Tag: iOS

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New iPhones! What does this mean for mobile?

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

5C-5SI, along with the iOS faithful, waited with bated breath yesterday to hear all about the new iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S. Considering that the last time I upgraded my phone was for the 4S, I was looking forward to seeing what my upgrade options (that were not Windows or Android-based) were.

I was excited for both models, as I could see these as upgrades. Part of the big upgrade for both will be iOS7, as it is promising to be a more streamlined user experience. While we’ve known about this new upgrade to the OS for a few months, now that it’s close to its release, the excitement can really build up.  There will be more accessibility to the Cloud, more multi-tasking features, easier ability to share data, and a better camera functionality, among other updates. Siri searches are even improved, as it draws more data from Wikipedia and social media now. Maps are improved. Just the OS update alone will make things better for mobile sharing of information. The iWork suite is going to be free, available on the Cloud as well. This is a big boost to creating and editing content, whether it be text, graphics, spreadsheets or video.  My first reaction to this was, “Gee, I spent some good money on getting all those apps a while ago. Do I get a refund now?” I’m sure I don’t, but thinking about this from an educational perspective, this is a big boost. I did use the cloud-based iWork to work on some items while it was available via beta, and I found it to be a great solution for me to work on various documents on both my iDevices and my laptop–and my laptop is Windows-based! I could access it via my iCloud account on my browser, and then work on it later on my iPad or iPhone. It’s a great boost, and I’m sure it’ll help some classroom situations save some money. 

But these new tools–because that’s what these new phones are, new tools–look awesome.  The iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S do open up some new doors to not only use this new OS to the maximum, but they offer new opportunities for mobile learning.

While the iPhone 5C has all the pretty colors now available, the new structure of using a polycarbonate plastic foundation is going to make a big difference. First of all, I’m sure some people are thinking, “Oh my gosh, that thing will crack so easily because it’s plastic, even if it has that silicone case around it.” If you don’t know much about polycarbonate plastics, then you’d need to learn, because you would be wrong. Polycarbonate plastics are often used for children’s eyeglasses because of their strength and rigidity. The same plastic is used for sports goggles and sports eyewear for the same reason. (Being a mom who has a child with glasses, and I own a pair of prescription swimming goggles, I know this.) This plastic is safe enough to protect one’s eyes, even in extreme conditions, as they don’t break easily nor do they scratch easily. So if it’s safe for your kids’ eyes, it’s probably going to be safe for your phone. It’s reinforced with the steel frame that doubles as an antenna, so I think one shouldn’t have any worries if the device is properly cared for, in general.

iphone5c-groupThe 5C will take advantage of all the new functionality of iOS7, which is good, but I think the biggest part of all of it will be its price point. The 16 GB model–it’s “smallest” storage model–will be US$99. For a brand new phone with this kind of functionality, that’s pretty cheap! And because of that price point, people who were buying Android and Windows phones as alternatives because of the price points of those other brands might now be able to afford an iPhone now.  iPhone is known for its customer services, its ease of use, and its ability to have access to more apps than imaginable, so this accessibility will allow it to become a more dominant player in the mobile phone game. I can imagine schools being more apt to buy some of these smartphones or encouraging or subsidizing these phones around the world, because the price point is half of what the “fancy” model is worth, but it still packs a punch.

The 5S device, however, has more bells and whistles. While it does have new colors to its line-up, it’s more about how powerful the device is. It’s really a true microcomputer in the palm of your hand. The 5S is the first smartphone to have a 64-bit processor. How long ago was it that we had 64-bit desktops and laptops? That’s amazing! The CPU performance is now twice as fast as the iPhone 5, including super faster graphics. There is also a second processor in the 5S known as the M7, which is a motion co-processor. It  works more accurately with the compass, accelerometer and gyroscope, so it’s going to spawn more use for health and fitness apps. Who ever thought you might use your iPhone for gym class? All this data can help assess the user’s surroundings more. Imagine using those features for a science class or history class?  The 5S also has an upgraded camera called the iSight camera with a dual-LCD flash with better sensors. In combination with the iOS7 software, it will allow for more accurate photography. There is also a slow-motion video feature and a burst mode on the camera (taking 10 frames per second on the shutter).  The camera alone is pretty cool!

5SThe other big feature is the TouchID, which is a fingerprint scanner on the home button. It’s done for security purposes, but I could see this taken to a higher level, in time, for personalization for access. You know how one can use separate user names and passwords to access a shared device? The TouchID uses a fingerprint to identify a person, and multiple fingerprints can be approved and saved. What if that was used for personalized learning? So, one student would swipe his/her fingerprint, and only certain apps or information would appear. Another student would do the same, and different apps or information would appear. This could work beyond security, and again, I see this as something that could be a money saver for schools. A device could be numbered, and Bobby and Susie could share Device #8 of 10 in a classroom during different periods, and yet have access to different information. The software might not be quite there yet, but that might be the next step, and it’s a feature that could be on future iPads as well.

