The Mantis Q40 from APH is a 40-cell Braille display with a qwerty keyboard. At the time of recording this review, you can use it stand-alone with its built-in apps, plus as a display for your PC, iDevice or Mac.
In this comprehensive review, I’ll describe the Mantis and what it can do, discuss where it does well and where it falls short.
 
The Mantis Q40 is available from APH in the United States. International distribution is being handled by HumanWare.
 
You can learn more about the Mantis Q40 on the APH website.
 
Share your thoughts on these topics or any others. Drop me an email in writing or with an audio attachment, Jonathan at MushroomFm.com, or phone the listener line in the United States, +1864-60Mosen, that's +18646066736.
Keep up with Mosen At Large between episodes. Follow MosenAtLarge on Twitter where you'll get audio extras, links to interesting news stories, sneak peeks about what's coming up and more. If you'd like to subscribe to our announcements only email list, please send email to media-subscribe@mosen.org
And if you like the show, we'd love a positive review and for you to spread the word. Thank you.


Episode 82: Review and demonstration of the Mantis Q40 Braille display from APH

Podcasting since 2004, Jonathan Mosen MNZM is a totally blind Chief Executive, advocate, entrepreneur, technology expert and broadcaster. Direct from his studio in Wellington New Zealand, Jonathan talks about anything that takes his fancy this week, from helping you make sense of technology to music to politics to disability issues and much more. And listeners love to talk back. It's a captivating listen in which you can be informed, entertained, amused, in strong agreement and strong frustration all in one episode. Have your say! Email a voice clip or something in writing to jonathan at MushroomFM dot com. Or call the listener line, +1-864-606-6736. That's +1-864-60Mosen

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News

Kia ora Mosen At Largers. A reminder that this podcast is indexed by chapter. If
you listen with a podcast client that offers chapter support, you can easily
skip between segments. On the show this week:
Introduction,0:00.000
Bitten by the black Friday bug, I bought a WeWalk Smart
Cane",0:59.416
Cast your vote for your top 10 favourite holiday
songs,6:42.183
You can run TalkBack on yourChromeBook,17:09.961
Beatles and Brailliant,26:05.386
Audio description,29:17.432
More comment on visual description of presenters at meetings,39:09.285
Accessible medical forms in the United States,44:47.218
Do dedicated blindness devices still have a place?,46:30.772
Windows XP,57:16.145
Speed of text-to-speech in demonstrations,59:58.318
Old Main Menu shows and can I downgrade a new Windows 11 system to
10?,1:01:51.191
Blind gun ownership in the United States,1:07:31.261
Hints on sending quality bug reports to Apple,1:08:53.005
Alert systems for the DeafBlind,1:12:01.765
Project Hail Mary,1:15:14.827
Hearing aid discussion,1:16:04.152
My family thinks an accommodation for my anxiety is weird,1:25:32.178
Looking for recommendations from people who know the Houston area,1:29:53.691
Doorbell recommendations,1:31:28.802
Retro things,1:37:02.822
The Bonnie Bulletin,1:42:01.420
Share your thoughts on these topics or any others. Drop me an email in writing
or with an audio attachment, Jonathan at MushroomFm.com, or phone the listener
line in the United States, +1864-60Mosen, that's +18646066736.
Keep up with Mosen At Large between episodes. Follow MosenAtLarge on
Twitter where you'll get audio extras, links
to interesting news stories, sneak peeks about what's coming up and more. If
you'd like to subscribe to our announcements only email list, please send email
to 
And if you like the show, we'd love a positive review and for you to spread the
word. Thank you.

Episode 160: What are your top 10 holiday songs of all time, your Chromebook has TalkBack built in, and do you need a dedicated blindness device when a smartphone app does the same thing?

Kia ora Mosen At Largers. A reminder that this podcast is indexed by chapter. If
you listen with a podcast client that offers chapter support, you can easily
skip between segments. On the show this week:
Introduction,0:00.000
The Beatles Get Back documentary is incredible, but it highlights a big audio
description problem for blind people,2:15.048
Remembering George Harrison on the 20th anniversary of his death. To find out
when the tribute is on where you live, check the Mushroom FM
Schedule,11:50.131
More comments on visual description of presenters at conferences and
meetings,16:06.361
Comments on Dell and Realtek compatibility issues, and my new ThinkPad is on its
way. If you live in New Zealand and want to buy the Dell XPS15 9500, check out
the TradeMe
listing,31:26.575
A research study on the accessibility and enjoyability of video
games,39:01.638
A working from home opportunity, becoming a third-party seller,41:33.371
Standardising the spelling of DeafBlind,49:21.162
How Mosen At Large is produced using Reaper,51:51.826
Concluding our Chromebook series with a look at running Android apps and
managing files,1:00:20.863
How do you add shortcuts to the desktop in Windows 11?,1:24:42.206
Some handy hints for working with GPS apps on your smartphone,1:26:18.572
Hearing aids and watchingTV,1:30:01.901
Comments on a variety of recent talking points,1:32:43.189
Does anyone have experience with the accessibility of LG TVs?,1:37:48.175
The Bonnie Bulletin,1:39:54.894
Closing and contact info,1:56:43.559
Share your thoughts on these topics or any others. Drop me an email in writing
or with an audio attachment, Jonathan at MushroomFm.com, or phone the listener
line in the United States, +1864-60Mosen, that's +18646066736.
Keep up with Mosen At Large between episodes. Follow MosenAtLarge on
Twitter where you'll get audio extras, links
to interesting news stories, sneak peeks about what's coming up and more. If
you'd like to subscribe to our announcements only email list, please send email
to 
And if you like the show, we'd love a positive review and for you to spread the
word. Thank you.
Episode Notes
Notes go here

