BTSpeak® Pro
Product Summary
Our flagship product, BT Speak® Pro, is a pocket computer specifically designed for the Blind, offering a seamless experience through two easy-to-use modes of operation. Full product details can be found below this product summary.
Key Features:
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User-Friendly Applications: Enjoy a range of applications specifically tailored to the Blind including an editor, media player, radio tuner, ChatGPT, music streaming, scientific calculator, calendar, clock, and more (see Applications below)
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Desktop mode: Elevate your productivity with PC-style applications, featuring seamless navigation with the Orca Screen Reader. Access a comprehensive Office Suite, two full-featured web browsers, email client, and more
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Compact and Portable: Measuring at just 6.1" by 2.8" by 0.75", BT Speak® Pro is designed to be your constant companion, fitting effortlessly into your pocket (see Dimensions below)
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Speech output: Choose between the modern sounding RH voice library or classic eSpeak and DECtalk libraries of human-like voices
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Braille Keyboard: The 9 key Perkins Braille keyboard enhances usability, providing a comfortable and efficient interface
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Connectivity: Equipped with USB C, HDMI ports, WIFI, and Bluetooth, BT Speak® Pro ensures you always stay connected (see Hardware and Features below)
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Expandable Storage: Need more space? The Micro SD card slot allows for additional storage, adapting to your needs
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System Upgrades: Enjoy software updates (approximately every month) with new applications and features (see System Upgrades below). Be sure to monitor this page and our Software Updates page for details of new features arriving soon.
Hardware
Dimensions and Weight
Width- 6.1 inches (15.5 cm)
Depth- 2.8 inches (7.1 cm)
Height- 0.75 inches (1.9 cm)
Weight- 8.5 oz (240.9 g)
Processor
Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4
Broadcom BCM2711, quad-core Cortex-A72 (Armv8) 64-bit SoC at 1.5GHz
Memory
32GB Flash
8GB RAM
Internal Storage
32GB Flash Memory hard drive
External Storage
microSD card slot supports unlimited external storage capacity as long as the SD cards are formatted properly. BT Speak also supports many remote storage options to transfer files between devices (see Features).
Keyboard
Perkins braille keyboard totaling 9 keys. Two modifier keys (dot seven and eight) on either side of the space bar enable special functions. BT Speak's keyboard is designed with a slight curvature suited for ergonomic typing.
Audio and Haptic Feedback
Two internal speakers are oriented on the left and right side of the unit interface. A built-in vibration motor drives haptic feedback functions.
WiFi
Wireless LAN, 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ ac wireless
Ports
USB type C 3.1 gen x 1: charge your battery, connect an audio device , access an external storage medium, connect a Braille display, and more
Mini-HDMI x 1- connect a video monitor (see Video Output)
Battery
Lithium Polymer 8200mah, rechargeable.
Battery charges via USB to power adaptor or computer system. Roughly 10 hours of use supported on a full charge depending on processor demands. BT Speak may be used while charging.
Video Output (HDMI)
BT Speak will connect to your video output display of choice through a mini-HDMI connection. Video specifications are: H.265 (HEVC) (up to 4Kp60 decode), H.264 (up to 1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode). OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.0.
Features
User Interface
BT Speak Pro offers two modes of operation: Traditional and Desktop. Easily switch between modes with a single key stroke. Each mode has its own applications, features, and advantages:
Traditional Mode is our custom menu driven user interface with menus and shortcuts similar to the beloved Braille 'n Speak. Though the menu design is built on the Linux operating system, we stress that absolutely no Linux knowledge is required to use BT Speak. The technical operation of the Linux OS is invisible to the user while in Traditional Mode. However, technically oriented users may access a Linux shell to unlock its vast open-source world and command line control.
Desktop mode encompasses the combination of the Mate graphical environment and the Orca screen reader. Here, you'll access web browsing, email, word processing, and more (see Applications for details).
Read more in related documentation: Desktop Review, Desktop Navigation, Desktop Applications
Bluetooth Audio
Bluetooth 5.0
Connect nearly any Bluetooth enabled device to your BT Speak for a wireless experience on the go. BT Speak's Bluetooth menu simplifies the procedure of connecting, disconnecting, and adding new devices.
File Manager
BT Speak file management was designed around the simplicity and efficiency of the Braille 'n Speak and sculpted by input from experienced notetaker users. See documentation: File Management
File Translator and Converter
Easily convert file formats between .doc, .txt, .pdf, and .brl file types.
