Software Deals, Sales, and News

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic has released the UAK for the Humanhware Victor Reader Stream digital book player. The key costs $20 and can be purchased directly from their Member Services Department. The key allows RFB&D's audio plus books to be played on the stream.

Code Factory has released a public beta of Mobile Speak Pocket 2.0, a screen reader for pocket PC phones and devices. Among the many improvements are the inclusion of their user-centered license scheme which allows users to move their software license between devices, direct support for braille .BRF files, improved support for many applications including Internet Explorer, Excel Mobile, and the calendar, improved stability and battery life, and the ability to turn off the touch screen during a call. A complete list is available on the link from this post. It's a free upgrade for current registered users.

The annual conference for the Assistive Technology Industry Association is still nearly two weeks away, but some companies are jumping on the early PR bandwagon. GW Micro has published a brief announcement listing their schedule of events for the conference. Of interest is the mention of advanced scripting features for Window-Eyes 7.0, which has been speculated to be released in some form in the coming weeks. We've linked to a mailing list post to give you more insight. Watch Blind Bargains for much more ATIA coverage in the coming days and weeks.

An EBay seller has listed a copy of Kurzweil 1000 version 11 with a BuyItNow price of $499. With $15 for shipping, that's about half the cost of a retail copy of this popular scanning and OCR product. Listing ends January 20 if not sold sooner.

Most tech companies are happy with one blog. But now, Code Factory has upped the stakes by launching two. One focuses on messages from the company's CEO while the other will feature messages from the rest of the Code Factory staff. Both are pretty bare for now, but what do you expect, they're brand new.

An EBay seller has listed a copy of Kurzweil 1000 Version 11 with a current bid of $123.50 plus $15 for shipping. New copies cost $995, and this is the latest version. Auction ends January 5.

Humanware has released version 1.0 of their Stream Companion software which works with the Victor Reader Stream. It offers a streamlined interface for transferring and sorting media as well as a tool for converting voice notes recorded on the stream into .WAV format.

We've been waiting for an announcement from Code Factory regarding their recent partnership with AT&T and it looks like it has now come. AT&T offers licenses for Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier for $89, a significant savings off retail. We assume service with AT&T is required, and a short list of five phones is initially supported including the Nokia E62 and N75. We'll post more as we learn about it, and watch our site for deals on supported phones in the coming days. There isn't a lot of info on the AT&T site yet, but you can contact the National Center for Customers with Disabilities (NCCD) at 1-866-241-6568.

Sendero Group has released version 4.2 of their GPS software for the BrailleNote family of products, which adds at least twenty software improvements and a small number of bug fixes. Of note, route calculations are claimed to be 20 percent faster, audio and text files can be associated with points of interest, and GPS headings are smoothed out. This upgrade costs $149, or the use of one count on a current software maintenance agreement.

An EBay seller has listed a copy of Kurzweil 1000 version 11 with a starting bid price of $775.85. With about $15 for shipping, it's about $200 off list price for this software, which is the latest version of Kurzweil's OCR product. Auction ends December 8.

Buy.com has Nuance's Dragon Naturally Speaking version 9.0, the standard edition, for $42.99 after a $40 mail-in rebate. With free shipping, we haven't seen this price for this voice recognition software since last year. Rebate ends December 16.

As expected, GW Micro has released its GPS software for the Voice Sense accessible PDA. Called GW Sense Navigation or SenseNav for short, it was developed by Sendero Group, the same company that programs the GPS software for the BrailleNote family of PDAs. The price is also similar to the BrailleNote offering at $1,549. The Voice Sense itself costs $1,895 through December 21. In January, the price will balloon to $2,395.

As a follow-up to the posted feature list for the next version of Wayfinder Access, the newest version is now available. It's actually not version 2, but version 1.24, though the list of new features remains the same. It's available in many languages and is a free update for current Wayfinder Access users.

GW Micro has just released the version 1.1 firmware for the Voice Sense. The major update for version 1.1 is support for the Voice Sense GPS product, based on Sendero's popular GPS for the BrailleNote and VoiceNote. Additional features include support for SDHC memory cards and SSL email support among numerous other enhancements and bug fixes.

Neil Barnfather of TalkNav has posted a preliminary feature list for the upcoming release of Wayfinder Access 2.0. It appears to be a free upgrade, and adds several features found in other GPS solutions for the blind including hotkey support, better descriptions of crossings, and an expanded "where am I" mode. No release date is given, but expect to see this version sometime in December or January.

An EBay seller has listed a copy of Zoomtext 9.1 with a price of $475. With free shipping, it's $120 under the list price for this magnifying software. Deal ends today.

Serotek offers it's entire System Access line of accessibility products including System Access Mobile for U3 and 2 computers, Neospeech, 4 years of System Access Mobile Network access (including SAToGo), and product updates, all for $24.95 a month.
It's a great way to make your computer talk without a massive financial outlay up-front.
If you would rather buy this package with only one year of network service and updates, it's only $499 through December 31st, a $129 savings since the year of access is basically included for free. Plus, get Neospeech free when you mention Blind Bargains.

Fredom Scientific has posted the final release for JAWS 9.0. This latest version adds support for retaining HTML formatting while copying and pasting, improved support for Microsoft word, and support for the Outlook calendar, among numerous other enhancements and bug fixes.

Microsoft Office 2007 will soon be able to export files into the DAISY format, according to CNet. DAISY allows for easier navigation, embossing, and narration and is used by many accessible Ebook publishers including Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic. The office extension will add a "Save as DAISY" option to some of Microsoft's applications. The new plug-in should be available sometime in early 2008.

Sendero Group has released a version of Sendero GPS without the GPS. Titled Way to
Go
, the product includes the features of its GPS product without the actual tracking
support. Think of it as the virtual mode portion of navigational software. In addition,
you can attach audio narratives or sounds to specific points of interest, a feature
that we hope will find its
way into the regular GPS product. The cost for Way to Go
is $749 for the download or a bit more for a version shipped to your door. The download
is a better value, even if you choose to buy your own 8GB compact flash card and
download the maps.