Favorite Assistive Technology Apps & Products of 2012

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cliffordgarstang.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2012-new-year-on-balons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://cliffordgarstang.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2012-new-year-on-balons.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="GingerNoCheckStart"></span>As 2012 comes to a close I decided to make a run down of my favorite assistive technology apps and products that I have been using this year. This list is in no particular order.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Click read more view the list.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><a name="more"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/11/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-handwriten.html">Sky WiFi Smartpen from Livescribe</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlC8NxHNEA1NjwPQDAS-pLzyHcd88W_kPfvmkWaUVnS-uZy_aSbJ8mhOckt7HCYIuAHXumNhQNfYGO6tAmyG5hFl8zxB1evaaUXy8oU0HO9ymhRsfgzYv3xU3T-2g0EQ7RT-RupmAHis/s320/sky_cloud_devices_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlC8NxHNEA1NjwPQDAS-pLzyHcd88W_kPfvmkWaUVnS-uZy_aSbJ8mhOckt7HCYIuAHXumNhQNfYGO6tAmyG5hFl8zxB1evaaUXy8oU0HO9ymhRsfgzYv3xU3T-2g0EQ7RT-RupmAHis/s320/sky_cloud_devices_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Sky WiFi Smartpen is easy to use and seamless. It has a built in recorder and camera that, when used with specialized paper, syncs audio and written notes in the cloud. To read the Sky WiFi Smartpen review <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/11/livescribe-sky-wifi-smartpen-handwriten.html">click here.</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/10/apple-announces-ipad-mini.html"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="iPad:0" grmarkguid="597ab7ce-92f2-4a74-b083-e37bc07437ff" gruiphraseguid="fff9636c-bff9-4a3c-acee-682fb398b180">iPad</span> mini</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.apple.com/home/images/hero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://images.apple.com/home/images/hero.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="iPad:0" grmarkguid="32b4764d-a621-48ee-b1a9-41e643ff53f2" gruiphraseguid="e98e5a94-9f25-44db-8f79-039e625650d3">iPad</span> <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="mini:1" grmarkguid="2fe7b2eb-7c91-4e06-8f29-30855b5551a6" gruiphraseguid="6fc3a60e-7d6b-4b04-b2c9-b7f39de93524">mini</span> is a great tablet because of its size, app selection, and accessibility. The lower price point makes it even more compelling. Most of all iPad mini runs all the apps that the full size iPad does and has accessibility features second to none. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/10/apple-announces-ipad-mini.html">Click here</a> to read more about the iPad mini.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/09/ios-6-to-be-released-on-september-19th.html?showComment=1348127241922"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="iOS:0" grmarkguid="4a0ffe03-5a8e-47c6-b840-8cd3ad61ed56" gruiphraseguid="605b81da-b2fa-4c04-8b4a-6199f9acc681">iOS</span> 6</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.apple.com/ios/images/overview_title.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="http://images.apple.com/ios/images/overview_title.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="iOS:0" grmarkguid="d8e10680-a770-4c13-8b3a-4355c9addc80" gruiphraseguid="8f685366-f22e-4b6c-a23e-f993f3015f01">iOS</span> 6 many have been short on mainstream features it has several useful accessibility features including <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-is-guided-access.html">Guided Access</a>, highlighting with Speak Selection, Siri improvements, and <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="VoiceOver:1" grmarkguid="d9063d21-eaac-4c77-9904-d9d0bc92bd67" gruiphraseguid="8f685366-f22e-4b6c-a23e-f993f3015f01"><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/11/nook-app-for-ios-updated-to-support.html"><span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="VoiceOver:1" grmarkguid="5020444d-20cd-4644-b7a8-f9cf666b6720" gruiphraseguid="7306d0b5-0618-4082-bbe9-995dfd9f0555">VoiceOver</span></a></span> improvements. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/09/ios-6-to-be-released-on-september-19th.html?showComment=1348127241922">Click here</a> to learn more about <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="iOS:0" grmarkguid="23e72b29-85a8-4047-8f3c-f018700ca4d1" gruiphraseguid="84e9640e-7733-4e11-8773-36076c7f63b3">iOS</span> 6.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/10/google-search-app-updated-with-advanced.html">Updated Google Search App</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rizwanashraf.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/google-search-app.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.rizwanashraf.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/google-search-app.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This update included great new voice search feature that I found to be better and faster than <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/09/ibm-sees-watson-as-supper-powered-siri.html">Siri</a>. