iPhone 1.1.4 in prep for the SDK?
Posted on February 26, 2008
Filed Under David Morton | Leave a Comment
I’ve been hoping for an early announcement from Apple about the release of the iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit). But so far today, we have only seen a refresh of the MacBook and MacBook Pro.
iPhone Software 1.1.4
While updating my iPhone, I found that I was offered version 1.1.4 rather than the old (current) 1.1.3. See the screenshot below.
Maybe there is some hope after all.
One device: smartphone or laptop?
Posted on January 9, 2008
Filed Under David Morton, Mobility 101 | 1 Comment
As the sun set on day two of the 2008 Consumer Electronics show, I want to reflect on some initial thoughts from the first half of the show. To begin with, CES is HUGE. I’ve been here and other large shows in the past, but I’d forgotten how difficult it is just to get around. The scale dominates everything. From Best Buy sized booths spread over at least seven show floors (a reported 1.8 million square feet of exhibits), to large tents with more in the parking lots, to clogged isles, long lines, non-stop conferences and meetings, moving from place to place is an adventure. When it takes nearly 90 minutes to get from one meeting to another, a positive outlook is a must.
Despite, or because of, these challenges, the opportunities to meet and interact with thought leaders is second to none. In the past few days, I have met and heard from senior executives, congressmen, colleagues and even a few celebrities.
Mobility is one of the key themes of this year’s CES. It has risen from a side industry to one of the pillars of the consumer electronics industry.
Laptop or Smartphone?
“Will a smartphone replace your laptop for mobile computing?” This question came up over and over again over the past two days. Without fail, as soon as the question was asked, someone would opine about how a smartphone poor at everything. They’d point out that there are better platforms for email, web browsing, spreadsheets, video editing (???) and even phones. The logic goes that if a laptop is a good platform for email and spreadsheets, why would you want to use anything else?
The same logic came up as part of the CNET The Next Big Thing panel discussion. When asked whether panelists would prefer to have a single, integrated device or to carry separate devices for each function, most said that they’d prefer to carry a camera, an iPod, a phone and a laptop. One even stated that he had a lot of pockets so carrying multiple devices isn’t a problem. The argument goes on to point to the complexities of integrating multiple functions in a single device and that the landscape is littered with failed attempts to consolidate.
It’s the Context
I think these views miss the point. It isn’t whether a laptop is better for email or if a digital SLR is a better camera. Rather the question should be: What is the best device for the task at hand. The laptop might work best when stationary, but the weight, size and limited battery don’t make it a good choice while on the move. A camera on a phone doesn’t need to match the quality of a purpose built device, it just needs to be good enough to be useful. The mobile web browser does have to match a desktop version, but it does need to provide easy access to web resources while on the move.
The context and availability set the bar. My digital camera was of little use to me yesterday sitting in my hotel room, but my iphone was able to capture the images I needed. It was available and while better quality would be nice, it was good enough for web and email use.
While many tended to compare the mobile platforms (laptop, smartphone, pocket PC, etc) against each other, several people embraced the idea that context should drive the features and capability of a device. Leaders from from Nokia, Opera, Erico and Skype stood out as embracing and advancing these concepts. Microsoft also stands out in that their vision of Windows Anywhere is built around the idea of context based capabilities. I’ll talk more about Microsoft’s vision and practice in a later article.
Now off to the “Technologies and Emerging Countries” conference and the keynote by Nicholas Negroponte from One Laptop Per Child, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and others.
iPhone Home(Page)
Posted on December 30, 2007
Filed Under Nancy Morton, Windows Mobile, iphone | Leave a Comment
Besides eating a bit more than our share of Chistmas cookies this season, the Freshly Mobile elves have been hard at work with tweaks to the site and preparing for the new year.
One of the updates includes optimized versions of Freshly Mobile for the the iPhone and iPod Touch. To view the mobile versions, simply point your iPhone/Touch to the www.freshlymobile.com page.
