HumanWare BrailleNote Apex notetaker for the blind debuts

I mentioned a bit ago that an advocacy group for the blind says the Kindle DX isn't accessible to the blind and that got me to wondering, how exactly do students who are blind handle day-to-day college tasks that those with sight take for granted. Taking notes for instance is one thing that students do in copious amounts, often with a notebook computer. HumanWare has a new device for blind students called the BrailleNote Apex that is specifically for taking notes.

The device looks like a notebook without a screen and with a Braille pin bar below the keyboard for reading. The device is 0.78-inches thick and weighs 1.8 pounds. An Intel Atom processor powers the Apex and it has 8GB of internal storage. Data entry is done with a full-size QWERTY keyboard.

Students needing more storage space can add a SDHC card for expanded storage capacity. The Apex device also has four USB ports for connecting accessories and supports WiFi, Ethernet, and Bluetooth. The product is available now.