MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - jetBook based on Talking Electronic Dictionary

Fledchen · 12-28-2008, 06:27 PM

There are already a few text-to-speech ebook devices on the market specifically designed for the blind or visually impaired--the APH BookPort (discontinued by the manufacturer, but there are still a lot of new units available from vendors), the BookCourier (similar to the BookPort but designed more for dyslexic/learning disabled rather than blind users), and the VictorReader Stream. They're all designed specifically to be easy to use nonvisually, and the BookPort allows text entry and editing by using a few of the buttons as a chorded braille keyboard.

I've had a VictorReader Stream for just a hair over a year and I use it daily for listening to the news, but simply don't have the patience to listen to entire books using text-to-speech. I mostly use it for audiobooks (it supports the DRM that the library service for the blind uses) and podcasts.

All three units cost between $300 and $400 in U.S. dollars.

12-28-2008, 06:27 PM	#14
Fledchen Guru Posts: 663 Karma: 84658 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Minnesota, USA Device: PB360+, Sony950, VR Stream, iPod Touch, iPad	There are already a few text-to-speech ebook devices on the market specifically designed for the blind or visually impaired--the APH BookPort (discontinued by the manufacturer, but there are still a lot of new units available from vendors), the BookCourier (similar to the BookPort but designed more for dyslexic/learning disabled rather than blind users), and the VictorReader Stream. They're all designed specifically to be easy to use nonvisually, and the BookPort allows text entry and editing by using a few of the buttons as a chorded braille keyboard. I've had a VictorReader Stream for just a hair over a year and I use it daily for listening to the news, but simply don't have the patience to listen to entire books using text-to-speech. I mostly use it for audiobooks (it supports the DRM that the library service for the blind uses) and podcasts. All three units cost between $300 and $400 in U.S. dollars.