Tag Archives: Apple

Evolution of Education

Today Apple announced a new way to learn and experience what we normally would through our daily educational lives.

As we all suspected, and Bloomberg predicted, Apples Education event focused on digital and interactive textbooks for the classroom. This wasn’t the only big announcement however, as Apple also re-introduced a “upgraded” iTunes U experience.

Lets begin with what was announced. iBooks2 (really version 2.0), iBooks Author and iTunes U. All of these applications focus on one primary category. Education. The benefit being that they have the perfect platform to do it on as well.

iBooks2
Taking student education to the next level, Apple is releasing today an update to iBooks with version 2.0. The primary add-on that we will see is a new category, textbooks. (As I write this I am trying to locate these textbooks, however I am in Canada and on the Canadian iTunes store so I may not be able to.) Alongside today’s update, Apple announced that a few major partners have signed up and are already working on digital publishing. Pearson, McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt were announced as having already developed textbooks or in development now.

So what will these textbooks bring. With the iPad students will be able to access an entire library of books specific to their educational needs. The books will be interactive which provides a higher level of focus and interest to those who normally would fall asleep. You will be able to manipulate 3D models with a flick of the finger, zoom in on parts of a DNA strange and analyze a digital bug by pressing down on individual parts of its body.

Interactivity is prime but that is not all that is being offered with these new digital textbooks. Students will also have the ability to search, take notes, highlight and store information inside each individual textbook. Students will be able to carry around their entire semesters curricular on something that weighs less then 2 pounds, leaving out the excuse that they had forgotten their textbook at home.

To top it all off, books will be priced at $14.99 or less (presumably US currency), and students will be able to keep the textbooks they have purchased with their AppleID. No need to attempt to collect books once the course is done.

Finally the biggest plus to a digital textbook, it will never be out of date. As versions increase and textbooks get updated, students and schoosl will be able to upgrade them directly on their iPads. No need to continually repurchase the same books a few years out and no more out-of-date curriculum’s. Apple did not indicated whether updates would be free or if upgrade costs would be associated.

iBooks Author
Digital textbooks are great, but how do we get them from the paper state to digital. I am going to assume that large publishing houses will have their own ways of doing it, but for the rest of us, there is iBooks Author.

Available today for free on the Mac App store, iBooks Author is the textbook publishing tool that will turn boring textbooks, into interactive and educational iPad digital’s. Using WYSIWYG and incorporating HTML5 and JavaScript, regular individuals like you and I will be able to create and publish textbooks for curriculum’s for our own students. This is a great way for those who teach but not at a institution to publish their work and help students.

The application itself looks like it belongs to the iWork suit as it looks and feels very much like Pages or Keynote. It will open Word documents and use styles to automatically create sections, headers and layouts. To create animations, you can utilize HTML5, JavaScript or if you already have a Keynote with what you want, drag and drop directly into the app.

They key here I think is its native look and simple feel. Most of us are accustomed to using Pages or Keynote already, so it should not be too difficult to adopt one more application. I am personally looking forward to taking it through its paces.

iTunes U
For those familiar with iTunes U you will disagree when I say that Apple is re-introducing it today. You are right … somewhat. iTunes U has been around for 5 years now and is utilized by professors and students around the world to publish, create, teach and learn full curriculum’s. Available until now for those looking at university level courses in physics, economics, astrology and a whole long list of other topics.

Today iTunes U comes to the iPad. As a stand alone app it will allow those interested in subscribing to courses or collections based on topic or course they want. Most courses will be offered for free as a subscription however, supplemental materials such as notes, apps or course materials will be available for purchase. When new materials do come in, users will be notified and items downloaded automatically.

As I mentioned, until today iTunes U focused on higher education. Today K to 12 schools and teachers will be able to sign up and publish their work. According to the keynote, this material will be offered for free.

Synopsis
Today the educational system has been given an opportunity to truly move forward and innovate. With iBooks2 and iTunes U students, teachers and professors alike have been given a way to educate and learn like never before. The big question now is whether these tools will be taken advantage of, outside of the United States.

