Whats New
New Cardboard Box in many languages
See below the box in Spanish. Similar local languages for users in France, Arabic Speaking countries, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Spanish speaking countries is currently available. Potential Distributors - should you want a box in another language and the Audio Instructions Card spoken in other languages, please contact us. We are happy to send you a low res version of the box for your evaluation.
New Box for PENfriend
In 2026, PENfriend 3 will be packed in a cardboard box instead of the translucent plastic one in the last 13 years!
Many distributors asked for this as part of their 'green' credentials. The box comes in different languages, Arabic, English, French, German, Latvian, Polish, Spanish. The key theme is under the banner, "Independence in Your Hand" and this is repeated in the languages as part of the global reach of PENfriend.
Dave Steele on the BBC One Show
Dave has been asked to appear on the BBC One Show to talk about his life and his new career as an author. He will be showing his latest book The Big Test and talking about the follow up book, The Unstoppable Duo, due in May 2025. With the same Rebecca price as illustrator, there is continuity as part of the Austin's Amazing Adventure series. Dave will be touring Australia, New Zealand and USA later this year. Of course he will be introducing the series of books designed for the Visually Impaired!
PENfriend awarded the GOAT (Greatest of all time) review for Visually Impaired
Sam Seavey reviews technology for Visually Impaired people. Sam is blind himself and runs his own The Blind Life.
Sam started with, "Hi Guys, today I am taking a look at one of the classics..." After thoroughly going through the product, he classified PENfriend as GOAT "Greatest of ALL Time technology for visual aids!" The PenFriend is one of the most popular assistive devices in the blind community, mainly because it works so well! Use it to label everything in your life! Medicine, documents, clothes, food, etc!.."
Inspirational Lucy Edwards and PENfriend
PENfriend was favourable mentioned on Radio 4, Women's Hour (41 minutes into programme).
Lucy has inspired young visually impaired people for her outgoing and encouraging role model in numerous media. Her new book "Blind Not Broken - Your guide in turning loss and grief into happiness" is available on the RNIB website, www.rnib.org.uk. Lucy says she loves the PENfriend in identifying makeup, her clothes and outfits and many other labelling challenges.
USB Type C cable for PENfriend
All PENfriends with a 2025... unique reference number (see sticker on inside battery cover) will run on only USB Type C cables instead of Type A. These cables are much easier to insert into the pen since there is no 'right' way in. Just plug in and you are connected.
Since 2025 all electronic sales to the EU have to include Type C. Any other cable is obsolete.
Even outside EU, all electronic products work much easier (especially for the Visually Impaired) and is highly recommended.
David Steele, the Blind Poet: New book for PENfriend
We are happy to announce a new partnership with Dave and will be publishing the first of several books about his son, who is suffering from a generative Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). The books are PENfriend enabled and you will be able to listen to Dave read his poetic text page by page along with an audio description of the illustrations across each double page.
The Big Test was published in 2024 and is available on this website.
The Unstoppable Duo is in progress and will be published in May 2025
Here is a little about Dave taken from his website:
The Blind and Beyond Radio Show
The Blind and Beyond Radio Show is a weekly - every Sunday 6pm EST, USA - radio program with a very large audience. It represents the needs of blind people and is a popular talk-in show. They recently interviewed the founder of PENfriend. Below is the first part of the interview (7minsP) where Robene answered three fundamental questions:
Penfriend3 in Arabic
In a few days we will launch the ARABIC version of Penfriend3. All the packaging is in Arabic, the detailed AUDIO INSTRUCTIONS in Arabic. You can buy ARABIC Penfriend from the RNIB. We will be demonstrating on video how to add the Qur'an as a talking book, Arabic mp3 songs in the MP3 player and we welcome your questions for any other features that you are looking for in the Penfriend3.