I think these are great innovations moving forward with both phones.

However, I did see commentary on some social media outlets by some that they were disappointed by the new phones, stating that the new phones were not “innovative” enough. RJ Jacquez was definitely very vocal on his Facebook page, stating, “Absolutely NOTHING innovative from Apple at today’s event. Disappointing! Google is now clearly in control of the Mobile Revolution!”

But I think there were two comments to his Facebook posting in response that caught my eye that I think summarizes these upgrades well. (Yes, I asked their permission first before posting.)

Stefan Gentz, who is a well-known technical communications speaker, responded to a naysayer by replying,

Hey, they just introduced the first 64 bit smartphone in the world! It has a fingerprint sensor that opens up a whole new level of online shopping convenience and security, a new global LTE chip with a whopping 13 LTE bands (which is especially great for continent hoppers) and a superb camera with an aperture of ƒ/2.2 which is even dramatically better than my professional Sony digicam (3.5), even better than most professional DSLR and it can still take 10 pics/sec. And the new motion chip M7 knows when you’re walking, running, or driving. For example, Maps switches from driving to walking turn-by-turn navigation if, say, you park and continue on foot. Not to mention the new iOS7. And this all in a 7.6 mm, 112 g sexy, high-precision case.”

Stefan followed up by stating that all these features don’t add up to nothing!

Paulo Castro, another technical communicator, followed up on Stefan’s comment with the following:

Innovation is not the only thing that matters in a new product. Sometimes you just have to take what you have and make it better, stronger, faster, more reliable, etc. Stefan (above comment) makes a good point in terms of new features.As long as nobody else comes up with something significantly better in terms of new hardware, software, or OS, then Apple may still have a good standing in this competitive market.

I, too, wish we could see an eye-opening product everytime Apple announces something, but the truth I would prefer to have an extremely efficient device at a good price, with high reliability, security, and functionality, rather than a new gizmo with stuff I don’t even need.

I have to agree with both gentlemen. There’s a lot going on with the upgrade of the device itself, as Stefan said. Even Lance Ulanoff of Mashable said of the 5S, “Its new look combined with this more powerful phone and some of the landmark features –- iSight camera, Touch ID –- should make the iPhone 5S feel less like an upgrade and more like a reboot.” But I think Paulo makes a great point as well, which is that in the end, I, too, would prefer to have an extremely reliable and efficient device.  The 5S that I plan to buy will be the third iPhone that I’ve chosen to purchase. I could’ve easily upgraded to a Windows or Android-based phone a while ago, but I chose not to do so.  I would be a rich woman if I had a dollar for every time my son or my husband had to forego using their Android phones, and we relied on my iPhone for something. I’ve never had my phone crash, and I can only think of once when I had to reset the phone and start all over again. Once in about five years, and it was probably five years ago when I was getting adjusted to it? That’s pretty good.

When it comes to mobile devices, there’s no question that I favor iDevices. The new iPhones have a lot to offer, and I can’t wait to order mine!

PS – In case anybody cares to know, I would love to have Lance Ulanoff’s job, or something a lot like it.  Doing social media coverage and blogging about events like this and the tech scene would be a dream come true! 😉

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Instant Mobile Apps? Not quite.

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

MP900441051Last week, I was in contact with one of my former professors at NJIT‘s MSPTC program. We talked about several things going on, and in the process of the email conversation, she mentioned that she is starting another semester of the PTC 601 (Advanced Professional and Technical Communications) classes, and she asked me a question about mobile, because she wanted to add a new component to an assignment.

I remember doing the assignment well just three years ago. Essentially, the student is given a manual for a fictitious coffeehouse franchise’s espresso machine, and the student has to rewrite the manual into a quick reference guide, preferable something that included visual images that could the learner/user can learn from it or refer to it as needed. Conceptually, it’s an easy enough assignment (or at least it was to me), but creating it with the tools I had at the time proved challenging, even if I did pull it off.

Adding a mobile component to this assignment makes a lot of sense to me. This is a perfect example of what m-learning is, what it looks like, and what it can be! Taking a simple how-to manual and creating a mobile app for it is highly logical, especially in this scenario. I mean, think about it…how often do people whip their smartphones out of their pockets to look up any kind of information, let alone have a how-to app on their phones? So having a special app that could be downloaded and instantly used as a reference guide for that newbie coffee barista would be ideal!

