Cheree Heppe here: This is just another example of why niche thinking does not benefit the blind.
Regards, Cheree Heppe Sent from my IPhone 4S On 07/07/2013, at 19:48, Alex Hall <mehg...@gmail.com> wrote: I just wanted to respond to a few points. I am not associated with Seeing Eye or Sendero in any way, but I feel there may be inaccuracies spread if I don't speak up. 1. POIs that are nearby are not spoken with a distance and direction. Lookaround Wand is used to get that detail; I suppose the theory is that you have so much going on, especially in a route, that distance and direction to a POI you may not care about are extras you don't need to worry about. 2. The app does announce cross streets and turns very early, and I made a big deal about that to Sendero when I was beta testing it. They know about it, and are doing their best to tweak the system to make it better. 3. The subscription model is the fault of the map company from which Sendero licenses content. in fact, Sendero says that it is possible other GPS apps will adopt this system in the future. Thhe actual price point is set by Sendero, but the fact that no lifetime purchase is available is out of their control. 4. Address accuracy is notoriously bad when dealing with commercial map providers. It is likely that Sendero uses a different company than apps like Blindsquare, hence the differences. I don't know why they went with the provider they did, but there you have it. 5. The app will not announce cross streets above fifteen miles per hour, which is why those of you having trouble with it on the bus are noticing this. It is something they are looking to fix. For the problems with announce times and no cross streets over fifteen miles per hour, the problem is the query time. To keep data and battery consumption down, the app queries the map server every fifteen seconds. In places where you have a lot of cross streets close together, that query interval means you might miss your turn if the app speaks it too late, which would happen if, say, you just missed the alert threshhold, then walked quickly for the fifteen seconds until the next query, at which point you missed your turn. It is a balancing act, and Sendero is trying to figure out a better way to manage it. I asked them why they can't just cache nearby map data, but part of their licensing with their map provider is that no data can be stored locally, so that option is out. As I said, I'm not affiliated with Sendero or the Seeing Eye, but I wanted to offer clarifications and explanations. Also, remember that Blindsquare has been out for some time, and the Sendero app is new. Was Blindsquare perfect from day one? of course not, no app is. On 7/7/13, Randy George <george.ra...@gmail.com> wrote: > Strange that good old Mikey May is still trying to squeeze every single > penny possible out of the blindness community--well, not strange at all, but > very sad. Especially if the app is inferior to blind square. I'll take $15 > for life any day. $70 a year is more than Garmin and all of the other major > GPS providers charge--as a Seeing Eye graduate I am let down by their > business decision. > On Jul 7, 2013, at 4:54 PM, Matt Dierckens <matt.dierck...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Hi, >> Blindsquare is $15 for life, seeing eye is $70 for a year or $130 for 3 >> hers. I am so glad that I haven't purchased seeing eye. Blindsquare is >> truly amazing >> On 2013-07-07, at 3:32 PM, Randy George <george.ra...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Hi everyone, >>> I would also like to thank everyone for their comparisons of the two >>> products, as I have been considering purchasing a blind friendly >>> pedestrian GPS system for sometime now. I have a random question, how >>> much does each Cost? >>> Thanks so much, >>> Randy >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> On Jul 7, 2013, at 3:23 PM, Christine Grassman <cgrassman1...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> I only acquired Blind Square recently, and haven't really given it a go >>>> yet. I can tell you that I am disappointed thus far with Seeing Eye >>>> GPS. >>>> 1. It tells me I am home when I am at my neighbor's house, and that my >>>> home is "behind me" when I do arrive home. >>>> 2. It announces intersections far too early. >>>> 3. It does not say "turn right" or "turn left" when one is actually at >>>> the corner where one wishes to turn -- whereas Navigon is excellent at >>>> this. >>>> 4. It names POI's I am "near" but does not indicate "left" or "right" -- >>>> I do not know if using the location wand will help with this. I have >>>> not tried that yet. >>>> 5. It has been wrong about what side of the street a destination is on >>>> more than once. >>>> >>>> With respect to Seeing Eye GPS, it is interesting to hear what POI's are >>>> around, and its directions are good and easy to understand if you >>>> already have a grasp of the area you are in. It has tremendous >>>> potential. If I had to do it all over again, however, I would save my >>>> money and wait for a later version. >>>> >>>> On Jul 7, 2013, at 2:54 PM, Brian Fischler <blindga...@gmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hey Gigi, Just wanted to say thanks so much for the comparison. I have >>>>> used Blind Square for awhile, and it is pretty good. It is not perfect, >>>>> as I do notice the feet and time position of a location are off a bit, >>>>> but I think this is due to GPS not being a perfect accuracy down to the >>>>> smallest distance. Additionally, the developer of Blind Square is >>>>> amazing, as he is constantly working on improving the app and tweaking >>>>> it. He is very responsive, and I hope he continues with tweaking it >>>>> even with the competition of Sendero's costly Seeing Eye. I know >>>>> Sendero has a limited market for this app, and they are in business to >>>>> make money, but if they want to be successful they are going to have to >>>>> become more responsive about their product. Thanks again for your >>>>> review of both apps, really insightful. >>>>> On Jul 7, 2013, at 2:34 PM, Eugenia Firth <gigifi...@me.com> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hi guys >>>>>> I realize IM you to both programs mentioned in the subject line. >>>>>> However, I am not new to GPS applications. Here is what I have found >>>>>> so far as far as I am concerned right now. >>>>>> >>>>>> I hate to say this, but right now I like BlindSquare better than I >>>>>> like the Seeing Eye GPS program, this graduate is sorry to say. >>>>>> >>>>>> First of all, BlindSquare is more accurate insofar as my address is >>>>>> concerned. The scene I GPS keeps insisting I am at 1061, where as >>>>>> BlindSquare told me I had reached my house when I was right in front >>>>>> of my door. Also, I tried using the scene I GPS this morning for a >>>>>> route that I knew. I did it on purpose for one but I knew. I tried >>>>>> using the multi thing for planning the route, and I got an error every >>>>>> time I tried it. So, I had to use pedestrian mode. I got on the bus, >>>>>> and I was not given enough cross streets. I have found BlindSquare >>>>>> works better on the bus. >>>>>> >>>>>> However, I did discover one weird thing about replanning when using >>>>>> BlindSquare and navigate. Several times I've used vehicle mode in >>>>>> Gavagan, and it works fine. However, today when I chose public >>>>>> transportation mode or pedestrian mode, Nevaden said not one solitary >>>>>> word until I got to my destination, at which point it told me I got >>>>>> there. I kept BlindSquare tracking, and I was able to find my bus >>>>>> stop. >>>>>> >>>>>> Just a few of my observations. Oh another thing. As far as I can see >>>>>> right now, BlindSquare seems to be better at points of interest >>>>>> location. >>>>>> Regards, >>>>>> Gigi >>>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>>> an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>> >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Have a great day, Alex (msg sent from GMail website) mehg...@gmail.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
