[access-uk] Re: The Beyo & The I-pal

  • From: "tony sweeney" <deirton711@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:53:28 -0000

Hi Jackie, 

Didn't mean to provide you with the opportunity of a free ad!! (smile)

I have a flatbed scanner, K100 but I'm thinking more of those scanners which 
are "camera-mounted". 

Should you ever be selling such a product then surely do let me know. 

Thanks 

Tony
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jackie Cairns 
  To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 11:18 AM
  Subject: [access-uk] Re: The Beyo & The I-pal


  Hi Tony

  We don't sell the I-Pal, so you would be best to contact Humanware about its 
progress.

  We sell K-Reader for the phone which, as I have said, might not be your best 
option for book scanning.  But we can also offer SARA (Scan And Read 
Appliance), which is a table-top stand-alone device that would scan books very 
well.

  And, if you want to use a scanner on your PC, there are also K1000 or Open 
Book OCR packages.

  It's nice that there are now several options to choose from on the market.

  Please feel free to contact me off list if I can help with any of our 
products.

  Jackie Cairns
  Braille Specialist
  Email: jackie.cairns@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Sight and Sound Technology Ltd
  Welton House North Wing
  Summerhouse Road
  Moulton Park
  Northampton
  NN3 6WD
  Tel: 01604 798024
  Mob: 07887 883815
  www.sightandsound.co.uk
  -----Original Message-----
  From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
tony sweeney
  Sent: 21 December 2009 11:04
  To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: [access-uk] The Beyo & The I-pal

  Hi Jackie, 


  Thanks for that url and your thoughts of The Beyo. 

  I wonder what is the story now with The I-pal and it's associate readers? 

  I liked the Ipal when I had it demoed to me but was hoping that the voice 
would be improved in the near future
  and/or  that the price may drop or that a newer model come along! 

  I have heard or come across nothing of it in a while. 

  Wonder if you or anyone else can shed any light on the matter ffor us?----- 
Original Message ----- 
  From: Jackie Cairns <mailto:jackie.cairnsplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  
  To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 4:01 PM
  Subject: [access-uk] Re: [bcab] Re: trial of KNFB reader

  Hi Tony

  You could go to
  www.comproom.co.uk
  And download it with some documentation from there, but I honestly don't
  think this software is for reading books.  It is pretty good, but I don't
  think there is a true replacement for PC scanning with OCR software like
  K1000 or Open Book.  Beyo and K-Reader are good for finding out what your
  document is, and K-Reader certainly appends text and saves it for later
  retrieval.  But I'd never scan a book on either of them, and that's my
  honest opinion.


  Kind Regards,

  J


  Jackie Cairns
  jackie.cairnsplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  -----Original Message-----
  From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
  tony sweeney
  Sent: 20 December 2009 15:57
  To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: [access-uk] Re: [bcab] Re: trial of KNFB reader

  Hi Jackie, 

  I am still in the market for purchasing a suitable Reader! 

  Do you have an url for the Beyo? 

  Wonder how it manages with books? 

  Thanks 

  Tony

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jackie Cairns <mailto:jackie.cairnsplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  
  To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 10:51 AM
  Subject: [access-uk] Re: [bcab] Re: trial of KNFB reader

  Guys,

  I'm cross-posting this to both lists as people have discussed it on
  Access
  UK and BCAB.

  Tris was in the office on Friday, and had a copy of BeyoCBS on his
  N86, so
  let me have a play around with the software.  I must admit I was
  impressed
  for two reasons:

  Firstly, I loved the idea of the beeps that helped me to align the
  camera to
  the document I was wishing to scan.  It was really interesting how
  this
  worked, and then took a picture automatically once I got a
  continuous tone,
  I really did like that feature and wish K-Reader had it as part of
  its
  software.

  Secondly, I personally thought the text was quite accurate.  I
  didn't rate
  the voice that much, and there is a bit of interaction with Talks
  that needs
  sorting out.  But it was certainly much better than I had expected.

  So, given the short time I spent with it, what's my verdict?  Could
  be
  improved upon to take account of Talks being present, and use of a
  better
  synthesiser, but very good for 75 quid.  I still love K-Reader
  though, but
  Beyo is an alternative worth considering for anyone who finds
  K-Reader out
  of their price range.

  I can't comment on Textscout as I haven't seen it, and am not in
  favour of
  the server idea for the reasons people have outlined already.


  Kind Regards,

  J


  Jackie Cairns
  jackie.cairnsplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  -----Original Message-----
  From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
  On Behalf
  Of Ibrahim Gucukoglu
  Sent: 18 December 2009 08:59
  To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: [bcab] Re: trial of KNFB reader

  Hi Steve.

