How does your news organization define "mobile?"

Does that mean everything beyond desktop computers? Does that just mean iPhones and iPads?

Here's our current definition of "mobile." We exclude tablets because we view them as a different channel with unique usage. Let me know what you think in the comments.

What is mobile? 

A new media channel. Powered by users who are:

• Connecting at various times from various locations
• Using smartphones and feature phones
• Seeking information via messaging, the mobile web and mobile apps
• Mobile does not include tablets.

The chart below explains the differences between the three digital channels (mobile, tablets, desktop).

This figure shows the times various channels are used by audiences:

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Journalists live in on shaky newsroom ground as dips in revenue cause tremors and fault lines deepen between journalists all fighting for what they believe is the best future of news.

Those fault lines are often said to be drawn along the print/digital divide - those who care the most about our digital audience and those who care most about the print audience. Sometimes people also try to draw those lines along the age divide - younger people must be more digital because they grew up with computers and older people must be more set in their ways and focused on the old newspaper model.

But those adages are both wrong. Too many times I've met just-out-of-college journalists who pine for the days when newspapers were the dominant news and advertising medium. I know far too many print journalists who understand the future of news better than web journalists.

The divide, it seems to me, is in a journalist's relationship with the audience.

Big "J" Journalists

 Journalists on one side view themselves as thought leaders in the community who always know more than the audience. When a new story idea is brought up based on something seen from the audience (something is trending on Twitter, bringing Google visitors to the website, a question was asked on the organization's Facebook page) these people will respond with statements such as "We did that story" and "I don't care if people are talking about it online, I know a lot about this topic and that's not important." These are the people who dismiss page views, unique visitors and time spent on page because all they really care about is writing and publishing - even if no one in digital reads or interacts with the content.

"We the People" Journalists

These are the journalists, young and old, print or digital, who care most about serving the audience. They consider themselves one of the people, not a journalist lecturing the people outside. When a new story idea presents itself from the audience directly they consider it, and will even offer to have a conversation with other people about what questions to ask, what the problem is and how it will impact people. To these people, publishing content that impacts people's lives (people read, talk about and act on the content) is the highest priority.

The best thing about this divide is that is a self-construct. If someone wants to change and join the "of the people journalist" movement the first step is simple: listen to your audience.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Resources for mobile designers - please add in comments what other things I've missed so we can grow this collection for the benefit of everyone.

Examples of great mobile design:

• A collection of various UI patterns for specific functions
• Another collection of UI patterns
• 30 examples of great iOS design
• Examples of great logos
• Color inspiration
• 38 Mobile Sites to check out
• Mobile web design examples
• LovelyUI.com [submitted by @GestureTheory]

Free (or almost free) design resources:

• Royalty-free vector images
• Free misc. icon sets
• Awesome mobile icons (iOS design, but somewhat platform neutral)
• Free modern social icons
• More free icons
• Download the free iPhone GUI PSD
• Smashing Magazine Freebies category - be sure to subscribe to find the latest

Guides and tools for mobile design:

• An overview of mobile design
• "A Book Apart" - great books explaining mobile design theories - written by the folks who created "responsive web design" and other such design practices
• How to create a cross-platform web design
• The 411 on NFC
• Great thinking on mobile design
• Getting started in app design: iOS | Android | Windows
• How to add push notifications in an iOS app
• A guide on web design adaptation for multiple mobile devices
• HTML5 semantics explained
• Designing for the mobile web
• Mobile web design "best practices"
• How to make an HTML5 iPhone app
• Smashing Magazine category on "UI"

Tools for designing:

• Balsamiq - use it to quickly create wireframes
• Screenfly - a website for emulating mobile device experiences (instead of a download or extension)
• Collection of links to download SDKs and emulators for various platforms
• HTML5 boilerplate code
• Easy mobile-ready form builder
• Sketchy - for designing wireframes on your iPad (exports to Balsamiq)
• iMockups - another iPad wireframe designing app (just as good as Sketchy, it comes down to personal preference)
• Tablet user agent strings

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Here's an idea that could potentially help all of us: post the year-over-year growth rate of your mobile traffic for October-October (if you can - each of these on its own - mobile web, mobile apps, ipad web, ipad apps).

Then, I'll draw up a chart showing the various growth rates at different places.

We wouldn't be revealing specific page view numbers, but it could help my organization and yours to see how much of the mobile/tablet growth is our action and how much is caused simply by the environment.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

The iPhone 5 that is rumored to be announced Oct. 7 that is rumored to be for sale Oct. 15 is rumored to include NFC.

I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think it is worth discussing ideas of what media can do with this new technology.

But first…What is NFC?

• A way for two things to communicate with each other - generally prompted to communicate by tapping.
• On one end: you have an initiator. A sticker-like mini transformer that posses content (much like how QR codes posses content).
• On the other end: you have a target. This would be the iPhone 5 possessing an NFC-enabled chip.

In English?