For the time being I am going to make the assumption that until more publishers come on board and begin offering their course materials and books through the iBooks store, we will not see a huge shift from paper to digital. That said, we have to tools, we have the motivation all we need now is people to make the push.

Perhaps it is time for individuals like you and I, those who push and adopt technology and innovation, to take seats of power around the world.

Apologies for the lack of photo’s and for the errors you may come across. This post will be edited when time permits and republished with more content.

“Let’s Talk iPhone” Recap

Apples event came and went, and I got sidetracked by both work and the very recent passing of the founding father, Steve Jobs. Regardless, I also needed some time to view the keynote and reflect on what Apple presented at Tuesday’s event.

So lets take a quick recap.

First, many of us had been wondering and speculating about what will happen to the iPod event, and as we all learned on Tuesday, it had been mashed together with the iPhone4S announcement. During the 1:40 minute keynote, CEO Tim Cook and various members of the team took time to go over Apples successes, its latest iOS software, updated some of our favourite iPods and launched the iPhone4S. Generally it was a boring keynote. A lot of the information that was shared had already been reviewed a few months back when the late Steve Jobs presented them to the audience back in June ’11.

That said, there are a few very interesting things to point out.

First, the iPod Nano received a bit of a UI upgrade, and a welcomed price drop. However one of the most notable features was the full integration of Nike+ into the device. Until now, anyone who wished to use Nike+ would typically need to purchase a receiver and transmitter to place into their Nike+ shoes and hook into their iPod. (Only acception was the iPhone, which has an app that utilizes the phones GPS chip to track your pase, distance and route.) Now though, it looks like Apple has put a big hole into Nike’s revenue stream. With Nike+ fully integrated into the Nano, and a accelerometer powering the entire thing, (I presume) a runner or walker doesn’t even need a pair of Nike’s Nike+ shoes. Right out of the tiny box, a customer can begin to run with their normal pair of runners, no additional investment required.

Another interesting feature to note, is the addition of multiple variations of the clock faces. It has come to Apples attention, that some people wear the Nano as a watch. And in order to permit those customers to enjoy an array of different “watches”, Apple has integrated new watch faces into the new Nano. I suspect that this UI change and the new watch faces could be applied to the previous generation Nano as well, through a software update. I cannot confirm however, as I personally don’t own any Nano aside from the generation previous to the one with the integrated camera.
All new features can be discovered at Apples web; http://www.apple.com/ca/ipodnano/

Second, a welcomed white iPod Touch. This does not come as much of a surprise and neither did the integration of iOS5. There was one surprise that some may have thought would not come though. Apple has chosen to also integrate into the previous and newest generation iPod Touch’s, iMessenger and Reminders. This may or may not come as a surprise to some, depending on what your own predictions or assumptions were about iOS5 I suppose, but it is welcomed. It will (obviously) utilize iCloud, and perhaps in some near future, also receive a 3G data chip to allow people who do not want to use an iPhone, still utilize a iPod Touch as their all around device. (As I typed that I realized I was an idiot. It would completely under mind the purpose of the iPhone then. Scratch what I just said three sentences ago.)

That covers the iPods. Along with these minor updates Apple released some news on iOS5 and iCloud. Not going to bore you with the details as many of you most likely have already heard everything there is to know about both. The best news that came from the regurgitation of what was announced in June, was that iOS5 would be made available on October 12, only a week (plus a day) after the keynote. For those familiar with me (have followed me on twitter) you will know that I had signed up for the dev program primarily to get my hands on iOS5 and help the community test the newly promised features. I had run into a few problems, primarily when I actually upgraded to iCloud from MobileMe. Although I loved the backup feature, I no longer had integration with my MacBook Pro, so my iCal became useless. That said, as I write this, I have iOS5 loaded on my iPhone4 and iPad2 and I am anxiously awaiting for Apple to release 10.7.2, so that I may once again utilize my iCal (and Address Book) properly. (I don’t mind using Google Sync but I seem to have some odd issues here and there with contact syncing.)

So, I’ve talked about the Nano and iPod Touch, I’ve mentioned iOS5 release … what else was there at that Tuesday’s event … oh yes! iPhone4S.

The iPhone4S, like the iPhone3GS, has the same physical design as its predecessor. I can’t say that I am not surprised about this seeing the trend that Apple has laid out, but there are a few tweaks well worth mentioning.

