Saturday, September 29, 2007

PC world UMPC under £200


http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/356181?source_id=aw&camp_id=HotUKDeals


Now its not the greatest machine in the world and battery doesn't last forever but it is half the price it was initially sold at !!! Thanks to Rob for pointing this out !!!!!

Friday, September 28, 2007

3G modem plus connectivity £10.00 a month at 3


Sign shot with my camera phone says it all. Connectvity on the move is getting cheaper !! £10 a month !GB download limit but at that price thats a lot of data!!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

cyberbullying programme on radio 4

Please have a listen sadly on listen again and not a podcast come on BBC.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bullyingcom/

a topic we should all take note of we should also remeber bullying has been going on for a long time !! Doesn't make it right stop it report it intervene !!

Media conversion

Thanks to James clay for this I will add James excellent blog www.elearningstuff.wordpress.com to my blog side bar links. He suggested this online media conversion site I use super on a tablet offline . Worth a look .


http://media-convert.com/convert

Molenet Launch

Back from Molenet launch event at the Oval www.molenet.org great event. Met loadfs of great new people and some really good old friends.

Highspots

Dan Sutch raving about media scape . Dans on life like me !!
Mick Mullane podcasting vodcasting and doing good stuff look out Mlearn in Melbourne he is coming your way !!!
Geoff Stead and Jo Colley of Tribal
The guys from Wildkey handheld stuff back to my green environment roots.
meeting up with mike Short of O2
The texting in of questions wonder where they got that idea from !!!!!

Down sides the apalling wifi get it together at the Oval !!
Not enough coffee !!

see the flickr photo stream excuse the dodgy shots but no time to edit !!

Absaloutely exhausted only one day and handhelds going to be three if you havent booked for handheld why the heck not . Be there or be a complete munchkin !!



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

what to post for 232 post of the Year !! Watch the Burmese regime !!

WATCH THE BURMESE GOVERNMENT.

I havent done any political posts in my blogging career . I have posted about Alan Johnstons release in the past. This time I am posting about things much more serious. Just watch what happens in Burma over the next few days weeks. Excuse the post away from e-learning !!!

I am mindful of my favourite quote "for evil to triumph all it takes is for good men to do nothing !" I may corrupt it to support the situation in Burma "all its takes for evil to triumph is the world to look away"

Watch Burma comment and let your elected representatives know your are concerned and what are they doing about it !!!

Molenet Launch

at the Oval at the Molenet launch meeting loads of fellow crusader in the field of M-learning.

  • Dan Sutch
  • David Sugden
  • John Whalley
  • James Clay
  • Geoff Stead
  • Bob Harrison

the list could go on for ever . Putting photo's on flickr and blogging about the event !! Interestingly colleges and commercial sector partners here at the Oval.
  • Handheld learning showing Red Halo
  • Cy-Napp or Txttools
  • Toshiba
  • expsanys

Monday, September 24, 2007

wireless power holly grail gets nearer

This sounds very very hopeful good old engadget keeing usd bang up to date !!
http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/24/wipower-touts-breakthrough-in-wireless-power/

Will I do 3 posts tomorrow 232 is a magic number !!

last year I did 116 posts the year before 69. its nowhere near year and I am 3 posts away from doubling last years number of posts

Google docs helped me chart it !!

PDF to editable format using gmail

now this is neat and I am not advocating it !!! A way of using Google mail to email copy of locked PDF to your self and use Gmail's document handling capabilities to convert to html not perfect but still cool

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2005/12/convert-doc-xls-ppt-rtf-pdf-to-html.html

GOOGLE Presentation great resource

Thanks to Danno pointing this out after my post on Google blogs next week the presentation is great haven't been easily able to find the group its linked to . Danno can you help find the blog ?? it stemmed from . But view the presentation its great !!

http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?fs=true&docid=ah4zsdj46b66_578cv4x7&pli=1



Its a technology that I think will change the way we work again !!
Made me think about how I use resources online to support presentations !! Off to lie down in a darkened room!!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Handheld 2007 Mark Van Hooft presenting twice !!

