of free webinars this summer. The first one is on Tuesday June 25. It will cover the ZoomText for Mac Reading Tool. Other webinars this summer include: an introduction to ZoomText for Windows 8, ZoomText Image Reader advanced tips, and an overview of ZoomText University. If you can not attend the webinar when it's happening, then you can access the recorded version at your own convenience. If you plan to attend any of these, you will need to sign up in advance to access the live events.

When the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 1997, it was specified that all children with vision impairments should learn braille unless there was a legitimate reason for them not to. However, the number of students who are actually learning braille is continuing to fall despite this requirement. In May,26 senators sent a letter to the Department of Education explaining their concern about the very low rates of braille literacy. Wednesday, the Department of Education issued a statement clarifying the guidelines that school districts must follow. One important change that will hopefully increase braille instruction is the rule that having access to other media such as audio or computers can not be used as an excuse to deny braille. Read the statement from the NFB and the letter from the Department of Education by visiting the link provided.

traveling independently for those of us who can't read the street sign either means having accessible GPS or memorizing where we are. Knowing where you are is an important skill, but it would also be useful if the street sign was accessible. The city of Sydney is currently testing out a prototype of their new street signs which will feature braille and raised letters. They are working with blind citizens to make sure that the signs are readable and that they will be placed in consistent locations on intersections. This change could make travel more safe and appealing to those with vision loss.

There are a number of braille typing apps available for the app store, but some might say that none of them are perfect. Maybe MBraille will be the braille app of our dreams. The developer hopes that it will be released in the app store next week. Some of the features, according to the AppleVis post include: ability to type in contracted or uncontracted braille, ability to post to Facebook and twitter, ability to send emails and make calendar appointments, and copy and paste text to the clipboard. The post also points out that the app will be free for those who just want to type and tweet, but if you want the full list of features then the app could cost $30.