Augmented-reality for your phone

The amount of applications for the iPhone and Googles Android continue to grow and impress. Latest ground-breaking product comes from a company in Austria called Mobilizy who just launched wikitude. Its a travel guide like no other. You just point your Google phone at a landmark and the screen fills with linked in pop-ups from Wikipedia that give useful information on the landmark's description, stories, dates, etc. As they point out on their website: The truly compelling feature is the augmented reality cam view, users may hold the phone’s camera against a spectacular mountain range and see the names and heights displayed as overlay mapped with the mountains in the camera. Users may look out of an airplane window to see what is down there. Users may walk through a city like Seville, Spain, holding the phone’s camera against a building and Wikitude tells what it is. I think that is an amazing teaching tool. Ideas for use that come to mind lab training, campus and building walk-throughs, getting new hires onboarded quickly, etc.

Pocket Projector - Wow Your Audience

I love this new gadget and very nearly forked out some hard earned cash on a wintery Saturday before I came to my senses. Its a tiny pocket beamer that allows you to show Powerpoint presentations, photos, movies, whatever you wish - up to a 42 inch image on any surface. No more carry around bulky beamers and worrying if the bulb will go just when you launch into that great sales presentation to your boss. It comes with a stand and SD card slot, and can connect to PCs or even to your mobile phone. A really nice touch is that it runs an LED light source so last much much longer than the standard beamer bulbs. The company is called Aiptek. The handy tool is called Pocketcinema and costs approx. USD 300. In the next 12 months I can see this becoming essential kit for any instructor or presenter who is regularly on the road and wants to travel light. The cool factor is high and you may get people turning up at your presentation just to view your amazing projector. Its already on my Christmas list.

Google Voice Search

Tried out Google's latest offering over the weekend. An application for the iPhone that allows you to speak search terms and view the results online. It took a while to recognize my Irish accent (no surprise there) but came through with some good search returns. Looks like the days of Repetitive strain injury (RSI) are numbered.

Who are the hottest movers and shakers to watch?

Its a question I get asked a lot - with so many bloggers and websites out there flooding us with information on the latest and greatest developments in technology and business, who are the chosen few who you should keep an eye on? Take a look at this list of bloggers (besides this brilliant blog, of course): techcrunch list of top bloggers. No surprise to see Robert Scoble and sites like Engadget, Silicon Alley Insider, and The Register - and Techcrunch appearing. Forbes also have a much short list. The usual suspects make an appearance including Slashdot, Gizmodo, and Boingboing - all worth a visit to get a view on the hotest news around business technology. Finally, go to Technology Review which is run by MIT for a fascinating view into all sorts of brilliant innovative advances that will stimulate your thinking. The site is based on the oldest technology magazine in the world (est. 1899) Technology Review.

Video Podcasts - Your 5-Minute Info Digest

Just as we launch our brand new video podcasting channel at our company, I've just read an interesting article about the new US president elect "The YouTube Presidency" and how Obama will turn his weekly presidential address into a 4-minute YouTube video. Even the Whitehouse website is changing with the times by getting their messages out to a wider web-savvy audience with RSS feeds, podcasts and videos of press briefings. Speaking of videos and changing times, Skype is under pressure from Google who launched a new plugin to their mail application. Google has integrated voice and video chat into its Google Mail web application. I haven't tried it yet but with their rich customer base this can only help in cementing Google's position as a one-stop-shop for the internet generation. If you combine all Googles applications (so far free of charge), you start to wonder if there is any hope left for truely desk-bound applications.

Take a trip to Learningtown - You'll be pleasantly surprised

I just joined Learningtown, a community of learning enthusiasts run by Elliott Masie of The MASIE Center. Actually its not really run by Masie. Its hosted by his group. The real running is done by the users of this platform, now numbering 6,469 from all over the world. Its a well put together offering with loads of social media-rich features and tools, with the added bonus of being free of charge - and so far as I can tell, vendor-neutral. If you have anything to do with training at our company this is worth checking out.

The site or Village as they call it, is designed to promote the sharing of best practices and information and allows you to setup your own blog or subscribe to an RSS feed of blogs of interest. You can add specialist groups that interest you. I have already added NextGen Learning, Podcasting for Learning and 3D Virtual worlds. If that wasn't enough, you can also create your own site (with a theme) and set your profile - with your interests, expertise level, photo, etc. Other features I liked include an IM widget so that if your colleagues are online you can send them an instant message.

The main page has alerts and latest activity in a constantly live updated portlet and as with all good social network sites, you can also rate content so you know what is currently popular with the crowd. Finally, you can add and share photos and videos. Well worth a visit. Who knows you may find me hanging out in the Village discussing the latest 3D learning solutions.

Mobile Quiz - Powerful Idea

I found this interesting idea over the weekend. A website service that allows you to create a quiz in seconds that can be accessed by a mobile phone. I tried it as a quick test and it worked. Needs more investigation but the solution appears to open up opportunities if Blackberries for example allow the installation of this tiny java based quiz. I loved it and see this as a terrific way to test learners post classroom. Powerful. Check out mobilestudy.org for more details.

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QR Codes - Scan and Learn

This blog is really just a reminder that I want to try out QR Codes in the near future and report back findings on this blog. What I am rambling on about are good old fashioned barcodes. Scan and you get info directly onto your mobile phone - a web link, contact details, a map, you name it. Whatever you want. The idea is easy to implement. Download scanning software to your mobile, take a photo of the barcode and within seconds you have decoded the barcode and have received the message whatever it is automatically on your phone. Imagine posters with the barcode displayed, websites, leaflets, a pen...the point being nobody needs to key in a word just point your cell phone camera and your message is on their device. I like the idea of the t-shirt with a barcode - if you take a picture of the code the result is you have just added me as your friend on Facebook!

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Broadcasting to Mobile Phones

Mobile Learning is becoming a hot topic at most learning techology conferences. Lots of discussions. Lots of options. But which one to choose for a pilot? One possibility is to hook up with a service provider like OnPoint Digital or Cellcast who offer to take your text, audio, or video- reformat the files and broadcast the message to a cell phone population. Next year we hope to run a mobile pilot so its a good time to get all options on the table.

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Memory Sticks as Learning Support?

A visit the other day from a company that promotes the use of memory sticks for learning and information distribution, prompted me to think again how we could use this highly mobile and convenient technology to support our learning objectives. The advantage if it really works (a
key success factor here is IT security) is running applications directly from the USB memory stick. So no need to install anything just plug in and jump into the learning object. Potentially this could be used on any computer so it's highly mobile and not dependent on the users hardware or current software. Check out these resources: portableapps.com and AccessApps. Critical to keep in mind is information security - if the learner loses the memory stick then what are the implications if it contains sensitive data.

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Brain Training Study - Students Get Better Scores

Anyone who has tried out the software Brain Training must have thought at some time, besides the fun aspect, could this really help improve how we learn. Well Learning and Training Scotland have conducted the first real study of how Brain Training impacts a students test scores. They asked 600 students in 32 schools to use BT 20 minutes each day for 9 weeks. Compared to a control group the BT group got 50 percent better scores in a standard written test. Not bad. How can we harness the power of this solution to train our employees? What is more stimulating -doing an online one hour elearning module or playing an interactive fun and challenging brain game for 20 minutes? Food for thought.

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