OTA 2009
- Rick Fant, head of Internet Discovery at Vodaphone,
- Caroline Lewko, mobile entrepreneur
- And someone from the BBC, whose name escapes me at the moment.
An age old battle?
PC Vs Mac
iPhone vs Zune
iTablet vs Courier
Wait, what?
According to Gizmondo (http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet), Microsoft have developed a new tablet like device and Apple have been developing a slate/tablet device.
will 2010-11 see another device war?
Hmmm, blogs
I’ve been quite busy,
We’re building a new college website from scratch (finally) and at the same time redeveloping our intranet.
My task is to build all of the fun interesting stuff for students, no easy feat. I’ve talked about seeSpace before , I’ve recenty met with the Student Council who raised the idea of student blogs:
Students create blogs, which are then viewable by all on the intranet.
I’ve started to implement this, which proving to be quite easy (it’s a simple recode of my exisiting application that allows students to record small notes/messages to themselves).
But what if we start thinking a little bigger?
I thought about how we can integrate the student blog idea and convert seespace into a student social network, I’ve got alot of the functionality sorted already via seec (twitter updates), blogs, friends etc.
All we need to do is put it together in a cohesive format and create an easy to use image uploader.
Mvix Ultio 1080p
I’ve been looking at upgrading my PC and/or buying a HTPC but this wonderous device could be the best thing ever!
It’s a low power consumption media box that can happily crunch through 1080p videos!
The Ultimate in Home Entertainment
Mvix Ultio (MX-800HD) 1080p Media Center, a new generation of media center, brings your digital entertainment to your living room. A Hard-Disk based set-top media player capable of HD playback with video output as high as 1080p, it delivers spectacular picture quality of HD video and crystal clear sound clarity of digital audio.
Ultio is internet-ready and pre-equipped with a network port (and an optional Wireless-N capability). It sports a samba server and a UPnP implementation, allowing seamless integration with services likePlayOn® or Tversity® (for streaming video content from Netflix®, Hulu®, CBS®, You
tube®, CNN®,ESPN® and much more).
It supports the following formats as well:
mkv, m2ts, mts,wmv®, iso, avi,mpg, mov, rm®,rmvb®, divx®,xvid, flv, Dolby®H.264, MKV, HD Divx®, Xvid, FLV,RM/RMVB®, MP3,WMA, AC3, AAC,FLAC
http://www.mvixusa.com/ultio/1080p-high-definition-home-theater-pc.html
So totally sold its unreal!
Holidays – Getting away (from//with) it all?
Beach
My recent trip back from London on Saturday got me thinking wistfully about Holidays (side note since buying my flat I haven’t had any time off that hasn’t been filled with DIY).
Join me as I travel back to my youth, to a time of orange squash and honey sandwiches.
Its summertime, schools out and its time for a holiday!
So in we all cram into my folks car:
- My brother and I in the back seats,
- Parents up front,
- Mum with the map,
- Dad with a steely determination to get to the destination as quickly as possible (and screw the traffic laws)
- Air conditioning was the realm of premium saloons like the S Class etc, so windows open and pray that we don’t get stuck in traffic!
But what entertainment to keep a six and an 8 year old quiet on the journey?
We had few options, stare out the window, read a book, be sick after reading a book or kicking the back seats.
Later on we had access to a Nintendo Gameboy and an Atari Lynx but the battery of either wasn’t impressive (or in the case of the Lynx horrific, 8 AA batteries drained in under half an hour!!)
Compare that to today’s car journey of today:
- Individual climate control for front and back passengers
- In built Sat nav that detects speed cameras
- And such entertainment (Dvd players, full blown games consoles)
But more importantly we literally have the world on a stick with wireless Internet, with 3g we can update our friends of our progress, play games and keep up to date of everything.
We progress in this swirling mass of 2.4ghz signals constantly pervading our social space, keeping us awake and aware of everything at all times.
I love technology and having the world available to me is very useful but:
If we’re constantly connected, with a permanent on-line presence can we ever say we really got away from it all?