Just back from Mobile and wirless'ing Glasgow and picked up through my feeds Mark Van Hoot is coming to Handheld. Mark is a really well respected member of the e-learning communitiy and he has view on things. Marks blog is worth a read you may not like what he says all the time but you should read it. Another great hit for Handheld2007 getting more excited !!!! How sad is that !!! 10,11,12th October 2007. BTW Mark mentions two sites were discount codes can be found .

http://ubiquitousthoughts.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/preparing-to-attend-handheld-learning-2007-or-the-wild-wacky-wireless-and-wonderful-world-of-mobile-learning
/

Friday, September 21, 2007

What google blog says about Google presentations

Googles own blog say some interesting things
Not wanting anyone to feel left out, we've made the presentation feature available in 25 languages; Google Apps customers can also access it as part of Google Docs.

The new presentations feature of Google Docs helps you to easily
organize, share, present, and collaborate on presentations, using only
a web browser.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/our-feature-presentation.html

Whats also interesting that theyve done a video and interesting its on youtube and embedded in youtube player in the google blog. Interesting they didnt use googles own google video !! Look at the blog watch the video !!!

Blogging on a bus on the way back from Stansted !!


GOOGLE Presentation

Excuse the shouting I published a dodgy powerpoint of bad shots of Apple touch etc and Apple store in Glasgow on Google docs this morning I was surprised that I could. I then mention the to my fellow e enthusiast Rob Englebright and discovered they only launched it today been back a realise you can also create presentations in google docs and export them as zipped html to play locally !!! WOW WOW!!

Dont get me wrong its far from fully functioing powerpoint but with integration with google docs still quite cool!!!! Excuse the dodgy first attempt !!!

http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dc7bzghg_49ds2w8h&fs=true

shots of Apples Products in Glasgow

The pictures of Apple Iphone and Apple touch and photos of touch on sale now in Glasgow Apple stir more deliveries today!!

view my dodgy photos of the devices on a powerpoint on google docs at http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dc7bzghg_413xdc74&fs=true

EPICT conference future trends in learning

Mobile Learning and Online Communication

ajb1962@gmail.com

The normal caveat my view of what’s happening and its probably wrong. This is many way showcases excellent work that others are going to talk about

Plus if you want to keep up to date watch technology blogs my blog is www.andysblackhole.blogspot.com

Also subscribe to

Becta Technews
Becta Content developers news subscribe to both at
http://industry.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?page=1672
RSS feeds of BCC technology pages


1Power

1.1 Switch IT off

1.1.1http://www.pcpro.co.uk/html/switch_it_off/

PC pro ran a campaign this year investigating the amountof cash wasted through PC's being left on overnight.

It was quite suprising,

if you leave a pc on overnight it will quickly consume 1kWh of energy, meaning you are needlessly spending more than £35 per year. And do not think that putting it into standby will help: we found one PC that consumed 78W in this mode, only reducing the wastage to about £25.

If your college has 100 pc's that's possibly £3500/year



AS well as saving cash, the scheme is approved by the carbon trust, as helping to reduce CO2 emmisions.

1.2Batteries

1.2.1 Battery powered printer

Flexibility in delivery and assessment.

The advent of online testing for keyskills, and various other assessments can make a difference. The city and guilds online testing facility allows the test to be downloaded and put on a laptop and carried out to the workplace taking the test to the user. A portable printer powered by Lion battery pack means provisional results can be given instantly.

1.2.2 Battery projection device

you don't believe me ???

