I’ve been toying with ways to restructure the site to accommodate video and other new elements on mobilejones.com. It’s become clear that the site needs a refresh with a design better suited to curating and wider diversity of media types.
Watch for a new design along with a new approach and focus for mobilejones going live soon. Thanks for sticking around to those who have, and look forward to getting your feedback on the changes. Until then….
The Carnival of Mobilists (CoM) makes it’s stop this week at Xelluar Identity. Xen does a great job of collecting a robust group of posts into topic areas including mobile advertising, payments, the future, content and applications, handsets and just fun.
Check out the CoM this week for the best resource on media about mobile in the blogosphere. Also, check with the schedule to find the lastest host locations of the carnival. Great job, Xen! And see you at next week’s show.
Tomorrow is the Democratic Primary in North Carolina. I plan to visit the Obama HQ in Wilmington in the morning along with a polling location or two, and then on to Raleigh Obama HQ and polls. Watch for live coverage here.
If you have questions you’d like addressed by campaign staff or voters leave a comment here. Or participate live by watching at http://www.qik.com/mojo/ and using the chat feature while I’m broadcasting.
Following my experience at CTIA Wireless 2008 with streaming video from a Nokia N95, I’ve sought a solution to adding an external microphone. The N95 has an input that is designed for making phone calls and adding a headset for this same purpose. It includes noise-cancelling automatic gain adjustment to make phone calls using the phone’s built-in microphone appropriately loud or soft depending upon the speaker’s voice level. The noise-canceling properties of automatic gain adjustment built into the N95’s microphone improves audio quality for phone calls by separating the speaker from the background noise which is problematic when that background noise is, in fact - not noise - but an interview subject.
Mark Squires of Nokia’s Social Media group tried to arrange a discussion for me with someone from the company’s accessories group, but I was scheduled too heavily with interviews to meet him inside the convention center. I shared with Ray Haddow who manages Blogger Outreach with the Social Media Communications group the solution developed for Reuters and their MoJo reporter’s kit, and asked if other adapters might be available.
Both Mark and Ray transformed the discussions and information from our emails into internal discussions about how Nokia might provide a solution. Afterall, the N95 as a “multimedia computer” is enjoying a symbiotic demand relationship with mobile video streaming services. All social media is creating a strata of use cases: from those who create V.I.T.A.L (video, images, text, audio & links) media for a few freinds, to those eager to add video to their toolbox for personal brand and even those who are using the N95 to report for MSM publications and networks like Shelby Highsmith for MTV Choose or Lose.
MTV’s Choose or Lose production is one example of how the combination of the N95’s 5MB video camera, and mobile streaming video services like Qik are being used to report in near-real-time on the events of the 2008 Presidential Election. Michael Scogin talked about the production and MTV’s citizen journalists during my interview with him at CTIA.
After CTIA, I connected with Michael Fortson of Qik via Twitter. We talked by phone and Twitter about the problem and need for a solution as so many of these high value on-the-spot videos were devalued by the unacceptable lack of audible audio. You can degrade the quality of the image and still have a compelling video, if the audio is excellent. The reverse is not true.
Michael pointed me to Jim Long, self-described new media guy trapped in an old media body. Jim uses an N95 to record images and videos from his vantage point of literally behind the camera. He is an NBC cameraman assigned to Washington, DC. Jim found this experiment by Steve Garfield using the N95 bundled external microphone.
And next he sent along a link to this experiment by Bloggerman. I received a pointer to this video from a few people.
And then others who have a stake in finding a solution to improving the quality of real time video through better audio also joined the conversation taking place openly on Twitter. Kartin Verclas from MobileActive and Shelby Highsmith one MTV’s citizen journalists. We all discussed the service offerings for live mobile video, the shortfall of the N95’s audio and potential solutions.
Shelby Highsmith recommended using a BT headset as a microphone, and made a video to demonstrate how the BT headset would function in a high noise environment like technology conferences, bars or restaurants. Meanwhile, I made a trip to Radio Shack and purchased two adapters for the experiment suggested by Bloggerman using the TV cable. Bloggerman stated the red cable plug must be used as it delivered the audio from among the three RCA plug set color coded red, white and yellow. But that didn’t work.
The results from my attempt to connect the N95 TV cable set to a female-to-female RCA to RCA adapter, the second adapter a male-t0-female RCA to mini 8″ connector and finally plugging in the mini 8″ microphone cable allows the use of an external mic with the N95 proved successful after, in his own experiment Shelby Highsmith chronicled in images and video the right combo. He discovered that the yellow cable connector was the correct connector, rather than the red one recommended by Bloggerman.
Important Note about the microphone you choose: it must either be a battery-powered condenser microphone or a dynamic microphone. Dynamic mics don’t require a power source, whereas condensers do and the Nokia input port does not supply power to the microphone. If a condenser is used it must be battery-powered.
