My Next Webinar - Exploring Technology Webinar Series with David Woodbridge - in the Kitchen

Myself and Alex will be looking at low and high tech gadgets plus some tips for cooking and organising in the kitchen.

Registration link is:

https://visionaustralia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_foBkS8xGQEanaKCuHsYbZg

A Bit Of A Play Around With Talkback On My Samsung S10 - Including Voice Control

I must say using Talkback now on the Samsung S10 at least in my case is quite enjoyable, and easy to use.

Basic gestures are similar to VoiceOver on iOS: eg flick left or right, then 1 finger double tap.

I do like the angled gestures that Talkback still has and which aren’t that really hard to remember:

Flick up and Left, Home

Flick down and right, back

Flick up and right, global menu

Flick down and right, Talkback settings

In this new version of Talkback, we are now able to control Talkback and basic system commands with our voice.

The gesture is:

Flick right and up, Voice Control.

After the gesture you can say:

Home, takes you back to the Home Screen,

Back, takes you back a screen,

Recent, for recent apps

All apps, takes you to the all apps screen,

Notifications, takes you to the notifications centre

Assistant, launch’s the Google Assistant.

Faster, speaks faster

Slower, speaks slower

The fact that you can completely customise all the gestures of Talkback is fantastic, especially if say you want to mirror some commands from now the non existent Voice Assistant screen reader.

VIP Code Reader For Android

I mentioned this on Talking Tech quite a while ago now, which uses the sonar feature (similar to Seeing AI Product Reader) for detecting QR codes, just tried it on Android with my S10 and it works just as well.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pvip

Lookout for Android - Similar App In Function to Seeing AI App for iOS

Functions include:

Explore, object recognition

Food labels, bar code?

Text mode, short OCR text

Document, full OCR

Currency, identify Australian  bank notes?

Play Store link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.accessibility.reveal

Look out doesn’t support Australian bank notes (nor does Seeing AI for iOS), I suggest using CashReader for both Android and iOS.

Android:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martindoudera.cashreader

iOS:

https://apps.apple.com/au/app/cash-reader-bill-identifier/id1344802905

Amazon Echo Show 10 3rd Generation Now Available

Didn’t know this was coming out, may have been just arriving in Australia, but its an Echo Show with a camera as well plus all the other new stuff.

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B084NTF5ZY

If You Are Low Vision, How To Tell if Caps Lock Is On Or Off On Windows Or Mac

I’ve been getting this question a few times lately, especially with more and more folks buying external large print keyboards, and not being able to see the indicator lights on the keyboard to the state of the Caps Lock key: i.e. if you are about to just keep typing in all capitals.

I was quite surprised to see it is an accessibility setting in Windows, but not on the Mac, on the Mac you need a 3rd party app.

Windows:

Part of the Ease Of Access Centre in Windows 10, check out the following link on how to set this:

https://www.howtogeek.com/252226/how-to-make-windows-play-a-sound-when-you-press-caps-lock-num-lock-or-scroll-lock/

Mac:

Download this utility which will give both visual and audio notifications if Caps Lock is on (Capsys)

https://apps.apple.com/au/app/capsy/id1093804328?mt=12

AirPods Max Firmware Update

Recently Apple released a firmware update for the AirPods Max (C39) which fixed the battery drain issue when the AirPods Max are in the smart case (or as I call it Smart Pouch).

This update is automatic, but if you want to check, you can go in on your iOS device: Settings, General, About, and check out the AirPods Max current firmware, as I understand, when you are using the AirPods Max, the system will try and update.

https://www.mactrast.com/2021/03/airpods-mac-3c39-firmware-said-to-fix-smart-case-battery-drain-issues/

Free Audio Books you Can Play on Google Smart Speakers: BookReader

Of course, you can also use the Google Assistant on your smart phone or tablet to do this as well.

The website the App/skill BookReader is based upon is at:

https://App.speakhub.io

All the public domain books are from:

https://www.librivox.org

The command to invoke the app/skill is:

:Talk to book reader”,  And then say the name of the book.

Here are some suggestions to get your imagination going with these public domain style books, some amazing classics to enjoy again.

Andersen’s Fairy Tales

Grimms’ Fairy Tales

English Fairy Tales

Myths And Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome

Anne Of Green Gables

Black Beauty

Cindderella

Treasure Island

Story of the 3 Little Pigs

The Happy Prince And Other Tales

Frog Prince And Other Stories

Heidi

Jungle Book

Snow White and the 7 Dwards

The Little Match Girl

Wonderful Wizard Of Oz

Peter Pan

Wind In The Willows

Voyages Of Doctor Do Little

20 thousand Leagues Under The Sea

Call Of The Wild

Journey To The Centre oOf the Earth

Around The World in 80 Days

Sea Wolf

Hound of the Baskavilles

Study in Scarlet

Sign Of The 4,

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Tarzan of The Apes

Princess Of Mars

Wood Beyond The World

The Well At The Worlds End

Dracula

Frankenstine

Gulliver’s Travels

Mobidick

Time Machine

Secret Garden

Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

39 Steps

3 Ghost Stories

Dragons Secret

Thing From The Lake

12 Creepy Tales

Invisible Man

War Of The Worlds

Hamlet

Cosmic Computer

Origin Of Species

The Headless Horseman

A Silent Witness

Magic Skin

Star Born

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