• You go to Starbucks and pay for your latte by bumping your iPhone to the cash register.
• You go to board the Metro and bump your iPhone against a box to pay to board.
• You go out to dinner with friends and split the bill. Your friend pays the bill directly and you bump phones with them to transfer your share of the payment over.
• You go on a tour of the Grand Canyon and to learn more about the canyon you tap your iPhone to a sign.
• You see a postor for a new movie at the theater and you tap it with your iPhone to watch the trailer.
• You go to the grocery store and you see a deal on a product, you tap the product's sign to download the coupon and, when paying, you tap the cash register to transfer the coupons.

So, how could this be applied to media?

How could this apply to newspapers, websites, radio and TV stations? Here's a few of my random ideas, and I'd love to see your ideas!

• Include NFC tags in every Sunday newspaper (probably once, because this could cost a lot of money) and the tags send people to a special advertising experience.
• A company puts kiosks or posters or bus shelter ads throughout the community (on the streets, in shops) and they all include an NFC tag sending people to more information based on the ad.
• If the company is a large sponsor/partner with a local pro sports team: for 1 game add postors or have fliers available throughout that include an NFC tag that sends people to your organization's mobile site/app for your coverage on the team.

More resources on NFC:

• NFC Wikipedia entry
• ReadWriteWeb post on how to make NFC tags
• "A day at MIT with Near-Field Communication" - Video scenario on future everyday life usage of NFC
• Mashable NFC Topic
• NFC Rumors
• NFC Forum
• NFC World
• NFC Times
• Near Field
• NFC News

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

The needs and wants of mobile audiences (feature phones and smart phones) are different from those audiences who accesss our desktop site.

Here are the "8 unique mobile qualities" shared by Jason Grigsby.

1. Personal. 63% do not share phone
2. Permanently carried. 50% of people in the U.S. admit to sleeping with phone
3. Always on
4. Built-in payment channel
5. Creative impulse
6. Accurate measurement
7. Social context
8. Augmented reality

Based on that, and research on the Register's mobile audiences, here's a list of what YOU can do NOW to provide different and better content for mobile audiences.

• When writing breaking news, first publish a headline and a sentence and THEN continue updating as we get more details. Do not only do updates from your regular sources. Include updates based on things your audience is saying that you can quickly fact-check. Put yourself in your reader's shoes and think about where they might be and what they might be.
• Think beyond 9-5 M-F. Early mornings, nights and weekends used to be the low-traffic times for our audiences but those are the top times for mobile audiences.
• Include more than just the regular text and links. If you link to a site with important information, check to see if the link works on mobile devices - and if not, if there is a different link you should add for just your mobile users. Don't just mention areas, mention the exit on the freeway or the block number or the closest big intersection. Include phone numbers so readers can touch to call a business or resource that you mention.
• Do not hold new news at night or on weekends. Publish content when most relevant. Ask your desktop web editor to rerun last night's or last weekend's news on the homepage.
• Build niche text alert streams. Remember to send them. Remember to tell your audience to subscribe.
• Gather more content by using your smartphone: photos, videos, audio.
• File quick updates from the field in breaking news situations (photos, story updates, quick-videos, quick-audio). For editors: Help your direct reports or colleagues on the desk-end by weaving together these updates and publishing.
• Pay attention to your total digital traffic - not just your desktop web traffic. This will be the best, simple view of your overall traffic across all channels.
• Turn on news and social alerts on your phone so you can be more in touch with your audience and your beat.
• Add five super-related links on every story you write. These will go to all of our products.
• Use your company's mobile products. Provide feedback. Tell your audience about our products.
• Use other mobile products. Think of ideas for your company's mobile products.
• When creating a new xxxx or changing xxxx make sure you talk with your mobile manager so the new content, design, workflow, change can work on mobile devices.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I've been following the #bdconf this week and I found two GREAT sources of information:

A guide to mobile statistics, how to use them and where to find them

A chart explaining HTML5 functions

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Download and start using the WordPress mobile app to be more efficient in posting to and moderating your blog.

The WordPress app is free and lets users write new posts, edit content and manage comments. The app is available for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and iPad.

Can I use my personal smartphone or tablet with the app?

Yes.

Can I use my work smartphone or tablet with the app?

Yes.

How do I download the app?

• For Android users: you can search for "wordpress" in the Android App Market. You will need a Gmail account to download apps (free or paid) from the Android Market.
• For iPhone and iPad users: search for "wordpress" in the iTunes App Store. You will need an iTunes account to download apps (free or paid) from the store.
• For BlackBerry users: search for "wordpress" in the BlackBerry App World. You will need a BlackBerry account to download apps (free or paid).

How do I start using the app?

1. Open the app.
2. IF you are adding a work-hosted blog, of the options listed, choose "Add self-hosted WordPress blog."
3. Enter the URL for your blog. Make sure you add the "http://" to the URL.
4. Enter your username and your password.
5. Touch Save.
6. The app will take you to a list of all the site-wide blogs of which you are a member. Choose all the blogs you would like to add. You can also touch the button for "Select All."
7. Touch "Add Selected."
8. The blogs will be added to the app.

How do I use the app?

Touch on the name of the blog you want to manage from your list of blogs.

The comments area shows approved and pending comments. Pending comments are shown in yellow. Touch on a yellow comment to review the comment. A button (different for each device) will let you approve the comment, mark the comment as spam, edit the comment or delete the comment. You can also quickly reply to the comment from this screen.

