SoloJourno

Recently, Sports Illustrated unveiled a tablet protype - developed in conjunction with the Wonderfactory - which has created quite a stir.

The idea is to have each tablet-sized issue include the complete print issue, plus additional website content, and enhanced advertising with video-plus functionality. The goal is to leverage and add to the magazine experience, and not function like a website. “It’s curated. It’s not a fire hose. We want a hand in all that because that’s what we think people will pay us for,” says Terry McDonell, VO host of the video demo and editor, Sports Illustrated Group, in an Advertising Age article.

If you’ve been interested in learning how to create an iPhone app, but only know coding and scripting languages like HTML, CSS and JavaScript, well, there’s a course for that (and it’s free!):

Well-known tech publisher O’Reilly is offering a free 5-part live online course, “Learn to Build iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript“.

The course - which runs from January 5th to February 2nd, 2010 - will be of interest to people who want to learn how to program web-based iPhone applications. The course is being taught by Elisabeth Robson, co-author of O’Reilly’s “Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML“. In her capacity as Special Projects director at O’Reilly Media, she has also developed a number of workshops, including, “Build, Compile, and Run Your iPhone App in 2 Days” and “Developing Android Applications“.

No experience creating iPhone applications is required. All that is needed is a working knowledge of the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. O’Reilly promises that “Each session offers easy-to-follow, hands-on lessons. You’ll begin the course by building iPhone apps with standard web tools, then you’ll learn how to create native Cocoa-based iPhone apps using Apple’s tools.” View a 22 minute course overview here - http://blip.tv/file/2962732

People who are unable to attend or who did but want to watch the course over and over will be able to buy a video of the sessions, each of which is 90-120 minutes in length. Code examples and slides are included. The video will cost U$35 until February 5, 2010. After that, it will be U$79.

Official Description:

In this four-session video workshop, you’ll quickly learn how to create simple web apps with features that take advantage of the device’s remarkable functionality. You’ll also learn to use Apple’s tools to create native Cocoa-based iPhone apps. Each video session offers an easy-to-follow, hands-on lesson. It’s the perfect way to get started with iPhone app design.

Presented by CreativeTechs in partnership with O’Reilly, each session offers easy-to-follow, hands-on lessons. You’ll begin the course by building iPhone apps with standard web tools, then you’ll learn how to create native Cocoa-based iPhone apps using Apple’s tools. It’s the perfect way to get started with iPhone app design, and all you need to know in advance is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics.

• Build working web apps for the iPhone, using HTML and CSS web standards
• Learn what a mobile web app is and how it differs from a native iPhone app
• Create gestures and animation using JavaScript and the iUI and jQTouch libraries
• Integrate your web app with several iPhone features
• Build simple native iPhone apps using the TapLynx library – without programming!
• Learn how to build on your new-found iPhone web app development skills

UPDATE: While browsing the O’Reilly site, I discovered this related ‘early release’ ebook, “Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript“. From what I can tell, this is almost like a sneak preview as it seems the ‘dead tree edition’ hasn’t gone to print yet, and the title is only available at the moment as a PDF. The ebook is U$23.99 while book itself will be U$29.99; if you want to get both the book + the ebook, the price will be U$32.99 which is a very good deal.

Many journalists are making use of their iPhones to cover the news. Sometimes it’s just recording an interview, other times they shoot stills, usually for use online. Until recently, however, it hasn’t been possible to shoot video with an iPhone (my iPhone Life Magazine coverage here and here). And while there are any number of clever holders and mini tripods to help people take steadier photographs with their iPhones, until now, there hasn’t been anything like the OWLE (Optical Widget for Life Enhancement) Bubo.

Created specifically for the iPhone, the Bubo is an aluminum and silicone case combo which is designed to improve the iPHone’s audio and video capabilities. The stabilizing rig - which can be mounted onto a tripod - includes a high-quality Vericorder microphone and 37 mm wide-angle/macro lens and retails for U$129.99.