Two way grade 2 braille translation is also supported. Choose between UEB, EBAE, U.K. English, Spanish, German or French Unified Braille and convert your Braille files to text or your text files to Braille. Also see related documentation: File Management
File Sharing
Two-way file transfer between BT Speak and external media (also batch copying). Windows SCP, File Sharing (SMB/CIFS), the networking file system (NFS), rsync, and secure copy (SCP) are the built-in protocols which users can enable from traditional mode.
See relevant documentation for more: Mac File Sharing, Linux File Sharing, Windows File Sharing
Voices
BT Speak comes preloaded with the modern speech synthesizer RH voice and classic voice libraries eSpeak or DecTalk. Choose between 6 voices from RH Voice, 9 Dec-talk voices and nearly 100 voices from eSpeak.
Context-sensitive Help System
Use h-chord to receive help from anywhere in the system! BT Speak Pro will sense your environment and deliver the help documentation that best suits your current location and activities.
System Upgrades
Blazie Technologies is constantly developing new features and applications for your BT Speak, with heavy influence from user input through our support forum. Our development team also proactively fine-tunes existing software to enhance performance and stability. BT Speak will alert you when new upgrades are available and offers an effortless upgrade process to ensure your system is kept up to date. See our Software Updates page for a list of recent updates. Also see System Upgrades documentation
Applications
Editor
Our editor is front and center on every BT Speak. When you power on your unit, you’re automatically in our editor, right back in the document you were last working with. Use friendly and intuitive chord commands from the Braille keyboard to navigate through your documents by character, word, line or by paragraph. Keep up to 20 documents open at once and quickly flip from one document to the next. Place a mark anywhere in your document so that you can easily delete a block of text. Cut, copy and paste blocks of text across any of your documents. Conveniently read and compose documents using contracted Braille and choose the Braille code that’s best for you; Computer Braille, UEB, EBAE (Grade 2), U.K. contracted Braille, and more.
For more detailed information, see: Editor documentation
Voice Command
Use Voice Command to execute a variety of commands just by talking to your BT Speak. Ask for the definition of a word, get the current time and date, receive a local weather forecast and change the master volume level along with other useful commands. Opening the Voice Command app is as easy as pressing V-chord from any open file in our editor. Also see relevant documentation: Voice Command
Voice Notes
This app turns your BT Speak into a capable voice recorder. Use Voice Notes to record a quick phone number, a reminder or your next class lecture. All of your recordings are saved on your device and you can record your notes in Wav, Mp3 or free lossless audio formats.
Media Player
Use our media player to play a variety of different media files. Use the keyboard to increase or decrease the volume and rate of the media. Pause, resume and change the volume using global keystrokes that will work from any document, menu or application. Your BT Speak can now entertain you with music, drama, lectures or any type of media you’d like to listen to. See documentation for more: Media File Browser
Radio Tuner
Our radio tuner lets you listen to over 47,000 radio stations. You can find stations by entering a name (even a partial name) or you can browse the directory by location. Choose from terrestrial as well as Internet-only streams. We even have a category reserved for stations broadcasting specialized content for blind listeners. You can easily add any station to a list of favorites for even faster access. For more details, see: Radio Tuner documentation
Pandora (U.S. only)
Use our Pandora app to listen to music. Play songs, albums and playlists on your BT Speak. Free and paid plans are available. A Pandora account is required to use the service. For more information or to sign up, visit www.pandora.com. Also see Pandora Radio documentation
AI Chat (Chat GPT)
AI Chat is a ChatGPT program specifically tailored to blind users. Ask questions, get information, obtain writing suggestions or just about anything else that comes to mind. An OpenAI key is required. See AI Chat documentation for more details.
Agenda Calendar
Use your BT Speak to keep track of all of your events and appointments. Easily browse your calendar to read your appointments for the day, for the current week or month by month. Search for an event by entering a specific date or by entering text from an event. See Calendar documentation for details.
Scientific Calculator
Built on the robust bc standard, BT Speak's Scientific Calculator is a powerhouse for the math and science needs of children, adult students, and professionals alike. It comes preloaded with essential scientific functions and constants, including Planck's constant, Avogadro's number, the gravitational constant, Boltzmann's constant and many more. In addition to the convenience of a standard four-function calculator, you can calculate exponents, and utilize comprehensive trigonometric and hyperbolic functions. See Calculator documentation for more details.
