What kid wants a medical-looking wheelchair? Well, now UK kids have another option: an attractively designed junior jalopy that goes anywhere, and even has a trailer hitch!
All-terrain Whizzybug enables mobility for handicapped UK kids - Engadget
Well, they had a good run. But it’s unfortunate that both major wireless carriers have ceased selling the Migo and Firefly, two phones with reduced keypads and functionality. They were designed for kids, but served well for people with impaired dexterity and/or cognitive disabilities. We talk a lot about universal design and how products that serve both disabled and non-disabled customers should be able to sustain themselves in the market. In that context, this news looks like failure. What do you think is going on?
AT&T and Verizon kick kid phones to the curb - Engadget Mobile
A new cell phone includes a camera (of course) with “special” software that will augment the image in brightness, contrast, and color saturation. One setting will provide help to people who are colorblind. This builds on the trend of using inexpensive, mainstream products equipped with customized software tools to provide interesting accommodations. It’s a software world out there, folks!
textually.org: Technology addressing night vision and color blindness to be applied to cell phones
There is now a public videophone in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Sign language users can place video relay calls, connecting them with an interpreter so that they can communicate with hearing, non-signing people. Great idea. I know that ‘1′ is larger than ‘0′, but Pennsylvania is a pretty large state!
Public Videophone Available in Central Pennsylvania - Government Technology
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service cannot automatically detect where you are, because you could be calling from anywhere on the Internet. There is no single set of wires that carries your calls, so there’s no way to trace it to your location. In order to provide 911 location service, VoIP companies must tell their customers to register their locations, and then collect that information and forward it to E911 agencies. This article mentions that Vonage has succeeded in registering 94% of its customers’ locations, which is pretty darned good. Just goes to show that when industry is motivated by regulatory requirements and oversight, it can move quickly and efficiently.
Stephen Seitz Honored by E9-1-1 Institute - Government Technology
Some lucky Rogers customers can use their camera-equipped cell phones to place 2-way video calls. Great for sign language, if you can sign one-handed. Europeans have had this feature for a few years now, and deaf users over there are pleased with it. Next stop, USA?
picturephoning.com: Rogers launches video calling service that turns cellphones into webcams