Vodafone Casual Data

Here's an example of an SMS that VFNZ sends re iminent 3G data cap blowout. The new VFNZ casual data daily allowance of 10MB for $1 is certainly a huge step in the right direction - great for email, RSS, & a bit of web surfing - but avoid downloading Youtube videos - as you'll blow your daily cap in one go!



$1 per MB after the daily 10MB limit reached!



Vodafone are advertising their new casual data rate as "Vodafone NOW"

Mobile Codes in Japan

2D Mobile codes are very popular in Japan - below is a YouTube add about mobile Cods in Japan.
Mobile Codes are supported on most smartphones (cameraphones) including the iPhone

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Japanese commercial, DoCoMo ...

Powerpoint Presentation on 2D Mobile Codes: http://mobilkonferencia.hu/2007-2/eloadasok/mobile_codes-vamos-hegyi_attila.pdf

'Unlocking' the iPhone 3G

I've been happily using an iPhone 3g via wifi - everything works great, however when using 3g on the Vodafone NZ network I kept getting 'PDP authentication error' messages and no connection. It turns out that iTunes downloads an APN setting to the iPhone that effectively locks the 'unlocked' iPhone to an iPhone plan only APN! To set the iPhone to use any APN browse (using wifi) to http://unlockit.co.nz and enter the prefered APN (use 'internet' for unrestricted access). Restart the iPhone and you will now find a "profile" setting in the iPhone settings with the new APN. Now you can use the iPhone with any Vodafone data plan - including the brand new casual broadband data rate that works on prepay SIMs ($¹per day for a 10MB per day data cap).

Geolocate this post

Posted with LifeCast

Vodafone 3G Casual Data finally 'affordable'???

Vodafone NZ have just releasd details of new casual broadband data costs:

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/mobile-data/3g-broadband-plans.jsp

$1 a day for a data cap of 10MB for casual data - a HUGE improvement of the previous 1c per KB = $10000/GB!

It's also a change that this casual data 'plan' can be used on PREPAY - you don't have to have a voice plan. At last a 'cheap' data plan for students!!!

blogit

testing blogit web app ok iPod touch http://blogit.typepad.com

iPod Touch V2 software & Apps

The v2.0 software ($9US) for the ipod touch adds several new features - including third party applications that can be either synched from iTunes or downloaded directly to the iPod. My favourite apps so far include: Mobile Flickr uploader, Shozu, and the ability to take snapshots of the iPod screen (hold down 'home' button & press 'off' button to capture screenshot to 'saved pictures' folder on iPod) - great for creating examples & tutorials, and a way of creating images on the iPod touch without a camera ;-) .






The above Apps (Top line are web apps, rest are from itunes App store) are all free except Mobile Flickr (a bargain at $5).

The V2 software update adds ann 'Apps' store icon to the iPod main screen - apps can be purchased & downloaded directly over WiFi to the iPod Touch. To purchase (or download freebies) and synch to iPod via iTunes you need to update iTunes to V7.7 - this adds an 'applications' menu to iTunes.

Screenshots of several iPod Apps below:



NetNewsWire (free) - RSS reader that synchs with http://www.newsgator.com account online, as well as desktop and Java mobile readers (NetNewsWire on Mac, FeedDemon on PC, Newsgator Go on Java capable phone).



AIM Instant Messanger App (Free). AIM or .Mac only.



VR Viewing App (Free). Also allows you to link to and share your own VR content.



Mobile Flickr ($5). Although other apps link to Flickr for free (e.g. Shozu), Mobile Flickr provides access to almost all of your Flickr account options from the iPod Touch. So I thought the small investment worthwhile!



SHOZU (Free) on iPod Touch. A great app for uploading pics and comments to a host of popular blog and media sites, and downloading a selection of Podcasts.A couple of issues with Shozu though:

1. Unfortunately Shozu appears to only synch with one mobile device - so each mobile device requires it's own Shozu account or Shozu gets 'confused' and posts go missing!

2. Shozu only posts to your blog host by uploading a picture - no text only blog posts from Shozu. However, this is nicely covered by a Web App from Sixapart - BLOGIT. I've made a web app shortcut to Blogit on my iPod Touch and linked my Blogger, Wordpress, and VOX blogs to Blogit.

