?

Another round of answers!

Darren, to answer your concerns. Having a lot of file (and when I say a lot, I don't mean a few hundred, I mean thousands and thousands, like over 5-6K files) will slow down boot a little, but it remains usable. We index the content of the SD card when we boot so we can present the data to the user faster. This won't affect the vast majority of users.

For battery, I've had my previous cell phone for over 3 years, and the battery was about 90% as good as it was day 1. Batteries nowadays last much longer. But it's the reality of all modern devices, external, user replacable batteries are really, really rare. That's because of many factors: design reasons, a bit more resistance to light water exposure, etc. It is the decision we made when we started to design this Stream 3 a few years ago, and while I understand that some people won't like it, had we decided to keep an external battery, some people would've complained about that, too. At the end of the day, it was a decision we made and we truly believe it is the best decision for the device.

For Audible, we agree it's not ideal, but it's outside of our control. We have been communicating with Audible for several months, and we are waiting for them. To give you an idea, we flagged them that their lastest AudibleSync release broke activation on the current Stream and VRTrek a few months ago, and nothing has been done yet. As soon as we can get something going there, we will have it on: as I said previously, we also love Audible. :)

As for your USB-C concerns, you're entitled to your opinion, but it is widely accepted that it's much sturdier than Micro USB.?

You seem to have a very negative opinion of Humanware and the Stream for some reason, and I'm sorry that this is the case, and it is certainly your right. We haven't always done things right in the past, we've made some mistakes, but we are trying to learn from them and improve things, while keeping the cost of the product as low as possible to make it affordable for our users. But while I'm happy to address concerns, I can only offer things as they are. The perfect device would have wireless charging, the latest BT, 1TB of internal memory, the ability to put in a 5G Sim card for Internet access with a phone data plan, etc... and cost 2K. So we sometimes have to make compromises, while keeping usability as high as possible: that means trade-offs.

Some other things I saw mentioned:

DOCX will indeed be available as it is on the Stream 3. .DOC is a proprietary format. Blame Microsoft, not us for this one. :) We're happy they've moved on to a more open format. docx.

Someone mentioned wireless charging. We looked into it, but the certification costs for wireless charging are fairly big. When you amortize it on the sales of millions of devices like an iPhone or a Samsung phone, it comes up to peanuts per device, but we don't sell millions of Stream, and it would've increased the cost significantly (I'm talking double digits increase per unit).

Once again, thank you everyone for your feedback. I'm happy to respond. Whether it's positive or constructive, hey, I'll answer. You may or may not like my answer, but I'll be transparent. However, I won't respond to impolite/bad faith actors (not that I've seen much of that, but just thought it was worth mentioning)?

To Effie, thanks for the kind words :)

Thanks!

Mathieu

?

Good morning everyone!

A few answers to what was asked since my last post.

Podcasts: The new Stream 3 supports a more extended list of formats. A lot of podcast that stopped working on the Stream 2 recently may start working on the 3.

For Internet radio, yes, still ooTunes, but there's also something new. I'm not giving away the details here, more to come ;)

RNIB for Yusuf: Yes, we are talking with the RNIB. They do not use DOD, they have their own protocol (like Bookshare, or BARD in the US), but we are working with them to try and integrate their service in a future version of the Stream 3.

For the BBC, yes, we're talking with them and also trying to come up with a solution to keep carrying them.

For the default download location, it is not currently an option, but I'll keep that in mind for a future update.

Had a question from Chris about the availability of the VRTrek, for now, we're still selling it.?

For Ron asking about playing the audio of newer video formats like CNN and FOX, I can't speak to that yet, I'm not sure, we'll have to test, but we've updated our CODECs and we support a lot more formats than we did previously, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Alright, kicking off the day on a good note!

Looking forward to reading you all today. :)

Mathieu

?

I step away for an hour and a half to do a StellarTrek webinar with APH, and I come back to over 10 new posts. This. is. AMAZING!

Let me answer the most recent questions!

Bluetooth: it's 4.2. As with everything Bluetooth, compatibility is king, but it should work fairly well with a wide range of devices.

File management: the internal memory is now usable to store content that's downloaded through a computer, so someone without an SD card could still download content and store it locally. Connecting the Stream 3 to your computer uses MTP, which also means that you can keep using the Stream, unlike the Stream 2 where it goes into "Player Connected" mode and can only be used as an SD Card reader.

Flash drives: No, unfortunately, the Stream, because we're using MTP, will not read flash drives or NLS cartridges. However, you could transfer stuff from the cartride/flash drive onto either an SD card or in the internal memory using a computer.