Episode 159: The unacceptable price blind audiophiles pay for audio description, 20 years since George Harrison died, and our Chromebook series concludes

Kia ora Mosen At Largers. A reminder that this podcast is indexed by chapter. If
you listen with a podcast client that offers chapter support, you can easily
skip between segments. On the show this week:
Introduction,0:00.000
Great Buzzfeed article on ableist
language,1:38.872
The Blind man and the dell. And my new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon,2:46.456
Scribe for Personal Documents feedback,27:03.234
More thoughts on meeting presenters describing themselves,29:16.007
Our Chromebook demo continues with a look at Braille support,59:56.124
Some thoughts onChromebooks,1:28:12.780
The Bonnie Bulletin,1:46:16.444
Should Apple police third-party accessibility?,1:54:35.283
Android thoughts,1:57:19.341
Closing and contact info,1:59:30.271
Share your thoughts on these topics or any others. Drop me an email in writing
or with an audio attachment, Jonathan at MushroomFm.com, or phone the listener
line in the United States, +1864-60Mosen, that's +18646066736.
Keep up with Mosen At Large between episodes. Follow MosenAtLarge on
Twitter where you'll get audio extras, links
to interesting news stories, sneak peeks about what's coming up and more. If
you'd like to subscribe to our announcements only email list, please send email
to 
And if you like the show, we'd love a positive review and for you to spread the
word. Thank you.

Episode 158: New Realtek driver causes problems for some Dell owners, presenters describing themselves at meetings, and more on Chromebooks

Kia ora Mosen At Largers. A reminder that this podcast is indexed by chapter. If
you listen with a podcast client that offers chapter support, you can easily
skip between segments. On the show this week:
Introduction,0:00.000
New Zealand and Australia to meet in the cricket T20 World Cup,0:36.774
Oh no! I have a broken Dell XPS15,3:06.612
Visual descriptions at conferences and meetings - handy or a step too
far?,13:19.147
Glen Gordon talks about updates to JAWS Tandem,28:19.291
Interview with Mike Calvo and Matt Campbell about Scribe from Pneuma
Solutions,44:09.820. Check out Scribe from 15 November at 
Demonstration of Scribe from Pneuma Solutions,1:11:38.117
In praise of Digit-eyes for iOS,1:42:49.559
Listener contributions on Apple things,1:45:45.019
Chrome OS,1:47:37.054
The Bonnie Bulletin,1:55:41.997
Closing and contact info,2:04:20.286
Share your thoughts on these topics or any others. Drop me an email in writing
or with an audio attachment, Jonathan at MushroomFm.com, or phone the listener
line in the United States, +1864-60Mosen, that's +18646066736.
Keep up with Mosen At Large between episodes. Follow MosenAtLarge on
Twitter where you'll get audio extras, links
to interesting news stories, sneak peeks about what's coming up and more. If
you'd like to subscribe to our announcements only email list, please send email
to 
And if you like the show, we'd love a positive review and for you to spread the
word. Thank you.

Episode 157: Is visual description a step too far, changes to JAWS Tandem, and the big reveal ofScribe from Pneuma Solutions

Kia ora Mosen At Largers. A reminder that this podcast is indexed by chapter. If
you listen with a podcast client that offers chapter support, you can easily
skip between segments. On the show this week:
#,Name,Start
Introduction,0:00.000
Jonathan interviewed on The Detail,1:30.642. You can search for The Detail in
any podcast app and subscribe there, or check out the episode
here.
Feedback onChromebooks,3:16.058
How I use my EchoDot,9:41.166
Amazon removing Gmail and Microsoft email support for Alexa devices,13:59.747
Apple questions and comments,16:10.485
Games blind and sighted people can play together,26:41.759
Part 2 of our Chromebook and Chromevox review and demonstration,35:09.431
Scanning with smartphones,1:23:59.063
Sighted people crying over blindness,1:26:26.841
Smoke detectors and the Deaf or hearing impaired,1:28:21.304
Thoughts on good VPN options,1:30:15.441
The Bonnie Bulletin,1:33:30.043
Review of the Streamlets radio app for Apple Watch,1:44:17.860
Jump Desktop question,1:47:32.354
Encouraging research for those with Norries Disease and similar degenerative
hearing loss,1:49:07.325
Clubhouse has a music mode,1:52:03.150
Android comments,1:54:29.319
What's the best barcode scanning app for iPhone?,1:57:53.484
Closing and contact info,1:59:27.355
Share your thoughts on these topics or any others. Drop me an email in writing
or with an audio attachment, Jonathan at MushroomFm.com, or phone the listener
line in the United States, +1864-60Mosen, that's +18646066736.
Keep up with Mosen At Large between episodes. Follow MosenAtLarge on
Twitter where you'll get audio extras, links
to interesting news stories, sneak peeks about what's coming up and more. If
you'd like to subscribe to our announcements only email list, please send email
to 
And if you like the show, we'd love a positive review and for you to spread the
word. Thank you.

Episode 82: Review and demonstration of the Mantis Q40 Braille display from APH

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