Each corner of the Bubo has a drilled hole so you can screw in anything you can find or make to enhance it (like this guy from Handheld Hollywood who made a neck strap after visiting the hardware store for some 1/4” x 2.5” eye bolts). Additionally, since the mount for the lens is a standard 37mm, you can mount any number of lenses there, and not just the one which comes with it.

Don’t worry about the no-flash-synching thing. There’s a shoe to mount a light. As well, the microphone can be replaced with one of your choosing. Probably, you can even plug in a wireless receiver and have the microphone itself elsewhere (hidden camera fun, anyone?).

It would be great to have an option where the Bubo ships just with the aluminum case and silicon holder for a reduced price. Oh, and other colours, too, please. I can’t wait to try one of these out!

Product Features:
* Anodized aluminum case improves iPhone camera with upgraded lens and boom mic
* Improves video or still shots
* Works with iPhone 3G or 3GS (However 3G requires additional app to shoot video and the quality is poor)
* iPhone fits inside included silicone case, then mounts inside the aluminum housing for full protection
* Constructed from a solid block of milled aluminum
* Shoe mount on top allows you to add camera accessories (flash will not work, since there is no way to sync it to the iPhone camera shutter)
* Four screw mounts on the corners of the case enable you to mount to a tripod
* Comes standard with 37mm lens threading, as well as a 0.45x Wide angle/macro combination lens
* Add any other lenses with a 37mm mount

View some stills shot with the OWLE and here are some videos (view more here on their YouTube channel):

Via Online Journalism Review:

The chipper consultants whom legacy media organizations overpay to update their brands don’t typically deign to tinker with traffic reporting.

But from where I sit – clutching the handlebars of my Dutch bicycle – this rather routine news service represents a basket of low-hanging fruit for news brands trying to create atomized content for multiple platforms, especially the mobile Web.

For the teen or job seeker who is riding his or her local bus for the first time, a mobile application branded by the local paper represents a chance for tangible interaction with that paper. It’s a great service for local visitors and that nervous commuter who, although she always keeps his watch set five minutes ahead, is always unsure if she’s just missed a bus.

“When I visited San Francisco, I never knew how long I’d have to stand at a bus stop waiting,” writes Ginny Skalski, a community content manager at the NBC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham. “If I had an app that was tied to the GPS of the buses on the route I was riding, it would have been amazing.”

Smart phone applications for public transport users are being developed and marketed by startups like HopSpot, AcrossAir and ExitStrategyNYC. Public transpiration services like the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York and, of course, Google, are also in the game.

News companies, still entrenched in a drive-time mentality and unsure how to make money online, are on the sidelines.

Read the full article.

In the last few years, file-sharing sites have grown in popularity and the recently-launched Upload Robots service is a ‘new breed’ among file sharing services, and once it becomes more well-known, it’s going to be a huge hit. It’s all part of what’s known as cloud computing. Think of Upload Robots like a virtual thumbdrive that can’t be lost.

Most people who need to share files want to do so quickly and easily with a minimum of fuss. Sometimes, it’s just not practical to email a large file, or one runs up against file-size restrictions or account timeouts. And not everyone has an FTP program on the computer they’re using which may not even be theirs - they may be using a work or school computer, or even be at a public library - let alone server space to which they can upload a file.

Visually pleasing and easy-to-use, UploadRobots.com offers two account flavours: Regular (free) and Pro ($5.00 a month). Both offer SSL Encryption, no advertisements and uploaded files don’t have expiration dates. The Pro account’s additional features include the ability to create subdomains, increased monthly storage space, up ten gigs, and users can upload a file as large as 250 megs which is substantially more than the ten megs limit offered with a free account.

A major distinction which elevates Upload Robots - and separates the service from its competitors - is the ‘no-wait’ feature. Most file-sharing sites require users who are not members or who are not logged in to wait before the file they’ve requested begins to download. This delay can be anywhere from thirty to ninety seconds. Also, if a visitor wants to download a second file, they’re often forced to wait as long as fifteen minutes between downloads.

Download this post as an .mp3 file (3m18s, 3.02 megs) from the Upload Robots site. Links of interest: Feature Tour, Blog, Sign Up, Twitter: @UploadRobots. And here is a video tour: