Apple just released the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS5, which introduced over 200 new features and enhancements. The past 3 months I’ve had iOS5 running on my personal device as a developer. During that time I have noticed three key features to keep an eye on over the next year.
One of the biggest features is the introduction to the “cloud.” Certainly, the concept of the cloud is nothing new as users have been figuring out ways to use other services like Dropbox to sync files and even their iTunes libraries between computers. As with most things Apple, it isn’t so much the groundbreaking idea as it is the implementation. iCloud, Apple’s version of Dropbox, is tightly integrated and provides a unified experience across not just the operating system but also across devices – mobile and desktop.
With Apple creating an app “space” in the new version of OSX Lion, this means users can have an app on their phone and their desktop which sync data and information.
I’m starting a second round of college media coverage of the various Occupy protests around the nation. I’m particularly hoping to find some coverage that features use of online/multimedia components, as the example above from the Temple News.
I’m also going to keep this post “sticky” at the top of the blog for the next couple of weeks. If you’ve seen student media coverage of the protests, e-mail me: scmurley -at- gmail.com and I’ll add a link below. Read the rest of this entry →
Editor’s note: Brad Arendt, director of student media at Boise State, is a contributor to the blog and a colleague of long standing. This is structured as an interview because Brad wants to offer a service to other members of the college media community. The interview audio is below, and a transcript below the fold.
Boise State Student Media launched version 2.0 of their mobile app Bronco Mobile (iTunes link) this August. Student Media Director Brad Arendt shared some of the experience of building a college media mobile app from the ground up, and what he hopes to give back to the community, in this interview. The audio is about 30 minutes long. A transcript is below the fold.
If, after reading or listening, you’re interested in more details of Arendt’s future efforts, contact Brad at barendt@boisestate.edu. He will also be at the Fall National College Media Convention in Orlando Oct. 28-30 and will be available to answer questions there.
Click on the mp3 player below to listen. If you’re on an iDevice and it doesn’t work, click this link to listen to the mp3.
The Daily Eastern News, where I am the adviser to the online staff, has updated its web design this semester. Here’s the new site:
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And here’s what it looked like previously:
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In addition to the redesign, we’ve also changed the URL. Readers of the newspaper are directed to dailyeasternnews.com in promos and articles. The old URL, dennews.com, still works, but pedants (like me) always grated at the use of the extra “n” in dennews.com.
We also changed content management system hosts from College Publisher to TownNews.
The previous design has served the paper well, but it was long in the tooth (designed originally in 2007 by Matt Wills).
If your college news organization has redesigned their website, send me an e-mail (see the left-side rail for the address) or comment on one of these posts, which are archived under the category Redesigns.
A few nuggets from around the web, many sort of tech-related today.
Wow Slider: “WOW Slider is a jQuery image slider with stunning visual effects … and tons of professionally made templates. WOW Slider is packed with a point-and-click wizard to create fantastic sliders in a matter of seconds without coding and image editing. WordPress slider plugin and Joomla slider module are available also.”
News nerd rage: the trouble with conferences (Matt Waite): I share some of Matt’s concerns about conferences. I hope he comes up with some new ways to do panel discussions at conferences.
What does ‘job security’ mean for a journalist, anyway (OJR): Some bracing facts from an independent journalist about the paycheck culture most journalists live in. I think the problems he identifies are more systemic, and resistant to change. Worth a read.
Why’s this so good (Nieman Storyboard): This isn’t a single article, but a collection of articles that look at various stories in different media formats, breaking them down and explaining how the pieces make a great whole. Worth reading.
The technology world was abuzz tonight over the death of one of the leaders of the consumer electronics industry. Steve Jobs died just a day after the latest Apple product announcement.
I never met Steve Jobs, but the technology he helped shape have had a profound impact on my life in many ways, from the Mac Classic I used at a small-town newspaper in 1996 to the MacBook Pro I’m typing this on.
I do want to say this: Apple products have had a tremendous impact on college media over the years since the introduction of the Macintosh.
I hope the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak continues to produce cool stuff that pushes technology forward.
Since Adele has cancelled part of her North American tour, another selection from NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. Just because.
SkillShare: This is probably a site that’s been around for a while, but a good source of both free and paid opportunities to learn new skill sets.
Creating a web literate planet (summary): Along the same lines, Mark Surman explains some of the efforts he’s helping to lead with Mozilla to train people to better use and make web-based tools. Lots of information.
Newsrooms Beta: Now Open to Everyone: Digg has just opened the doors of their new Newsrooms features to the world. I’m not a big Digg user, but I’m sure some of you will be interested in this development.
We’re hiring: Code in the public interest, make your mother proud: The Chicago Tribune is looking for people who can wrangle code.
Can a tweet be defamatory: Bob Tarantino takes up a topic which I suspect will be popping up quite a bit over the next few years, and one we discussed recently with Frank LoMonte of the SPLC.
How Technology Made Occupy Wall Street Both Irrelevant and Ubiquitous: I don’t think “irrelevant” is the word I’d use, but Mims’ thesis is provocative, and worth a look. I suspect there will be a lot of similar “What It All Means” articles about the recent Occupy protests happening in the U.S. I’d venture that about 1 in 10 will be right.
5 Things Blogging Taught Me About Tweeting: This is helpful if you’ve ever been a blogger. But the tips are also helpful for anyone who wants to start or better understand Twitter. via @buffer on Twitter.
The Facebook Follow: Facebook wants to follow you everywhere around the Internet.
Tool of the Day: Animoto Animoto has been around a while. It’s a service that automatically generates a video out of photos and music that you upload to the service. It’s free to try out, but if you want more features, you’ll need to upgrade to a pro account, or – if you’re an educator – register for the educational license, which will give you and your students some of the features of the pro account.
Many of the protesters appear to be young people, college students or recent graduates, who are upset about the state of the economy and their job prospects.
Which makes this a story for college media. I’m starting to keep a log of some of the coverage of the protests, which appear to be spreading to other cities.
Here are a few articles worth reading that I’ve found in my wanderings across the Internet over the past few days.
Hyperlocal Publishers Form a Trade Union: Some big names in hyperlocal journalism are behind this effort, which is a sensible networking alternative for small online publishers. Look forward to how it develops.
Rawporter: A mobile app that supposedly connects media outlets with citizens who have breaking news footage. Launching soon. This is an explanatory video.
WSJ.com begins tracking personal user information without consent: “The Wall Street Journal has revised the privacy policy for WSJ.com to permit the site to connect a user’s Web browsing data with personally identifiable information without consent. Previously, the policy stated that it would ask for users’ permission before doing so.” I am beginning to think it might be time for America to have a serious discussion about online privacy. If we could stop being distracted by shiny objects.
Making it Work With a Small Staff + Other ONA notes: Sean Blanda shares some notes and observations from a nuts and bolts panel discussion at the Online News Association Conference. Includes a video of the entire talk.
Teaching in the Quickly Changing Digital Age: An SND Takeaway: Aaron Manful pulled together the handout here with lots of information for people who want to get up to speed based on a session we did at the Society of News Design conference in St. Louis.
A network infrastructure for journalists online: Paul Bradshaw explains why journalists need to understand RSS readers, social networks, and social bookmarking to navigate the new online news world. Detailed information worth your while.
Is Branded Journalism Still Journalism?: They’ve been trying to rename it for years, but it’s public relations and marketing. I don’t have a problem with journalists who go into this field, either.