In the posts area you can view published, scheduled and draft posts. You can create a new blog post from this same area. You can start a post and publish straight from the app, or you can start a post and save it as a draft by changing the post's settings.

You can also view, edit and create pages in the pages section.

The stats section is not enabled for Register blogs. To view your statistics, use the Omniture app.

What is the "Quick Photo" button?

This button is only available, for now, for iPhone users.

The button is intended to let you quickly take a photo (you cannot access your library of previously-taken photos), write a quick bit of text and publish quicikly.

Can I adjust the size of photos uploaded from the app?

When in the tabbed view of your blog, select ‘Menu’ -> ‘Blog Settings’, then change the ‘Maximum thumbnail pixel width’ setting to your desired width.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Every few months your work email (especially if you use Outlook) requires the user to change our email passwords.

Every time you do this, you will need to update the password on your smartphone or tablet.

Here's how.

iPhone

Go to your homescreen.

Open the Settings app.

Touch Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

Touch on your work email account.

Touch on your Account where it shows your email address.

Change the password.

Touch Done.

All set.

T-Mobile G2

Go to your homescreen.

Touch Menu.

Touch Settings.

Touch Accounts & Sync.

Touch on your work email account.

Touch Account Settings.

Touch Incoming Settings.

Change the password.

Touch Next.

Touch OK.

All set.

T-Mobile myTouch 3G

Go to your homescreen.

Touch the Menu button (the black button with the three lines).

Touch Settings.

Touch Accounts & Sync.

Touch on your work email account.

Touch Account Settings.

Touch Configure Server.

Change the password.

Touch Save.

All set.

iPad

Go to your homescreen.

Open the Settings app.

Touch Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

Touch on your work email account.

Touch on your Account where it shows your email address.

Change the password.

Touch Done.

All set.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A round-up of mobile web app versus native app discussions. More to come.....send along any links that have been missed.

Why mobile web apps should stop trying to act like native apps

"Pretenders are mobile Web apps that try to replicate the native experience. You’ve no doubt seen Web apps with iPhone-style back buttons, awkward attempts at implementing gestures, laggy scrolling and the like."

HTML5 Is An Oncoming Train, But Native App Development Is An Oncoming Rocket Ship

iOS 5 Brings Native-Style Scrolling to Web Apps

A "new inherited CSS property, -webkit-overflow-scrolling, is available," these notes explain. "The value touch allows the Web developer to opt in to native-style scrolling in an overflow:scroll element."

Facebook’s Focus In 2011: Better Cross-Platform Unification Led By HTML5

“When we update something, there are about 7 different versions we have to update,” Taylor said. He rattled off a few: facebook.com, m.facebook.com, touch.facebook.com, the iPhone version, the Android version, etc. “It’s an incredible challenge,” he said. “And there’s feature-skew,” he continued. ... He did acknowledge that HTML5 was still a bit quirky when compared to native applications. “But the gap is closing,” Taylor concluded. Google Continues To Embrace Native iPhone Apps As Google Translate Hits App Store "Google Translate has previously been available on the iPhone via an HTML5 experience since mid 2008. But again, now iPhone users are getting a native experience with some significant new additions." Scrollability, New iOS Physics Project from Facebook for iPhone Creator, Joe Hewitt

The goal of Scrollability is to give mobile Web applications "a pretty darn good approximation of native scrolling," the description reads on GitHub.

The State Of Web Development Ripped Apart In 25 Tweets By One Man

"As someone who has tried to do both cutting edge native and web iPhone apps, iPhone Safari is a joke compared to iPhone Cocoa."

The myth of the “native” app

"I think the basic point should be emerging. Users really aren’t all that concerned that an app “follows the conventions of a native app”. Like much to do with these debates, such observations are mere assertions, unsupported by any evidence. From the perspective of the user, the “native” app is a myth. If “nativity” were such a compelling user desire, would 90% of the top paid iPhone Apps use little if any CocoaTouch UI elements? ... When building web apps, don’t ape “native” (that is iOS) user experiences. User’s it would seem don’t actually give a damn."

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Here's a list of suggested iPhone apps for journalists. This list is just the beginning. Please add other apps in the comments section or check out the database built by several people of apps for journalists.

Evernote

With Evernote you can add text, photos and audio directly to the mobile app and access it from other mobile devices, the web or the desktop application. Save notes to specified notebooks for great organization and add as many tags as you like. Includes option to geotag all notes and see them on a map. Incredibly useful.

ToDo by Appigo

For the full to-do list: A task application that can sync with multiple services. You can use ToodleDo (free service, but confusing Web site) or Remember the Milk (you have to pay an annual fee to sync with this service, but a well-done site) to sync with the iPhone app. I use RemembertheMilk with ToDo, and then my tasks are on my iPhone, iPad and iGoogle (via remember the milk widget - which is easier to use than their site). You can add tags and change sorts and stuff in the app - very nice features.