1.2.3 Fuel Cells

Forget the miniature vodka shots you will be carrying alcohol to top up your laptop. Fuel cells are going to be appearring very soon . The much vaunted $100 laptop using wind up technology will have spin offs elsewhere .Intel are also talking of parrallel product educational $100 device



2Devices

2.1 Tablets

New software that is ink enabled turning up all the time Reg Microsoft one note, Agile Go binder, Blackboard backpack. see Becta tablet PC evaluation http://www.becta.org.uk/research/research.cfm?section=1&id=3357

Power toys from Microsoft for tablet:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/tabletpc.mspx

Trend

1) slate

2) laptop plus keyboard . The days of tablet being less powerful than laptop are long gone

2.2UMPC

UltraMobile PC 's heres two I made earlier



http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1856508,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=20



Q1 by samsung with added USB Keyboard (theyre tablets to)

UMPC 650 by Remtech

2.3Handheld device

As with UMPC couple of places to stay in touch if you know the future let me know



Is it Portable Digital Assistnat PDA or Education Digital assistant EDA

or is it an phoneww.handheldlearning.co.uk

Join PDA in education jiscmail list

PDA-EDU@JISCMAIL.AC.UK



I have seen the future and its Apple !!



2.4Memory Sticks

wireless usb memory is coming

2.5Games machines

2.5.1PSP

2 million devices in the UK by Christmas 5 million by Easter !!



with WiFI ability to run flash and browser capability



2.5.2Nintendo DS

2.5.3WII







2.6MP3 Players

IPOD released 2001 by September 2007 110 million world wide !!



stuff seen Glasgow yesterday link here

2.7Wireless projectors

3Connectivity

3.1Wi FI

8011b

8011g

8011n



Spanish firm Fon could change the model very Wi Fi 2.0

3.23 G

It isn't cheap but neither is paying for one off wireless hotspots. In major centre works well and most provincial towns have coverage

3.3Wi Max

WiMax will cover most of the UK witih two to three year . Intel trialling with University. Several city wide trials of wimax and mesh wireless technology being talked off

3.4GSM Edge

See document: happy-birthday-gsm-network.html

3.5Bluetooth

Bluetooth 1 10Metres

Bluetooth 2 100metres

4social software

4.1Blogs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogs



http://edublogs.org

blogger

http://www.blogger.com

4.2Wiki

A shared resource of web page allowing multiple users to edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

PBwiki

http://pbwiki.com

Wiki spaces

http://www.wikispaces.com

4.3Subtopic

4.4RSS

RSS = Really Simple Syndication

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format) (20th May 2006)



Web feeds

a push technology linked with stuff like

you can read feeds in live book marks in Firefox, www.bloglines.com , RSS reader in Google.



my bloglines are public www.blogslines.com/public/ajb1962

4.5Podcasting

Downloads of MP3 was definitely the emerging technology in education of 2004/2005 Podcasting was the emerging technology of 2005/2006

4.5.1 St Johns Podcast

Downloads of MP3 was definitely the emerging technology in education of 2005 Podcasting is the emerging technology of 2006 . Saint Johns Ambulance have even done simple First Aid advice as podcasts http://www.sja.org.uk/firstaid/info/default.asp . Look out for More and The Ferl website at becta is going to be doing a trial podcast in the new year

4.6Photosharing

Flickr

http://www.flickr.com



my photo's

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysblackhole/



Picasa

http://picasa.google.co.uk

http://picasaweb.google.com/home

4.7Face book

www.facebook.com



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook



the UK now has 5.2m Facebook users

4.8MySpace

http://www.myspace.com



MySpace has cracked the 10 million user mark in the UK, meaning more people have put a profile up than drink bitter, according to the social networking website.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2122397,00.html

4.9Youtube/teachertube

See document: get_video.flv

5SMS phenomena

UK 4.5 billion text messages sent in March !!!

The majority of the now 2.5+ billion mobile subscribers are located in developing countries. This is a stunning new kind of event for our planet: the dominance of leading edge technology is emerging from marginalises places. That has not happened before, particularly on the enormous scale of the mobiles.