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/10/google-search-app-updated-with-advanced.html">Click here</a> to learn more about the Google Search App for <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="iOS:0" grmarkguid="18bf7282-f5d1-44d8-b40d-b8f1fcb83594" gruiphraseguid="5a5a654d-9011-47a2-b18f-81bccd297895">iOS</span>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/02/scanner-pro-review.html">Scanner Pro</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.voiceable.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Scanner-Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.voiceable.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Scanner-Pro.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This app has a really nice interface and good scan quality which made it my favorite scanning app of 2012. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/02/scanner-pro-review.html">Click here</a> to learn more.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span class="GRnoSuggestion GRcorrect" grcontextid="Prizmo:0" grmarkguid="3d16ad22-feac-4fda-ba27-5859fb757336" gruiphraseguid="0ba1f070-7349-4b47-83a5-02f5358f2f37"><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html"><span class="GRnoSuggestion GRcorrect" grcontextid="Prizmo:0" grmarkguid="f40ee099-170b-40f9-bfc0-64c2eb751c8a" gruiphraseguid="abedc237-10ab-4c47-8d15-48f7c3ce01a0">Prizmo</span></a></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.evernote.com/about/media/img/partners/logos/prizmo-175.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.evernote.com/about/media/img/partners/logos/prizmo-175.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="GRnoSuggestion GRcorrect" grcontextid="Prizmo:0" grmarkguid="49ef3e48-a71e-4a7b-ae83-3cf22db6df35" gruiphraseguid="953e9ee7-cf3c-4df8-9563-35139c7a82fb">Prizmo</span> is hands down the best OCR app for iPhone that I have used. Just take a picture of a document and it will read it to you in a matter of seconds. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html">Click here</a> to download or learn more about Prizmo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/07/read2go-review.html"><b>Read2Go</b></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/174718_177614625589689_7286392_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/174718_177614625589689_7286392_n.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A great reader of <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/06/bookshareorg-great-resource-for.html">Bookshare</a> books that allows you to read your books <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="portably:0" grmarkguid="062842ee-4b65-4ed4-8ede-6371120a6374" gruiphraseguid="a2548366-4436-4a3c-ad3a-f7a1d702d4a4">portably</span> without a computer. Bookshare is an online accessible library <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="avalible:0" grmarkguid="2697caa3-a6a2-4ca6-8fd0-4297cf4f9c41" gruiphraseguid="27c858a8-8133-445a-9a7c-ab2d264d1f43">avalible</span> to qualified people. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/07/read2go-review.html">Click here</a> to download or learn more about Read2Go.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/06/kurzweil-3000-overview.html">Kurzweil 3000</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRNDTocEBY3hGgLJT7I3aIVL1L1n43G-UoJojmJG3kejkvtnqvK9d4x_T6lP7IHaHHiLAaAUI9ZFdr9pTxNKbDsSIhnakO4x6jf5hs_0gyMb5Eorky6lDW5dPKGjsOIjcSuTCJfv7uBw/s320/ver+4+CD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRNDTocEBY3hGgLJT7I3aIVL1L1n43G-UoJojmJG3kejkvtnqvK9d4x_T6lP7IHaHHiLAaAUI9ZFdr9pTxNKbDsSIhnakO4x6jf5hs_0gyMb5Eorky6lDW5dPKGjsOIjcSuTCJfv7uBw/s200/ver+4+CD.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kurzweil isn't new to 2012 but it is a program I use <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="everday:0" grmarkguid="7fc91587-8adf-49dc-b855-5556b45d7608" gruiphraseguid="0ad5019b-c5c6-40f5-827b-483773e99aea">everday</span>. It helps me tremendously and it deserves a spot on this list. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/06/kurzweil-3000-overview.html">Click here</a> to learn more about Kurzweil 3000.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/07/learning-ally-audio-app-now-free.html">Learning Ally</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://edtechtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/learning_ally_audio_app_icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://edtechtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/learning_ally_audio_app_icon.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Good app for listening to Learning Ally Audio books. The free app is available for all <span class="GRcorrect" grcontextid="iOS:0" grmarkguid="9b017bac-e11d-486e-be3d-2b72462134f1" gruiphraseguid="4b709d6d-6180-4016-bfab-6555b7a8a2f5">iOS</span> devices. I would like to see the app include new features such as background audio in 2013. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/07/learning-ally-audio-app-now-free.html">Click here</a> to learn more.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span class="GingerNoCheckEnd"></span><br />