I was happy to hear about this addition to the assignment. The professor knows how enthusiastic I am about promoting mobile solutions, and I was thrilled to hear that she is making an effort to include mobile solutions in the MSPTC curriculum. So, she asked me if I knew any software programs that could convert text into some sort of mobile output. The first thing that came to mind was Adobe’s Technical Communications Suite 4, especially with Framemaker and Robohelp. But, the school doesn’t have a copy of that for students yet (they are working on it), and even with the short trial, there’s a big learning curve for an assignment that would be due fairly quickly.

So, I began to do a little research to help the professor out. There were a few things–a few parameters–that I had to keep in mind as I looked for a tool for her to use. It has to be easy to use for someone who didn’t have too much or negligible programming skills. It has to be free or at the barest minimum of cost. And it had to have an easy ramp-up to have a project done on it in a week or so. I knew, from experience, that people from all walks of life come into this program, with a true mix of web expertise. I remember helping some of my fellow classmates by providing a crash course in HTML, and the quest for the free or cheap web editing software or site where an e-portfolio could be created. So, I understood the parameters well.

The sad thing I discovered was that while there are dozens of places to set up and create free or cheap websites with web editing available that anyone could use to set up a good looking site, the same can’t be said yet for creating mobile sites. There are a few sites that do help a person create a mobile app easily, but it’s not cheap. Or, if it’s cheap, it requires some programming know-how. It was tough. the other thing to keep in mind was whether the mobile app being created was for a “native” app, a “web” app or “hybrid” app. The differences between these is that a native app is saved on the mobile device and can be used offline. The web app is one that is essentially a mini website and needs an internet connection to access the app. A hybrid is…well, you can figure that out. If you’ve ever tried to access an app on your phone, but couldn’t get it to function because you didn’t have wifi or 4G, then that’s a web app. If it only partially worked, but you still needed wifi/4G to connect for part of it, it’s a hybrid. You get the idea. In the end, I gave the professor a few suggestions that I found.

The first was something called Viziapps. I think I had heard of Viziapps because I believe (just off the top of my head) that this was the software being used in an STC class on how to build mobile apps. Viziapps allows individuals to create a mobile app without knowing any or little coding, but they would have to have some idea of information architecture (which is part of the project assignment–understanding what’s important, what’s not, what comes first, content structure, etc.). It’s mostly a visual editor that allows the user to build the apps online, then publish on the web for free, provided the creator has created a web app. If it’s a native or hybrid app, then that has a price. It seems like it might be a viable choice as a tool that would allow for a quicker ramp-up for someone seriously trying to create a mobile app.

Other more creative choices would be using their mobile devices to make something. For example, there is an app called SnapGuide, in which an individual can take photos or video to demonstrate how to do something. Mobile by Conduit might be another possibility, as it’s free, and supposedly has an interface style similar to WordPress.

But then I thought about WordPress,  and I realized that might be another option. TechCommGeekMom is a WordPress website, after all, and it can be read on mobile devices. Basic WordPress accounts are free and fairly easy to use. You can create a “blog” or website on WordPress, and then there’s a setting to create a mobile interface. Here’s a little bit of info about it: http://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/mobile-themes/  It seemed to fit the criteria needed for a mobile app creator/editor, in that it’s free, it has a mobile output (as well as a regular web output), and it provides a primer for content management in the experience.  I thought that if I was still in the class, I’d create several pages on a single WordPress website for different parts of the Guide–similar to the pages and navigation I have here, and then promote the mobile access to the website. It’s not a perfect system, but for quick ramp-up purposes for a fairly small assignment, it seems like it would fit the bill.

I think my former professor appreciated the help, but we both discussed the dilemma that it posed. Why must someone have a programming degree and some cash in order to create a mobile app–whether it be a native, hybrid or web app? Depending on the app, all three formats have their positive and negative aspects to them.  But how does one learn how to use any of these mobile app writer/editor products quickly? There are some great tools out there, I’m not denying that, but for the true beginner or student on a budget who is trying to learn how to create mobile solutions skills as a technical communicator, it’s not that easy. I see a huge business opportunity here (not that I have the time, cash, or enough knowledge to start such a business), but creating a highly user-friendly software program that one’s grandma could create a mobile app for a very low cost would be a fantastic business. It would make even more information accessible to share with others.

