Episode 150: Is Apple Deliberately Excluding Us from Software Development & The Amazon Halo, Exciting or Terrifying?

09/03/20 • 58 min

Double Tap Canada is back, and the discussion is as heated as ever as the DTC team take a look at this week’s tech news.
There has been a lot of debate recently following the release of the first public beta of Apple Watch OS. Apple released the build without VoiceOver support and although they did make it clear in the release notes that this was the case, it did mean that VoiceOver users could not take part in this stage of the beta program. This resulted in the creation of a petition by Jonathan Mosen asking that Apple never again release a public beta without VoiceOver support. However, others in the visually impaired community disagreed, stating that missing features etc. was just a part of software development and to be expected. We’ll be talking to Jonathan Mosen to hear just why he thought a petition was necessary.

Next, will be taking a look at the new Amazon Halo. This fitness / health tracker not only monitors your heart rate, activity, and sleep, but also promises to provide very accurate body composition data.
One feature that may prove a little more controversial is the social interaction analysis. Using a microphone built into the wrist band, the Halo will monitor how you talk to others throughout the day and then tell you how well you interact socially. Is this a great way for self-improvement or yet another invasion of privacy?

Previous Episode

Episode 149: Aira Announcement Reactions, TalkBack To Add More Gestures & Tartan Face Masks

Just when you thought you had heard everything there was to say about face masks, Double Tap Canada is here and Steven has found one to get excited about. No, not his tartan face mask, but a mask with built in bone conduction audio...

Moving quickly on, we are joined this week by JJ Meddaugh from Blind Bargains to discuss the recent announcement from Aira that they have now put in place limits to their previously unlimited free 5 minute call offer. Was this inevitable and always a short-term deal or has the offer been abused by users? We’ll be discussing the topic and also hearing some opinions from the community.

Next up we’ll be looking at what’s coming up in the next version of Android. One of the most interesting points, from an accessibility aspect, is that the Android screen reader TalkBack is to get more gestures in the form of multi-finger taps etc. Good news for screen reader users, but are braille display users still being left behind when it comes to Android?

Finally, it’s on to virtual conferences. JJ was impressed with the NFB conference and wonders just what we can expect from CSUN. Also we’ll hear from listener Tiffany who seems less excited then Steven over the inclusion of QWERTY keyboards into braille displays like the Mantis Q40.

Next Episode

Episode 151: Double Tap Goes Live

What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite literally anything so why not take a listen to the all-new Double Tap Canada, now totally live and uncut...
Marc Aflalo joins Steven Scott & Shaun Preece to dive into this week’s tech news. But first, prepare yourselves for a tragic tale consisting of Steven bending over backwards, a dog’s water bowl and soggy air-pods.
It’s then on to happier news with Apple officially announcing September 15th as the date of their fall event. With rumors of new iPads, Air Tags, Apple Watch Series 6 and SE and possibly even a new Apple Silicon powered MacBook Air there’s plenty to look forward to... But could the star of the show, the iPhone 12 range be absent from the line-up?
Also in Apple news, Google has announced that Google Maps will be making a return to the Apple Watch. Google removed their popular map app way back in 2017, so with a 3-year hiatus why is Shaun less than impressed with its return?
Finally, it’s on to listener feedback. We’ve had some great response to the recent announcement from Aira regarding the scaling back of their 5 minutes free call offer. Despite people being obviously disappointed to lose such a great deal, it seems most people understand that it simply wasn’t sustainable indefinitely. We’ll be listening to some of your voicemails.
If you would like to get in touch with us you can email : [email protected] or why not give us a call on 1844 971 1999