Sketchy

A great tool for doing mockups of app or website ideas or for sketching out relationships and organizational ideas. Helps you spend time on thinking of the idea rather than on messing around in Photoshop. This has replaced my need for pencil and paper to sketch out my ideas. Especially useful in collaborative meetings to put together an idea or product plan (no need for erasers).

iMockups

An app very similar to Sketchy for iPad. My personal preference is Sketchy (you can add color - which helps in conveying ideas) - but both apps are neck-in-neck for adding features. A great tool for mocking up ideas with the focus on the idea rather than on using the tool.

iThoughtsHD

A tool for creating and accessing mind maps. How useful you find the app mostly depends on how useful you find mind maps to be in creating and explaining ideas.

LastPass

Have files or apps you can only access or use from your desktop computer? That's no problem with LogMeIn. Install the desktop app and mobile app and rock your computer from any location. Premium costs $12 a year.

Penultimate

Grab a Ten-In-One stylus (or have the ability to take notes with your fingertip) and use this app to take handwritten notes on your iPad. One of the most accurate apps in tracking handwriting in crazy fast speed.

Noteshelf

Just as good as Penultimate for taking handwritten notes but includes the very cool ability to send notes to Evernote without leaving the app. Also includes various "pen" colors and has great wrist-guard protection that you can turn on or off.

Tumbleroo

Love Tumblr? This is one of the best Tumblr apps so far that I've found for the iPad. Read your dashboard, reblog, heart and create content all from within the app.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

The smartphones arrived in the OCRegister newsroom Monday and Tuesday. Here, I collected some memorable moments so far:

Tweet tweet

 Reporter/Editor: "It's asking for my Twitter account. I've always been meaning to join - can I do that on my phone?"

The sound of smartphones

Reporter who already owned an Android: "Oh man, now everyone's phone is gonna sound like mine every time they get an email or a phone call or an alert. I better change my sounds."

Ready to blog

Me: "OK, and here's how you turn the phone on by pressing the top button and then you slide your finger across the screen."

Reporter: "Great. So now how do I get the WordPress app so I can start blogging and approving comments?"

Efficiency

Me: "how's the new phone?"

Reporter: "great!"

Me: "yeah?"

Reporter: "yeah working perfectly, i've never been so efficiaint"

Me: "cool. so what makes you so efficient?"

Reporter: "the email, several times yesterday I thought 'oh, i need to go to my computer and send an email ,'to schedule something for today and i realized i already had the phone with me to do it."

Me: "nice"
Reporter: "also the fb app, i  cjeck it regulary but because i had some downtime while i was waiting for someone to show up, i scrolled thru it and found a story idea."

Me: "awesome"

Reporter: "also the texting is soooooooooooooo much better."

Me: "glad it is working out!"

Checking da email

Me: "how's the new phone?"

Editor: "I actually took the time to kinda learn how to use it......and have it with me now...I like it...thanks"

Me: "nice!"

Me: "what's the best thing so far?"

Editor: "I like that I can check email"

Ring a ding ding

Me: "how's the new phone working out?"

Reporter: "Good, good. I got the Oregon fight song as my ring tone, so I'm happy"

Reporter: "My wife is not, however"Me: "haha"

Me: "why? too much phone time now?"

Reporter: "Doesn't like hearing 'Mighty Oregon' every time the phone rings..."

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Here's a list of suggested Android apps for journalists. This list is just the beginning. Please add other apps in the comments section or check out the database built by several people of apps for journalists.

How to download an app? Open the "Android Market" app. Touch on the search icon in the top right corner. Type the name of the app. Touch install and then approve any permissions. The phone will notify you at the top of the screen when the app has been downloaded. Downloaded apps go in the app tray, accessed by touching the icon in the middle, bottom of your screen.

Evernote

With Evernote you can add text, photos and audio directly to the mobile app and access it from other mobile devices, the web or the desktop application. Save notes to specified notebooks for great organization and add as many tags as you like. Includes option to geotag all notes and see them on a map. Incredibly useful.

WordPress

Allows for remote reporting and posting to your WordPress blog.

Twitter

A simple, easy-to-use Twitter app. Make sure to add the widget to your homescreen.

Facebook

A great way for staying connecting at all times.

Fancy Widgets

Add a beautiful clock to your homescreen that displays the time, date and weather. If you're like me and love customizing pay the small cost for Fancy Widgets Pro that lets you customize the skin of the widget.

LastPass

Have files or apps you can only access or use from your desktop computer? That's no problem with LogMeIn. Install the desktop app and mobile app and rock your computer from any location. Premium costs $12 a year.

Dropbox

Make sure to add this to your desktop and phone for the best use. Creates a folder on your desktop. Add files to the folder and they'll be accessible on your phone.

Wunderlist

A simple, syncing and free app for making to-do lists. I like it best for making lists for any practice. Also has a free website that syncs with the app - so you can make the list on your computer and access it on your phone.

Google Voice

Create one phone number and have it ring your desk phone and your mobile phone. Get voicemails transcribed and emailed to you.

Hootsuite

If you use Hootsuite for socializing make sure you also have the app. Includes notifications for mentions by default - perhaps its best feature.

Pandora

Listen to the music you like and other related music for free.

Androidify

Very silly, but fun. Create a little Android icon of yourself - or of family members and colleagues.

Bump

Trade content and contact information by literally bumping phones with another person. Sure, you could send an email but this is so much more cool.