Pupils at a school in Buckinghamshire have been getting extra help with GCSE revision by texting their teachers. Far from banning mobile phones, Cottesloe School in Wing has decided to turn modern technology to its advantage in an attempt to improve results. Since Easter, Year 11 pupils have been able to message teachers from home with revision queries and get a text answer. The school said “text mentoring” had also seen teachers messaging pupils with revision prompts and exam tips.



c

Thursday, September 20, 2007

OK eat my hat or is it eat my apple !!!

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW.

Well I have seen the promised land today courtesy of colleagues at Steljes and Apple . Steljes showed me the iPOD touch the wifi enabled ipod on steroids . Its lovely seamless the problem of using a finger as a stylus isnt one !! The zoom function the ability for device change page orientation if you just turn it through 90,180 degree. The browser experience the WiFI. Yep its a nice device .

Then the apple guys showed me an eye ok its not 3G yet it will come !!!! Its going to fly out the shops and issues relating to connectivity costs will slow its flight but not much !!

The touch I love the iphone looks good . The battery life also seems amazing on both !!!

Apple have just lobbed a hand-grenade in the device market watch other manufacturers come back at them.

To coin a phrase "Incoming" and FJR (flack jacket required) it going to exciting. As I predicted at the start of the year this is the year mobile learning goes mainstream and Apple have just injected a wave of Tsunami type proportions !!!

In the wild three the aftermath

Ok at the Scottish learning festival free WiFi yippee !! reflecting on in the wild and its colocation with Teachmeet two events full of people that get it.
In the wild organised by Steve Moore of policy unplugged

http://www.policyunplugged.net/steve_moore
the speakers were thought provoking and to be honest improved as the event went through . Matt Locke really made me think his experience of Digital media across the spectrum and his gaming experience in particular and user interaction and generating content really pushed my thinking.

Steve Moore also made me think with extensive use of facebook as a network tool and event organising/marketing tool Steve you are going to write me a case study piece for my blog on this !!!!!

In the wild maybe just really wild !!!

TeachMeet07 and Bett teachMeet08 ?????????

What an event what an afternoon in the wild then this :

http://wiki.scotedublogs.org.uk/index.php/TeachMeet07

great event great rapid fire presentations check the site now for blog links and neat work teachers and learners are doing in Scotland .

Yes also hear it here first I think TeachMeet is coming to BETT08 !!! Going to be great and a blast of fresh air to BETT. Ewan and colleagues great event great work thanks for the invite.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

In the wild two Matt Locke Commissioning Editor, New Media Channel 4

The session on looking at transfering media into new spaces

  • secret spaces
  • group spaces
  • publishing spaces
  • performing spaces
  • participation marches meeting and markets 3 M's
  • watching spaces
The idea that blurring publishing space that is provate that what is public
The idea of sharing who you think you are and how you think you know.
Rehearsing identities Used the idea of community radio a few years ago that was limited time slot that you can do now on the internet all the time.
sharing their skills
feeling being part of a crowd and publishing that feeling onlne via video sound text common crowd experiences

This session Matt Locke talked of the new kind of content that channel 4 are looking to commission he showed this as an example of kind of stuff they are looking at though this isnt there work www.worldwithoutoil.org basically a scenario around a world that has had an oil crash and the approach people joined up and wrote about the effect on them and their life . users did things like design tool of an itterative quest a mission . For example have
a)party that people get to on foot or by public transport
b)cooking a m al using only local ingredients

If channel 4 are going down this route its going to be really one to watch

He gave the idea of relaxing and giving things away
Messy is good
that isnt the new way
Make your audience your heroes audiences don't have to have winners
Immerse yourself interesting views on second life but looking in now and again to see if its evolved .

greats session poorly blogged will clean it up later . Thanks Matt

In the wild blogging on speed Ewan Mc Intosh snacking on media !!

Ewan Mcintosh

session on snacking on media as always good value with some old favourites but with the usual creativity . The world has changed and suggesting whats wrong with snacking.

