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With the release of “Apple of my Eye”, the first short film shot and edited using the iPhone 4, I started to envision the future of mobile journalism and how iMovie could potentially transform the way we consume news media. Michael Korbel’s short film showcases the iPhone 4’s capability to capture raw emotion and visualize complex storylines while using a minimal amount of equipment. Be honest- In the right setting, “Apple of my Eye” might make you tear up, just a little.

So what does this mean for future iReport contributors? Well, quite a bit. Recording HD video at 720 p resolution/30 frames per second could produce award-winning documentaries capable of immediate web submission. Can you imagine the effect this would have had on the Iranian Twitter Revolution? Unedited video uploads went viral overnight, drawing international coverage and raising awareness of the turmoil surrounding the distressed country.

In the United States, we’ve seen growing popularity in Facebook and YouTube video uploads reporting police brutality. This has caused government officials to question altercations caught on tape, making the video camera one of the “most effective weapon(s) that ordinary people have to protect against and to expose police abuse.”

Recently, YouTube launched CitizenTube, a feed that tracks breaking news video uploads with a “focus on strong visuals and non-traditional sources.” Allvoices, a newly launched citizen journalism platform, has seen record growth internationally, with 6.5 million unique visitors in the month of May. Though iPhone-to-web direct uploads are not yet available, these signs show that journalism is shifting focus toward user-generated content, where importance lies in the citizen’s point of view.

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Living in Texas and trying to stay mobile without using a car can be tough. While I have a car, this summer I chose to try commuting to work by bus instead of driving. I initially downloaded the Ride Austin iPhone app as a mobile method to help me conquer public transportation in Austin. My $2.99 investment was worth every penny — I literally would be lost without it.

The app helps you find the closest bus or train stop to your location, shows you the schedule for routes that go by that location, and lets you look at route maps.

Chicago, Portland, and Seattle, among others, offer apps with real-time bus schedules where each bus is tracked with GPS systems so you know whether your bus is early, late, or right on time. Buster, the Chicago Bus Tracker costs $1.99, while Portland and Seattle’s apps are free.

Acrossair, an app development company, put out augmented reality apps last year for several large cities in which users can find the nearest transit station via their iPhones’ video function. The following is the developer’s description of the New York Nearest Subway app:

“When you load the app, holding it flat, all 33 lines of the New York Subway are displayed in colored arrows. By tilting the phone upwards, you will see the nearest stations: what direction they are in relation to your location, how many miles away they are and what lines they are on. If you continue to tilt the phone upwards, you will see stations further away, as stacked icons.”

In addition to NYC, the $1.99 Acrossair app is available for cities including London, San Francisco, Madrid, Paris and Tokyo. Some cities also have free versions supported by Apple iAds.

See below for an example of the New York app’s interface or watch a short video on the Acrossair’s website.

The Google Maps app that comes pre-loaded on every iPhone has a pretty nifty public transportation feature as well. It allows you to pick your current location, addresses from your contacts’ information, or a custom insert and then choose directions to there or from there.  You can also choose to depart ‘now’ or select a time in the future, and then are presented with the three routes numbers closest to your departure time, their expected

arrival time, and the total fare for your journey.  Not bad for an app that came with the phone! Hindsight is 20/20, and I wish I’d found out about the capabilities of this app before purchasing Ride Austin.

Here is a screenshot showing the next bus I can take from my office to my apartment.

Going careless can be initially daunting but public transportation apps really helped ease the transition for me.

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While we’ve all been anxiously awaiting these June days—first Apple’s official announcement about the new iPhone, followed by Apple & AT&T consumers flooding both websites, and finally, the day we’ve all been waiting for… June 24th: the official arrival date of Apple’s iPhone 4.

However, Christmas morning has come a little early for a lucky few of us with a number of iPhone 4 preorders arriving up to two days early. I wasn’t able to get the Apple website to let me through until close to 11 PM CST (yes, I tried all day on the 15th), and now—as of 9:20 AM one day early—I just got a call informing me that my new baby was just delivered to my home. Taking an early lunch (it is only 9:45) to go it up.

Stay tuned for a special Mobilisms video post of the first unboxing of our office.

Disclaimer: AT&T is a client of Fleishman-Hillard. All thoughts and opinions expressed in our posts are our own.

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My generation thinks we’re the kids of technology, but children today understand the digital world even better than we did at their age.  Last weekend, my cousin’s four year old daughter, Mycah, was getting fussy while all of the adults were busy chatting over dinner, so I quickly downloaded the Monkey Preschool Lunchbox application and handed over my iPhone to Mycah. She immediately began playing the game with little direction from me. Before I knew it, she had mastered the touch-screen element of the phone and was on her way to winning the game that actually never ends.  Within minutes of seeing her completely engaged in the application, (and fuss-free I might add) both her mom and dad downloaded the application on their phones and Monkey Preschool Lunchbox quickly and easily earned another two dollars. In today’s day and age, smart phones can be used as much more than just devices to make calls, send texts or write emails. Smart phones can, in fact, be used as pacifiers (or as Mycah calls them, binkies). Now if only smart phones could feed the kiddies as well, grocery stores, restaurants and planes would all be quieter places.

