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GWKB1101 : BookSense Questions and Answers

The below is a collection of common questions and answers in no particular order regarding the BookSense. These will be updated as necessary.

1. Q: What is the BookSense?
   • A: The BookSense is a DAISY book reader, document reader, and audio media player. It is a product offered by GW Micro and HIMS which was released in late June, 2009. The BookSense is manufactured by HIMS -- The makers of the popular Braille Sense and Voice Sense notetakers.
2. Q: How big is the BookSense?
   • A: It weighs just 115 grams (approximately 4.056 ounces) and looks similar to a candy bar type cell phone. It measures 4.25 inches long by 1.85 inches wide by 0.75 inches high. If you have seen the Nokia N82 phones, the form factor is very similar.
3. Q: How does it physically compare to other accessible devices such as the Victor Reader Stream and the Plextalk Pocket?
   • A: The BookSense is slightly smaller and thinner than the Victor Reader Stream, and slightly thicker and narrower than the Plextalk Pocket. Additional information is available from the BookSense web site located at www.gwmicro.com/booksense.
4. Q: What is the layout of the buttons?
   • A: Going from top to bottom on the front of the unit, there is a built-in speaker. Below the speaker is a smooth horizontal button. This button is the clock. Below this button are the navigation and menu buttons. The menu button is in the shape of a hollow rectangle. Surrounding the menu button are the 4 navigation arrows. This means that the up arrow is between the menu button and the clock button. Just below the group of arrow buttons is the keypad. This keypad is used for numerical input as well as other navigational functions. The numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8 are slightly raised higher than the other buttons. The number 5 has a dot toward the top. The buttons which are normally designated as the asterisk and pound buttons are the cancel and ok buttons respectively. The bottom left corner and bottom right corners below the keypad are the charging indicator and internal microphone respectively. On the left side there are 3 buttons toward the top. Going from top to bottom they are mode, volume up, and volume down. The mode button is used to rotor between the various programs such as the Document reader and media player. Below these 3 buttons is the SD card slot. The right side contains 3 buttons as well. Going from top to bottom is the play/pause button, record button, and key lock switch. The record button is grooved for easier identification. Along the top of the BookSense is the external microphone jack on the left corner and the headphone jack on the right corner. The headphone jack has a dot behind it for easy identification. In the center between the two jacks is a small loop which can be used to secure a neck or wrist strap. The bottom of the BookSense contains the charger plug on the left, and the usb port on the right. Almost the entire back contains the removable battery.
5. Q: What file formats does the BookSense support?
   • A: The Document Reader supports the following document types: txt, brl, brf, Web Braille brf, Bookshare brf, xml, rtf, doc, docs, and html. The DAISY Player supports the following DAISY types: Bookshare DAISY, DAISY-mp3, NFB Newsline, NIMAS, NISO, Serotek SAMNet content, RFB&D AudioPlus, and NLS digital books. The Media Player supports the following types of audio: mp3, wav, wma, m4a, ogg, flac, aa (Audible format 4), and aax (Audible enhanced).
6. Q: How long does the battery last? And can the BookSense be charged via USB?
   • A: The battery lasts for approximately 12 hours of continuous use. It takes approximately 2 to 3 hours to charge with the AC adapter and about twice as long to charge via a USB port.
7. Q: Does the BookSense use CDs at all?
   • A: The BookSense is not physically large enough to use a CD. You can only use SD cards (Secure Digital cards) with it. In the case of the BookSense XT, you can also use the 4 gb of internal flash storage.
8. Q: Can any SD cards be used?
   • A: The BookSense will accept any SD (Secure Digital) memory cards. This includes the high capacity SDHC cards up to 32 GB in size.
9. Q: Can the BookSense be used as a recorder?
   • A: The BookSense can record to both wav and mp3 audio output. It can record from the internal microphone, an external microphone, and a line in source.
10. Q: Does the BookSense record in stereo?
    • A: If you connect a stereo external microphone or stereo audio patch cable to record from line in, your recordings will come out in stereo. The internal microphone is mono.
11. Q: What are the differences between the 2 BookSense models?
    • A: Both models feel physically the same and have the same navigational features. In addition, both models support the exact same file types. The BookSense Standard is red while the BookSense XT is white. Also, the BookSense XT has 4 gigabytes of internal flashdisk space, an FM-tuner (radio), and support for Bluetooth audio.
12. Q: Will any Bluetooth headset work with the BookSense XT?