Firefox

Tired of the basic built-in web browser? There are several options, but my favorite is Firefox. Another possibility is Dolphin Mini.

CNN

Great up-to-the-minute news and video and it includes push notifications for breaking news.

Fruit Ninja

Playing a game can reduce stress. In this one, you'll slice fruit with a sword.

QuickOffice

For those Microsoft Office fans who can't get enough of Word, Excel or PowerPoint. Create or open files and then email them back to yourself - or store them in your Dropbox.

Qik or Ustream Broadcaster

Two options for broadcasting live from your phone. Great for covering breaking news situations in the field.

Reader

Several apps sync with your Google Reader account, but the Google-made app is the fastest.

ReadItLater

Want to read something on your computer later? Install the Firefox ReadItLater plugin and download this app to quickly bookmark and then later read web content.

SiteCatalyst

Addicted to Omniture? Now you can browse it on the go. Works off of your available dashboards - so create a nice dashboard on the computer and you can access it at any time.

Sype

Skype with other people - making phone or video calls via the web connection.

Yelp

Hungry after your late-night council meeting? Find good food open now with the Yelp app.

Suggestions from other people on the main database.

Scanner Radio

More than 2,300 live police and fire scanners and weather radios from around the world. According to the developer, “You could have the app alert you when any scanner in the directory has more than 500 listeners, or, you could have it alert you when scanners you choose (such as those in your area) have more than, say, 50 listeners.”

TapeMachine

A graphical sound editor and recorder for Android smartphones.

Qik

An excellent way to broadcast live from breaking news, very fast. New features are added frequently and the quality of the video continues to improve. But a word of warning: Be sure to keep an eye on your battery life! Qik drains batteries very fast.

Photoshop Express

As the quality of the cameras on Android phones continues to improve (the new DROID X has an 8 megapixel camera), it’s essential to have access to photo editing software on the go. Photoshop Express for Android lets you crop, tone and add a few fun filters and borders to your pictures. While it’s no substitute for Photoshop CS5, Photoshop Express is a great tool to use before sharing your mobile picture on your blog or Twitter.

VoiceTask

Forget your voice recorder at home? No worries, because VoiceTask is a free and easy-to-use voice recording app. VoiceTask users can enter their e-mail address in the app’s settings page and receive an e-mailed MP3 recording. Remember, the recordings will sound like a phone conversation, since you’re using the microphone from a phone. But for casual, transcription purposes, VoiceTask definitely will work well.

Dragon Dictation

This is a voice recognition application that will capture what you speak in text. The text can thence emailed or copied into another application. It’s a fast way to write a story while on the move.

Foursquare

This social location app (recently adopted by the Wall Street Journal) is a way to share location information and short messages to Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook friends when you arrive to the scene.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

This week's #SPJchat is on Mobile Reporting Tools (phone and tablet).

The chat is at 7 p.m. Central, Thursday, April 21.

How to participate.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

As I prepare for the newsroom to go full-smartphone, I'm trying to find a good chat system.

Please jump in with your ideas in the comments section!

Currently, our newsroom uses an old instant messaging that only works on desktop computers, logged in by VPN that we cannot add on smartphones.

Here's what we're looking for in a system:

• Dead simple user interface
• Available for desktops and mobile devices (iPhone and Android - an iPad app would be nice, but those users could potentially use the iPhone app or the desktop website)
• Login is dead simple and requires no more than a name and email address
• Users can chat one-on-one (in groups is also nice, but not necessary)
• Users can send text and photos (sending videos and current location would be nice, but are not necessary)
• Photos and text sent can be easily copied or saved to the mobile device or desktop
• Dead simple to find other users
• Fast chatting speeds - almost no lag

Here's what we've tried or thought about already:

Kik
Pros: Very simple to create an account. Very simple to find other users. Easy to chat. Very quick push time. Chatting is one-on-one.

Cons: You can send photos, but they cannot be downloaded or copied to the mobile device. No desktop website or app.

Beluga Pods

Pros: Has a desktop website. Very fast chat speeds. You can download or copy content sent back and forth. Automatically sends the location with each post (when you send, not the original geotag for the created content).

Cons: Chatting is in pods and it seems easy to accidentally add other people to the same pod - making one-on-one simple comunication difficult - could get clogged up. Requires a Facebook account to connect. Automatically adding the user's location to every message can turn a work-only chat network creates privacy problems. Potential: Beluga Pods was recently acquired by Facebook - meaning the service could be dramatically changed or killed in the acquisition process.

Google Talk

Pros: Continued service is more likely with a Google product than with a startup, though still not guaranteed. Users who already use Google Talk can just use that service without learning a new system. Integrate nicely on iPhones, Androids and desktops.

Cons: Not easy to find other users - unless you have them in your Google contacts. Requires a Google account. Would link personal Google accounts to the work chat network. 

Please jump in with your ideas in the comments section!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

After 14 months of working to get smartphones in the newsroom, the phones arrive Monday at the OCRegister.

Below is what I wrote, along with the help of some reporters, photographers and editors.

The note includes why we chose the G2 (actually we turned out with the option of the myTouch3G for free, or employees can pay $50 to upgrade and buy the G2) and why we feel smartphones are important for a newsroom. Keep in mind that this was written in August 2010.

