With the release of firmware 2.0 for the iPhone and iPod touch you can now install third party applications on your device.
One which has just been released is a WordPress app which allows you to write and publish blog entries from your iPhone or iPod touch as I am doing now.
Seems to work well so far.
Though it has to be said that typing on an iPod touch is not fantastic, and without copy and paste means you can’t copy stuff from another application or the web.
43 Folders has posted a short review of the Evernote application for the iPhone (or the iPod touch).
I need to do a full post on Evernote here some time soon, because it really is a nifty little application for collecting, storing, and organizing practically any kind of information you can throw at it. The iPhone version is a stripped-down, all-business version of the app that will scratch an itch for Evernote fans who are fatigued by having to email everything to the mothership.
Having used it myself, it works quite well.
Apple announced iPhone 3G yesterday in a keynote by Steve Jobs at the WWDC in San Francisco. It will be available in the UK on the 11th July.
New features include:
Other new features are:
I wonder if the Keynote (iWork) and PowerPoint support also allows you to show the presentation via an AV cable in the same way you can do at the moment with video and images.
It will be interesting to see also if iWork (or even Office) support includes editing and creating support, or is it just going to be reading, I suspect the latter.
Of course there are also all the features announced when the iPhone SDK was released earlier this year which include:
I do like the fact that an educational institution can put apps on the iPhone (or the iPod touch) without needing to go through the Apple checking process and the iTunes App store.
Downside is that you now need to activate the phone in store, so now unlocking just became a lot more expensive as you will have to buy into a phone plan as well as the phone.
I believe that the iPod touch has a lot of potential when it comes to mobile learning.
I think the SDK gives a whole new way of working with the iPod and Exchange intergration via ActivSync allows it to be used at an enterprise/institutional level that wasn’t possible before.
In our MoLeNET project we have a group using the iPod touch and another group using the iPod classic. If you remove the wireless aspect, the classic (or nano) is a much more flexible device. What makes the touch special is the wireless capability.
The fact you can browse the internet, use e-mail, web widgets, etc… on the iPod touch makes it much more usable for some aspects of learning than the “traditional” iPod.
My colleague Alan though mentions one failing of the iPod touch over other iPods. With the nano and the classic you can use them as USB storage devices to store files, however this is not possible with the iPod touch.
You will need to consider that the touch interface does mean the screen gets grubby pretty quickly and the included cloth will need to be used on a regular basis.
Another disadvantage is that it can’t play Flash based content.
So what about the PSP?
Well it has a bigger screen for one thing and it can play games!
I do like the PSP and at £120 is cheaper than the iPod touch.
It does not require iTunes and can be connected to a PC via a simple USB cable. With extras you can use Skype, record video and audio, and use GPS. The PSP also has built in speakers which means you don’t always have to use headphones.
However it comes with no onboard storage, so you will also need to buy a Memory Stick Duo for it. The wireless browser is okay, but nowhere near the level of usability or sophistication of the iPod touch browser.
Text entry is, well let’s just say, it’s interesting compared to other devices, it does mean that entering URLs is not easy.
The PSP can play “some” Flash based content.
So which one do I prefer?
Well I do use both on a regular basis, but for me the iPod touch wins out.
Well Steve Wheeler over at Learning with ‘E’s has set me up with a chain letter a challenge.
Right. It’s an interesting challenge and looks a little like a chain letter, but here goes. Mike Hasley, of TechWarrior Blog, has laid down a challenge for me and 4 others to add to a collection of photos that represent our passion in teaching/learning. I have to tag it ‘Meme: Passion Quilt’ and post it on a blog, Flickr, FaceBook or some other social networking tool with a brief commentary of why it is a passion for me.
My first thought was to ignore it, as I do not like chain letters and chain blog posts are not much better… however I did go and look at some of the photographs and the commentary.
So I have decided to take part, initially I didn’t know what image to use and then I remembered one I had taken on my mobile phone on my way to a meeting about mobile learning.
