Double Tap

This week, Double Tap Canada takes a look at just what makes Apple's newly-released Air Pods Max headphones so interesting. Is it the high-end build quality & design, the dual H1 audio processors that promise great adaptive audio quality or is it simply that people can’t believe they cost $740 Canadian? We’ll be looking at what these new over the ear headphones offer and just why have Steven & Marc already pre-order theirs?

We’ll also be taking a look at the Show & Tell feature for Amazon's Echo Show devices, finding out why Steven wants to go back to vinyl records & turntables and of course, answering some of your email questions and comments.

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for the geek in your life, look no further. In this week’s Double Tap Canada, we’re going to be giving are recommendations and opinions on some tech & gadgets that we love. There’s something for everyone, smart power strips, keyboards, coffee makers, cameras, chargers, smart home devices and more.

We’ll also be diving into your emails. With questions regarding a stubborn Braille display and some confusion over what exactly a Mac Mini is…

The new generation of Apple Silicon Macs are here and according to the majority of reviewers, they do live up to Apples claims of cutting-edge performance & incredible battery life. In tests, people have been amazed how the M1 chip handles things like 4K video editing and large audio projects without breaking a sweat. That’s all great, but here at Double Tap Canada we want to know how these new machines stand up when it comes to accessibility.

In this week’s Double Tap Canada, Steven Scott & David Woodbridge will be telling us all about their experience with the new Mac Mini. Just how responsive is Voice-Over running on Big Sur & the M1 processor? Have we finally seen the end of those 3 little words ‘Busy, busy, busy…’ They’ll be answering your questions & letting you know any tips or tricks when it comes to this new hardware.

As it seems the whole world is currently going crazy trying to get their hands on either the new PlayStation 5 or new XBOX Series consoles, this week’s Double Tap Canada takes a look at just what the latest gaming hardware has to offer if you are blind or visually impaired. We are joined by blind gamer Steve Saylor who has been hands on with both Sony & Microsoft’s consoles and will be letting us know just what’s new when it comes to accessibility features.

Also, we’ll be taking a look at some of the reactions & reviews of Apples new M1 powered computers. Overall, it seems that Apple has managed to live up to their claim of great performance & amazing battery life but will this still be the case when it comes to using a screen reader? Steven has placed his order for the new Mac Mini and can’t wait to put it to the test.

If you’d like to get in touch with us with your thoughts on any topics from the show then we’d love to hear from you. You can email [email protected] or call us on 844 971 1999

What else could we at Double Tap Canada possibly talk about this week? Of course, it’s the “One More Thing” event from Apple. Tech journalist, author & podcaster Shelly Brisbin joins Steven, Marc & Shaun to discuss the new products unveiled at Apple's latest event.

The focus of the event was purely Mac. We saw new generations of the MacBook Air, Mac Mini & 13” MacBook Pro. What sets these products apart from previous generations however is that they are all powered by Apples own processor, the M1 chip. Based on the same processors you’ll find in iPhones & iPads, this new chip promises to be not only more powerful then the previous Intel processors, but also much, much more energy efficient. To cut to the chase, Apple are claiming that M1 powered devices will be faster than previous generations and yet, provide much longer battery life. Could this be to good to be true or are we about to see a whole new way of doing things?

We’ll also hear from you, our lovely listeners, as we take a dive into our mailbag. If you’d like to get in touch you can email [email protected] or call 844 971 1999.

Double Tap Canada is back for another look at all that’s great, or not, in the world of tech. We kick off with the news that Apple will be holding yet another event on November 10th. Titled the "One more thing" event, just what are we expecting to see and how much of it will Steven buy?

And speaking of Steven's shopping addiction, he’ll be telling us about the new Chromecast with Google TV. It’s an affordable way to access many online streaming platforms, but just how accessible is it? Also, after weeks of trying to talk about it, he finally gets to tell us just how excited he is about his Ember Mug. This smart mug will keep your drink of choice hot for hours and both Steven & Marc love it. But is an always hot coffee worth the high asking price? Shaun isn’t convinced…

Next up we have the return of the infamous "What’s In Your Drawers" segment. We’ll be rummaging through our own drawers to find the tech that we simply never use but can’t bring ourselves to throw away. Shaun digs out his Amazon Fire tablet, Steven blows the dust off a laser printer & Marc uncovers an avalanche of smartphones.