It occurred to me later that for the average user, another possibility is another Adobe program that I’ve been using to create and maintain my e-portfolio, called Adobe Muse. It’s a cloud-based app that acts as a very easy UI interface to create websites and mobile apps. I’ve used the website editor, but I haven’t tried the mobile conversion yet there. I believe it’s about $14-15 per month, and you can set up an account at Adobe’s Business Catalyst and create your mobile site that way.  It allows those who have next to no programming skills create something that looks great, but it also allows more advanced users some nice shortcuts to create great sites without having to do all the coding–Muse does it for you.

Perhaps, as mobile solutions become more mature like editing software for desktop interface websites, this mobile app creator problem will go away, and there will be more affordable options. In the meantime, we have to wait or muddle through it all…

If you know of any easy-to-ramp-up mobile app editors, please mention it in the comments below! Share, everybody!

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A true test of mobile versus…not.

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

MP900435893A recent event has made me discover that I will be tested in understanding how my true use of mobile technology will really be in the near future.

How did I come to that discovery?

I recently sent in a proposal to do a presentation, and I was notified over the weekend that the proposal has been accepted! I’m really thrilled for a number of reasons. First, it’s the first time I’ve actually sent in a proposal to do a presentation, so to have it accepted on the first try is pretty good. Second, this presentation will be the first real professional presentation I’ve ever done to a large group. I’ve done presentations, but not on this scale before. Third, it’s going to be for the STC’s Mid-Atlantic Technical Conference, hosted by one of my home chapters, the STC–Philadelphia Metropolitan Chapter, in early March of this year. Less than a month and a half away from this writing! So, it’s going to be nice representing my own chapter, and being able to sleep in my own bed instead of traveling too far to do this! 😉 So, for a number of reasons, you can see that I’m actually very excited and honored to be included, especially considering that I’m still a “young” professional in the technical communications field.

But in receiving this acceptance, I realized that now I have to actually put everything together for this presentation. I have the foundation for it, which is what I forwarded to the conference’s review committee, so that’s not the issue. Now the issue is pulling it all together to be a stellar presentation. I know I can do a presentation, but I need to create some sort of slideshow or PowerPoint content that can be displayed while I actually present.

Now, I know what you are thinking. You are probably thinking, “But TechCommGeekMom, you are a technical communicator. Surely you know how to do, at least, a simple PowerPoint presentation?” Indeed, I do know how to do that, and do it well. I also know some other tools to use as well. That’s not the issue or the problem either. I have a bigger problem to figure out. The problem is whether to create the slideshow in PowerPoint on my laptop, and bring my laptop with me, OR…create the presentation in Keynote on my iPad, and bring my iPad with me. There’s always the third option of creating the presentation for both, and bringing both, but I’d like to avoid doing that, if possible.

On the one hand, using my laptop is a guarantee. We know that a laptop can generally hook up to video/VGA/ HDMI cables that most conference centers use, so that’s not a problem. But I have a BIG laptop–a big 17-inch screen one. It’s a little on the heavy side. I bought it during grad school for the big stuff I had to do, and sometimes still do, with web design, writing large papers, and for the big power-lifting tasks that one needs a laptop.

On the other hand, I am the huge proponent of using mobile devices, and having a means of creating a slideshow on my iPad presents a new option that I haven’t had in the past. I could buy a cable (or two) that could hook up into a conference center‘s video system– I don’t mind the expense of getting the necessary cables to do that–but I don’t want to be left standing with an iPad and a bunch of cables that may not be compatible with the video screen system, thus no presentation other than me and my big mouth. (I could pull that off–just a speech alone, since I remember giving presentations even in my school days before computers were even present in schools, but that’s giving away my age now…) But let’s face it–pictures and words on a screen are much more entertaining than verbal words alone in this day and age. Since I don’t know what this conference center has, I have to second guess what’s there. This is my preference, but this is not guaranteed to work.

So, here’s a crowdsourcing question for anyone who’s reading this, especially if you have done professional presentations on the road. What should I do? Should I plan on bringing the laptop and create a standard PowerPoint formatted presentation? Or, should I plan on practicing what I preach about using mobile devices, namely using my iPad, and create the presentation on that? If I should use the iPad, what extra cables should I purchase? Or, should I just plan on creating it on both, and bringing both?

I especially need the help of those who do presentations on the road often. Who has used an iPad? Who has used only a laptop? What are the advantages and disadvantages in either instance? What has worked best for you?

Let me know what your suggestions are in the comments below. I really would love to get some input on this! Thanks!

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Flash Technology gone in a mobile….no, wait–that’s not quite right…

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

In the mobile technology wars, it’s been a war between the technology of Adobe Flash versus HTML 5. This has been a long going–at least in Internet years–battle royale that has been going on for a while, but it appears that a break has finally happened.

Recently, Adobe made the decision to end the support of Adobe Flash in Google’s latest Android OS, aka “Jelly Bean.” The significance of this is huge.  To some, this is a surprise. To others, it is not.

