November 11, 2009

On Tuesday, Intel launched the Intel Reader, a gadget designed to capture and then read electronic text aloud for the user.

Designed for customers with either vision problems or who have problems reading, the Intel Reader is a portable device that will be priced at $1,499 from a network of partners. A Portable Capture Station, essentially a mounting stand for the Reader to facilitate the capture of text, will cost $399.

The Reader was designed for the 55 million or so Americans that are unable or have difficulty reading, whether that be from dyslexia, vision problems, or some other cause.

Intel said that the idea behind the Reader came from Ben Foss, an Intel researcher who was identified in elementary school as someone with dyslexia. Foss himself filed many of the patents that formed the foundation of the Reader, he said. "When I was growing up, my 'reading technology' was my mom and my 'accommodation specialist' was my dad," Foss said in a blog post. "I, like most students, was tested on my ability to learn to read, and I failed miserably.

"It is important to remember that a central experience of a disability, and especially a learning disability, is loneliness. It was a lonely feeling to have to leave class in third grade, and head to a special room to sound out words while the other kids had reading groups," Foss added. "And adults feel lonely as they worry that people might find out they do not have any books at home and that they cannot read the text off a power point slide in a meeting."

The Reader weighs 1.38 pounds, and measures 6.5 inches by 5.35 inches by 1.3 inches. Inside is an Intel Atom microprocessor, a 5-Mpixel camera, and a 4-Gbyte solid-state drive, although only 2-Gbytes is allocated for user data. Although the Reader ships with a 6-cell battery, the included battery can only capture and process 85 pages of text; an AC power adapter is also included.

The Reader weighs 1.38 pounds, and measures 6.5 inches by 5.35 inches by 1.3 inches. Inside is an Intel Atom microprocessor, a 5-Mpixel camera, and a 4-Gbyte solid-state drive, although only 2-Gbytes is allocated for user data. Although the Reader ships with a 6-cell battery, the included battery can only capture and process 85 pages of text; an AC power adapter is also included.

Source:-http://www.pcmag.com/