Yesterday, our friends at iPhone Atlas reported that the decryption of the iPhone OS 2.0 software/firmware package has led to speculation that Apple may add support for wireless printing to the iPhone and touch. An inspection of the iPhone OS 2.0 file structure reveals a directory named “Printers.” Currently the directory is empty, but it could be populated with drivers.

Wireless printing capability obviously poses tremendous benefits as well as complications for our implementation of the devices on university campuses.

Chris Deering, former Chairman and President of Sony Europe, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and now Chairman of Handheld Learning, recently posted a very interesting article concerning the future of Apple’s new iPhone. Deering suggests that critics of the device, who have complained about the devices antenna size, voice mail and Bluetooth functionality, are missing the point: His list of reasons why gives us a compelling picture of the future:

1. “The terms TV and PC will sound as outdated as “8 Track” tape decks within 2-3 years. Everything will be capable of delivery over Internet Protocol (IP).”

2. “The ‘receiver device’ is as likely to be a wireless mobile device as a set top box. Personal files including purchase movies and all self generated photos, home video and text file folders will be stored remotely and accessed on demand to whatever screen or speaker, in home, on desk, on family room big screen, in car, in hand, that the user needs them to use. PC will no longer be a relevant term as all user interfaces will be interactive and capable of keyboard type input as well as voice recognition.”

3. “In this new generation, (Web 3.0) there will be ‘contextual transparency’. You will access the beginning of a video documentary on the breakfast table and then pick up where you left off when boarding the commuter train. The server will know and re purpose the content for screen size etc accordingly.

4. “The ‘server’ will also know WHERE everybody is at all times because 500mm plus mobile phones will have GPS modules in them by 2011. ‘Location Aware Servers’ will be the new frontier for targeting all kinds of adverts and helpful information.”

5. “Operating systems like Mac and Windows will give way to wireless based OS’ like Google’s Android, Nokia’s Symbian and Windows Mobile, but each of these solutions is struggling because they are ‘closed’ architecture and, to some extent, walled garden minded.” (more…)

A couple of months ago we posted on a jailbreak application for the iPhone and iPod touch called Twinkle. Twinkle has just debuted on the App Store and might give Twitterrific a run for it’s money with the ability to location-base your tweets.

Critics say Twinkle is better than the mobile version of Twitter, better than Hahlo, and better than MobileTwitter. It supports photos with your tweets, taken right from the iPhone camera, as well as geolocation. There is also a “Near Me” section that will show you other Twitter users in your area.

While Twitterrific seems to have more precise locating abilities, Twinkle uses the location-based tweeting in interesting ways. For instance, you can see tweets originating within a certain mileage range from your location. Twinkle also allows you to easily view your direct messages.

If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter or are bored with reading tutorials, B.E.T.A. Daily has put together a handy collection of videos that demonstrate various uses of Twitter.

Perhaps the best new of all is that Twinkle for iPhone and iPod touch is absolutely free.

Byline from Phantom Fish is another new iPhone app that could prove quite useful for teaching and learning. Essentially, it’s an RSS reader that hooks into Google Reader and has the ability to store pages locally (on your iPhone or Touch) for offline reading.

Byline puts hosts of RSS and Atom feeds at your fingertips by pulling content from your free Google Reader account, which of course keeps track of your favorite websites.

The good news, especially for Touch users, is Byline’s utilization of cloud-computing to provide an offline browsing feature that gives you instant access to complete web pages.

In addition, Byline will archive the pages linked to by your starred items and notes. This allows you to save any news item you read and any website you visit for offline browsing.

For more, check out Ars Technica’s recent review of Byline.

Yesterday the folks at Teleread reported that the Stanza ebook application may be downloaded for use on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

According to Lexcycle (the provider of Stanza), this app provides built-in support for a number of document formats, including “HTML, PDF, Microsoft Word, and Rich Text Format reading, as well as all the major eBook standards: unprotected Amazon Kindle and Mobipocket, Microsoft LIT, Palm doc, and the International Digital Publishing Forum’s new epub Open eBook standard.”

Lexcycle has this to say about taking your ebooks on the road with your iPhone, iPod or PDA:

“Stanza features the ability to export your reading material to a wide array of formats that can be read on your mobile device. Its native export to the iPhone makes it the first product that can convert all of your digital texts to iPhone “bookmarklets” that sync with your iPhone for reading anywhere — no internet connection required.

Stanza can also export to MobiPocket, enabling you to use the popular MobiPocket Reader to read your exported book on your Blackberry, PocketPC, Palm OS, Nokia Series 60, Sony Ericsson UIQ, and many other mobile devices.”

