GPS Maps is one of those great functions on mobile phones we have today. People not only can use iphone to surf on the Internet and get Google Map, but they can also use Nokia mobile phones to download the Lonely Planet traveling guide when they are traveling. Nokia mobile phone users can get the traveling information such as the popular restaurants, popular night life places, and shopping malls from the traveling guides by 13.99 US dollars. Nokia anticipates that more than 50% Nokia mobile phones will have GPS by 2010-2012. The GPS map service market will keep growing in the following years.

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Posted by Hanson Hosein

“notmyPhone.”  There I said it.  I own or operate five Apple computers, three iPods, two Airports, constantly curse anytime I have to use Windows, and regularly sermonize that Steve Jobs singled-handedly democratized media production.

But in my quest for that one device that can do everything (phone, e-mail, web, pictures, video, GPS, word processing, modem), the iPhone continues to come up short.  And that’s too bad, because it puts any other phone operating system to shame (I know that much just from using the iPod Touch).

I could just be a contrarian happy to challenge the wisdom of the crowd — I didn’t think the Dark Knight was anything special (even on IMAX), preferred Batman Begins, and suspect that Iron Man is the holy grail of superhero movies.  So you just may want to stop reading now if you believe my opinion counts for nothing. Read more…

Good faith confession: I’m partially motivated to post this as an incentive to MCDM Advisory Board member, Nokia’s Peter Wakim to join us in class later this month.

I’ve been keen to include Nokia in the MCDM’s growth as I’m a big fan of their technology, and their multimedia prowess.

Peter sent me this link to its Nokia Trends Lab, “pushing the boundaries by using mobility to aid in the creative process.”

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As a newly minted father, independent filmmaker, and director of a digital media program I would of course take advantage of every social media tool available to declare the birth of my new daughter far and wide.

So Harper Rose got paparazzi’d by her father within the first second of her time on this planet: HD video as she emerged from her brave mom (edited and distributed to immediate family members within 2 hours). He used Twitter liberally for updates, Facebook to share photos.

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My students know that I have a weakness for Nokia technology. And of all of hometown favorite Microsoft’s innovations, I like its Silverlight application the most.

So I’m thrilled to see the two come together today, with this announcement that Nokia handsets will now carry the multimedia platform (which competes directly with Flash).

While I’m stacking links, here’s that Wikipedia link to the concept of “Participatory Video” that I mentioned in class last week. It seems to really fit with what we’re doing in this class of ours:

…a set of techniques to involve a group or community in shaping and creating their own film. The idea behind this is that making a video is easy and accessible, and is a great way of bringing people together to explore issues, voice concerns or simply to be creative and tell stories.

Finally, here’s the link to the blog coverage of that Magazine Publishers Association Digital Media Conference we discussed in class (“video, video everywhere!”), along with more information about my former MSNBC colleague, Gary Seidman, who is now making a living from producing online slideshows.

Posted by hanson hosein.

Some of our class discussion last night focused on the audio limitations of the Flip. Unfortunately, you can’t attach an external mike to the Flip (and many mainstream camera manufacturers such as Sony and Canon are also dropping those connections even on their higher end consumer cameras). I’ve suggested to my students that they consider carrying a standalone digital audio recorder and using them during interviews as well. That way, they can decide which audio to use later. They don’t necessarily need to match the separate audio with the video, they could just lay it under footage as a narrative track, which can be effective in storytelling.

Of note is how Reuters news agency is equipping their Mobile Journalists (MOJO’s) with Nokia cameraphones and an external mike setup. Nokia provided a special adapter to Reuters to facilitate the use of an external mike. I wonder if Flip will ever do the same?

Posted by Hanson