Using a portable power bank like an Anker to recharge: Absolutely, you can. As I type this, my Stream 3 is recharging on my INIU power bank. :)

Stream 2 support: as I mentioned in my original post, we will support the Stream 2 for 3 years after the release of this new device. This means support, repairs, batteries, etc, as long as those components are commercially available to us. We always support our products for 3 years after the last sale is done, which is pretty good, a lot of companies end support much sooner than that.

Wired headphones: absolutely you can use, there's a 3.5mm jack for headphones. And a mic jack as well, separate (we heard all the feedback we received on combining those on the Trek!)

5G wifi: Yes, 5G wifi is supported, along with 2.4.


And to Gil, who read 350 books in 2022: WOW. That's pretty much a book a day. KUDOS!

On that note, as it's almost 8:30pm here in Quebec, I'm going to sign off for the evening, but I'll be back tomorrow to answer questions and hang around!

Thank you all for your interest and enthusiasm, you all made my day!

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

?

Hi Tom!

USB-C ports in general are much more reliable and tend to be more robust than micro USB ports. The micro USB issues that we see on occasion on the Stream are far from exclusive on that device: I had the same problem with some headphones I had for my computer last year, the micro USB port wear and tear broke it down.

USB-C is also much easier to use, as you can plug it in either way. So yes, the charging port will be much more robust on the Stream 3 than it is on the Stream 2.

?

Yes, the keys on the Stream (as in, the keypad) will work. Bluetooth is used for speakers/headphones.

For the battery, yes, it would have to be sent in for a replacement, just like with cell phones and most devices nowadays. But again, it is much more reliable than an external battery.

?

Hello all,

Glad to see such enthusiasm! Believe me, it's mutual!

A few answers, to those questions and comments that I can answer. :)

1TB cards: Keep in mind that if you have thousands of files, this will lenghten the boot process. We recommend not having TOO many files, but having large SD card support allows to put on some larger files (like recordings, music, etc). But if you boot up with 10,000 books, it'll be a long boot ;)

On Joseph's question about the keys, I'm not sure I understand the question. This being said, to answer in general, the usage is pretty similar. We've made a few changes to the user interface (especially the settings menu, that has been revamped), but a Stream 2 user will be able to pick up and use a Stream 3 super easily!

Bill and Jane asked about the memory. On the Stream 2, the memory is a microSD card inside the device. We all know SD and microSD aren't the most reliable, but it was what was best to use at the time the Stream 2 was designed. The Stream 3 instead has flash memory (kind of like phones). We'll have a 16 gig internal memory (about 13 usable), compared to 8 gig on the Stream 2. But there's a novelty here, that I won't reveal yet ;)

Battery question: the Stream 3 has an internal battery, we are no longer using external batteries. Internal batteries are much more reliable. The battery life is nothing to scoff at too, you'll get at least 15 hours of use out of a single charge.

Audible and other libraries: Unfortunately, there won't be Audible support at launch. We have tried our best, and are in communication with the people at Audible, but the Stream uses a different technology to communicate with the computer (MTP), and we need them to certify it for AudibleSync. Believe me, we're trying our very best, because we also use Audible on our Streams!

We are in the final stages of certifying with BARD and should be good to go for BARD, and Bookshare/NFB are ready. For our international users, Daisy Online will not be there at launch: for example, Canadian users will have to download their books from CELA from a computer. However, support for Direct Download through Daisy Online will come soon after launch (in the spring at the very latest but we're shooting for end of winter).

Pricing: We're not ready to reveal the pricing yet, but I can say with 100% certainty that yes, it'll be cheaper than the VRTrek. Actually, it's not very far off the price of the current Stream... ;) But more info to come on this, we want to meet with our dealers to give them that information first.

Once again, thanks for the interest, and I'll keep monitoring this thread and answering questions as much as I can, but I have to go prepare for a webinar on the StellarTrek with APH tonight!

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

?

Bluetooth will only be for headphones/speakers at launch, but we are exploring the possibility of using a keyboard in the future, no promise. :)

?

Hi Joseph,

For the Internet radio, we are tied in with ooTunes, so some of the issues you're experiencing are because the links aren't always being kept up to date on that platform. But we have more coming on the Internet radio side of things, stay tuned (pun intended!)

In as far as the headphone and microphone jacks, yyes, they are still separate.

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

?

开云体育

?

Hi Joseph,

For the Internet radio, we are tied in with ooTunes, so some of the issues you're experiencing are because the links aren't always being kept up to date on that platform. But we have more coming on the Internet radio side of things, stay tuned (pun intended!)

In as far as the headphone and microphone jacks, yyes, they are still separate.