Download the application at lexcycle.com.

Yesterday, in an interview with ExtremeTech, Apple’s President of Marketing, Greg Joswiak refuted early assertions that GPS-based driving directions on the iPhone 3G are impossible because of the GPS transponders’ size and left the door to copy/paste functionality open.

Joswiak stated that “Apple has a priority list of features, and they got as far as they could down that list with this model”—essentially suggesting that Apple doesn’t have anything against cut and paste; they just judged other things to be more important. Apple’s willingness to entertain the idea of cut and paste functionality for the iPhone is obviously good news for those of us interested in using the device as a tool for teaching and learning.

Responding to questions about GPS driving directions, Joswiak asserted that the iPhone’s GPS is “just like the GPS in other phones, many of which do provide driving directions,” but there are some “complicated issues” preventing driving directions at present “It will evolve. I think our developers will amaze us.”

For more, be sure to check out ExtremeTech’s full article.

Yesterday, our friends at Flux posted a very interesting video of Grainne Conole’s recent presentation entitled “Disruptive Technologies or New Pedagogical Possibilities.” Conole’s presentation, which was delivered at the Eduserv Foundation Symposium 2008, explores some of the web 2.0 developments and their implications for learning, learnersand education. If you have the time, it’s certainly worth a watch.   

Yesterday, Campus Technology posted an article about the new initiative organized by Stanford University School of Education and Innovations for Learning, a Chicago-based nonprofit, which will bring the $50 Teachermate Handheld Computer to extremely underserved children in Latin America.

Teachermate is a compact mobile learning tool that resembles a hand-held game and is intended for early elementary students. It uses a 500 MB NAND flash card for storage and has a 200 MHz 32-bit ARM9 processor. The device can be charged with an AC/DC adapter or through a USB connection to a PC. All stories, instructions and other content in the system are in both English and Spanish. Students can record words on the screen into a built-in microphone and can then compare their own voice recordings to the computer’s rendition of the story. A variety of math game activities are designed to reinforce basic numeracy skills.

Campus Technology reports that the first implementation of the handheld computer system will be in Baja California, Mexico in collaboration with CETYS Universidad en Mexico. A pilot of the handheld computer for reading and math education will be launched in September in cities in Mexico where many poor migrant populations are concentrated. CETYS Universidad’s Education and Engineering School will also develop local content for the Teachermate handheld computer while its Business School will develop and enhance scalability and sustainability models.

Paul Kim, CTO for Stanford’s School of Education, states: “Mobile learning technology loaded with innovative educational content for basic literacy and numeracy seems to be in a dire need in many regions of the global community today. For those who have no opportunity to watch TV and do not own a single book, a mobile learning solution may be a viable educational option.”

For more information, be sure to check out the full article at Campus Technology.

Users of iTunes U now have a lot more elementary education material to choose from—a new initiative launched by several state education agencies, along with the State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA) will create a home for K-12 educational content within iTunes U.

The initiative, which launched July 1, brings the creation of a K-12 destination to iTunes U with a broad range of content from a number of state and district agencies—including Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah—as well as museums and other educational institutions.

T.H.E. Journal reports that according to SETDA, the idea of the initiative is not only to bring state and district resources to K-12 educators within their own states, but to provide nationwide and global access to educational content, curricula, learning materials, news, best practices, and other resources.

“This comprehensive collection of quality digital content offers teachers and students a single location to access resources on topics from Florida history to the Navajo language to nano technologies,” said Mary Ann Wolf, executive director of SETDA, in a statement released Tuesday at the NECC 2008 conference in Texas, where the initiative was unveiled. “Teachers can now access these resources in real-time to support teaching and learning. The new K-12 resources on iTunes U address the critical need to engage students through technology-based resources in the core curriculum areas.”

For more, be sure to check out T.H.E. Journal’s full article.

Over the long weekend, Apple posted a handy support document that explains how to replace your original iPhone with a new 3G iPhone. Basically there are two tracks:

1). In the US you don’t need your original SIM as your original “account information will be transferred to iPhone 3G’s included SIM when you purchase iPhone 3G.”

2). Outside the US, “you can use your original iPhone’s SIM with iPhone 3G.”

Once your transfer is complete, all you have to do is back up your original iPhone to iTunes 7.7 and then restore that backup to the new iPhone 3G. This should transfer all your saved SMS messages as well as email accounts, notes, etc. Once that’s done, you should probably erase the old iPhone with the new secure erase option.