  Well, I think I'll be plonking for Beyo for the time being, I doubt
  I'll
  ever be able to afford KNFB or TextScout, especially as TextScout is
  going
  to be more expensive given the price in Euros roughly equates to
  £810.  How
  have you found beyo's interaction with talks?  You can scroll, copy
  and
  paste the text, but can you read the text using talks and a Braille
  display?
  Perhaps if you haven't tried it you should give it a go.

  All the best, Ibrahim.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Steve Nutt <mailto:steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  
  To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 8:50 AM
  Subject: [bcab] Re: trial of KNFB reader


  Hi Ibrahim,



  I have both here, and I can tell you that TS certainly does win for
  accuracy, though its real downside is if you don't have a signal,
  whether
  you have a data plan or not, it ain't going anywhere.  It does read
  more
  difficult print much better than KNFB though.  It also decolumnises
  better,
  for example when you read newspapers.  But the real biggie for me,
  is that
  it allows you to read text with Talks, if you set it to external
  screen
  reader.  It is not completely accessible with Talks, that is to say
  the
  menus etc are still spoken by the inbuilt TTS, but the actual text
  can be
  interrogated with Talks, which means we can get Braille output too.



  By the way, I do sell KNFB, but I am only speaking as a consumer
  here, not with my CRS hat on.  I don't sell TS yet, but am hoping to
  soon.
  This is also not an attempt to take anything away from KNFB, it was
  here
  first, as OCR packages go, and is still a great product.



  All the best



  Steve



  From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
  On Behalf Of Ibrahim Gucukoglu
  Sent: Tuesday 15 December 2009 13:29
  To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: [bcab] Re: trial of KNFB reader



  Hi.



  Well, I've personally never tried TextScout, but I understand that
  it has a higher recognition accuracy than the almighty KNFB reader
  not to
  mention a smaller memory and installation footprint.  OK, so the
  image is
  processed remotely, but I'll tell you now that if it were a choice
  between
  KNFB and TextScout, based on what I've heard and read, TS wins hands
  down
  not least because I have an unlimited data package with generally
  good
  mobile coverage.



  All the best, Ibrahim.

  ----- Original Message ----- 

  From: Graham Page <mailto:gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  

  To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

  Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 1:18 PM

  Subject: [bcab] Re: trial of KNFB reader



  interesting.  this seems absolute madness to me.  I don't
  want text scout because it is even more expensive than KNFB though I
  realise
  that scanned image is recognised remotely.  I just don't understand
  how
  companies can be so arrogant as to not even let people try their
  software
  before buying it when the buyer is expected to pay so much money for
  the
  product.  I was hoping to do some tests of KNFB reader alongside
  Beyo CBS
  and took it for granted that there would be a trial of KNFB reader
  but I was
  not looking in the right place.



  Regards



  Graham

  Graham Page
  Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
  Mobile: 07753 607980
  Fax:  0870 706 2773
  Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  MSN: gabriel_mcbird@xxxxxxxxxxx
  Skype: gabriel_mcbird

  ----- Original Message ----- 

  From: Ibrahim Gucukoglu <mailto:ibrahim_gucukoglu@xxxxxxxx>


  To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

  Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 1:04 PM

  Subject: [bcab] Re: trial of KNFB reader



  Hi Graham.



  No trial is available for KNF\B, though you might like to
  try TextScout which is an up and coming alternative.  You can get a
  trial
  from www.textscout.eu.



  All the best, Ibrahim.

  ----- Original Message ----- 

  From: Graham Page <mailto:gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>  

  To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

  Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 12:43 PM

  Subject: [bcab] trial of KNFB reader



  Hi all.



  I have been playing with Beyo cbs  reader and found
  it promissing though accuracy has not been great.  I thought it may
  be this
  could be to do with my technique of reading.



  Given the price difference I would expect Beyo CBS
  reader to be less accurate but I couldn't find a trial of KNFB
  reader.
  There must be one surely.  No one would spend the best part of £700
  without
  being able to try something first, surely.  It is not really
  economically
  that viable for resellers such as Sight & Sound to visit anyone who
  may just
  want a demo out of curiosity so is there a trial version available?



  Regards



  Graham

  Graham Page
  Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
  Mobile: 07753 607980
  Fax:  0870 706 2773
  Email: gpage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  MSN: gabriel_mcbird@xxxxxxxxxxx
  Skype: gabriel_mcbird



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