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

?

Bluetooth will only be for headphones/speakers at launch, but we are exploring the possibility of using a keyboard in the future, no promise. :)

?

Yes, the keys on the Stream (as in, the keypad) will work. Bluetooth is used for speakers/headphones.

For the battery, yes, it would have to be sent in for a replacement, just like with cell phones and most devices nowadays. But again, it is much more reliable than an external battery.

?

Hello all,

Glad to see such enthusiasm! Believe me, it's mutual!

A few answers, to those questions and comments that I can answer. :)

1TB cards: Keep in mind that if you have thousands of files, this will lenghten the boot process. We recommend not having TOO many files, but having large SD card support allows to put on some larger files (like recordings, music, etc). But if you boot up with 10,000 books, it'll be a long boot ;)

On Joseph's question about the keys, I'm not sure I understand the question. This being said, to answer in general, the usage is pretty similar. We've made a few changes to the user interface (especially the settings menu, that has been revamped), but a Stream 2 user will be able to pick up and use a Stream 3 super easily!

Bill and Jane asked about the memory. On the Stream 2, the memory is a microSD card inside the device. We all know SD and microSD aren't the most reliable, but it was what was best to use at the time the Stream 2 was designed. The Stream 3 instead has flash memory (kind of like phones). We'll have a 16 gig internal memory (about 13 usable), compared to 8 gig on the Stream 2. But there's a novelty here, that I won't reveal yet ;)

Battery question: the Stream 3 has an internal battery, we are no longer using external batteries. Internal batteries are much more reliable. The battery life is nothing to scoff at too, you'll get at least 15 hours of use out of a single charge.

Audible and other libraries: Unfortunately, there won't be Audible support at launch. We have tried our best, and are in communication with the people at Audible, but the Stream uses a different technology to communicate with the computer (MTP), and we need them to certify it for AudibleSync. Believe me, we're trying our very best, because we also use Audible on our Streams!

We are in the final stages of certifying with BARD and should be good to go for BARD, and Bookshare/NFB are ready. For our international users, Daisy Online will not be there at launch: for example, Canadian users will have to download their books from CELA from a computer. However, support for Direct Download through Daisy Online will come soon after launch (in the spring at the very latest but we're shooting for end of winter).

Pricing: We're not ready to reveal the pricing yet, but I can say with 100% certainty that yes, it'll be cheaper than the VRTrek. Actually, it's not very far off the price of the current Stream... ;) But more info to come on this, we want to meet with our dealers to give them that information first.

Once again, thanks for the interest, and I'll keep monitoring this thread and answering questions as much as I can, but I have to go prepare for a webinar on the StellarTrek with APH tonight!

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware

?

Good morning everyone!

A few answers to what was asked since my last post.

Podcasts: The new Stream 3 supports a more extended list of formats. A lot of podcast that stopped working on the Stream 2 recently may start working on the 3.

For Internet radio, yes, still ooTunes, but there's also something new. I'm not giving away the details here, more to come ;)

RNIB for Yusuf: Yes, we are talking with the RNIB. They do not use DOD, they have their own protocol (like Bookshare, or BARD in the US), but we are working with them to try and integrate their service in a future version of the Stream 3.

For the BBC, yes, we're talking with them and also trying to come up with a solution to keep carrying them.

For the default download location, it is not currently an option, but I'll keep that in mind for a future update.

Had a question from Chris about the availability of the VRTrek, for now, we're still selling it.?

For Ron asking about playing the audio of newer video formats like CNN and FOX, I can't speak to that yet, I'm not sure, we'll have to test, but we've updated our CODECs and we support a lot more formats than we did previously, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Alright, kicking off the day on a good note!

Looking forward to reading you all today. :)

Mathieu

?

Another round of answers!

Darren, to answer your concerns. Having a lot of file (and when I say a lot, I don't mean a few hundred, I mean thousands and thousands, like over 5-6K files) will slow down boot a little, but it remains usable. We index the content of the SD card when we boot so we can present the data to the user faster. This won't affect the vast majority of users.

For battery, I've had my previous cell phone for over 3 years, and the battery was about 90% as good as it was day 1. Batteries nowadays last much longer. But it's the reality of all modern devices, external, user replacable batteries are really, really rare. That's because of many factors: design reasons, a bit more resistance to light water exposure, etc. It is the decision we made when we started to design this Stream 3 a few years ago, and while I understand that some people won't like it, had we decided to keep an external battery, some people would've complained about that, too. At the end of the day, it was a decision we made and we truly believe it is the best decision for the device.