I’ve tested this solution with a battery-powered Edirol C15 condenser mic and the results are promising. The real test is in the field with an interview subject. My field tests will begin next week featuring some live streaming from the polls in North Carolina’s Democratic Primary Election. Tune in to http://www.qik.com/mojo or watch my Twitter stream at http://www.twitter.com/mojosd for notification of when I’m live.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this discussion and the many experiments to narrow down the possibilities. I hope everyone who is creating mobile video streams using the N95 will find this solution helpful and we all can continue to move the production quality forward.
N95 External Microphone Solution
Nokia Conversations goes live April 21st, 2008, led by Nokia’s social media expert, Charlie Schick. As a member of the newly minted Social Media Communications group inside Nokia, Charlie has built what he refers to as a “mud hut,” and which he plans to transform into a blogosphere palace. Mark Squires describes the project briefly in my video interview with him at CTIA.
Many people will recall Charlie from his early work with Nokia’s first blogger outreach project promoting the use of Lifeblog. But for those who don’t remember. Lifeblog was a three-way (mobile, PC, Typepad blog) syncing application built in partnership with Six Apart allowing Typepad users to post images, photos, videos and text directly from their Nokia devices. That was over 3 years ago, and many of us have had the privilege of sharing conversations with Charlie since those early days in 2005.
Nokia Conversations highlights the developments inside the world’s largest device manufacturer, and new entrant into mobile content and services that the 60,000 employee company represents. Some of those 60K employees are also introduced along with their accomplishments and new products. Comments are welcomed, and engagement with the blogosphere has already begun as you’ll see. Welcome Nokia and we look forward to the “conversations.”
Congratulations to Charlie and his team for a job well done. If this is the “mud hut,” I can’t wait to witness the path of construction to the palace.
Supervising Producer for MTV, Michael Scogin discusses the network’s Choose or Lose social media project, the live video streams from Super Tuesday. We also hear what MTV sees as the future of its citizen journalism efforts.
A year ago I received an email from Francois Gossieaux about a new thought leadership blog that would focus on the mobile industry and specifically messaging. Initially I thought it might be another among the countless offers I’ve received to provide content for free “to raise my profile.” When I read that this was a Corante production, and that it was sponsored by Airwide Solutions I became intrigued. Francois was on the phone almost immediately and he quoted a list of other mobile bloggers who I knew and respected. I was quickly convinced that this new blog called Mobile Messaging 2.0 would be a great opportunity and said yes on the spot.
Mobile Messaging 2.0 has provided me with the chance to work and collaborate with the great team of writers assembled by Corante. We’ve covered events around the globe including: Global Mobile Messaging - Monte Carlo, Brew Conference - San Diego, TechCrunch 40 - San Francisco, CTIA Fall - San Francisco, MWC - Barcelona, and CTIA Wireless - Las Vegas, just two weeks ago. I’ve enjoyed the amazing thoughts and writing from my colleagues at MM2, and been privileged to share thoughts, brainstorms and disagreements with them in our weekly editorial conference calls. Over this year,
With my separate increasing demands from other projects and even the neglect of mobilejones.com to consider, it’s time to move on. Mobile Messaging 2.0 will continue to be an important addition to anyone’s feed reader who wants to understand the evolving mobile industry, especially as we turned to the new opportunities related to mobile advertising. I’ve very much enjoyed interaction with readers of MM2 and look forward to, now, becoming one of them.
Another mobile video captured with a Nokia N95 8GB recorded locally featuring Louis Libin who discusses the challenges with coordination of all wireless communications at both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican Natonal Convention this summer.
A version of the interview with Mark Squires, Head of Social Media Communications at Nokia. This video was also captured using an N95 8GB, but minus live streaming. It was recorded directly to the device and as is probably obvious wasn’t on a tripod. Tripods are hugely helpful in these type of recording environments. Everyone’s hand does shake at least a little.The audio codecs used by streaming services come into question when viewing the local recording as the sound is much improved. So is the solution is likely an external mic AND a better audio codec on the streaming service.If you listen closely you’ll notice that we have a scoop on Nokia’s internal blogging effort going live. Tough to prove it as it’s not public, but 800+ internal blogs is quite the undertaking. Now, I wonder about Nokia Twitter which would likely deliver the internal news service in a more efficient manner for everyone at the company.
Welcome to Carnvial of Mobilists #119. What’s amazing about this week’s offerings is that they themselves are a reflection of mobile’s push to data and multimedia in 2008. Handset companies, former handset companies, Internet companies, new entrants and social networking giants are all involved in mashups of services. And this CoM is a mashup of various media types to capture it all and bring to you. A photographic collage, video, audio and even the old school written article converge in the CoM to bring together the best thinking, talking and writing about mobility around the world.
From China, Anina of 360fashion.net and 360fashion.tv, delivers a video recorded with a Nokia 7900 which features a discussion with a Chinese fashion booker on the usefulness and utility of Anina’s own mobile game for girls called, Dress Up Anina. Some will be aware of Anina’s efforts through her 360fashion network to mashup the fashion and mobile industries. And if you’re not, you should be.