The cup stacking video as always excellent value and he figures of 300,000 views for the video , cup stacking will never catch on !!!!

the vision of kids trying failing and retrying the task to get better is there a metaphor for motivation . Failure being a driver to try harder rather than giving up . Can digital media user generated content and user generated comments 8000 comments to a you tube video how many learners get that degree of comment on there academic work.
Ewans example from colleagues who took a school trip to the battlefields of France and the learners didnt use the specially set up blog but used there existing space on Bebo and my space .
With really deep comments on the enormity that is the battlefield experience from some learners .

His thought is we shouldn't invade there space:
using there medium to communicate with people that matter there peers
Using tools to collaborate and produce product there proud of . Often with extreme effort and getting on with people they dont get on with .
also stressed the fact that blogging and gaming is spreading across all phases of education .

great to see Ewan show the work of Andy Pulman working with HE students link here improving numeracy using packages on nintendo DS contrasting with Derek Robertson similar work with primary schools ( two outfits connected by Andy).

Ewans parting shot of learning from their space their space being widgetised not webtised .

organised chaos
Life is a list
Stretching time spending longer online than at school

you can snack on media and still get a wholesome diet

Man discovered things by revealing a pattern in nature .

poor blogging on my part going to edit this out later .

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Toshiba working with Education community

I think this is nearly an exclusive !!!!

Toshiba working with Education community .

The news is the G900 smartphone which is gaining ground/cache with business community is being re worked by suppliers after trialling with educational sector. The reason for this re working is unclear but rumours abound of a clamshell G910
version with yet more bells and whistles.

The existing G900 device looks really nice and supports lovely features
  • Connectivity Wi-Fi ,GSM , 3G , HSDPA and bluetooth technologies
  • Security - built in fingerprint sensor and fingerprint launcher. Keeps the product secure and lets you launch applications at the swipe of finger.
  • Display super bright 800x480 screen . On most webpages, you can see full width. The teleport function allows you to see what's on your G900 on your PC .
  • Keyboard/Input . the one on screen is really responsive and the slide out keyboard is compact but great and usb and WiFi allow differing input devices to be connected .
  • Mobile goodies the Usual
  • Browser Choice Opera as well IE as a browse
I haven't run specialist Apps.

Some companies forget what a hard time learners give devices running high end content in challenging conditions and just supply often there low end devices. Nice to see someone trialling devices before widespread release.

The fact Tosh is listening to and working with developers in the
education area is really interesting and some other manufacturers
hoping to penetrate the education space could take note.

Looking forward to seeing what those boffins at Toshiba come up with !!!


TeachMeet007, Scottish learning festival and EPICT conference

Lucky enough to be going on a bit of a Scottish Fest over next few days:-

First of All In the wild arranged on behalf of Channel 4 by Steve Moore of policy unplugged on Wednesday afternoon .
http://inthewild2channel4.eventbrite.com/

Secondly Swiftly followed on by TeachMeet07 early evening thanks to Ewan Mactintosh and Merlin for suggesting this. I am doing a 7 minute presentation called Andy Black unplugged I will be showing a range of ultra mobile device s other gadgets and a range of approaches http://wiki.scotedublogs.org.uk/index.php/TeachMeet07#Seven_minute_micropresentations

Thirdly a busmans holiday of a day at the Scottish learning Festival. http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/sett/

Last and not least a workshop at the Epict conference on Mobile Learning and Online Communication http://www.epict.co.uk/conference.php


No sleep till friday !!!!! Bring it on !!!!! Oh yes and of course I will blog it !!!!

Mobile Education article in the Guardian

Major piece by guardian on mobile learning . Amazingly my quote is viewed as a dissenting voice.

But of course there are one or two dissenting voices. Andy Black, mobile technologies adviser for the government ICT in education agency, Becta, warns: "We are seeing a divide between schools and further and higher education in the use of mobile technology. Schools follow the Stevens report for the Department of Health in 2005 - Mobile Phones and Health - that recommends use of mobiles for children should be minimised." But he says FE and HE take a more pragmatic view: "They realise the penetration of mobiles among young people is enormous. There is an emerging body of evidence that mobile learning technology is highly motivational."

