[Athen] BLIO - free e-reader software

Ken Petri petri.1 at osu.edu
Fri Jan 15 08:30:53 PST 2010


I will remain skeptical until I see and play around with the software, but
their web site just launched and it promises a lot:

http://www.blioreader.com/

Random Questions:
Can I convert my current ebooks from epub to blio?
When will I see a reader for Android?
Can I convert from blio to other formats easily?
Why no mention of Mac OS X compatibility, when there is talk of iPhone,
iPod, and tablet?
Okay, it uses SAPI voices for TTS and it highlights. Terrific! But do I have
keyboard-only and screen reader access to bookmarking and notetaking? (If
so, game over.)
It presents in page-based format, but can I toggle to reflowable format so
that text enlargement and contrast enhancements will be available?
What happens to DAISY and ePub if they actually deliver on what they are
promising with the blio format/platform?
If the format is (based-on) MS XPS, will I be able to save from Word
straight into Blio format?
What is the DRM model?
Will Kurzweil/KNFB have Blio at CSUN?
Is all of this way too good to be true?

Best,
ken
-------------------------------------------------------
Ken Petri
Program Director
OSU Web Accessibility Center
102D Pomerene Hall
1760 Neil Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43210
Phone: (614) 292-1760
Fax: (614) 292-4190
mailto:petri.1 at osu.edu
-------------------------------------------------------


On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 8:26 AM, Robert Martinengo <
accessible.text at gmail.com> wrote:


> Marla,

>

> I have seen a demo of the Blio software and it does indeed look

> promising. But what is more interesting is the business relationship

> with Baker & Taylor (a large book distributor). My understanding is

> that Baker & Taylor will convert publishers PDFs to work with the new

> reader for free, and they will only make money from sales of the book

> in Blio format.

>

> This is important because it gives publishers an incentive to make

> their books available in Blio format (which I believe is Microsoft's

> XPS), and Baker & Taylor will be pushing the format so they can make

> their investment back. DAISY has been around for over 10 years but

> there are still very few DAISY format books available commercially,

> whereas Blio should have thousands of titles available right away.

>

> But, like with any new tech product, don't go by the press release.

> Download a demo when it becomes available and try it for yourself.

>

> Bob

>

> On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 5:18 PM, Roll,Marla <mcroll at cahs.colostate.edu>

> wrote:

> > Hello all,

> >

> >

> >

> > Our library is moving toward the idea of E Books at students requests.

> They

> > are not happy with any of the common e book readers on the market due to

> > their tendency to be proprietary in nature. They are very intrigued, as

> is

> > our AT Center, in a new product called Blio. Ray Kurzweil is the brains

> > behind the product which makes it even more intriguing to my office.

> >

> >

> >

> > If any of you know about it or can give/ share thoughts, I would very

> much

> > like to hear from you. On the surface, it looks very promising but I

> need

> > and want to know more about it.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Thanks for any help or thoughts you can share….

> >

> >

> >

> > Marla Roll

> >

> >

> >

> > ___________________________________

> >

> > Marla C. Roll, MS, OTR

> >

> > Director, Assistive Technology Resource Center

> >

> > Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy

> >

> > 304 Occupational Therapy Building

> >

> > Colorado State University

> >

> > Fort Collins, CO 80523

> >

> > 970-491-2016

> >

> > mcroll at cahs.colostate.edu

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > _______________________________________________

> > Athen mailing list

> > Athen at athenpro.org

> > http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org

> >

> >

>

> _______________________________________________

> Athen mailing list

> Athen at athenpro.org

> http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org

>

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