• RT @ppatel Webaim is conducting a screen reader user survey o gather more definitive data on screen reader users: http://tinyurl.com/3rmwte # 2008/12/18
• News: Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.5.6 http://www.lioncourt.com/?p=250 # 2008/12/15
• Retweet: @cookiecrook BusinessWeek: Apple is greener than Greenpeace says. http://tinyurl.com/57v4fp # 2008/12/08
• Retweet: @vmwarefusion : Fusion 50% off today, one day only. Details: http://is.gd/9Gqi Coupon code "CyberMondayDeal" # 2008/12/01
• It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States. We're thankful for Apple's commitment to accessibility in their products. # 2008/11/27

We’ve just published a new Lioncourt.com editorial. In "Don’t Panic: Your First Trip to the Apple Store", Josh de Lioncourt provides the basics to get you up to speed with the Mac and VoiceOver before you take your first trip to an Apple Store. The article can be applied to any first-time Mac experience for a blind or visually impaired computer user. Enjoy!

If you find Lioncourt.com a useful resource and would like to help support the site, there are a couple of ways you can do so. You can make a donation by clicking the "Donate" button at the top of most pages, or you can shop for Apple and related products in our new Mac-cessibility Shop. We’ve teamed up with Amazon.com to bring you Macs, iPods, and accessories. We will be adding items to the shop regularly, so check back often.

As always, your support helps keep this site going as we try to provide a comprehensive resource for Macintosh computing for the blind and visually impaired. Thank you for your support.

Apple Inc. will be releasing two new varieties of earbuds for their iPod line of digital music players next month. The standard set will be priced at $29, while a higher-quality in-ear set will set you back $79. Both will include controls to play, pause, and skip through currently playing music on your iPod. Additionally, both sets will be equipped with an integrated microphone which will allow recording directly to your iPod. Chapter markers can be set in the recording, for easier navigation of longer recordings.

Coupled with the new accessibility features of the iPod nano, this gives visually impaired users a quick and easy way to record notes for themselves, such as phone numbers or appointment information. Previous iPod models provided recording capabilities, but these were tied to hardware devices that attached to the iPod’s dock connector.

And, of course, with recording input now being routed through the iPod’s mini-jack, we’re sure to see an array of third-party products, such as higher quality or more sensitive microphones, released. College students could record lectures right to their iPod, without the need of a separate digital audio recorder.

The BBC is reporting on a new technology being developed by a team of Japanese researchers which uses focused ultrasonic waves to produce the illusion of solid objects in mid-air to the sense of touch.

While still in its infancy, the researchers believe the technique could be used in video games to provide a more immersive experience. Audio and visual sensory input has been a major part of gaming for years, but the sense of touch has been hard to fully tap into. This technology could provide a way to more fully realized virtual experience.

However, to the blind, this technology could mean more. As the technology matures, it is easy to envision ways in which it may be used to provide tactile cues on touch screen devices like the iPhone or iPod Touch, or provide a less expensive and more easily maintained alternative to current Braille display technologies.