A new kind of book reader

Contributed by Joel Zimba, Special Projects Coordinator, MDTAP

At the recent CSUN conference in San Diego, Hims Inc. previewed the next step in the evolution of their BookSense readers.  The Blaze EZ, which will be released later this year, has all of the traditional features of the digital book readers we know and love but adds access to one important new book format—print.

Through the use of a built-in camera and OCR (Optical character Recognition), the Blaze EZ becomes a mobile solution for reading printed documents aloud.

At MDTAP, we often receive calls asking about various portable OCR solutions.  At the moment there are few good answers.  The Simbian platform on which the KNFB Mobile package ran is no longer available.  This was a great tool and it has left us without a good answer.  The Intel Reader makes an attempt, but falls short.  Early returns indicate Hims may be on the right track with the Blaze EZ.

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced.  We expect to know all of the details soon, and when it is available, we will tell you all about it.