    • A: The Bluetooth headset or speaker must support Bluetooth 2.0 as well as A2DP in order to be compatible with the BookSense.
13. Q: What are some of the features of the FM radio in the BookSense XT?
    • A: You can store up to 6 different presets, auto-scan for new stations, and connect an eighth-inch plug antenna to the headphone jack while still listening to the radio via the internal speaker.
14. Q: How do I add content to the BookSense so I can use it? Do I need special software?
    • A: In most cases you do not need special software to manage the content of the BookSense. All you need is a PC and the ability to manage files and folders (directories). When you insert an SD card into the BookSense, it will create some default folders. They are called Documents, DAISY, Audio Books, Misc Audio, Music, Podcasts, Radio, and Record. In addition, there are 4 subfolders added to the DAISY folder and they are called Bookshare, NFBNewsline, NLS, and RFB&D. The Documents folder is where documents are placed for the Document Reader to access. The DAISY folder is where content such as Bookshare DAISY books, NFB Newsline papers, NLS digital books, and RFB&D AudioPlus DAISY books are placed for the DAISY reader to access. The rest of the folders mentioned are used by the media player. Any folders with other names will not be seen by the BookSense. So for example if you have a folder called files or books, content inside these folders will not exist as far as the BookSense is concerned. In some cases, software such as the Audible Manager can be used to transfer Audible content to the BookSense.
15. Q: How do I download a Bookshare DAISY book or an NLS digital talking book to put into the BookSense?
    • A: Both Bookshare and NLS offer their book titles as single zip files. A zip file is an archived file package which contains all the individual files which make up the Book. When you download one of these files, you must unzip or uncompress the zip file before copying it to the BookSense. Once the file has been unzipped into its own folder. The folder containing the book needs to be copied into the DAISY folder of the SD card so that the DAISY player will be able to access it. For specific details on what Bookshare and/or what NLS is, please visit their respective web sites.
16. Q: What's the voice like on the BookSense? Is it the same as the Voice Sense and Braille Sense?
    • A: The BookSense has a different text-to-speech engine than the Voice Sense and Braille Sense. It sounds very similar to the NeoSpeech Kate and Paul voices. It does not use the same Eloquence voice as the Voice Sense and Braille Sense.
17. Q: Are there other voices available to choose from?
    • A: In addition to the default female voice, you can press and hold the number 5 button for 2 seconds to switch to the male voice.
18. Q: What is the volume of the internal speaker like?
    • A: Unfortunately this is a bit of a difficult question to answer since volume levels can be a relative thing. However when the internal speaker is used, for the most part there is no need to connect it to an additional external and amplified speaker. If one is in a typical environment such as an office or classroom setting, one should be able to hear the BookSense output just fine. If one is in a noisy environment such as in a crowd of people, or at an exhibit area, it may be more difficult. The volume setting of the internal speaker is saved separately from the headphone jack. This means that you can have the internal speaker set to level 18 while having the headphone volume set to level 10.
19. Q: What about things like protected WMA audio files, Overdrive books, ETC?
    • A: The BookSense currently does not support protected WMA DRM files at this time. We hope to have support for this in the future.
20. Q: Does the BookSense work with the NFB Newsline In Your Pocket Software to transfer NFB Newsline content automatically?
    • A: Yes. You must download and install version 1.3 or newer from the www.NFBNewslineOnline.org site. You will then be able to transfer content into the BookSense. The content will be placed inside the NFBNewsline folder located in the DAISY Player. You can also copy content manually by creating subfolders inside the NFBNewsline folder of the SD card or flashdisk and copying the NFB Newsline content into them.
21. Q: Does the BookSense support audio described programs such as those offered by Serotek?
    • A: Yes. You must be subscribed to the System Access Mobile Network (SAMNet) in order to transfer described audio programming. Please visit Serotek for more information. When content from SAMNet is transferred to the BookSense, it is placed in the DAISY Player inside the Serotek folder.
22. Q: How do you upgrade the software of the BookSense?
    • A: When new software updates are available, they will be available from the GW Micro web site. The knowledge base article KB1107 gives steps on doing this.

New features and capabilities may be added in the future. To take advantage of them, you will need to upgrade the BookSense firmware. The current firmware is version 2.1, dated March 5, 2010.

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