Flash has been the driving force of web animation for a couple decades now on many websites globally. It is a huge part of Adobe’s repertoire, and yet… Flash has had a difficult time making it into the mobile realm.  Just in the desktop/laptop realm, a Flash player can be rather unwieldy. There seemed to be only one flavor of Flash made for 32-bit machines, and not for 64-bit machines (like my own) which are becoming more commonplace.  Flash programming is an art unto itself as well. As much as many employers want people to have Flash backgrounds as technical communicators, I’ve also been told by developers to not bother learning it unless I really was dying to know, because it was rather complex even for the experienced developer to use, and developing Flash was time consuming.

This was all brought to the forefront about two years ago by the late Steve Jobs who said that Flash would not last, and that HTML5 was the future. He believed this so much that all of Apple’s new mobile products supported HTML5 from the get-go, but not Flash.  Aaron Silvers reminded me of this when he posted this article from Business Insider, STEVE JOBS WINS: Adobe’s Ditching Flash, today on Twitter. It’s been a huge deal as iPhones and iPads proliferated with HTML5-friendly browsers, and didn’t support Flash, while other browsers for other tablets, like the Kindle, Nook and other Android-based tablets and phones did.

Adobe’s had a hard time with this, as far as I could see. Just for the record, I love Apple products, but I also love my Adobe products as well, so it’s been a tough debate to follow. I actually wrote a case study about it just several months ago about it, entitled, A Case Study: HTML 5 versus Flash, which discussed the history of this debate and what actions I saw Adobe–as a company–trying to make to work within this new environment that was pushing HTML5. At the time of the writing, Steve Jobs had just passed–literally within days of when I wrote my first draft and final draft of the paper–and so much was out in the media about the great Steve Jobs and how he was the mastermind that he was. I still love Steve Jobs, but after all, he was still human and fallible,  so I wanted to show how Adobe countered his attacks against Flash. In the end, the conclusion at the time was that HTML5 was the future, but it wasn’t completely NOW (or at that moment). HTML5 needed more development, and in the meantime, Adobe would adjust with the HTML5 revolution with its work on the Adobe Edge product and bringing that capability to its development products, but in the meantime, Flash was still working on most of the machines in the world, and there was no reason to stop working on that as well.

The way I saw it, Adobe’s point was that you don’t just abandon a long standing technology that’s worked so well overnight, just because the next best thing is starting to come along. It’s like abandoning DVDs just because Blu-Ray disks are out. There has to be some sort of legacy transition, and until HTML5 was more mature and used by those other than the developers at Apple, it didn’t make sense to abandon Flash altogether. But in the meantime, time needed to be taken to start working with the new medium and figure out the best way to move forward.

Fast forward to now, about six to eight months after I wrote the case study above. Mobile technology continues to explode on the market, and the race is on to be the dominant technological mobile device with new tablets and smartphones being introduced.  RJ Jacquez posted this article that came out today on Twitter: Adobe: Web standards match 80 percent of Flash features. Arno Gourdol, Adobe’s senior director of Web platform and authoring, was quoted at the Google I/O show, referring to HTML5’s capabilities at this stage, “I think it’s close to 80 percent.”  Seeing the writing on the wall, it’s obvious, after reading the rest of the article, that Adobe has been making efforts to keep up with HTML5, and make forward progress on using the web standard. Adobe’s not quite there either in keeping up, but it seems that it’s starting to make significant progress in this direction.

So, where does this leave us in the mobile learning world? As I see it, this is another means towards single-sourcing for learning. Flash has been good, there is no doubt. Some of the most interactive e-learning and m-learning sites (depending on your device’s capabilities) have been Flash driven, and so much has been Flash driven for years that Flash capabilities and interactivity are expected. In speaking with my e-learning developer husband about the topic, he said that Flash, while complicated at times, was easier to develop than HTML5, because HTML5 depended not only on new HTML5 coding, but also javascript and jquery much more than before to have content play the same way–or at least similarly–to Flash. From the sounds of things, those similarities are getting closer and closer. How soon will HTML5 be a true standard in the same way as standard HTML has been all these years? Probably sooner than later, but I see it as a big step towards that single-sourcing solution that will help eliminate the idea of problems with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). No one will have to worry whether something will work on an Android, Windows or iOS device. It will just work because they all use HTML5.

This is an important issue to follow, because it’s not the mobile technological devices that need to be watched as much as how they will be programmed and used. Flash isn’t gone yet, but seeing what will happen with it, and where and how HTML5 progresses will be a hot issue for some time to come–so keep on top of this!