Is our family’s holiday on the beach lessened as people can tag our photos with their own experiences, thus rendering our holiday a collective experience rather than personal.
Of course other people have climbed that hill, swam that lake, found that cove but that experience is ours and ours alone but until it his the Internet those memories are ours and no one Elses
How much access is too much? Is there a limit to collaboration? Will there be a time when it is no longer possible to get away from it all?
I like the fact that we have the ability to switch off, but in the not too distant future I don’t think we’ll be able to escape the maelstrom that is pervasive technology and with that a small part of ourselves may be lost with it.
On the //move
So I’m currently heading back from my brothers place in Stoke newington it’s 11am and really really hot.
When will instant transporters be invented, it’s going to take at least three hours to get back home to southend at this rate!
On the upside I have my shiny new iPhone 3g which is enabling me to write this some what rambling blog post.
So far I caught up on news, blog posts and Twitter 
Alternate & augment reality
If you think mobile devices are just simply for communication check out these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te9gj22M_aU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V6MNp_tWG0&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64_16K2e08&feature=related
What you’re seeing is the baby steps of what is possible from smartphones: making your enviroment the content.
Imagine the implications.
Truly//Mobile
I, Tom Curtis have finally (and I mean finally), joined the mobile internet revolution.
I’ve purchased (after alot of g1 vs iphone deliberation) an iPhone.
The irony is not lost on me, (for those that didn’t read cart before the horse where I discussed the cost of smartphone and how it may hinder development of mlearning solutions) I singled out the iPhone as the worst of these due to its high purchase and running costs.
So why did I not go with the cheaper google phone?
Three reasons:
1. The G1 doesn’t natively support Microsoft Exchange, it is possible via an external app but even then its not perfect. Prior to my purchase I used a 1g iPod Touch and have grown used to how simply and easily it integrates with the Colleges email.
2. Android looks promising, but I think there will be issues regarding compatibility; especially as newer handsets come out
3. Chess with friends
Ok Ok, its not a work or critical need, but I love this app and theres no version of it for Android (yet) and it’s a lot of fun 
SO lets move onto the thorny issue of cost:
Everyone + dog is buying a shiny new 3GS, which means alot of 1 year old 3g’s on the market for (releative) buttons. I managed to snag a 3G iPhone on a forum for the princly sum of £210 inc next day shipping (and it came with all the 3gs bits: small charger etc).
I’m currently on a £15 a month plan with o2, (it should be £15 but being the silver tongued lothario that I am, I got it reduced), I’ve whacked a 7.50 unlimited web bolt on that brings my total monthly phone expenditure to £22.50
Bargain!
hard//soft ware
These are very cool:
Tiny plug sized pc’s
Taking a standard 3 pin power plug and revolutionising it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6DvjKkGT6s
The Plug sized pc especially so!
Cart before the horse
As you might know, I’ve been developing a mobile learning platform to give Students access to learning resources from anywhere.
It’s baby steps; but a lot of the groundwork has been completed (discussions, project plans, proof of concepts etc), the main issue is money.
Or more appropriately the complete disinterest of any current smart-phone manufacturer to offer an educational discount.
Facts and Figures:
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does represent the huge barrier to mobile development in education:
- Google Developer Phone: £244
- Apple iPhone: PaynGo (O2 uk): £342 + £10 minimum top up a month
- HTC Touch: £489
If the College follwed ACU’s path we’d need an iPhone each:
x4 iPhones: £1368
1 Year of top ups (£40 x 12 months ): £480
Year one costs: £2400 (and then £480 a year for n years)
Compare this to the development phone:
x4 ADP1: £976
Year one costs: £976
Being Sim free, we can use our existing Sim cards when we need to test outside the College meaning that not only is it cheaper to buy, its total life cost is significantly cheaper as well.
The iPhone has the best interface and the slickest hardware but unless Cupertino does something shortly we’ll be talking to Google.