Stopwatch & Countdown Timer
Use our stopwatch to time an event and get accurate readings down to a tenth of a second accuracy. Press the space key to instantly know how much time has passed. Use the countdown timer to count down, specifying the amount of minutes and seconds for when you want to be notified. See Stopwatch documentation for more details.
Dictionary
Use our dictionary to look up the definition of a word. You can easily review the definition line by line or word by word. Note: an Internet connection is currently required.
Weather
Use our weather app to obtain weather conditions in your local area or in any part of the world. Information can be presented as metric or imperial units, miles per hour, meters per second, knots, and more.
Gregorian Date Calculator
Use the Gregorian date calculator to figure out the day for a specific date or what the date will be 150 days from today. See full documentation for more details: Gregorian Date Calculator
Morse Code
Easily learn Morse code the fun way! Enter letters, words and phrases to hear them converted as actual dots and dashes.
LibreOffice Writer (word processor)
Writer is a powerful word processor and desktop publishing tool. Write anything from a quick memo to your next book, complete with table of contents and index. Change fonts and styles as needed and use the auto-correct tool to fix typos and spelling mistakes as you work. Since
Writer is compatible with Microsoft Word, you can easily open and save Word documents to seamlessly collaborate with Microsoft Office users. Learn more at https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/writer/
Mozilla Thunderbird (email client)
Thunderbird is a full-featured email application. Create as many email accounts as you want and manage all of them separately or in a unified inbox. Use Thunderbird as your contacts manager for keeping track of names, email addresses, phone numbers and other important information. Use powerful search tools so you can focus on just the emails you need to read at any given time.
Learn more at https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/
LibreOffice Calc (spreadsheets)
Calc is an accessible spreadsheet application. Calculate, analyze and easily manage your data. Use statistical and banking functions for creating formulas to perform calculations on your data from simple to complex. Use what-if calculations to perform tasks like seeing how changing the time period in a loan calculation affects the interest rates or repayment amounts. Open spreadsheets which were written in Microsoft Excel and save your Calc spreadsheets in Excel’s format for those who are locked into using Office.
Learn more at https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/calc/
Chromium and Firefox (web browsers)
Use these standard Web browsers to access any Web site. Use the Orca screen reader's intuitive commands to move to specific elements or sections of the page, such as next or previous heading, link, table, form control, and more. The same keyboard commands that you already know from other platforms will work the same way from the BT Speak Braille keyboard. For detailed documentation, see: Desktop Applications
Coming Soon
At the time of this writing, our development team has been releasing BT Speak software updates on a monthly basis. Be sure to monitor this page and our Software Updates page for new Applications and Features arriving soon!
Warranty and Technical Support
We offer a full refund if you decide to return BT Speak within 30 days of purchase.
BT Speak also comes with a warranty covering parts and labor and lasts through the year end of 2024 or for a duration of 90 days, whichever period is longer, beginning from the time your product arrives.
The Blazie Maintenance Contract becomes available upon the expiration of the product warranty for $200 (annual) or $20 (monthly) with an automatic renewal. Products modified by a third party or through advice from third parties may not be covered through the Maintenance Contract. If BT Speak cannot be serviced over the phone, Blazie Technologies will provide an exchange unit and the user returns the broken BT Speak. Please contact us directly for full terms of service.
At Blazie Technologies, we take pride in offering multiple channels to efficiently and promptly address your technical support needs.
Technical inquiries may be sent to our support list btspeak+subscribe@groups.io at any time (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
For direct technical support with one of our representatives, please call (772) 214-1616 (USA) or +44 1642 929747 (UK), or email us at support@blazie.net
Concluding Remarks
Blazie Technologies proudly hosts an interactive public customer support forum and we'd love to hear from you. Join our list to read customer reviews, exchange ideas with BT Speak users, make suggestions to our development team, and learn about BT Speak before yours arrives. To join, send an email to: btspeak+subscribe@groups.io
Visit our FAQ page for more product details, including purchasing, shipping, and receiving your BT Speak. Also, check out our YouTube channel for product demos and reviews from our users.
Still have questions? Contact Blazie Technologies Sales and Customer Support: (772) 214-1616 (USA) or +44 1642 929747 (UK).
A profile view of BT Speak pro, showing its 9-key Perkins keyboard and two internal speakers
A top-down view of BT Speak pro showing its 9-key Perkins braille keyboard and two internal speakers
An image of BT Speak pro plugged into a wireless receiver via its USB-C port, enabling full control with a QWERTY keyboard.
A profile view of BT Speak pro, showing its 9-key Perkins keyboard and two internal speakers