As I was on my way to the meeting with my pockets filled with a range of mobile devices sitting on the floor in the corridor was a student with an iPod touch watching a video. I asked him nicely and took his photograph.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a real passion for mobile learning and that though when other people mention mobile learning they automatically think about mobile technology, notably mobile computers, specifically Windows Mobile PDAs. For me it is a different philosophy, much more about learning when mobile.
It was walking around different colleges which made me realise that when it came to mobile learning, it wasn’t about getting PDAs running learning content (though I am sure there are scenarios which they would enhance and support learning), but was much more about using the devices our students already have.
So in my own college to see a learner happily using a mobile device in college gave me a real buzz.
As it happens this student was watching something not course related, but the fact that he had this device, was willing to carry it with him and was using it in college, made me realise how important it was to get mobile learning embedded into the college, as it should and will enhance and enrich the learning experience for a wide variety of learners.
I have a real passion for mobile learning and with designing learning scenarios and activities which allow learners to use their mobile devices and this photograph demonstrates to me why this is the direction we should be going along when we start to think about mobile learning.
The next part of this quilt is to challenge five others, well Steve has poached quite a few of the bloggers I know, but not all…
So I lay down the challenge to Lisa Valentine, Andy Black, Lilian, David Sugden and Dave Foord.
Maybe they will also take this challenge, or maybe you will.
The BBC launches a version of its iPlayer video on demand service for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.
The BBC has launched a version of its iPlayer video on demand service for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. It is the first time the software has been available on portable devices. The software, which allows users to download programmes from the last seven days, will work over a wi-fi connection but not over the mobile network.
Read more.
I am really pleased to see this happen. I do use the (flash version) of the iPlayer on my Macs now and again to catch up with the odd BBC TV programme either I miss or my EyeTV misses.
This will allow me to catch up either at home or say over lunch at work (on our new learner wireless network).
Obviously from a licensing perspective we can’t use this within the college to show BBC programmes to learners, but this does now allow learners who have an iPhone or an iPod touch to watch the useful or interesting BBC programme on the iPlayer.
Crave and Reuters reports that Apple has sent out invitations for an event on Thursday morning detailing the iPhone Software Developement Kit (SDK):
“Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features,” Apple said in an invitation sent to reporters.
Abilene Christian University (ACU) have announced that they would be issuing iPhones or iPod Touches to incoming freshman for use in their college courses and day to day lives.
YouTube Video Links
For those who have inadvertently blocked YouTube
What might a university look like with a fully deployed program of converged devices like the iPhone? Connected is one possible vision. This fictional day-in-the-life account highlights some of the potential benefits in a higher education setting when every student, faculty, and staff member is “connected.” Though the applications and functions portrayed in the film are purely speculative, they’re based on needs and ideas uncovered by our research – and we’ve already been making strides to transform this vision of mobile learning (mLearning) into reality.
Links
An Apple iPhone or iPod touch will become a central part of Abilene Christian University’s innovative learning experience this fall when all freshmen are provided one of these converged media devices, said Phil Schubert, ACU executive vice president.
Abilene Christian University (ACU) announced yesterday that they would be issuing iPhones or iPod Touches to incoming freshman for use in their college courses and day to day lives.
The new upgrades to the iPod touch do make it much more useful to learners who want to use it to “learn while mobile”.
It’s the best email you’ve ever seen on a handheld device. View rich HTML email with graphics and photos displayed inline, as well as PDF and Microsoft Word and Excel attachments.
Whether it’s the best is down to personal opinion…
However now that it can receive and send e-mail (outside webmail) and view Word and Excel attachments (no mention of PowerPoint) and PDFs (okay save that presentation as a PDF) means that it is now possible to read more stuff on the iPod touch then you could before.
I quite like the idea of the Maps feature, whether it will actually work in practice is a different story.
As you can e-mail notes this means that learners will be able to send their tutors answers to questions, etc…
Currently downloading and installing the 165MB software update and then I might buy and install the new apps.