Free Bookshare App For Android

Bookshare recently released Go Read for Android devices. Go Read is the Android version of Bookshare's app for iOS call Read2Go.  The app is free and compatible with a number of Android 2.2 or higher phones and tablets. Features include direct access to Bookshare's library of accessible books, text-to-speech with synced sentence by sentence highlighting and the ability to read ePub books. To learn more about how to become a Bookshare member click here. To download Go Read click here. Click read more below to view screen shoots of Go Read in action.

Painteresque~ BracketMode~ProHDR~The iPhone shoots Ladew Gardens in the rain..

All images here were captured in BracketMode, Processed with ProHDR, Painteresque, and Blended in ImageBlender, framed with Crop'n'Frame.

Last week I scouted Ladew Gardens as a possible alternative to Sherwood Gardens for my "Big Camera" workshop as the weather had been very warm and I was worried that the Tulips might be spoiled. When I arrived at Ladew it was in the late afternoon and it was gently raining.
I grabbed my umbrella, iPhone, rain jacket and put on my waterproof hike boots. Nothing better than a walk in a beautiful garden on a rainy day for saturated colors.

As it turned out there were not enough accessible tulips to move my shoot to Ladew, but I did make a few iPhone pictures while I was there.

 Ladew does not open most days until 10:00am and on weekends until 10:30am...so it does not lend itself to a "big camera" shoot and would only be good with the iPhone on a cloudy day, too tough to predict and schedule a workshop..but it is always nice to visit!

I have a great iPhone Photography workshop scheduled for Saturday, May 5, in Washington, DC.
Click here to Register
I also have an all day workshop for Sunday, May 6 in Washington, DC.
Click here to Register.
Hope you can join me there!

Tracy, the developer of Crop'n'Frame has added a great feature for saving your favorite style of frames so you can easily access it when you want. The "i" icon once the app is open, will then open a list of instructions for use and for adding your favorite frame design to the preset menu. Its a great new option!

Snap&Read by Don Johnston

Don Johnston recently introduced a new product named Snap&Read. Don Johnston describes Snap&Read as follows,

"The simple one on-button toolbar that reads any text on-screen as it floats over any application."

 To use Snap&Read just press the selection button and drag to select the text you want to be read aloud with high quality text-to-speech. Snap&Read can read text in Flash, PDF and images files along with plain text. You can purchases Snap&Read on a USB flash drive and use the program on any computer. Snap&Read works the same on Macs and PCs. To watch a video about Snap&Read click here. To learn more about Snap&Read and its features click here. 

Print From an iOS Device to Any Printer with the xPrintServer

iPads, iPhones and iPod Touch are great for many tasks. One downside is that it is difficult to print documents, pictures, spreadsheets, emails and notes. One solution is the xPrintServer from Lantonix. The xPrintServer allows you to print to up to ten network printers. Just plug in the xPrintServer and you are ready to go. It allows you to print directly from apps to non-AirPrint compatible printers. The xPrintServer is perfect for schools and bussnisses that need to print from iPads or iPhones. The xPrintServer cost $149.99. Click here to learn more.

Catching up

This shot is from my Annapolis Maryland workshop, Processed with Snapseed, Painteresque, Image Blender, Crop'n'Frame

 Wow its been almost a month since I posted on my iPhone blog...Spring workshops kicked into high gear and I have been very busy working with my new DSLR so I have been a little negligent in posting here, but I have been making iPhone images. Here's a few from various shoots. My next iPhone photography street shooting workshop will be May 5 in Washington DC, and May 6th in Washington DC will be my next one day classroom workshop on using the iPhone as a camera and processing tool all in one. Hope you can join me there!

This image was made during a break in my One Day iPhone Class at Chesapeake Systems. Processed with Painteresque, Snapseed, Noir, Image Blender

This image is a 16 shot HDR made in the DAR building in Washington one of the sites we will visit on my May 5th workshop. Stitched it together with Autostitch. Shot with Bracket Mode, Filtered in Painteresque and Image Blender

 

 

Image captured with BarcketMode, processed with ProHDR, AutoPainter, Image Blender, Painteresque, Perfect Photo

Smart eBook Interface Makes Navigation a Breeze

A new concept eBook reader app improves navigation of eBooks on tablets. The app makes eBook navigation more like the navigation of a printed book. This concept is best for sighted users and may not work as well for  the blind and people with physical disabilities. The concept app allows the user to flip  through multiple pages quickly, find pages more quickly and more. Currently this is only a concept but may soon be coming to the App Store. While iBooks has an easy to use interface, this new concept seems to take it a step further. Click here to learn more about Smart E-Book Interface. Click "read more below" to see more images of the app in action.

   

Google Self-Driving Car For the Blind

Google has been developing a self-driving car for a two years. Over the two years of testing the cars they have logged over 200,000 miles. The car has numerous sensors and an on board computer that can drive the car to a destination with out human intervention. In the above video the Google Self-Driving Car drives a legally blind man around town. Click here to watch the audio described version. The car can recognize stop signs, red lights, hazards and pretty much anything else. If the car makes a mistake the driver can hit the break or turn the wheel to control the car. In many states self-driving cars are not street legal. The Google Self-Driving Car is not available for purchase but offers a look into the future. Click read more below to learn more about the self-driving car.

Custom Label iOS Buttons to Work Better With VoiceOver

If an app has buttons that are not labeled well for use with VoiceOver, you can easily edit them to work better. If you are not familiar with VoiceOver click here. For example if an app has a button that is not labeled VoiceOver will just say "button" when you select it. If you custom label the button you can make VoiceOver describe the action that the button preforms. This makes it possible for people using VoiceOver to know what button they have selected. To change the label of a button simply select the button with the VoiceOver curser and double tap and hold with two fingers. This tip will work with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.This will bring up a box where you can then enter in a name for the button. Watch the video above for more information.

Learning Ally Audio App Updated But Still Missing Key Features

Today, the Learning Ally Audio app was updated to version 2.0.4. The Learning Ally Audio app costs $19.99 from the App Store. You must be a Learning Ally (formally RFB&D) member to use the app. The app allows members to listen to audio books downloaded from Learning Ally on the go. The update adds the ability to download books over the web without having to connect and sync with iTunes. It also has minor user interface improvements.

On the downside the app does not allow users to listen to their audio books in the background. In other words, you cannot listen to your books while you view the printed text in another application. This feature is very important for sighted users who want to read the printed text of an iBook with the audio support. You also can't check your email, browse the web or anything do anything else. Once you close the app, play back stops. iOS has had the ability to play background audio for over a year, but Learning Ally has yet to adopt the feature. 

If you are a Learning Ally member the Learning Ally Audio app is a great buy. If your not a member you cannot use this app. Read2Go, Bookshare's iOS app, is a more polished app. Click here and here to learn more about Learning Ally.