The Nokia touchscreen smartphone is finally official. See a Flickr slideshow of the device here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahintampa/sets/72157607671323920/show/

Overview here: http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_5800_xpressmusic_hits_it_off-news-612.php

More here: http://www.nokia.co.nz/5800xpressmusic

The MLearning trials at Unitec this year have mostly been going really well, particularly the Bachelor of Product Design trials. Here's a few resources overviewing these trials:




MLearning Slideshow:



MLearning Overview Workshop Notes:

http://ctliwiki.unitec.ac.nz/index.php/MlearningWorkshops

Well done Noel on a great presentation on the benefits of blogging for Product Design to the Certificate students - give that man a chocolate fish ;-)

Captured using N95 & uploaded to YouTube:

A snippet captured via Flixwagon & forwarded to YouTube:

While the iPhone works great with YouTube, using the YouTube application, it does not play friendly with other Flash video sites (at least without 'jailbreaking' it!).

The iPhone dosen't support Flash video - which the main browser video versions of most web - based video sites, such as www.ted.com videos are formatted as, HOWEVER, the iphone happily plays and streams .mp4 video! So finding the .mp4 video link from sites such as www.ted.com videos actually do stream nicely OTA (Over The Air) directly to the iPhone. See screenshots below ;-)

To do this:
Browse to the video site on Safari on the iPhone. Select the 'RSS' feed links on the iPhone, you can then stream OTA .mp4 video or audio directly from sites like www.ted.com. The iPhone uses an online feed reader to do the conversion for it: http://reader.mac.com, which then displays a Quicktime plugin icon, selecting this icon will then stream the audio or video directly OTA to the iPhone YAY!

Be aware that streaming media does not store it on the iPhone - if you want to watch/listen more than once, it's best to use the iTunes links on your PC to download the video/audio to iTunes on your PC, then sync the downloaded files to your iPhone for offline viewing!

$PostBody$

iPod receives speaker and headset with microphone and voice recording application - so now you can create multimedia content with the iPod. However I'm disappointed the iPod didn't get updated with a camera as well!

There's also some cool wireless MIDI controller apps available for iPod Touch & iPhone from Silicon Studios - MIDI Controller apps.

IPhone 2.1 solves looong sync times - YAY!

also discovered some NZ developed iPod/iPhone apps by ORSOME.

Check them out at the app store.

Thom

Last mobile web2 workshop for Diploma Landscape Design students before heading off on their trip to Japan on Monday! They are using Sonyericsson P1i's for moblogging their trip, and also as travel aids:

• Media player - load your favourite audio (mp3 or aac) and video (mp4) tracks beforehand to the memory card
• FM Radio - plug in the headset - it acts as the aerial!
• Alarm clock
• World Clock
• eBook or PDF reader
• Calendar
• Google Mobile Maps for directions
• Transport maps e.g. Tube2
• Language translator
  

Well, apparently Palm have finally caught up with the rest of the smartphone world, producing the Palm Pro! It's a shame they've 'sold-out' to Windows Mobile to do it! Still no new Palm OS in sight!!!

The Palm Pro generally matches the specs of the N95, iPhone, and Sonyericsson smartphones. At 2MP the camera is pretty lame still - although at least it supports video recording - unlike the iPhone! It's one advantage over the N95 is the full builtin qwerty keyboard, however you have to put up with the Windows Mobile OS rather than Symbian. It may be worth investigating further, but Mac support is limited to third-party solutions such as "The Missing Sync" for windows mobile etc... I don't know if I could be bothered with the hassle when there are better alternatives ;-) I have also found that students are not drawn to the Treo's or Windows Mobile platforms either - keep it for business Windows only geeks! (Way to go Palm - NOT!)

Brochures	Treo™ Pro by Palm
Platform	Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional Edition
Processor	Qualcomm® MSM7201 400MHz
Display	320x320 transflective color TFT flush touchscreen
Radio	HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM radio Tri-band UMTS – 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz Quad-band GSM – 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 1900MHz
Wi-Fi	802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, and 801.1x authentication
GPS	Built-in GPS
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology	Version: 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate
Memory	256MB (100MB user available), 128MB RAM
Camera	2.0 megapixels with up to 8x digital zoom and video capture
Battery	Removable, rechargeable 1500mAh lithium-ion; Up to 5.0 hours talk time and up to 250 hours standby
Expansion	microSDHC cards (up to 32GB supported)1
Connector	MicroUSB™ 2.0 for synchronization and charging
Audio	3.5mm stereo headset jack
Dimensions	Length: 4.49", Width: 2.36", Depth: 0.53", Weight: 4.69 oz
Color	Obsidian
System Requirements	Windows® XP, Windows Vista™
Software on device	ActiveSync®; Adobe Reader LE; Bluetooth®; Bubble Breaker; Calculator; Calendar; Communications Manager; Contacts; File Explorer; Get WorldMate; GoogleMaps; Internet Explorer® Mobile; Messaging; Microsoft® Office Mobile including Excel® Mobile, OneNote Mobile, PowerPoint® Mobile, and Word Mobile; My Treo; Notes; Pics & Videos; QuickGPS; Quick Tour; SIM Manager; Solitaire; Sprite Backup; Streaming Media; Tasks; Telenav; Voice Command; Windows Live™; Windows Live™ Messenger; Windows Media® Player Mobile

Well, apparently Palm have finally caught up with the rest of the smartphone world, producing the Palm Pro! It's a shame they've 'sold-out' to Windows Mobile to do it! Still no new Palm OS in sight!!!

