RiVO, For When You’ve Got A Smartphone But Are Absolutely Determined To Keep On Using Buttons For Everything

After more than a year I’m pretty well over the “WHERE THE HELL ARE THE MOTHERFUCKING BUTTONS ON THIS PIECE OF SHIT!” phase of blind person iPhone acceptance, but if you’re still reeling from the news that there will be no more Talks and are staring down the harsh reality that homeboy’s gettin’ a smartphone, RiVO could maybe ease the transition just a little. Well, it sounds interesting if nothing else.

RiVO is a revolutionary keyboard-like remote for Apple iOS VoiceOver users. The name stands for Remote interface to VoiceOver. Being about the size of a credit card, it is highly portable and yet comfortable with big keys. There are 12 keys in the middle just like telephone keypad, and there are 4 additional keys on the left and on the right, respectively.

VoiceOver is an innovative technology from Apple and you can enjoy it like a breeze with RiVO. You can also type and edit text fast and easy, control music simple and handy. These features enable RiVO users to use a greater number of apps every day compared to VoiceOver users without RiVO. RiVO supports iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Android TalkBack is another innovative technology from Google, and Android version of RiVO is also available.

I don’t know how they figure this thing makes third party apps more accessible, but maybe that claim is simply a language issue since it looks a bit like English isn’t these people’s first one. Easier or more convenient perhaps, but the accessibility of something generally doesn’t change entirely when you swap out one option that works for a different option that also works.

You can order one for $129 U.S. plus $15 shipping, though if you order 4 or more at once, shipping is free.

If any of you decide to give it a go, I’d be interested to hear how it works out.

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