ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

It was really great being able to share the work that I am doing with undergraduate students who are majoring in Education at the College of St. Elizabeth. Today was their annual educational association conference and I had a chance to share the work I am doing using iPads in the classroom. I had a chance to demonstrate a number of new and innovative technologies that in some way all connect to the iPad. The students got a real kick out of the demonstration I did with the iPevo Wireless Station and the iPevo Ziggi HD document camera. I placed three quarters under IPevo Ziggi HD camera and then handed three groups of students an iPad with the iPevo Whiteboard app installed  Once the students logged into the iPevo Wireless network they were all able to see the three quarters and annotate on top of the image. I shared with the group how this strategy and approach could be used as students set off to solve real world problems having access to high quality video feeds. In my presentation, I next demonstrated the Mighty Scope Connect, a handheld wireless digital microscope from Aven, Inc. The Mighty Scope Connect, is an impressive microscope that easily creates an adhoc wireless network with your iPad and utilizing their Wi-Viewer app it wirelessly sends the image to the iPad. The quality of the image under the microscope was really crisp and clear and the future teachers could think of some interesting ways to utilize this tool in the classroom. Just like the iPevo solution, students could log into the Mighty Scope Connect network and view the image in stunning detail on their iPads using the supplied app.  I plan on doing a more in-depth review of theMighty Scope Connect in another blog post. As part of my presentation I also demonstrated probeware from Pasco and how it could be utilized with the iPad using a Bluetooth connection. Using the PasPort Airlink 2 connected to a Temperature, Sound Level, & Light probe, I was able to demonstrate how the device could capture the light level in the room in real time and display it on the iPad. It was enjoyable day and the students were very excited to learn about all of the innovative technologies that are out there and find their way to the classroom.

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

I ended the weekend at a soiree that my daughter was singing at which was a fund raiser for a local New York City Ballet Company and as luck would have it there was a Silent Auction included in the night's activities. As I scoped out the items, my eyes caught a shiny box with a Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker that I had read about in the tech blogs. The Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker have a retail value of $199 dollars and when the auction opened it started at $125 dollars which was a steal at that price. While I paid a little more for the Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speakers when the auction closed- they are well worth it when I'm listening to my music from my iPohne 4S. The Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker includes some really interesting speech technology which lets you know when the speaker is in pairing mode. Pairing the Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker with my iPhone was a cinch and the sound is really awesome. The speaker is extremely loud but the driving bass really sounds great listening to the Allman Brothers. The Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker comes with everything you need to use the system including a power adapter to charge the lithium battery, USB charging cable, mini- RCA jack and a carrying case. You can use the Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker with any device that has Bluetooth or if you want you can use it as an external speaker with the included RCA jack by plugging it into any audio output. As I sit here writing this blog I'm relishing in the sound of my iPhone and the Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speakers.

Always in search of the more perfect gadget, this past week I received my Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 from Amazon and had a chance to use it with both my PC and iPad. The Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 is a very aesthetically pleasing sculpted charcoal black speaker with a built in stand in the rear. The Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 can be used with any Mac/PC as well as with the iPad.

To start using the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515,  first I had to charge the built-in battery for approximately 6 hours. Once that was done I tried it with my iPad. Pairing the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 with my iPad was really a piece of cake- all you need to do is hold down the two Volume control buttons and then turn on the Bluetooth on your iPad. Within seconds the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 showed up on the iPad and I was ready to go. I then opened up iTunes and played one of my favorite Allman Brothers songs Hot 'Lanta and wow the sound was great. It is hard to believe how these speakers can put out so much sound. I also tried them with Write Outloud and the sound was impressive. Way to go Logitech! These speakers are a keeper! To pair the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 with a computer you simply plug in the USB Wireless USB dongle and turn on the speakers and they you are ready to go- it really is that easy and the sound is awesome. I purchased these speakers through Amazon for around $75 dollars. The Wireless USB dongle stores conveniently in the back of the speaker and the Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 does come with a carrying case to hold the speaker and power supply that is needed to charge the internal battery. I do wish Logitech would have included a power supply that allowed you to collapse the prongs- that is my only complaint. If you travel or if you are in the classroom and need some great speakers to use for your computer or iPad then this is the way to go.

As much as I enjoy my iPad it does get a little heavy when you are holding it too long. Inevitably you will need to prop it up and what better way to do that, than with the iPad Recliner from LapWorks. The iPad Recliner is in a silver and black design to compliment your iPad. I have used other LapWorks products over the years and have come to like their functionality, design and construction. This is the case for the iPad Recliner, which lets you place your iPad on an incline in any number of positions and angles very quickly. The iPad Recliner can hold your iPad in the Portrait or Landscape mode and has a cushioned rest area to insure that your iPad does not move on the iPad Recliner. I found the iPad Recliner very easy to adjust, with just one screw - it is easy to change the angle of the incline when viewing your iPad.

While I have gotten used to using the virtual on-screen keyboard, when I know I will be doing a lot of typing I will take out my iPad Recliner and place my iPad in the landscape mode and use my Bluetooth keyboard to type. This provides meet with the perfect working setup that lets me comfortably view my iPad as I am typing on the keyboard. The iPad Recliner also makes for a great ebook reader when you want to have your hands free of holding the device. In any case, whether you are surfing the web, typing or reading an ebook the iPad Recliner is a perfect companion for your iPad. The iPad Recliner is the perfect companion for your iPad and I for one keep it on my desk to access when using my iPad. So check out the iPad Recliner!

The number of new Bluetooth devices that roll out each and every week is astonishing. If you want to keep you can go to the official Bluetooth Site and check out all of the new products. Since doing the iPevo Point 2 View Webcam review, iPevo was kind enough to send me the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers to review, which takes advantage of Bluetooth, to stream the audio from your iPhone, IPod Touch, BlackeBerry or your PC to their speakers. I have to tell you when Bluetooth was first introduced I was not a real fan. I'm sure many of you spent countless hours as I did trying to pair up your Bluetooth devices. But Bluetooth has come a long way in the past couple of years with vast improvements in speed and pairing your device.

With this in mind, I set off to take a look at the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers which when paired with your audio device lets you transmit audio to the speakers without the need for a physical connection. The iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers has a unique design and lives up to its name-you see the two individual speakers when stored are in the shape of a tube. The iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers design works well and makes it easy to store the hidden USB cable and Mini RCA jack to connect the two halves of the speakers together. The built-in rubber spools on each speaker makes it easy to store the cables.The iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers ships with a built in rechargeable battery which should give you 6 - 8 hours of listening pleasure. When it is time to recharge the battery you simply plug in the USB cable into your computer and charge it up. Each of the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers output up to 3 watts of sound which should be enough to fill a small room with your music.
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As recommended I initially charged the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers for about 2 hours to charge the battery. The indicators on the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers will let you know when the speakers are fully charged.Once charged I took out my BlackBerry Curve and started the pairing process to the speakers. The steps to do the pairing were prominently printed in the speakers and withing 30 seconds I was up and running. Pairing the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers with my BlackBerry was a cinch! Now the moment of truth! I opened my media player on my BlackBerry Curve and started to play a song and lo and behold the music was directed to the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers. The volume controls on the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers worked well and the sound quality was very good.

My next attempt to use the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers was with my MacBook. Once again I went through the pairing process very quickly and then went to my Sound Preferences and selected th iPevo speakers as my sound output. I fired up iTunes and had the music streamed to the iPevo Tubular Wireless Speakers. It truly was a very easy process and one that gives you the flexibility to play your music with just about any music device. Based on my experience I would say that you can successfully stream your audio from about 20 feet from the sound source. I was thinking that this would be a great device to use with the iPod Touch in the classroom especially for students that might be using Proloquo2go.com. Imagine a student sitting at their desk with the iPevo Wireless Speakers using their portable augmentative communication device and not having the burden to be physically connected to speakers. Let me know what you think.