The Palm Pro generally matches the specs of the N95, iPhone, and Sonyericsson smartphones. At 2MP the camera is pretty lame still - although at least it supports video recording - unlike the iPhone! It's one advantage over the N95 is the full builtin qwerty keyboard, however you have to put up with the Windows Mobile OS rather than Symbian. It may be worth investigating further, but Mac support is limited to third-party solutions such as "The Missing Sync" for windows mobile etc... I don't know if I could be bothered with the hassle when there are better alternatives ;-) I have also found that students are not drawn to the Treo's or Windows Mobile platforms either - keep it for business Windows only geeks! (Way to go Palm - NOT!)

Brochures	Treo™ Pro by Palm
Platform	Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional Edition
Processor	Qualcomm® MSM7201 400MHz
Display	320x320 transflective color TFT flush touchscreen
Radio	HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM radio Tri-band UMTS – 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2100MHz Quad-band GSM – 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 1900MHz
Wi-Fi	802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, and 801.1x authentication
GPS	Built-in GPS
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology	Version: 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate
Memory	256MB (100MB user available), 128MB RAM
Camera	2.0 megapixels with up to 8x digital zoom and video capture
Battery	Removable, rechargeable 1500mAh lithium-ion; Up to 5.0 hours talk time and up to 250 hours standby
Expansion	microSDHC cards (up to 32GB supported)1
Connector	MicroUSB™ 2.0 for synchronization and charging
Audio	3.5mm stereo headset jack
Dimensions	Length: 4.49", Width: 2.36", Depth: 0.53", Weight: 4.69 oz
Color	Obsidian
System Requirements	Windows® XP, Windows Vista™
Software on device	ActiveSync®; Adobe Reader LE; Bluetooth®; Bubble Breaker; Calculator; Calendar; Communications Manager; Contacts; File Explorer; Get WorldMate; GoogleMaps; Internet Explorer® Mobile; Messaging; Microsoft® Office Mobile including Excel® Mobile, OneNote Mobile, PowerPoint® Mobile, and Word Mobile; My Treo; Notes; Pics & Videos; QuickGPS; Quick Tour; SIM Manager; Solitaire; Sprite Backup; Streaming Media; Tasks; Telenav; Voice Command; Windows Live™; Windows Live™ Messenger; Windows Media® Player Mobile

The GPS built-in to the N95 and iPhone allows you to locate your position on Google Maps, plot directions, and geotag photos (embed longitude and latitude data into photos taken with the smartphone's camera, allowing location on Google Maps etc...). Other more creative applications are also possible - such as locating restaurants etc...

Online photo-sharing services, such as Flickr, support the use of geotagged data and provide direct links too Maps for locating the exact position where the photo was taken. This can be very useful. This data is usually embedded as EXIF data in a jpeg photo. Quote from Flickr:

What is EXIF data?
Almost all new digital cameras save JPEG
(jpg) files with EXIF (Exchangeable Image
File) data. Camera settings and scene
information are recorded by the camera into
the image file. Examples of stored
information are shutter speed, date and time,
focal length, exposure compensation,
metering pattern and if a flash was used.

When a geotagged photo is uploaded to Flickr, a 'map' link option is presented, and clicking the "more details" link for an uploaded photo will reveal the EXIF data. e.g.

On the iPhone, an example GPS enabled geotagging application is "Mobile Photos" - an iPhone Flickr client that supports 'location' details for photos uploaded from the iPhone:

iPhone GPS screenshots:

Make sure the "Location Services" option is enabled in the iPhone's settings - as this turns on the GPS!

Nokia N95 GPS Geotagging:

On the N95, use the "GPS Data" application to first get a GPS satellite lock - this can take 10-15minutes the first time - and must be done with a clear view of the sky - either outside or on a windowsill!

Start the "GPS Data" application, then select "Navigation", "options", "Show Satellite Status".


When satelite data is obtained, several dark coloured bars will be seen:

Now use either the "Location Tagger" or "Shozu" applications to add geotag info to your photos before uploading to Flickr.

Location Tagger:

Turning on Geotag option in Shozu Settings:

N95 GPS & Google Maps screenshot

N95 Geotagged Photo