Episode 191: Prime Day cancelled, Vibrating Shoes and Pretty Air Fly for a Blind Guy
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Welcome back to another episode of Double Tap Canada. This week’s show kicks off (eventually) with the shocking news that Amazon’s Prime Day was cancelled in Canada. Marc is naturally upset but, luckily, Steven and Shaun are happy to point out that it was not cancelled in the UK, and they are kind enough to tell him what gadgets they bought.
Shaun has splashed out on a new monitor, hoping that an increased contrast ratio will help him see a little more on his current display. Is this just wishful thinking, or can a higher-quality screen be helpful even with extremely low vision?
After a discussion regarding the allegation that Amazon destroys hundreds of perfectly good products, such as smart TVs and laptops a week, Steven tells us of his recent purchase, including two HDMI switchers that just had to be there the next day and an accessory for his iPad Classic that allows him to use his AirPods with the aging music player. It is called the Air Fly but why is Marc not as impressed as Steven?
Next up is the news that Honda is working on a device you slip into you shoes and will vibrate to guide you to your location using GPS. A vibration in your left shoe means turn left, a vibration in the right shoe means turn right and both shoes together mean straight ahead. Is this an innovative interface for accessing information, or is it simply sensory overload for most people? And just how useful is GPS anyway?
There is also the news of a new smart watch from Samsung which will be the first to feature the new Android Wear OS that was developed by both Samsung and Google, Steven’s fake $18 AirPod headphones, a listener question on Mac accessibility, and Marc’s first impressions of the Starlink satellite Internet system. All this and more, only on Double Tap Canada.