[gui-talk] Fwd: Freedom Scientific Reduces PAC Mate Price - and Releases FREE 6.5Update

Mon Oct 4 15:33:02 UTC 2010

Mike!  I agree, but technology embodies all kinds of  users.  I have friends who are so dedicated to their note taker of choice, that the only way you will get it away from them is to pry it out of their cold dead fingers. Many people just want something they can start using with a minimum of muss and fuss. Speech and Braille access are in one convenient package, and battery life usually greatly exceeds that offered by a netbook or laptop.  All of the software is usually preinstalled, and is guaranteed to be accessible. There is a minimum of tinkering, and the only time that you have to change anything is when you have to update the firmware, and this process is usually made easy. These products do have a niche market, and I don't think they will be going away any time soon.

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike Arrigo
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2010 7:14 PM
To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
Cc: CUG Members; Access L
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Fwd: Freedom Scientific Reduces PAC Mate Price - andReleases FREE 6.5Update

This is just my opinion of course, but I think the days of these note takers are numbered. Why pay this much for an accessible device when you can purchase laptops and or net books for much less. And a laptop or net book does much more. I honestly cannot think of any advantage one of these note takers provide now a days. Even the battery life on some laptops is about as long as a note taker. In my macbook for instance, if I turn off the screen, I get about 14 hours per charge.
On Oct 1, 2010, at 6:02 AM, Steve Pattison wrote:

> From:  Susan Thompson susan at sthompson.net
> To:      VIP-L vip-l at freelists.org
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> 
> To: Acb List
> 
> Even though this is US pricing, I thought it worth people knowing.
> 
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> 
> Media Contact: Brad Davis
> 800-444-4443 or 727-803-8000
> www.FreedomScientific.com
> Sales: info at FreedomScientific.com
> 
> The World's Most Powerful Notetaker Just Got More Affordable
> 
> Freedom Scientific Reduces PAC Mate Price and Releases FREE 6.5 Update
> 
> (St.  Petersburg, Florida ?September 30, 2010) ?Freedom Scientific 
> today announced a $900 price reduction on its PAC Mate Omni accessible 
> Pocket PCs while releasing a FREE firmware update for existing users.
> 
> The new prices are:
> 
> PAC Mate Omni Speech Only ?$1,495 reduced from $2,395
> 
> PAC Mate Omni with 20 cells of Braille ?$2,895 reduced from
> $3,795
> 
> PAC Mate Omni with 40 cells of Braille ?$4,695 reduced from
> $5,595
> 
> Already an industry leader in accessible mobile functionality for the 
> blind, the PAC Mate Omni is now the clear leader in affordability, 
> offering 40 cells of Braille for about 25 percent less than what 
> competitors charge for a notetaker with just 32 cells.
> 
> “While other manufacturers are raising prices, Freedom Scientific is 
> making assistive technology more widely available by passing savings 
> in our manufacturing processes onto our customers,?says Jonathan 
> Mosen, Freedom Scientific’s Vice President of Blindness Hardware Product Management.
> 
> “This is our third major price reduction this year.  We reduced our 
> Focus 40 Blue Braille Displays by 38 percent in March, and we lowered 
> the price of our MAGic Screen Magnification Software by $100 in June.?
> 
> This price reduction coincides with the posting of the 6.5 release for 
> English language users that expands the PAC Mate Omni’s capabilities 
> with an array of new features:
> 
> RealSpeak Voices
> Since Freedom Scientific introduced the RealSpeak voices in JAW, 
> MAGic, and OpenBook, many customers have enjoyed the more natural 
> sound, particularly for reading lengthy texts.  Many have asked for 
> these voices with the PAC Mate Omni.  With Release 6.5, you can easily 
> switch between Eloquence and RealSpeak synthesized speech with a 
> simple command from anywhere on the PAC Mate Omni.
> 
> RealSpeak is available in many languages, further heightening the PAC 
> Mate Omni’s appeal among those who work with multiple languages.
> 
> Expanded settings dialogs in the PAC Mate Omni 6.5 provide thorough, 
> independent control over primary and secondary voices and Braille languages.
> 
> Unified Instant Messaging with Mundu?IM The PAC Mate Omni continues to 
> offer free Windows Live Messenger support out of the box.  With the 
> 6.5 release, we’ve added support for Mundu IM, a unified instant 
> messaging solution supporting a number of services including MSN, 
> Yahoo, ICQ,  AIM, Google, and Jabber.  Chat with your buddies in real 
> time, no matter what the service.  The PAC Mate Omni with Mundu IM 
> gives the deaf blind access to the many relay services that interface 
> with AOL, and instant messaging is available in contracted Braille, 
> letting messages fly back and forth even faster.  Mundu IM is 
> available for purchase separately.
> 
> Built-in FSReader DAISY Player
> Freedom Scientific's FSReader software opens a world of accessible 
> reading material for the visually impaired.  Used with Digital 
> Accessible Information System (DAISY)-formatted talking books, 
> FSReader delivers a host of powerful navigation tools for
> reading:
> 
> Go directly to a specific chapter, heading, or page Set an unlimited 
> number of annotated bookmarks Speed up or slow down speech whether 
> listening to a recorded narrator or synthesized speech Download or 
> purchase on CD DAISY 2.0 and DAISY 3.0 e-books (the ANSI/NISO 
> standard) like those available from www.Bookshare.org, and browse, 
> read, and study.  Play AudioPlus books from Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D).
> 
> There are numerous other enhancements and performance improvements in 
> the PAC Mate 6.5.  Coupled with the powerful Microsoft Office support, 
> e-mail options, and other applications already in the PAC Mate, the 
> 6.5 release continues to broaden the range of tasks one can accomplish 
> on the go with this multi-faceted device.
> 
> Release 6.5 is available as a free download from the Freedom 
> Scientific Web site at
> http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/pacmate/pacmate-omni65
> -update-dl.asp.
> 
> To learn more about accessing the many capabilities of the PAC Mate 
> Omni, register for our free Webinar on October 5, 2010 ast 
> http://www.freedomscientific.com/Training/e-LearningEntrance.asp.
> Or check out the DAISY books at the PAC Mate training downloads page 
> at http://www.freedomscientific.com/Training/PACMate-training-hq.asp
> 
> Regards Steve
> Email:  srp at internode.on.net
> MSN Messenger:  internetuser383 at hotmail.com
> Skype:  steve1963
> Twitter:  steve9782
> 
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