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“The majority of respondents primarily use their phones to make calls, send text messages and take photographs, although they like to know that the other functionality is potentially available. respondents’ use of different forms of media on their mobile phones was mostly limited to viewing photographs. Some used their phones to listen to music or watch videos, but very few used them to listen to podcasts or audio books and only a small number read ebooks or journal articles. Some respondents commented that they prefer to use their iPod or other media player to access these other forms of media.”
The Duke University Libraries is now offering the most comprehensive university digital image collection specifically formatted for an iPhone. Through DukeMobile 1.1, the University’s suite of iPhone applications, the libraries are sharing digital materials from 20 collections - nearly 32,000 images in all.
“It includes thousands of photos and other artifacts that range from early beer advertisements to materials on San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury scene in the 1960s. Although a growing number of scholarly institutions offer images and other material online, Duke is the first to offer collections that take advantage of the iPhone’s design, navigation and other features.”
Ben Parr of Mashable creates a quick guide to How To Publish Your Blog on the Amazon Kindle. Amazon launched their Kindle Publishing for Blogs program yesterday, a self-publishing tool that allows users to upload their blogs for sale in the Kindle Store - and it’s open to everyone. Mashable’s guide contains the following sections:
“This collection is for anyone interested in the use of mobile technology for various distance learning applications. Readers will discover how to design learning materials for delivery on mobile technology and become familiar with the best practices of other educators, trainers, and researchers in the field, as well as the most recent initiatives in mobile learning research. Businesses and governments can learn how to deliver timely information to staff using mobile devices. Professors can use this book as a textbook for courses on distance education, mobile learning, and educational technology.”
Aaron Schmidt, Digital Initiatives Librarian for the District of Columbia Public Library, has announced that the library has made their code available for their iPhone application. If you’ve been pondering creating your own iPhone app and want to see what they did to create the snazzy DCPL app, you can do so by grabbing their code.
Yahoo!Tech reports that U.S. wireless subscribers sent 1 trillion SMS messages in 2008, three times the 363 billion text messages sent in 2007. “That comes out to about 3,700 text messages annually—or 10 texts a day—for every cell phone subscriber”.
And SMS messaging is even more popular with college students, 94% of whom send and receive text messages according to a recent study by Ball State University. The survey of 300 college students found that text messaging is now the main form of communication amongst college students.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project published a new report titled The Mobile Difference today. The study is based on two surveys which were conducted beween October - December 2007 of over 3,500 respondants. Here are some key findings of the report:
8% of adults use mobile devices and broadband platforms for continual information exchange to collaborate with their social networks
7% of adults actively use mobile devices and social networking tool, yet are ambivalent about all the connectivity
8% of Americans find mobility lighting their information pathways, but have comparatively few tech assets at home
61% are anchored to stationary media; though many have broadband and cell phones, coping with access is often too much for them
Educause has put together another of their “7 Things” guides titled 7 things you should know about QR Codes. Quick Response codes are 2-D mobile tags which contain information such as URLs, and can be read by mobile devices with a barcode reader installed. Waving your camera phone in front of the above barcode would give you a quick link to the mobile version of the iLibrarian blog, which you could then access on your cell without having to type in a URL. To find out more read the 7 Things document, and you can also check out my report on the mobile Web, On the Move with the Mobile Web which is available open access on E-LIS.
Amazon introduced the Kindle 2 today which will hold over 1,500 books and retails for $359. The wireless device is just over 1/3 of an inch thick, has a hi-res 6-inch electronic paper display, and is lighter than a paperback at 10.2 ounces. There are currently over 230,000 books available for the device as well as newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Readers can choose from six text sizes, add bookmarks, read personal (Word, pdf, etc.) documents, and search the Web. Read the press release here.
The New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) has published the 2009 Horizon Report. This annual report identifies six emerging technologies which will have a significant impact on teaching and learning and will be adopted over the next 1-5 years. This year’s key technologies include:
Aaron Schmidt at the District of Columbia Public Library reports that they have just gone live with their iPhone application. Library patrons can download this app from iTunes to search the OPAC, read summaries and see book covers, place holds, and find info such as library hours. This looks fantastic!
A recent article in the New York Times reports that e-books are steadily gaining popularity and according to publishers such as HarperCollins, Random House and Simon & Schuster, sales of these digital publications have tripled or quadrupled in the last year. In Turning Page, E-Books Start to Take Hold, Brad Stone and Motoko Rich discuss the rise of the Amazon Kindle and other electronic book readers.
“Amazon’s Kindle version of “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” by David Wroblewski, a best seller recommended by Ms. Winfrey’s book club, now represents 20 percent of total Amazon sales of the book, according to Brian Murray, chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide.”
Doriano “Paisano” Carta at Mashable compiles a giant list of Twitter tools for use on mobile devices in Tweets to Go: 35+ More Twitter Resources for Your Phone. The post covers resources for the iPhone, T-Mobile G1, Blackberry, Windows Mobile devices, Smartphones, and non-Smartphones.
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