For Audible, we agree it's not ideal, but it's outside of our control. We have been communicating with Audible for several months, and we are waiting for them. To give you an idea, we flagged them that their lastest AudibleSync release broke activation on the current Stream and VRTrek a few months ago, and nothing has been done yet. As soon as we can get something going there, we will have it on: as I said previously, we also love Audible. :)

As for your USB-C concerns, you're entitled to your opinion, but it is widely accepted that it's much sturdier than Micro USB.?

You seem to have a very negative opinion of Humanware and the Stream for some reason, and I'm sorry that this is the case, and it is certainly your right. We haven't always done things right in the past, we've made some mistakes, but we are trying to learn from them and improve things, while keeping the cost of the product as low as possible to make it affordable for our users. But while I'm happy to address concerns, I can only offer things as they are. The perfect device would have wireless charging, the latest BT, 1TB of internal memory, the ability to put in a 5G Sim card for Internet access with a phone data plan, etc... and cost 2K. So we sometimes have to make compromises, while keeping usability as high as possible: that means trade-offs.

Some other things I saw mentioned:

DOCX will indeed be available as it is on the Stream 3. .DOC is a proprietary format. Blame Microsoft, not us for this one. :) We're happy they've moved on to a more open format. docx.

Someone mentioned wireless charging. We looked into it, but the certification costs for wireless charging are fairly big. When you amortize it on the sales of millions of devices like an iPhone or a Samsung phone, it comes up to peanuts per device, but we don't sell millions of Stream, and it would've increased the cost significantly (I'm talking double digits increase per unit).

Once again, thank you everyone for your feedback. I'm happy to respond. Whether it's positive or constructive, hey, I'll answer. You may or may not like my answer, but I'll be transparent. However, I won't respond to impolite/bad faith actors (not that I've seen much of that, but just thought it was worth mentioning)?

To Effie, thanks for the kind words :)

Thanks!

Mathieu

?

Keypad has the exact same placement and the exact same keys in terms of functionality. The keys are more rubberized though now, and we added tactile cues to the 2-4-6-8 keys.

Besides the audio jack placements (the headphone is next to the USB-C, the microphone is on the left side below the volume key), the layout is the same!

Mathieu

?

Few people asked about memory, it is indeed 16 gigs, about 13 usable by the end user.

And you will also be able to use it to store books/music/etc from a computer like you would on an SD card.

For Bluetooth, 4.2 is correct.

Mathieu

?

Hi Tom!

USB-C ports in general are much more reliable and tend to be more robust than micro USB ports. The micro USB issues that we see on occasion on the Stream are far from exclusive on that device: I had the same problem with some headphones I had for my computer last year, the micro USB port wear and tear broke it down.

USB-C is also much easier to use, as you can plug it in either way. So yes, the charging port will be much more robust on the Stream 3 than it is on the Stream 2.

?

I step away for an hour and a half to do a StellarTrek webinar with APH, and I come back to over 10 new posts. This. is. AMAZING!

Let me answer the most recent questions!

Bluetooth: it's 4.2. As with everything Bluetooth, compatibility is king, but it should work fairly well with a wide range of devices.

File management: the internal memory is now usable to store content that's downloaded through a computer, so someone without an SD card could still download content and store it locally. Connecting the Stream 3 to your computer uses MTP, which also means that you can keep using the Stream, unlike the Stream 2 where it goes into "Player Connected" mode and can only be used as an SD Card reader.

Flash drives: No, unfortunately, the Stream, because we're using MTP, will not read flash drives or NLS cartridges. However, you could transfer stuff from the cartride/flash drive onto either an SD card or in the internal memory using a computer.

Using a portable power bank like an Anker to recharge: Absolutely, you can. As I type this, my Stream 3 is recharging on my INIU power bank. :)

Stream 2 support: as I mentioned in my original post, we will support the Stream 2 for 3 years after the release of this new device. This means support, repairs, batteries, etc, as long as those components are commercially available to us. We always support our products for 3 years after the last sale is done, which is pretty good, a lot of companies end support much sooner than that.

Wired headphones: absolutely you can use, there's a 3.5mm jack for headphones. And a mic jack as well, separate (we heard all the feedback we received on combining those on the Trek!)

5G wifi: Yes, 5G wifi is supported, along with 2.4.


And to Gil, who read 350 books in 2022: WOW. That's pretty much a book a day. KUDOS!

On that note, as it's almost 8:30pm here in Quebec, I'm going to sign off for the evening, but I'll be back tomorrow to answer questions and hang around!

Thank you all for your interest and enthusiasm, you all made my day!

Mathieu Paquette
Product Manager
Humanware