Overall the phone will (according to Apple during the keynote) perform faster then the iPhone4 due to the A5 dual-core chip and the faster graphics. Despite the upgraded performance, Apple has claimed 8 hours battery life, which is significant if you look at what you’re getting under the hood. It will shoot HD1080p video utilizing its 8MP camera, which has been compared to those of some point and shoots available on today’s market. With built in editing features, this little package will let photographers (or those of us who like to pretend to be one) to edit and post on the fly. No need to lug around a laptop with a DSLR it would seem. iOS5 preloaded and ready to activate with iCloud when you get it running, the iPhone4S is a great little upgrade, for those of us who are running on a 3GS, or worst, a 3G.

I may sound a bit unimpressed in my last line and for good reason. I’m not. The iPhone4S was suppose to have been in the customers eyes a leap into the next generation of phone design, as it had been outlined by those who rendered the vast number of iPhone5 images. What we got however was a rebranded iPhone4 and a few modifications under the hood. There is one upgrade though, that I wish I had. Despite saying I would not upgrade to this generation of iPhone, I may feel a need to, soon enough.

So what is this upgrade that has me all flustered and debating on dropping close to $1000 on it, well it has to do entirely with the radio. The new radio in the iPhone4S is a unique blend or GSM and CDMA goodness along with a sprinkle of HSDPA. So what does this really mean? Well, Apple has dubbed it a “World Phone”, which technically means that when and if you travel outside of your designated country, you will be able to run it on any network in over 200 countries. There is one issue and problem I see with this classification though. Unless I am mistaken, iPhone4S’s sold in the United States, are locked into a carrier. Those sold here in Canada are unlocked to run on any carrier one so chooses to get ripped off by. So why classify it as a “World Phone” when only us Canadian’s can really travel with them. Strange, but I don’t have an answer, so lets just move on. Those who are unfamiliar with HSDPA or HSDPA+ as it is referred to here in Canada, is an upgraded data portal, if you will, that permits a smartphone user to download any content that is data driven from the internet or cloud, twice as fast as it does on 3G. Dubbed 4G by most carriers, it will allow us to download our data up to 14.4Mbps. In the future, LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology will help us reach upwards of 75Mbps speeds. (Side note: the technology is already available and in some carrier cases even deployed. However, as many carriers are looking for strategic ways to market and sell this feature to smartphone customers at the greatest profits to them, we are stuck with a downgraded or capped version of that wonderful LTE network. Hopefully once my peers and I take over telecom companies and the world in the end, we can truly unlock our technological potential.)
This feature alone could potentially be enough to toss me over the edge and have me go out and stand in line for one.

And finally, one more thing … Siri. Apples solution to a real live personal assistant, Siri does what you ask it to. Available only in the US it seems, out as a Beta on the iPhone4S only, Siri acts as though she truly was your very own personal assistant. You don’t need to be a Executive to have it either. Speak to Siri as though you were speaking to anyone else, and it takes that and prompts it as commands. Ask it to find you a specific type of restaurant, Siri uses the build in GPS to pinpoint where you are, and locates the restaurants with your criteria. Once it has located those restaurants, it displays and can tell you where and what the restaurants are all about. You can even have Siri book an appointment and send out an invite to a specific participant. Read out your text messages or simple have her search Google for something you want to learn.

Unfortunately only available as I mentioned to my US neighbours, and only as a Beta. That said, it does seem as though Siri will help take Apple, and Apple product owners to the next level of device integration with our daily tasks. All other information including how Siri works, can be found on Apple’s US website: http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html

Is the iPhone4S impressive … yes. Is it worth the investment or upgrade … depends. Do you own a 14 month old iPhone4, and do you have the money to pick one up. In my opinion, those who have a iPhone4, do not really have any valid reasons, aside from frequent issues perhaps with the device itself, to actually get the 4S. Those who are still trekking around with a iPhone3GS, iPhone3G or perhaps some other old cell phone, this may be the time for you to considering looking into something new. This generation of iPhone will sell regardless. Potential to make record sales. It really comes down to do you truly need it, can you afford it and how will it benefit you in the end.