Lest our Windows Mobile or Blackberry friends feel left out, we also have a beta version of sites optimized for you as well. We are still testing and tweaking those pages so let us know what works or doesn’t work for you.
A week from today David will be heading to Las Vegas to attend the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), for which I am extremely jealous. Look for his coverage over the next couple of weeks. For all of you lucky readers who are also able to attend, please feel free to post your experiences and share your insights.
The following week I’ll be covering MacWorld and am looking forward to reporting back. This will be my first time covering the conference and I’d love to hear all of your “must see” suggestions.
Better iPhone support means being able to post from our mobile platforms as well. This, and other posts come directly from the iPhone as well. Look for more “express posts” as we post on the run.
What I’m Reading
Posted on December 10, 2007
Filed Under Books, David Morton | Leave a Comment
A couple of weeks ago I picked up the book “Communities Dominate Brands“ while trolling the virtual book isle at Amazon. The reviews were very solid and a few days later the book was in my hands and sitting on the “I hope to read” shelf of my bookcase (next to a bunch of other books with impressive sounding titles that will never be read).
This weekend I found myself thumbing through the table of contents and randomly reading sections. I was soon engrossed and reading whole sections. While many books feel outdated before they’re published, this book feels and reads pretty fresh especially since it was published in 2005. Authors (Tomi T. Ahrnen and Alan Moore) offer some interesting ideas and thoughts trends that hold up well today. They offer solid facts and brief case studies help drive the points home.
Calling a place vs Calling a person
So far there have been several instances where seemingly simple connections are brought sharply into focus. For example, there is a section that discusses the very personal nature of cell phones vs the family home phone.
“It became obvious that very distinct from the fixed line phone, a cellular phone is distinctly personal. This personal association creates a very powerful attachment to the cellular phone, one very close to an addiction. No such attachment is observed with the fixed line phone” … “[IT] means that while on the fixed line phones you call a place, on a cellular phone you call a person.”
A growing trend among cell phone users is to abandon the fixed line home phone altogether in favor of the cell phone (or more occasionally a broadband VoIP phone). This trend is likely to be accelerated by services such as UMA or friends lists that offer unlimited calling from your cell phone. I’ll look more deeply into these services in another article.
The personal nature of a cell phone also presents challenges. There are times when a caller does want to call a place rather than an individual. For example, when family friends or relatives call, they often interested in talking to whoever is available, rather than a particular person. We’ll look more deeply into this issues and some emerging solutions in the future.
In the mean time, you might find Communities Dominate Brands an interesting read.
Thoughts on the subject? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
Google’s Mobility Gaggle - Part 2
Posted on December 5, 2007
Filed Under David Morton, Google, iphone | Leave a Comment
Only a couple of days ago I was talking about the rapid pace of mobile development at Google. No sooner do I turn my back and start to move on to other topics, when the Big G is at it again.
Google on the iPhone
If you use GMail or Google Calendar on your iPhone, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the significant improvements these applications have seen over the past few weeks. Well today Google has released an updated iPhone home screen that integrates four popular Google Mobile apps into a clean, easy to navigate interface. Simply visit www.google.com on your iphone to see what I mean.
For those who are busy using their iPhone to play Bejeweled (15 minutes of playing Bejeweled later), I’ve attached some screen shots from the official Google Mobile Blog.
Notice at the top of the page there is easy access to the primary Google Mobile applications: Search (aka Home), Gmail, Calendar and Reader. There is also a More button that takes you to the standard Google Mobile page to access the rest of the Google Mobile Gaggle.
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About Me
David Morton (mortonmanor)
Director, Mobile Strategies
University of Washington
We are on the cusp of making great strides towards the promise of mobility. This isn't a site about me, but rather I wanted a place where people can come to learn and talk about how the promise is being realized.
contact me: mortonmanor at freshlymobile dot com
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