From the UK, Rafe Blandford of All About Symbian, creates his media mashup of a visual commentary of CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas.
Andrew Gill of blog.andrewgill.com introduces us to a mashup of Facebook and LBS which allows tracking of friends and family including wayward spouses. Channeling Dr. Suess: Oh! The Places We Will Go! The service is made available by UK mobile operator O2.
Vero Pepperrell of Taptology brings more news of O2 which reveals that 3G isn’t necessarily about speed for this operator. Read this one as “trust but verify” might be the best advice for those who think the iPhone’s Edge radio doesn’t meet their demands for 3G speed, especially those in the UK.
Ajit Jaokar of Open Gardens talks about his mashup of Gmail with Blackberry. This article asks a very simple direct question, but it’s hinting something bigger.
Kiran Bellubbi of Small Doses reflects on last week’s attendance at OvertheAir mobile development camp and champions the browser as platform for mobile devices. Let’s repeat together….iPhone, iPhone, iPhone.
Matt Radford of AllAboutiPhone discusses the iPhone’s Over-the-air (OTA) syncing opportunities and possible roadmap through an analysis of recent announcements from Apple along with it’s other properties. Interesting assessment of what syncing could mean for enterprises and for Apple.
James Cooper of mjelly delivers a comprehensive recap of this month’s Mobile Monday, London discussion on mobile user experience. The enthusiasm James has for the topic is palpable and contagious.
Dean Bubley of Distruptive Analysis takes on the disruptive possibilities of m-commerce for brick and mortal retail. Leading with the impact of Amazon on traditional retail, Bubley extrapolates the potential for m-commerce and how traditional retail can deliver unique value in the face of additional price and convenience competition.
James Whatley, aka Whatleydude of SMSTextNews, advocates replacement of standard device OS user interface with the Facebook interface. During the Mobile Messaging 2.0 led Roundtable at CTIA 2008, the group I led took on the topic of user experience. After a discussion of consumer research results on user desire for integrated social networks from Jonathon Steuer, vp, consumer strategist at iconoculture, Facebook, and Helio’s MySpace interface, then the natural next step was expanding the concept to User-defined UI. Or more correctly expressed….use case defined UI. Some examples discussed included media creators, sports enthusiasts, and social network addicts. Take a look as James recounts the discussion.
From the cyber bridge between the UK and US, Chetan Sharma of AORTA delivers the Mobile Data State of the Union for 2008 and the US market. Sharma continues his on target analysis of the mobile industry combining quantitative measures with enlightened commentary which extends beyond the common narrative into the reality of the US mobile market.
From the cyber bridge between Germany and the US, Peggy Anne Salz of MSearchGroove (MSG) connects the dots of Qualcomm’s seemingly disjointed services strategy and roadmap. The article features an extensive discussion with Qualcomm’s Herbert Vanhove, Vice President & General Manager, Qualcomm Internet Services, Europe, with Salz’s own analysis of the meaning and opportunity for Qualcomm’s service M&A activity.
From the US, C. Enrique Ortiz of About Mobility defines the drivers of the wireless/mobile usage boom. Ortiz draws out the factors that are converging to move mobile usage to a critical mass.
Jamie Wells of Mobilestance zeros in on the glut of mobile advertising inventory and mobile publishers engage in experimentation with multiple sales partners. Wells offers some advice for big brands and publishers.
Barbara Ballard of Little Springs Design uses her love of basketball national champions, Kansas University, as a metaphor for success in mobile application design. Ballard answers the question of where the challenge is won.
Judy Breck of Smartmobs features to an article from the New York Time Magazine on the travels and intelligence gathering of Nokia’s Jan Chipchase. With the ubiquity of the cell phone comes opportunities beyond sales of games and dating applications. Breck’s headline says it best, “Can the Cell Phone Help End Global Poverty?”
And finally we come to my pick discussion this week on the mobile industry via audio: Vizard and Gillmor on the Mobile Shakeout from Mike Vizard and Steve Gillmor. Featuring an in depth discussion of Intel’s new Atom chip, these technology industry veterans lead us down the twists and turns of the path to what’s happening next in mobile development. Of course, it wouldn’t be Gillmor without discussion of the iPhone. What do the recent product shortages mean?
From a photo essay to video, to audio and even the written word the Carnvial of Mobilists continues to feature the best thinking on and from the mobile industry. There’s a feast of information available as the CoM continues to grow and incorporate new voices along side long-time contributors. It is a reflection of the industry as a whole. I’m confident that all audiences will find value in the variety of perspectives and commentary featured this week, and would encourage everyone to follow the CoM next week at its new host location, Skydeck’s blog.
If you have articles, videos, audio or photo commentary on any and all things mobile, visit the official Carnival of Mobilists site and join to have your voice featured in a future CoM. And better yet, if you would like to host the best source for thinking on mobility anywhere on the web check out the instructions to volunteer as a host.
Enjoy Carnival of the Mobilists #119. I certainly have.