Regular readers will know my passion for the use of mobile technology with learners. Really interesting read available online but I am off to buy a hard copy. Huge plug for Hand Held Learning conference.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/link/story/0,,2170987,00.html

"e-learning - making it work" - a one day national conference

Now I am at Handheld learning but if your not Mr Mobile like me and are interested in real people in FE showing real work this event is for you .

If its half as good as the recent ALT-C conference its got to be worth a day out .


"e-learning - making it work" - a one day national conference
on 11/10/2007 for practitioners and managers in FE, ACL, and
work-based learning
-------------------------------------------------------------

The full programme for this conference is now available on the ALT web
site at:

http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/oct11programme.pdf

The event, which has been organised by QIA and ALT with the support of
JISC, Becta, CEL, and LSN, will take place at the excellently equipped
and very congenial National College for School Leadership in Nottingham
on 11 October 2007.

The programme provides "bullet point" summaries of the wide range of 20
facilitated workshop sessions that will be available during the day.

Sessions are organised so that each delegate will be able to attend 4 of
the 20 workshops, thereby ensuring that all delegates can choose a mix
of sessions that are relevant to them. Summary handouts for all sessions
will be provided.

There will be a closing keynote from Margaret Bennett, QIA Director of
Partnerships and Communications.

There is also a descriptive flyer for the day at:

http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/oct11flyer.pdf

Online booking for the event will close on 28/9/2007. There is a link to
the booking form from http://www.alt.ac.uk/.

Please draw the event to the attention of people in your organisation
whom you think will benefit from attending.




Powered by ScribeFire.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Teachers TV School Matters - Mobile Phones, Mobile Minds

Mobile going mainstream I predicted back in January well its more speed to the the current. Thanks to Graham for pointing this out. I suspect but don't know that teachers TV will be around at Handheld Learning conference in early October .School Matters - Mobile Phones, Mobile Mindsclass="MsoNormal">Teachers TV more mobile

http://www.teachers.tv/video/21433


Next showing on TV: Fri 14th Sep 09:00, Fri 14th Sep 12:00, Fri 14th Sep 16:30

SYNOPSIS

A look at the world of young people with mobile phones, and the impact on schools and education.

Owning a mobile is becoming an indispensable element of young people's lives, for both teenagers and increasingly primary age children, all around the world.

Are mobile phones a force for good, or an example of technology gone awry? Is it sensible to ban their use in schools or should this device be given a place in lessons and learning?


Havent had a chance to watch it yet but looks good.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

less than a month to go and counting to Handheld Learning Conference

Well I am excited and I am pleased to be facilitating at the conference yes Graham persuaded me again. I am doing the breakout on "Reflections on Pedagogy"

cant wait but loads of stuff to do before then .

See the current programme at http://www.handheldlearning.co.uk/hhl2007/hhl07_programme.pdf

Its going to be great and yet again it will take me weeks to recover and sustain my enthusiasm through the dark winter months "BRING IT ON !!!!

Director of Research of Google at the ALT C Conference interview

Thanks to My Becta colleague Moritz Bilagher for sending this my way .

The article Sarah Lewthwaite on custom PC http://www.custompc.co.uk/features/601291/an-interview-with-googles-head-of-research.html

Article makes an interesting read and yes google people however important they are wear colourful verging on loud shirts !!!

Keep watching this blog for my own musings of spending 40 minutes chatting to peter at the conference dinner. I can totally dismiss rumours that my blogs sucess was viewed seriously by Google ;-))))))

Thanks to Frank Rennie for taking the photo.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Special ALTC post for Will Stewart of Bradford Uni

A little slide show to show yes you can publish photos from a camera phone direct to flickr using shozu mentioned in recent post .