Now is the time to invest in mobile.

Part of our investment should be getting smartphones in the hands of people in the newsroom.

Smartphone recommendation

The T-Mobile G2 is the No. 1 recommended smartphone for the newsroom. The Sprint Evo and Apple iPhone4 are the two runner-ups. This recommendation is the result of polling smartphone-toting newsroom staff and testing of various smartphones by reporters and photographers. Full comparison details at: http://bit.ly/ocrsmartphones.

The deciding factor in the G2 recommendation turned out to be a slide-out keyboard. Each of the following phones is running the latest available operating system build, can take good photos, includes sufficient disk space, includes video recording and has a reasonable battery life. Sidenote: The photo team’s first choice is the iPhone4 because of the photo and video abilities. However, if going with one phone for the whole newsroom the photo team agrees the G2 is the best choice.

Key Point: During testing the ideas were presented to eliminate text messaging and wireless air cards. Both during newsroom testing were found to be critical abilities. Ability to tether via a smartphone is not consistent enough of a connection to report or edit content in our systems. Ability to send and receive text messages is a vital part of communication - especially with sources and audience members who do not have smartphones.

T-Mobile G2

• Pros: Slide-out keyboard is a big deal. 5-megapixel camera with autofocus. Video recording. GPS and digital compass. Can connect to 3G and 4G networks.
• Cons: Not as much disk space or battery life as the iPhone4. No front-facing camera. Heavier than the iPhone4 and Evo. Early reviews say battery life is significantly reduced while using 4G service. Video is not as high a quality as with the iPhone4.

iPhone 4

• Pros: 16 GB. More app options than any other platform. Front-facing camera along with 5-megapixel camera with tap to focus. HD video. GPS and digital compass. In reviews found online the iPhone4 generally has a better battery life than the Evo or G2. iMovie for mobile video editing is available. Highest screen resolution of available smartphones.
• Cons: No Flash. No slide-out keyboard.

Sprint Evo

• Pros: HD video. GPS and digital compass. Front-facing camera with 8-megapixel camera.
• Cons: Not as much disk space or battery life as the iPhone4. Heavier than the iPhone4, but lighter than the G2. No slide-out keyboard.

How smartphones can (and have) benefited journalists

 
Smartphones help journalists to be more efficient and produce more quality and timely content and improve engagement with and understanding of audiences.
 
1. Build staff’s mobile knowledge
 
Ideas: Plain and simple the best way to understand something (as an objective observer) is to use it. How do you figure out what Twitter is all about? First step: join Twitter. Second step: use Twitter. The same thing holds true for journalists (or anyone) and smartphones. Getting and using smartphones as a person - not a journalist - will help journalists understand best what mobile audiences want and need in mobile news apps, websites and services.
 
Examples:
 

Mobile website: I sent out a message on Sept. 2 announcing the new m.ocregister.com. Within a few minutes I received concerns about telling employees to view the website on their Razor phones. Turned out WAP access was not included in our currrent phone plans and I was told to encourage people not to try to access the site. [Sonya Quick]

Testing mobile products: It’s good to see how we are presenting information to our users via our mobile site and apps. By using our products, I’m able to give productive feedback on user experience, report bugs, and make informed suggestions on how to improve. [Mark Uyemura]

Mobile perspective: At this point, our content is not created specifically for mobile devices, but in is important that we make sure stories and pictures display properly on phones and tablets. Recently, we experimented with a different way to display footnotes online. Having a smartphone allowed me to view that special presentation on a mobile device and make sure that it worked as expected. [Kevin Sablan]

 
2. Improve internal communication 
 
Ideas: Communicate with your boss, colleagues and employees via phone, text, e-mail and social networks. Have mobile access to view, edit and organize your work calendar and e-mail and tasks. Maintain and update story budgets.
 
Examples:
 

Instant communication: I used my iPhone when I was in Seattle to do a couple of things for work.  I got an e-mail from Suzanne Bailey in advertising that included information that Andre Mouchard and Marcia Prouse needed to know about the Gift of Giving special section, so I forwarded it to them. Otherwise it would have had to wait until I returned. [Rebecca Allen]

Google Talk: Our Freedom product and technical folks are not on our IM client (Sametime) which is tethered to the our PCs and internal network. Our Freedom folks use all types of open IM clients, such as Skype, Google Talk and AOL to communicate among themselves. I communicate with them on all types of projects, technical tasks and fixes; they can open up an IM session whether I’m at my desk or not, because I always bring my phone to meeting, to lunch, at home — so they don’t need to wait for me to get back to my PC on my desk to get an answer. It increases productivity and moves things along much quicker than by communicating by e-mail or Sametime. [Mark Uyemura]

Connecting staff: Imagine checking your email just once a day. That’s the reality in our department since the majority of our staff works in the field. They are not attached to a computer all day like I am in the office. It’s so much more productive to have a smartphone. I can send assignments directly to their email instead of reading it over the phone. Kevin Sullivan has a smart phone and even though he works at night, we are in communication during the day when needed because he checks his email. [Michele Cardon]

Budgeting: I use Notespark to communicate budget lines with Ian Hamilton. I need to communicate differently with different people on my team. If everyone had smartphones communication would be much simpler and we’d be spending less time communicating and more time doing. And, we would use less paper. We go into meetings discussing a web budget with all the newsroom leaders reading budget lines off paper. [Paul Danison]

 
3. Improve engagement with audiences 
 
Ideas: Communicate with your sources and audience via phone, text, e-mail and social networks. Stay connected on and post multimedia content to social networks. Be alerted to breaking news and information from your coverage area.
 