The show wraps up with your feedback including why Steven needs to get over Face ID and more on four-sided cassettes.

After a heartfelt and emotional plea from Steven Scott, this week’s Double Tap Canada kicks off with a dive into Facebook. No, not the social media aspect, we’re not looking to expand our friends list, but rather, we’re taking a look at Facebook hardware.

Both Steven and Marc have got their hands on the new Oculus Quest 2. Thanks to great performance & the convenience of not requiring a powerful gaming PC in order to use it, this stand-alone, cable free virtual reality headset certainly look promising. But just how useful is it if you have low vision? Is there any use case at all if you are totally blind?

Next up it’s the Facebook Portal. Due to the current situation the entire world finds itself in, video conferencing has become almost the norm. The Facebook Portal is a device designed to make the entire process of making a video call easy. Steven has been testing the 15” touch-screen model, with its excellent camera, great speakers and support for the most popular services such as Facebook Messenger, Zoom & WhatsApp, it does tick a lot of boxes. Most impressive of all however is the accessibility. Running a customized version of Android, the level of thought that has gone into accessibility and screen reader support is way above what we expected.

We finish with your comments & voicemails. Please feel free to get in touch with us by emailing [email protected] or calling 844 971 1999.

We kick off with a look at Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Go. This small, affordable laptop ticks a lot of boxes with its great design and reasonable specs, so why hasn’t Marc taken his out of the box yet? Luckily for us, listener Rebecca has been more productive and sent us her impressions of the Surface Laptop Go and why she thinks it’s a great buy. Thanks Rebecca!

Next up, we take a look at the Ring Video Doorbell. How accessible is it? What features does it have and, more importantly, why should a visually impaired person care about them? These questions and more will be answered. Also, Shaun will tell you how to make the Ring Video Doorbell work even better thanks to the Rapid Ring app.

All this and more, such as Steven’s new Oculus Quest 2 headset, four-sided cassette tapes and audio described James Bond are all here in this week’s Double Tap Canada.

The iPhone 12 is finally here, along with a new Homepod Mini. Should you be grabbing your credit card right now or should we wait for unlucky 13?

This week’s Double Tap Canada is all about the Apple. Steven, Shaun & marc take a look at the new iPhone 12 line-up, with Steven particularly interested in the dinky iPhone 12 Mini. Could this, with its 5.4” display, be the best choice for us as visually impaired people? Will Marc be throwing away all his Sony cameras in favor of the Dolby Vision video recording capabilities of the iPhone 12 Pro Max? Will Shaun ever buy anything at all?

All these questions will be answered, plus your voicemails & emails in this week’s Double Tap Canada.

The DTC team kick off this weeks Double Tap Canada with a discussion on the new Surface Laptop Go & Surface Pro X hardware from Microsoft. There’s no denying that the Surface Laptop range has always been designed & built to a high standard, but this also meant a premium price point. However, could the new Surface Laptop Go, maintain the high standards of other Surface laptops but at a much more affordable price? Steven is not so sure on the tech specs with the entry level model coming with only 4GB of RAM.

The Surface Pro X also has had a spec upgrade with a faster processor and the promise of better software support. Although the amazing battery life & form factor of the Surface Pro X are tempting, does the still rather limited software support/performance that come with using a ARM processor make this a non-starter for most of us, especially when it comes to 3rd party assistive software?

Next up it’s on to the smart home. Just what devices & setups are we all using and, more importantly, do any other members of the family use it? Shaun explains why his smart tech remains in the garden shed & why Marc refuses to turn on a light switch…

We’ll also be hearing from Renee Richie on his predictions of just what we’re likely to see in the upcoming Apple event and, to wrap up the show, we’ll be diving into your voicemails, texts & emails.