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Mobile phone projectors all in one device

well nearly
Thanks for industry contacts for yes a mobile phone projection device holiday snaps on the pub wall is getting closer eek !!!


http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2007/04/11/mobile-with-dvd-quality-on-the-pico-dlp-projector-phone/

Friday, September 07, 2007

web slides converting bookmarks to slideshow

This is from diigo . A way of collecting web content . Ive registered it but havent tried it yet but looks interesting !!! It could have an educational use !!

register and see what you think I will report back


http://slides.diigo.com/

Thursday, September 06, 2007

I dont believe !!

Just realised I haven't got links to Handheld 2007 in my sidebar going to put it in now and also the forum !! Cor must be loosing it !!! Just over a month to go and the buzz is getting louder over HHL2007 going to be a good one !!

Motorola DynaTAC 8000X t (1983) to Iphone (2007)

Found this piece at http://www.our-picks.com/archives/2007/01/13/mobile-phones-from-the-motorola-dynatac-8000x-to-the-iphone/#more-858
the quote not miss is the cost comparison

The Motorola DynaTAC cost about $4,000, in 1983. Now, the most expensive iPhone goes for $600.




The first phone call made from a mobile device took place back in 1973, when Dr. Martin Cooper, inventor of the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X tested his prototype in the streets of New York. Ten years later, in 1983, the first ever mobile phone was available to everybody. The weight and size of the phone (0.8 kilograms and 25.4 centimeters) made it close to impossible to carry the phone around, so it was mainly used in cars.


That was almost 25 years ago. Now, the hottest thing that everybody is talking about is the iPhone. If on the first phone ever you could just speak, the iPhone does far more than that. It is the first ever cellphone with a multi-touch touchscreen. It runs on a small OS X, and it’s got a great variety of applications. Another cool thing it has is another battery, apart from the phone one (which grants you up to 5 hours of video watching, talking or browsing), which allows you to listen up to 16 hours of music, on the integrated iPod.


Another major difference is the price. The Motorola DynaTAC cost about $4,000, in 1983. Now, the most expensive iPhone goes for $600.

The iPhone isn’t the best phone out there, but it surely is the most advanced and filled with technology, no matter what people say. As the Motorola was in its own time, the iPhone is groundbreaking.

Happy Birthday GSM Network

The GSM agreement and resulting network is 20 years old tomorrow !! Just think how far the mobile has come in twenty year see my piece on the handheld learning forum homepage and maybe you should reserve your place a handheld 2007 while your there http://www.handheldlearning.co.uk/content/view/37/2/

Huge Thanks to Mike Short of 02 who is chairman of the mobile data association for the tip !!! http://www.themda.org/

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Phone app Shozu

Cool app that allows you to post to flickr, blogger etc . Photo of Becta colleague Mick James taken with my Nokia and uploaded and tagged via Shozu have a look at http://www.shozu.com/



see photo at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysblackhole/1323571274/

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Mobile Data Association news containing report on flexible mobile working


MDA report on Mobile and Flexible working in Local Government
This report isnt new but I have just been made aware by a contact Mike short of O2.



http://www.themda.org/MDNews/MDA_News_December_2006.pdf


Monday, September 03, 2007

ALT C reflection on programme by fellow blogger . See you there maybe ???

Huge heads up to Steve wheeler for this bit of content analysis about ALT C whereI am most of the week. He's done a Bob Harrison style word search and look mobile is way up there !! hang on folks the mainstream is picking up speed

e-Learning 31
Web 2.0 Social Software 25
VLEs 24
Blogs 20
Mobile learning 19
Social networking 18
Wikis 16


http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2007/08/top-7-topics-at-this-years-alt-c.html

Who else is going to ALT C and if you are blog about it !!

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Holiday over !

well what a holiday ! but with some interesting reflections of the mobile kind never mind spotting Dolphins red kites and glorious surfing and of course biking !

One site of unusual e-interet was was the national woollen Museum http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/wool/ had the interesting fact was Charles Babbage (inventor some say of the computer) was inspired by Jacquards loom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_loom
which was a woolen loom controlled by punched cards a lateral but interesting connection