Bones launches Milestone 312, the Next Generation Audio Engine for Blind People

Bones is proud to announce the release of Milestone 312, an enhanced version of the successful Milestone 311. Milestone 312 offers the unparalleled benefits of portability, usability and reliability that the Visually Impaired relies on. Milestone 312 has a multitude of new functions, including variable playbackspeed, Text-To-Speech, Audible.com playback, Daisy 3.0, integrated RFID reader, integrated FM tuner and direct connection of stereo microphones. The hardware includes 1GB internalFlash memory, USB 2.0 OTG High Speed connectivity, a clock and the proven strong, crystal clear speaker. What has not changed is the ease of operation: Milestone 312 comes in the well known case of its predecessor, at the size of a credit card with 5 front buttons. A worldwide novelty, however, is the degree Milestone 312 can be configured. Everything is possible between being fully fledged, packed with functions and being reduced to one simple function. Customers pay only for those functions they want to enable. This ensures the individual user won't get lost in a sea of options.

"While Milestone 312 combines a very rich set of possibilities, it reflects the diversity of the Visually Impaired, since people only pay for what they intend to use", says Stephan Knecht, Managing Director of Bones, Inc., "Milestone 312 combines the best of profound knowledge about customer requirements, skilled engineering and production. Milestone products are manufactured in Switzerland and each unit undergoes rigid quality checks".

See Milestone 312 in action at the SightCity trade fair in Frankfurt, between 7th and 9th May 2008. Mass production is currently being ramped up. Be prepared to get your Milestone 312 as of July 2008.

Main applications include:

• Universal Audio Playback and Recording: No hassle with file formats anymore. Milestone 312 plays back Daisy 2.02, Daisy 3.0, MP3, AAC, WAV, OGG, WMA and Audible.com. Recording is possible in MP3 or WAV, either to an SD memory card or to the internal Flash memory. Playback in variable speed is possible in any of the mentioned formats.
• Universal Text Playback: Milestone 312 reads TXT, DOC and HTML files, in 19 available languages. 5 of them can be stored simultaneously inside the internal memory. The TTS Engine is from Acapela.
• Integrated FM tuner.
• Integrated RFID Speakout functionality to identify tags and associate messages with them. Milestone 312 works with the proven technology from Texas Instruments, a global leader for RFID solutions.
• The integrated clock allows time stamping of messages as well as alarm functions. For instance, time controlled recording from FM tuner is possible.
• Optionally, Milestone 312 is available with Bones PAVIP technology: The solution to interact with Public Transportation vehicles.

Available Options

• As of autumn 2008, there will be hardware options, so called Add-Ons, available. An Add-On can be put on top of Milestone 312. The first two Add-Ons will be a Color Detector and a High-End Stereo Microphone.
• Also of autumn 2008, an agenda will be available as software option.

About Bones

Bones Inc. is a Swiss company that designs and manufactures innovative technology for people who are visually impaired. Founded in 2003, Bones Inc. exports about 90% of its products to more than 20 countries worldwide.

More information at www.bones.ch

Technological progress has not stopped bias in workplace, blind people find

Technology and training have improved to the point that blind people can adeptly perform a dazzling array of jobs - soon to include the governorship of New York. The biggest obstacle still in their way, advocates say, is the negative attitude of many employers. The most recent available statistics suggest that only about 30 per cent of working-age blind people have jobs. That figure was calculated more than 10 years ago, but the major groups lobbying on behalf of blind Americans believe it remains accurate despite numerous technological advances.

"Most people don't know a blind person, so they assume that blind people are not capable of doing most jobs when in fact that's not true," said Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind.

Exhibit A, for the moment, is David Paterson, the legally blind lieutenant governor of New York from Harlem who was sworn in and replaced scandal-tarnished Eliot Spitzer.

However, blind people hold all sorts of jobs these days - judge, fitness trainer, TV show host, registered nurse, lawyer and so on.

"Unfortunately we're still living in an age of misperceptions of what blind people can do," said Carl Augusto, president of the American Foundation for the Blind. "We're hoping that an employer considering hiring a blind person will say that if David Paterson can be governor and be legally blind, maybe this applicant who is blind can be a good computer programmer."

There are an estimated 10 million visually impaired people in the United States, including about 1.3 million who are legally blind, according to Augusto's foundation. The foundation says legal blindness is generally described as visual acuity of 20-200 or less in the better eye, with a corrective lens. Paterson has enough sight in his right eye to walk unaided, recognize people at conversational distance and read if the text is close to his face.

In theory, those people are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which among its many provisions requires employers to give fair consideration and treatment to visually impaired employees and job applicants. But Augusto said employers routinely turn down blind applicants without incurring legal sanction.

"The ADA is a wonderful law, but many employers find a way not to seriously consider blind people," he said. "They look at themselves and then say, 'I can't imagine how a blind person can be a computer programmer. They can't possibly do it.' "

Advocacy groups work persistently to change such attitudes, with employer education programs and public appearances by successful blind people to discuss their capabilities. One component of such campaigns is to raise awareness of the ever-evolving technology that helps blind people handle more types of jobs - including software that reads aloud information on a computer screen and scanners that can covert printed material into Braille or an accessible electronic format.

"The assisted technology has made the playing field as level as it's ever been for blind people," said Kirk Adams, president of Seattle's Lighthouse for the Blind, a non-profit agency that provides job help. "There are fewer and fewer jobs a blind person can't do."

Source: The Sault Star Ontario

New DinoView Portable Round-the-Neck Electronic Magnifier Introduced in the United States by Independent Living Aids, Inc.

Pocket or Round-the-Neck Electronic Magnifier Allows Visually Impaired to Enlarge Print from 5X to 20X on Menus, Cans, Prescriptions, Newspapers etc. Portable electronic magnifiers have been available for several years, but this is the smallest, lightest, and most flexible one on the market Independent Living Aids, Inc. announced that it has become the distributor in the United States of the DinoView Portable Personal CCTV Magnifier. The DinoView offers zoom magnification from 5X to 20X on its small 1.8 inch, full-color TFT screen. It is so small and lightweight that vision impaired users can carry it in their pockets, purses or wear it around their necks. The magnified image can be visualized in full color, black and white or inverse. Its dual view setting allows the user to compare normal views with magnified images to maintain a sense of scale. Images can be captured in the camera mode and uploaded to a PC. Thus, a product label or address can be photographed for a quick and easy reminder or to store as a permanent record.

With its unique small size and magnification range, the DinoView is ideal for active visually impaired individuals who need a magnifier that is readily available to enlarge text, images, graphs, formulas or any viewing material they encounter in their social, academic or business lives.

"Portable electronic magnifiers have been available for several years, but this is the smallest, lightest, and most flexible one on the market," says Marvin Sandler, President of Independent Living Aids, Inc. "Struggling to read menus, over-the-counter medication labels, and ingredients on cans of food can be a thing of the past when a person uses the DinoView."

The DinoView is available directly from Independent Living Aids or by calling 800-537-2118. The package includes the DinoView, 3 AAA rechargeable batteries and charger, neck strap, and software and cable for connecting to a PC.