It's no mystery.  HumanWare is a subcontractor to Battelle for the design of
the NLS player.  It is about 6 inches wide by 9 inches deep and nearly 2
inches thick, and most of the software was written by HumanWare according to
our specifications.  250 units have been delivered to NLS in the last couple
of weeks, and we are checking them out.  Fifty of these will go to patrons
in Connecticut, and fifty more will go to some of the participants in the
download project.

But as a condition for doing the design, HumanWare was prohibited from
manufacturing the half million players that will be needed over the next few
years.  They were not prohibited from designing and building their own.  The
Stream is the first of that kind of player, although they have another one
coming out with a visual display for dyslexic users.  Other companies will
be coming out with embedded players that can play the NLS format.

The contracts have not been let for manufacture of the large quantities of
NLS players and cartridges, but they will look and function like the
products designed by Battelle and HumanWare which have been demonstrated at
the national ACB, BVA and NFB conventions last summer, with the exception of
minor software changes.

Check the NLS Flash newsletter, which is a couple months more current on the
website than in Talking Book Topics, at
  http://www.loc.gov/nls/newsletters/flash
for monthly updates.
 
Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, Maryland
Home:  http://lras.home.sprynet.com
Work:  http://www.loc.gov/nls
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of don bishop
> Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 6:57 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: off topic digital talking books
> 
> It wouldn't surprise me at all if the nls player doesn't turn out to
> be some version of the victor reader classic player from Humanware.
> That player is what they handed out to the original beta testers.
> 
> I have no inside info as to what player they would use, but I do
> find it interesting that they used the Humanware player for their
> testing and that the Humanware Victor reader stream is the first
> player to be approved by nls.
> 
> Don
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Brett Winches" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 2:15 PM
> Subject: Re: off topic digital talking books
> 
> 
> > That is what I was trying to say grin.  Cold weather stiff
> > fingers....
> >
> >
> > ###
> > BRETT WINCHESTER
> > [log in to unmask]
> > 208-639-8386
> > ###
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: For blind ham radio operators
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lou Kolb
> > Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 2:52 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: off topic digital talking books
> >
> > The NLS player will also have a usb port which will handle a flash
> > drive
> > or thumb drive as they're called.  Lou
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Brett Winches" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 3:05 PM
> > Subject: Re: off topic digital talking books
> >
> >
> >> Steve the download is up and running quite nicely now.  As for
> >> the NLS
> >> player handling SD cards directly, that is not planned.  A short
> >> cable
> >> may be available but the SD card will be contained in a larger
> > cartridge
> >> to accommodate dexterity issues for the various needs of the NLS
> >> population.  You can get a lot more data at the LOC.GOV/NLS site.
> >> The
> >> strategic plan and some views of the player are located there.
> >> 73s
> >> KD7JN=3D20
> >>
> >>
> >> ###
> >> BRETT WINCHESTER
> >> [log in to unmask]
> >> 208-639-8386
> >> ###
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: For blind ham radio operators
> >> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Dresser
> >> Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 12:33 PM
> >> To: [log in to unmask]
> >> Subject: Re: off topic digital talking books
> >>
> >> Richard,
> >>
> >> As of now, there is a pilot program that allows you to download
> > digital
> >> talking books, but you can't sign up for it unless you have a
> > player.=3D20
> >> Currently, the Victor Stream is the only available player, so if
> >> you
> >> don't have one, you're out of luck.  I'm not sure when the actual
> >> site
> >> will be up and running, but when it is, you'll be able to
> >> transfer
> > your
> >> downloaded books to an SD card, which you can play on the Stream.
> >> If
> >> you're using one of the NLS players (not yet available), you'll
> > probably
> >> have to use the cards they provide, which are actually SD cards
> >> that
> >> have been encased in a specially designed holder which is
> >> supposed to
> > be
> >> easier to handle than the tiny SD cards themselves.  The NLS
> >> player
> > may
> >> be able to accept a regular SD card without the holder, but I'm
> >> not
> >> sure.
> >>
> >> Steve