What I'd really like to see is an iPod/iPhone app version of my favourite Mac Blog editor "MarsEdit"!

The Apps really find wings with the iPhone - using the camera for capture & 3G connectivity - but they also significantly enhance the iPod Touch as well.

Vodafone NZ Charges "Like a Wounded Bull" For iPhone 3G

Vodafone NZ Charges "Like a Wounded Bull" For iPhone 3G: "

New Zealand will be the first country in the world to get the Apple iPhone 3G, because of the country's position on the international dateline. Vodafone NZ is the carrier which is offering the iPhone, but its pricing plans - released today - have attracted a storm of criticism. Vodafone NZ has decided to charge extortionist prices for the iPhone 3G. Kiwis (including yours truly) are naturally outraged.

The top of the line price is $250 per month for the 16GB iPhone 3G (plus $349 to buy the phone). For that kiwis get a measly 1GB data per month and have to sign for a 24 month contract. The cheapest deal for kiwis is the 8GB black iPhone 3G, for $80 per month (but you have to shell out $549 clams for the phone). Here are the full details from Vodafone NZ's website::

Here's the total price, courtesy of Ben Gracewood and Geekzone:

Note that kiwis can just buy the phone only, without the plan. But the price is a far cry from the $199 touted a month ago when the iPhone 3G was announced. To buy the phone sans plan will cost kiwis $979 for the 8GB and $1129 for the 16GB.

Unfortunately this goes to show once again that phone carriers are greedy opportunists. It also makes a mockery of Apple's claims at its conference last month that it would cost just $199.

On local NZ news tonight, TV3 presenter John Campbell grilled Vodafone marketing executive Mark Rushworth, noting that Vodafone was 'charging like a wounded bull'. The Vodafone spokesman had no response other than a rote description of their outrageous pricing plans. You can see a video of the interview here.

There is currently a petition on Facebook, started by Michael McGimpsey. Go sign it, even if you're not from NZ (very likely, given that less than 1% of our readers are from there). Carrier greed worldwide is probably the major reason why the Mobile Web is struggling to take off.

"

(Via Read/WriteWeb.)

Elearning Guidelines

Poster presentations at herdsa2008

Bdesign product year2 project starts!

Bdesign product tutors requested extension of the mobile learning trial into 2nd year!

Bdesign Product Year2 Project

2nd year students excitedly
unwrapping their mobile pack!

BDesign Tag Cloud

Tag Cloud from Bachelor of Product Design Students mobile trial June 2008. Created using WORDLE (http://wordle.net)

BDesign Mobile Trial Reflections

Students and tutor reflect on the mobile trial soo far:

Question1. What are the benefits of Moblogging (Mobile Blogging)?



Question2. Why Blog?

BDesign 2008 Mobile Kit

Here's an quick look at the mobile setup for the Bachelor of Design mobile trial for Semester2 2008 at Unitec:

1. Nokia N95 + 1GB card

2. Nokia BT headset (for the 'geek'look!)

3. Folding Bluetooth keyboard for faster text entry.

4. Case and screen protector.

And Not shown:

5. Moodle for support notes.

6. VOX (http://www.vox.com) for blog/eportfolio.

iPhone 3G NZ update

Vodafone NZ now have a news bulletin on their site re the release of the iPhone 3G on 11 July - not much info & no pricing from Vodafone yet - however the NZ Herald qoted the 8GB iPhone 3G to be $365NZ this morning - that's less than a third of the parallel import price of the original iPhone!

"Australia, Italy, New Zealand and Portugal will be the first Vodafone markets to offer customers iPhone 3G for purchase on July 11. iPhone 3G will be available via Vodafone on both prepay and contract price plans which will include great value data bundles."

Unwrapping N95s!

Bachelor of Design students unwrapping their shiny new Nokia N95s - an upgrade from the N80s they have soo far used for the mobile trial at unitec! YAY!

New 3G iPhone

3G iPhone announced today!

• Available NZ 11 July – Vodafone

• 8GB $200US ($300 NZ), 16GB $300US ~ $500NZ !

• App store coming – some free blogging apps announced (Typepad)

• Will there be a voice/data contract required as part of purchase???

