GW Micro is pleased to announce the current development plans for Window-Eyes 7.1 include full support for 64-bit versions of Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 operating systems.

The computer industry adoption of 64-bit CPUs has been swift, and we're working hard to make sure those customers who need access to 64-bit operating systems will not be excluded.

The Window-Eyes development process is moving ahead rapidly. We expect to provide a release date and additional feature information for Window-Eyes 7.1 in the near future.

In addition to 64-bit support for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, Window-Eyes 7.1 will continue to support the 32-bit versions of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows Server. The 32-bit version of Window-Eyes 7.1 will be a FREE download for all Window-Eyes 7.X customers. The 64-bit version of Window-Eyes 7.1 will be available on CD only for a minimal charge for all Window-Eyes 7.X customers (a CD is required for the 64-bit version due to new installation procedures required for 64-bit operating systems).

More info on the GWMicro site.

Freedom Scientific have released the 10th version of their popular screen reading software JAWS for vision impaired computer users. Some of the new features include AutoForms Mode, JAWS Tandem, and RealSpeak™ Direct Solo.

JAWS Tandem provides an accessible remote assistance option for anyone with access to the Internet - including dial up.

The RealSpeak Solo Direct Synthesizer is another new feature in JAWS 10. RealSpeak Solo is much more responsive than the SAPI 5 option in JAWS 8 and 9.

To make learning JAWS even easier, free DAISY training material for JAWS and MAGic is now offered via the Check for Updates feature. JAWS 10 now includes 17 DAISY titles which can all be read using the free software DAISY player (FSReader Demo) installed with all versions of JAWS and MAGic.

Contact Tasmanian Living Technology for further information on 03 63 317400.

We've just returned from Europe where we attended the Rehacare Expo in Dusseldorf. Some of the highlights were the VITre learning disability products from Danish company Scandis and the new HD magnifiers from German company Reha-Technik.

We also visited Software-Express in Durham in Northern England to discuss the future Australian releases of Guide. One of the new features will be DAISY playback which should allow integration with the Vision Australia iAccess player.

Ben Scott-Robinson's Blind Phone was last night named MEX Mobile User
Experience Innovation of the Year. Beating stiff competition, the Ben
Scott-Robinson design recognised the lack of an affordable handset available
to 12 million people who are blind or of limited sight in Europe, and
created a fully realised concept that would dramatically improve the mobile
experience for the consumer. Read more about the BSR Phone on the BSR Blind Phone Blog.

Samsung continues to be one of the few mainstream companies that put real effort into developing new and exciting accessible ideas such as the braille messenger phone and braille markings on remote controls as standard. Their latest concept is a tactile camera. When taking a picture the file is tagged with a three second audio file for identification purposes and the picture is display as a tactile image. More information is found on Yankodesign.