DISCLAIMER: Photo’s utilized in this post are the rightful property of Apple Inc. and or its affiliates. The sole purpose of these images placed in this post is to provide readers with visual representation of the topic at hand. For all other images or if you are looking for more information of the products mentioned, please visit www.apple.com or your countries own Apple link.

Apple’s Magic Trackpad

Recently Apple released a new product which resembles a large track pad to compliment its Bluetooth keyboards. It’s called, Magic Trackpad.

After doing my “Why I Love My iPhone” post, I started to look into this product online and was surprised to find that within the limited time it has been on the market, it has managed to obtain 4.5 star rating on 143 votes. With that in mind, I started to wonder how much it would cost me to obtain a device and wondering whether or not I would like it or not. I currently work on a late ’07 MacBook at home and a HP Elitebook at work. Both devices have Bluetooth built in so it would not be an issue to run the Trackpad in either location..

What I have found recently is that I am utilizing my MacBooks trackpad more often then a mouse. Perhaps the days of the standard mouse are coming to an end? Not sure, but it sure poses the question as to what will happen in the coming years.

I have yet to decide whether or not to purchase this product, seeing as I have a bunch of periferals that I do not use (Apples wired keyboard & mouse, wireless keyboard & mouse) I’m not sure if I really need to add to the pill. Perhaps when I purchase my iMac I will look at it then. For now, I’m still on the fence.

Why I Love My iPhone

Five days ago I stood in line at the Square One Apple store freezing my bum off in order to be one of the first people in Canada to get the brand new iPhone 4. Before waiting in line for 15 hours to get this magical device, I had contemplated my reasoning behind even wanting one. It’s not like I absolutely needed it. I did have a Blackberry and for what I needed a smartphone for it worked well. It did not have the capabilities that an iPhone had, nor did it have the endless amounts of apps that I could have used but it served its purpose.

After having the last five days to play with it, and setup the device to run the apps that it once ran for me, I remembered how much I relied on it. Despite being bulkier and even perhaps less comfortable to handle then the Bold 9700, it makes up for all that in its sheer power and performance. One of the biggest plus’ for the device is the fact that it has an endless amount of apps for every time of individual. From a student to a professional, from a musician to a doctor, there’s an app that helps these people make their lives easier.

Being a business professional, I rely on the phone mostly for email, contacts, calendar and productivity applications such as DocsToGo, Dropbox, Evernote and OmniFocus, just to name a few. In any case, these applications which tie in directly to the same applications on my desktop, help me to run my day-to-day tasks and assignments which can span several different projects in one day. Not only does the iPhone help me organize everything, including my thoughts, it helps me to finish what I have set out in a single day. Utilizing the power of OmniFocus as an example, I can update a projects task list directly on my iPhone and I will see that change reflected almost instantaneously on my Mac, without the need to sync anything through wire. So if something comes up in a meeting which requires me to complete, I can easily add it to OmniFocus on my iPhone, and I will see it on my Mac by the time I return to my desk.

But the iPhone doesn’t just let me keep my professional life in order, it also helps me stay connected to all my friends. Through the various social apps such as Echofon (Twitter client), Facebook, foursquare and LinkedIn, I can update everyone in a moments notice of what I am doing or where I will be. Not that everyone wants to hear that but for those that do, it helps us all connect.

Now, since it’s launch in the United States, the iPhone 4 has been plagued with what’s being referred to as the “antenna problem”, where as if a user holds the device a certain way, he will proceed to loose signal. Now, I’ve put the phone through some regular use test cases, and I have to say that there is a slight drop but nothing as dramatic as what some people have been saying. Typically I see a single bar drop if any at all. So for those with concerns, there really isn’t one.

For all the things that the iPhone can do there are things it can’t do. Like make me a cup of coffee, drive me into work, or fold my laundry once it’s done. But in all seriousness, there is no device that I would rather have in my pocket then the latest generation of iPhone. No company has been able to flawlessly integrate everything I need into one single beautiful piece of hardware. So for the time that I have the iPhone, I will exploit it to its full potential, and when I’m finished, hopefully a new product will be waiting for me to put it through the run.