New Features:

* UMTS/HSDPA

* GPS

* iPhone2 software

* MobileMe synchronization (an updated dotMac)

* iPhone/iPod applications & app store coming soon

Still Missing:

* Video recording

* only 2MP camera resolution still, & no flash lighting

* No secondary camera for video conferencing

* No handwriting recognition

* No Java

* No Flash

The iPhone has the best mobile web experience available, but the holes in its feature set still hamper it. It's biggest benefit is the intuitive User Interface - this is the major downfall of Symbian S60 & UIQ mobile OSes.

Mini Laptops - competition between Asus & Acer

Acer Aspire One mini laptop - Linux & WinXP versions. An Eee PC competitor set to undercut the Eee PC 900 and 901. Isn't competition great!
No bluetooth builtin (same as Eee) though :-(

http://www.acer.com/aspireone/feeling.html

http://gizmodo.com/5012589/acer-aspire-one-also-priced-to-kick-assus-soon-to-pack-3g

Student Devices and Software Usage

From Trinder, K., Guiller, J., Marggaryan, N., Littlejohn, A., & Nicol, D. (2008). Learning from digital natives: Bridging formal and informal learning. Glasgow Caledonian University: The Higher Education Academy.

Interesting Mobile statistics

From the Symbian S60 Summit 08 (last weekend)

Usage of Mobile Phones:

• 12% Voice
  
• 16% Multimedia


• 37% Messaging


• 8% Web Browsing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafeblandford/2545382334/in/set-72157605390553644/

2005 - 2007 Mobile Browsing & Multimedia on the rise

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafeblandford/2544559105/in/set-72157605390553644/

Creating a Podcast Show using VOX Collections

The steps involved in creating a PodCast Show using VOX and the iTunes Store are:

1. Record your Podcast show episode and convert to either mp3 or mp4 (aac, m4a).
2. Upload
   your audio file (Podcast episode) to your Vox blog - either as a post
   attachment or upload directly into your Vox 'Audio' folder in your Vox
   Library.
   
3. Create a 'Collection' in Vox and name it - e.g. 'My Podcast Show'.
4. Add
   your Podcast Episode to your Podcast 'Collection' in Vox - note
   providing a description and tag words will make it easier for listeners
   to search for your Podcast show and categorize it!
5. Find your Vox Podcast Collection RSS feed and copy it.
1. It will be in the form: http://thomcochrane.vox.com/podcast-show/atom.xml
2. i.e. http://yourvoxname.vox.com/yourvoxcollectionname/atom.xml
   
6. Open
   iTunes, choose 'Advanced', 'Subscribe to Podcast' and paste your
   Podcast RSS feed - iTunes will then download and play your Podcast show
   episodes!
7. Share your iTunes Podcast Playlist (and your RSS feed) with the rest of the class!
8. To get your Podcast show on iTunes:
1. Submit your Shows RSS feed to iTunes
   
2. Launch iTunes.
3. In the left navigation column, under iTunes Store, click on the Podcasts link to go to the Podcasts page.
4. In the left column of the Podcasts page, in the Learn More box at the bottom, click on the Submit a Podcast link.
5. Follow the instructions on the Submit a Podcast page.
1. Note that you will need a valid iTunes account, and you will need to be logged into iTunes.
6. You will receive a confirmation email from Apple.

PODCAST FAQ (Apple Computer)

View slideshow of screenshots.

Mobile Trial 'Reflections'

Here's a few examples of students & tutors first time VODCast 'reflections' on the iPod Touch and Nokia N80 mobile trials:

iPod Touch Trial - Diploma Contemporary Music (Waitakere Campus)

Nokia N80 Trial - Bachelor of Product Design (Mt Albert Campus)





2. 
   
   12/05/08 from http://djoblin.vox.com/


3. 
   
   12/05/08 from http://steve125.vox.com/

JoikuSpot - Now this is cool!

Here's an S60 app that allows you to share your 3G Internet connection from your Nokia cellphone via WiFi with any WiFi enabled device! - why is this cool? - it means you don't have to stuff around setting up bluetooth connections from your laptop, and non-bluetooth devices with WiFi can connect to the Internet anywhere you have cellphone coverage (e.g. iPod Touch, PSP, Eee PC...). It also means that you are not limited by sharing via a slow bluetooth connection (1-2Mbps) but can share the full HSDPA speed (up to 3.6Mbps). It supports NSeries and ESeries Nokia phones with WiFi.