Examples:
 

Fast engagement: I've tweeted for @OCReggie from my personal iPhone. Social is instant, and smartphones give you instant updates. Forget going back to your desk to see if you've been retweeted or have a message to respond to - it's right there with you. And people on social expect fast answers. [Angela Potter]

Connecting: Sources now text me as often as they phone me. Well, they call and text...depends on the source. For example, school coverage, kids text. During the school strikes how I got my insider information was from kids texting me while at school. People are more likely to talk to you when they feel comfortable. I let my sources e-mail, call or text me. Whatever makes them want to talk to me more. [Brittany Levine]

Moderating conversations: I love that i can use wordpress on my phone. You can moderate at all times and not have, say, 10 comments piled up in the que pending. Comments are good because people may have questions or offer new information that betters the story or lend themselves to another story. My commenters give me tips all the time. If you interact with them quickly it shows the readers that you are really THERE and not a machine. [Kelli Hart]

First Food Frenzy feature: I am planning on using social/mobile a ton now that I’m working on the blog. Food Frenzy has 700 fans, and I’m going to use photos, updates, whatnot to try to build an extension of the good community that’s already on the blog. http://on.fb.me/bb25Ge [Claudia Koerner]

More communication: Got an e-mail the other day from a person who read my story about an Irvine girl who volunteers so much of her time. She's a huge humanitarian at age 14. The reader wanted to get in contact with her. So they could give her an award. I got the message on my phone. Took about 30 seconds to read and forward the e-mail to the family. If I had waited till I was sitting at my computer and booting up the 40 e-mails that await me in the morning I wouldn't have forwarded that message. [Ian Hamilton]

 
4. Produce and edit more content in a more timely manner
 
Idea: Taking notes, recording audio from interviews, taking video, taking photos, edit or update content before or after publishing, moderate comments from any location.
 
Examples:
 

Police ID man who killed himself at mortuary: Three photos were sent using the iPhone 4 with captions and were posted to the web within 1/2 hour of the initial call with the help of Photo Editor Thomas Sullens. I was able to continue covering the investigation, adding five additional photos to the on-line slideshow an hour after the first rescue call. http://bit.ly/dnw66n [Ken Steinhardt]

California Adventure expansion: The WordPress mobile app allows me to write complete blog posts and upload photos directly to the blog. I wrote a blog post, took a picture and posted an item about construction of Cars Land at California Adventure, all from the theme park. I got about 1,200 hits on this short item: http://bit.ly/c3OEHm. I also took pictures that I uploaded to the blog. Then, I wrote the rest of the item later. One example: http://bit.ly/cWugY2 [Sarah Tully]

Coachella: I live blogged from Coachella with my iPhone. Less equipment - for a small girl like me, an iphone beats a video camera, still camera and notepad and pen, easily. Not to mention lugging my laptop to a city council meeting and trying to find a plug. Been there, done that, no thanks. [Angela Potter]

Police look for woman's remains in fire pit: When I was called to look at the home of Richard Gustav Forsberg, 61, in Rancho Santa Margarita, there were no photos posted to the web story. I made three images with the My-Touch slide and emailed them to Photo Editor Thomas Sullens and continued to photograph the details of a completed Sheriff’s investigation and talked with neighbors to relay information to reporters. http://bit.ly/dyBd8Q [Ken Steinhardt]

Strike while the iron is hot: Inspiration doesn't strike when I'm in front of a computer. It strikes when I'm lying in bed. My phone is right there. Being able to write at any time and from any place makes the content meatier. It makes it more meaningful and effective. It makes it more relevant and truthful. It allows me to merge work with fun because nothing is a chore when I have the freedom to do it whenever. http://bit.ly/b5L8NK [Ian Hamilton]

Elections: I used my iPhone on the night of the primary election to take and send photos to the desk. Meg Whitman came out early (late afternoon) to practice her speech. I was there, shot a couple photos, and sent them into the desk. I then used the photos on the Total Buzz blog. I also used by iPhone that same night to use a cool app called Fotobabble, so I could take a photo, record a short snippet of audio, and publish that on the blog. Just kind of a fun little report about food on an otherwise boring Election Night. [Peggy Lowe]

Disney convention: At a Disney fan club convention, I pre-wrote a story based on a press release about an upcoming trivia contest on my laptop. The announcement was supposed to come at a presentation. While sitting at the presentation, I was able to update the story with new details and get it ready to post from my phone. I also took the photo on my phone. Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/9nkV9i. [Sarah Tully]

Great deal for readers: While shopping at Trader’s Joes I noticed a great deal on baby kegs of Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen. I was able to use my test smartphone to take a photo and blog three quick paragraphs to alert readers. The post generated 26 comments. http://bit.ly/bly6V2 [Jeff Overley]

