Welcome to the "BrailleNote Tour" Page

Are you a new user of BrailleNote? Are you a potential user, looking for features that BrailleNote have? Or simply do you want to know how a feature works or do you want to set some settings to your liking? This is a one stop center for finding what BrailleNote is and what features it offers.

What is BrailleNote?

BrailleNote is a personal digital assistant (PDA) for the blind and visually impaired people. It is produced by a company called HumanWare, who also produces other products such as Victor Reader family of talking book players.

BrailleNote has either a braille or computer style keyboard, a choice of either 18 or 32 cell braille display and responsive speech. It has connectors and sockets for state-of-the-art hardware, such as USB 2.0 ports, type II Compactflash slot and PC card slot, Bluetooth transceiver, an Infrared port and a slot for SD (Secure Digital) cards. It includes Intel XScale CPU running at 416 Megahertz with 64 MB of RAM (Random Access Memory where programs run) and 128 MB of Flash (where the user can store files). This configuration is called BrailleNote mPower.

A smaller cousin, called BrailleNote PK also exists (rebranding of German company Baum's Pronto notetaker). This small, purse-sized computer has an ARM processor, 40 MB of RAM, 16 MB of Flash, Bluetooth and USB connectivity. This unit also has a Compactflash slot.

An even older sibling, called Braillenote Classic exists. This is the same as BrailleNote mPower, except that it has MIPS processor at 100 Megahertz, 16 MB or RAM and 16 MB of Flash. This version has a serial port, parallel port, PC card slot and CompactFlash slot.

So what can BrailleNote can do? Despite its small size, BrailleNote has a lot of features, including:

• A word processor that can handle Microsoft Word documents; this easy-to-use notepad allows you to create, save, edit, format and print or emboss documents. To find out how it works and to learn basic commands to get you started, press ENTER on "Word Processor: Getting Started" link.
• A calendar program called Planner that allows you to schedule, modify and synchronize appointments with Microsoft Outlook. To find out more and to learn useful basic skills such as creating and setting up alarms, press ENTER on "Planner: A Basic Calendar" link.
• A contacts manager called Address List that allows you to add, store, retrieve and synchronize contacts with Microsoft Outlook. To find out how and to read about basic commands for Address List, press ENTER on "Meeting Address List for the First Time" link.
• An email program that can handle both non secure and SSL security POP3 email accounts. To learn more and to "meet" the commands used in Email program, press ENTER on "Email: Getting Connected to the Outside World" link.
• An Internet browser called Keyweb that allows you to browse the Internet and view HTML documents. To learn how to surf the web using a BrailleNote, press ENTER on "Navigating an Ocean called the Internet" link.
• A Media Center application that includes a media player that can handle many file formats, an amazingly simple recorder that allows you to play the last "memo" recorded anywhere (on mPower and PK only), and an FM Radio that allows you to listen to FM stations on the go (mPower only). To learn more about using these "entertainment" features, press ENTER on "Media Center: a Virtual DJ" link.
• A Book Reader that allows you to read text, braille and DAISY books (mPower and PK only) from RFB&D and Bookshare. To learn how, press ENTER on "A Portable Bookworm" link.
• A scientific calculator that handles everything from simple arithmetic to advanced statistical and trigonometric calculations. To learn how these "calculations" help in everyday situations, press ENTER on "Getting Smarter with Scientific Calculator" link.

And more.

Please note that some features are not present on BrailleNote PK nor on the Classic.

So, welcome aboard the BrailleNote Tour! I, the tour guide (also known as Joslee) will "guide" you through the basic things you can do with your BrailleNote.

(Reader's note: some articles in this section can also be found under "Support Hotline" section.)

Tuning the BrailleNote

Now you know what BrailleNote is, it's time to configure this portable system to your preference.

Have you wondered how you can set date and time, how to connect to the Internet or simply configure your printer so that it prints correctly? Then you are welcome to visit the first stop of the tour: "Tuning the BrailleNote" This "tourist attraction" will guide you through setting basic things (as they say, basics come first) such as date and time. So let's go through some of the settings you can configure:

• Setting date and time
• Connecting to the Internet

Using BrailleNote for the first time

Now that we've configured the BrailleNote to our preferences, let us go to our "next stop" - using BrailleNote for the first time. In this "tourist attraction," you'll learn basic things such as navigating menus, how to create a document and doing a basic calculation.

The BrailleNote's interface consists of a series of connected "menus." Just like menus in places like KFC or like a department store, BrailleNote's menus allows you to access many features of the notetaker using menu navigation and selecting an item - much like selecting an item for dinner.

The top menu on the BrailleNote is "Main Menu." Main Menu is like Desktop on a Windows computer (or Start Menu on a Pocket PC). This menu allows you to choose programs that you want to use, such as wordprocessor and calculator. To get to this menu, press SPACE with dots 1-2-3-4-5-6 (Menu key on QT units). BrailleNote says, "Main Menu."

Here are some useful commands for navigating menus like Main Menu:

• To move "down" through a menu, press SPACE or SPACE with dot 4 (DOWN ARROW on QT). If you have a braille display unit, press the third front key (called the thumb key; also known as Advance key) to move forward. On the PK, you can move the joystick (the circular thing with a stick in the middle) downward by moving the stick down. Also, on the PK, the equivalent to the third thumb key is the right middle key (called N5 or navigation key number 5). When you do this, BrailleNote says, "Word Processor." TIP: if you are at the bottom of the menu, BrailleNote "wraps" back to top of the menu.
• To move "up" through a menu, press BACKSPACE or SPACE with dot 1 (UP ARROW on QT). If you have a braille display unit, press the second front thumb key (also known as Back key) to move backward. On the PK, you can move the joystick upward by moving the stick upward. Also, on the PK, the equivalent to second thumb key is the left middle key (called N2 or navigation key number 2). When you do this, BrailleNote says, "Main Menu." TIP: if you were at the top of the menu, it either gives you a beep (if you are at the Main Menu), or exits the menu.
• When you see/hear the item you want to select, press ENTER key. If you have a braille display, press the fourth (most right) thumb key (called Next key) or press the touch cursor (the buttons above the braille display). On the PK, press the joystick "in" by pushing the stick inward. Also, on the PK, you can press the bottom right key by the display called N6 (Navigation key number 6). IMPORTANT: in some certain situations, when you press ENTER, you'll hear a beep; this means that you are at the bottom of the menu. Also, in certain situations, you can press ENTER to move to the first item of the menu (if you are at the top of the menu).
• To exit the current menu, press SPACE with E (ESC key on QT). If you have a braille display unit, press the first front thumb key called previous key. On the PK, press the bottom left key called N3 (Navigation key 3). Braillenote says, "exit" followed by the name of the previous menu (does not work with Main menu, since it is the top menu).
• To move to the top of the menu, press SPACE with dots 1-2-3 (Fn+Left Arrow/Home on QT). Braillenote says the name of the menu.
• To move to the end of the menu, press SPACE with dots 4-5-6 (Fn+Right Arrow/End on QT). BrailleNote usualy says, "end of menu." Under some situations, it says the last item of the menu.

These six commands are the basic foundation from which all other navigation commands are based. These commands are also used to navigate lists, such as document and folder list.

(more to come later)

Updated: February 6, 2008