Diposting oleh Abdullah Syafii

Prizmo Vs. TextDetective OCR iPhone App Challange

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rGh4BYMnlJY" width="560"></iframe></div><br /><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html">Prizmo</a> and TextDetective are optical charactor recognition (<a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html">OCR</a>) apps for the <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/10/iphone-4s-accessibility-features.html">iPhone</a>. These apps use the iPhone camera to take a picture of a document and then convert the text on the paper to digital text. Because the apps rely on the <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/10/iphone-4s-accessibility-features.html">iPhone</a> camera they work best on the <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/10/iphone-4s-accessibility-features.html">iPhone 4S</a>. The apps were compared using a complex image with multiple images and columns. Both apps were used in a room with good lighting. Watch the video above to learn more about each of the apps.<br /><br /><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html">Prizmo</a> costs $9.99 in the App Store. <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=prizmo%20app&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CEoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fprizmo-document-scanning-ocr%2Fid366791896%3Fmt%3D8&ei=VUQZUMenFISj6wGUyoHQAw&usg=AFQjCNGSgD7qzmoUoMeHdUM9tey2fKtQ2A&sig2=H0T8OBWuQ3yRpildkHC7rA">Click here</a> to download <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html">Prizmo. Prizmo</a> is the fastest most accurate user friendly <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html">OCR</a> app that I have ever tested. It is designed for sighted users. It allows you to crop and edit the picture before you start the <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html">OCR</a> process. Once the text has been recognized you can read it using text-to-speech, email it or copy the text. It is important to note that users with visual impairments may have a hard time taking pictures of the documents they want to <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/prizmo-great-accurate-full-featured-ocr.html">OCR</a>. It also is impossible for a visually impaired user to crop the document to improve the accuracy. That being said for sighted users very easy to use.<br /><br />TextDetective costs $1.99 for a limited time. <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/textdetective/id541494875?mt=8">Click here</a> to download TextDetective. TextDetective is designed for people with visual impairments. The app is designed to make taking a picture of a document easy for the visually impair. In my tests I had a hard time taking a clear picture of a whole document. I could successfully capture a clear picture of one or two paragraphs. TextDetective was less accurate and slower than Prizmo. One problem I found is that TextDetective only works in landscape orientation but most documents are in portrait orientation. The orientation of the app makes it difficult to  take a crisp picture of the page. In all for only $1.99 TextDetective may be worth a try.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOU8-KRX_nKBrdWkxGkKPLb0PblE2jzaZDPYi2vlgrNdvWFwlY7DXmqyjzkPGYPj9XE9PQWEADZTqxh8VTtq33TPBF5tFVEBXVIheQ7UM25fTcuJHXzPw_Io5nZe4TzvEkJoHXvJgv9kE/s1600/iTunesArtwork.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="blindsight" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOU8-KRX_nKBrdWkxGkKPLb0PblE2jzaZDPYi2vlgrNdvWFwlY7DXmqyjzkPGYPj9XE9PQWEADZTqxh8VTtq33TPBF5tFVEBXVIheQ7UM25fTcuJHXzPw_Io5nZe4TzvEkJoHXvJgv9kE/s200/iTunesArtwork.png" title="TextDetective App Icon HD" width="200" /></a><a href="http://cdn.iextract.quadrat4.com/images/59b821c05384caa5ffc2e5d5d106c2de.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="abc abc" border="0" height="200" src="http://cdn.iextract.quadrat4.com/images/59b821c05384caa5ffc2e5d5d106c2de.jpg" title="Prizmo app icon" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a name="more"></a><div style="text-align: right;">Apps Provided Complimentary To Reviewer</div>

Diposting oleh Abdullah Syafii