Restaurant Week: I posted some photos from my Restaurant Week lunch to Facebook using my husband’s iPhone. The killer phone apps allowed me take some amazing food shots. When I posted the photos my readers went nuts complimenting the food shots, which I later used on my blog. I got 3,000 page views on that post. http://bit.ly/a6aBcq [Nancy Luna]

Smart-photo-reporting: On several occasions, I’ve used the smartphone to get spot news photos quickly back to the office. During last year’s flooding, while shooting video with my regular camcorder, I used my smartphone to take high-quality stills that ran online. My phone also has a memory card slot, that has allowed me to send full-quality images from my Nikon camera quickly back to the paper. I have used this several times on spot news. [Eugene Garcia]

@AroundDisney: I used my smartphone to take pictures and tweet them from the park. Here are my tweets from the park on Sept. 9: [Sarah Tully]

Take a look at Disney California Adventure tile mosaic while still here. Coming down starting Mon. Thursday, September 09, 2010 3:33:40 PM via twicca

Where does the sky begin above Hyperion Theater at California Adventure? Thursday, September 09, 2010 3:18:15 PM via twicca

Construction walls are up around Disney California Adventure's Sunshine Plaza fountain.

Water main break closes lanes in Santa Ana: One photo was taken with iPhone 4 and used in initial web publication posted within 10 minutes of call. I continued to cover the beginning of repair process and posted a 10 picture slideshow within 45 minutes, replacing the original camera photo attached. http://bit.ly/a05e9y [via Ken Steinhardt]

5. Other benefits

Idea: Find driving directions. Use location-based social networks. Find story ideas by using mobile apps. Review mobile products for your audience.

Examples:

Driving directions: Access to online maps found an address not shown on my Thomas Guide, which was great, because I had driven 45 minutes to find the place. [Jeff Overley]

News alerts: To me, the ability to scan a broad array of news sources on my phone anyplace, anytime is extremely convenient in keeping me abreast of what is going on. And particularly, the news alert function from CNN, AP, OCREG and others give me same time  awareness of big breaking stories i may need to act on when I'm away from my computer or the office. [Gene Harbrecht]

Social ideas: I just got a smartphone a couple days ago. Already I've been able to stay on top of Facebook more than I could before, which is good for keeping up with community groups and people, I can see what's going on. That helps our team to be able to jump on things faster, than me just checking a few times during the day on the office computer. I also check Twitter more often. I’ve been able to put up quick hits like a road closure when the police department tweeted it. [Heather McRea]

App knowledge: I use Foursquare to check-in at different places during my personal and work hours. The service gives me a sense of how many people have checked into a popular event, like the Festival of Books at UCLA or the OC Foodie Fest. The Google app has helped me when I'm out and about and not sitting in front of a computer. imbd.com and allmusic.com have also helped. I've downloaded a Laguna Art Museum app that served as an audio guide in a museum exhibit I reviewed. [Richard Chang]

Work e-mail: As a community reporter, instant access to e-mail is honestly the most useful. Much easier to stay in touch with my editor when I’m in the field. I can check my email while running between assignments as opposed to having to wait for time and access to a table at the coffee shop or something. The city also e-mails out traffic alerts. As a driver in Laguna Beach, these are handy to avoid backed up areas. But as a reporter, I always know when there’s an accident on Coast Highway or in Laguna Canyon, and I can instantly forward it to Sal or whoever’s doing breaking news. [Claudia Koerner]

Mapping: The GPS mapping has been invaluable while trying to navigate to and around breaking news situations. [Eugene Garcia]

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Here are some slide decks from the Breaking Development conference. I first noticed the conference by seeing tweets chock full of mobile information - #bdconf.

Here's another wrap up of the presentations along with featured quotes from each session.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A collection of tablet user agent strings. Please add in comments other strings or devices that should be added.

Apple iPad [source]

Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B334b Safari/531.21.10

Samsung Galaxy [source]

(Different strings for each model. All devices have a resolution of 600x1024.)

GT-P1000
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-gb; SAMSUNG GT-P1000 Tablet Build/MASTER)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; nl-nl; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; ru-ru; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; nl-nl; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; th-th; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-gb; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; fr-fr; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; it-it; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; ar-ae; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; GT-P1000 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1

GT-P1000R
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-ca; GT-P1000R Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1

GT-P1000M
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-ca; GT-P1000M Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1

SGH-T849
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; SGH-T849 Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1

SHW-M180S
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; SHW-M180S Build/FROYO)
AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1

Samsung Galaxy S (not a large tablet, not just a phone)

GT-I9000T
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.1-update1; es-us; GT-I9000T Build/ECLAIR)
AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/530.17

Windows tablets [source]

In Windows Vista, the user-agent string reported by Internet Explorer includes "Tablet PC 2.0" if, according to GetSystemMetrics(SM_TABLETPC), the device is a Tablet PC.

In Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, the user-agent string includes Tablet PC 1.7. The user-agent string looks something like the following:

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; Tablet PC 2.0)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Some interesting research on mobile news and information demand by Pew.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »