Simulate Sites for Mobile Phones and iPods

Nowadays there seems to be three kinds of websites. There are the full websites that you are used to viewing on your desktop or laptop. Then there are mobile versions of sites for cell phones. Mobile sites are created with a minimum amount of graphics, don't require much bandwidth, and can be navigated with a keypad. Additionally, there are sites formatted for the Safari browser on iPhones and iPod touches. These sites are sometimes called web apps and are designed to be used by touching the screen with fingers. Below you can see that CBS News formats its site according to what kind of device you are using to view it.

Not all sites are programmed to format themselves into these three types of sites. Chances are that the your website is static and does not change no matter what size of screen it is being viewed on. If you'd like to see what a site looks like on a cell phone, you can use the dotMobi Emulator. The emulator is useful for not only checking your own site, but for pages that you might want students to visit on a mobile device.

If you'd like to see what a site or web app looks like on an iPhone or iPod touch, you can use iPhone Tester. iPhone Tester gives you a preview of what the page will look like on a simulated iPhone.

If you'd like a make a site that will function well on a mobile phone, handheld, or iPhone, you should check out Wirenode. It's a free service that allows you to easily create a compact webpage or site that will format itself for the device that's used to access it. Here's a site I made with Wirenode for the 2008 NECC conference. As you can see, Wirenode support text, images, news feeds, and hyperlinks.

Why would you care what your site looks like on a mobile device? Research firm IDC says that 1.3 billion people will connect to the Internet using a mobile phone in 2008. According to the March 2008 Tween & Teen Lifestyle Report, 73% of teens and 26% of tweens own mobile phones. Besides mobile phones, youngsters also often have access to the Web on other portable platforms like Palm handhelds, Sony PSPs and Nintendo DSs. The bottom line is that the Internet isn't just for desktop computers anymore!

iPods Episode #11: Artwork & Lyrics

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #11: Artwork & Lyrics is online and is all about giving audio files cover art and accompanying text.

Artwork and lyrics are two things you can easily add to an audio file to make it more useful on iPods. While most all references you'll find to artwork and lyrics on iPods deal with music, the audio files do not have to be songs. They can be recordings from a voice recorder, ripped from a CD, podcasts, files from Audacity or GarageBand, or downloaded from the Internet. Wherever you got the audio, we'll explore adding customized artwork and accompanying text to these files.

Listen to all 11 minutes of Episode #11 for tips, how-tos, and ideas for using artwork and lyrics on click wheel and touch iPods.

iPods Episode #09: Photos Part 1

Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #9: Photos Part 1 is online and gives information about getting images and slide shows on an iPod.

You probably know that you can sync photos to an iPod. After all, it’s an option in iPod’s Main Menu. Photos of your children, pets, and vacations are fun to show off on iPod’s screen. Episode 9 covers the basics of putting photos on an iPod and then tells you about viewing PowerPoint and Keynote slide shows on an iPod.

Listen to all 9 minutes of Episode #9 for a how-to, valuable tips, and useful information. Part 2 will feature surprising and innovative educational uses for iPod's Photos.

Directory of Web Apps for iPod touch & iPhone

Apple has launched its official directory of Web apps for iPod touch and iPhone. Web apps are websites that are designed to "extend the functionality of iPhone and iPod touch." Apple does not allow software applications to be loaded on iPod touch and iPhone, forcing developers to use Web apps instead. Note: You can hack an iPhone to run native applications, but I do not recommend hacking. Although Web apps follow the latest web programming guidelines, I've found that many Web apps designed for iPod touch and iPhone often do not render properly on other devices like Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs. A definite disadvantage to Web apps is that they require a wireless Internet connection. No connection = no access to the Web app site.

Over 200 Web apps are currently listed in the directory. Categories include Calculate, Entertainment, Games, News, Productivity, Search Tools, Social Networking, Sports, Travel, Utilities, and Weather. About half of the Web apps are in the Games category. Perhaps we'll see an Education category in the future.

If you don't have an iPod touch or iPhone but want to give these apps a try, many will load right in your current browser. Mac users can download the free iPhoney application. iPhoney shows you exactly what a site will look like on a iPod touch/iPhone, matching the devices' 320 x 480 resolution. All desktop Web users can go to iphonetester.com and to see how a site will look on an iPod touch or iPhone.

There are other directories of Web apps. Two places to find them are everythingiPhone and iLounge. But, Apple's directory is my favorite.

Feeling really geeky or have advanced Web programming students? Apple has resources for developing your own Web apps.

Update: Apple has announced they will allow developers to make software programs for iPod touch and iPhone. This is great news as native software applications are far better than web applications. We'll have to wait a while as the kit for software developers won't be ready until February 2008. With useful software applications, iPod touch will turn out to be a very useful handheld computer.

Update #2: Kathy Schrock has posted a nice list of educational web apps she has tried out.