"JoikuSpot is FREE and SECURE Mobile HotSpot solution that turns Nokia phones to a WLAN HotSpot.

JoikuSpot software is installed directly to the phone. When switched on, laptops and iPods can establish instant, secure and fast WLAN connection via smartphone's JoikuSpot HotSpot using phone's own 3G internet connection.

Multiple devices can connect to JoikuSpot in parallel and seamlessly share the same 3G internet connection.

You can use JoikuSpot to access internet e.g. on the train, car, sailing boat, summer cottage, hotel, while walking, or when at remote office...where ever you are!"

Another useful S60 application from Joiku is HandyWi

Bascially a better WiFi hotspot finder than the builtin connection app for S60.

"HandyWi is freeware software, which helps your to discover and connect to private and public WiFi hotspots on your mobile phone. Application is designed to work with any 802.11a/b/c/g hotspots"

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

UPnP on Nokia NSeries

UPnP (Universal Plug n Play) technology is nicely integrated into the Nokia NSeries smartphones. This provides a way to wirelessly stream media (Video, Images, and Audio) from your smartphone to UPnP enabled devices or software applications.

On the N80, UPnP provides a way of viewing video & images from the N80 directly on a Mac or PC laptop (When connected to a video projector this enables large group viewing/interaction). On the newer NSeries phones (N95, N82) a dedicated video/audio out connector is provided - but it's still cool to stream media wirelessly!

UPnP setup:

1. On the N80/N95 Scan for WiFi access point & connect


2. On the N80/N95 find the 'Home Network' application



3. Configure the Home Network appication for your WiFi connection and choose which media to share wirelessly







4. Start a UPnP capable software application on your Mac or PC: on PC (Simple Center http://experience.nokia.se/VideoTV/howto/howto_2.aspx ) & Mac (Mediacloud) http://users.pandora.be/bruno.keymolen/hmediamac.html


5. Now wirelessly browse & display your mobile media!

I've yet to get UPnP working on the P1i or the Nokia E90 :-(

Mobile Vodcasting

I've been experimenting with the possibilities of mobile Vodcasting (Video casting) recently.

The N-Series Nokia's make this a painless exercise (the multimedia capabilities of the NSeries phones is exceptional - it's just their lack of text entry options and poor battery life that let then down - you really need to carry a Bluetooth keyboard with you all the time for any length of text input):

1. Place your smartphone in a deskstand. Turn on the camera on your smartphone, or start the 'camera' application.


2. Choose 'use secondary camera (the 'front low resolution camera)


3. Choose video mode and 'shoot' your vodcast. This will be saved as a 176x144 .3gp (H263 mpeg4) compressed video, suitable for mms or emailing. The built-in microphone does a reasonable job of recording the audio accompanying the video.


4. Edit your video recording


5. Upload your edited video to your online video host or Blog - using either email or Shozu.

Non NSeries cameraphones:

The Sonyericsson P1i does not have a built-in video editor, nor does the front camera record stills or video - it's solely for video conferencing :-( .

However the main camera records video at 320x240, 15fps. To edit and upload your video clips from the P1i:

1. Create a free Jumpcut or Photobucket account.


2. Find your email upload address, and email your video clips to Jumpcut or Photobucket from your P1i


3. Logon to your Jumpcut/Photobucket account on a computer and edit your uploaded clips into a 'movie'.


4. Embed the final 'movie' into your Vox blog etc...

Obviously Jumpcut and Photobucket can also be used with the Nokia NSeries phones as well - their online video editors are more fully featured than the built-in video editor on the phones, and Jumpcut or Photobucket also provide extra features such as embedding a video player in most blog hosts, and voting polls etc...

Below is an example of a Vodcast created by recording clips on an N95 secondary camera & a P1i, then uploaded via email to a Jumpcut account and edited into a short 'movie' using the Jumpcut editor - pretty cool technology! (Pity about the video ;-) )

http://www.jumpcut.com/view?id=1FD4F6F419D711DDAB75000423CEF5B0