For more recommendations on modern day binkies, check out Parenting.com

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My colleague Lane's Kitten

Other subjects among the folks I polled was food, friends, sunrises, flowers, bugs, to-do lists, and beer.

Another colleague at FH runs the popular @thisbeer Twitter account where people share photos of the beer they are drinking and @thisbeer retweets.

I use my iPhone to take pictures all the time — of my dog, things I eat (I’m a food blogger, after all), and things I’d want to capture with my regular digital camera but may not have with me. I also use it for taking photos of images that I want to share on Facebook or Twitter. Funny signs and that sort of thing.

The only thing missing for me on my iPhone 3GS camera is a flash — something that will be available with the iPhone 4 (note: AT&T is a client).

Do you use your cell phone to take pictures? What are your most common subjects? What do you like/dislike about taking pictures with your cell phone?

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I used to loathe my phone; it could make a call, send a text and take pictures – and nothing more. Finally in March I joined the rest of the functioning world and got my very own iPhone 3GS. So how has my mobile life changed since the iPhone entered the scene? Besides the fact that my text message count now reaches the moon and back (thank goodness for unlimited texting), I use my phone entirely differently.

Having my trusty iPhone has opened up a whole new world of mobile possibilities. I share pics and videos with my friends, I upload pics to Twitter and Facebook with the mere touch of a finger and I have iTunes and Pandora with me at all times. I’m much more involved socially, even when I’m alone. Case in point: last week I went shopping. Normally I wouldn’t go shopping by myself (I need help deciding what looks best). Luckily, I wasn’t truly alone; my iPhone was with me, and therefore everyone in my contacts list. I sent pictures to friends as I shopped, asking them which outfits they liked, which shoes went with it, what purse was the cutest etc. I even tweeted a video while I was there. I can only imagine how much easier picking an outfit would’ve been with the iPhone 4 – video calling with FaceTime would have been even faster! It was so simple, and I picked my outfit in record time.

My iPhone lets me live in the moment. I used to have to wait until I was back at my laptop to share something – like my cute new outfit – on Twitter or Facebook. Now Echofon and Tweetdeck, Foursquare and Gowalla let me share anything, anytime, anywhere.  My newest obsession is Shazam – I can download any song that I hear, even if I don’t know what song it is. This phone is seriously smarter than I am, and it connects me instantly. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go respond to the tweet notification I just got from my iPhone.

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Apple’s fearless leader, Steve Jobs, took the stage yesterday at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference to announce – or build up – the latest iPhone. Here’s what I took away from the hype:

• FaceTime: One front-facing camera to open up the world of mobile video chatting and conferences, and one on the back for the traditional approach. I love the idea of portable video chats, but I’m not sure how well it will catch on.
• Camera: Five-megapixel camera with LED flash and 5x digital zoom. Not a replacement for a point-and-shoot, but getting extremely close.
• HD Video: Ability to shoot high-definition video in 720 pixels, along with the option to download the new iMovie app. Basically, shoot and edit your video on-the-go. I see this as a HUGE threat when it makes its way to the iPod Touch.
• iBook: Synchronize the reading application from your iPhone to your iPad or iPod so that you pick up wherever you left off. You can also make annotations.
• High resolution: The screen is now 300 pixels per square inch (four times that of its predecessor). It’s great from a visual standpoint, as well as it creates more options for designers moving forward.
• Design: Now at 9.3 millimeters thick, it’s the skinniest smart phone around (for now). It also lost the wobble by flattening out the previously rounded-back. In addition, steel frames are in place for greater durability.

All this magic will be available to you on June 24th. It will be interesting to watch how some of Android’s latest models stack up. While Apple always pushes it forward for their users, other companies are gaining more of a handle on the technologies…finally.

Disclaimer: AT&T is a client of Fleishman-Hillard.

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Photo By: Dan Counsell

Apple has laid down the law with the latest amendments to forge its path of world domination. Okay, it’s not that serious…yet.

Regardless, Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, has decided that he is no longer entertaining the idea of compatibility with other codes. Popular tool software, like Adobe’s Flash, will not be accepted as substitute for application generation, per the updates to the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement.

I think this speaks volumes of the company that we have all been seduced into adoring for its quirky advertisements and addictive simplicity. While I see Jobs’ desire to keep his platform progressive and limit the production of “sub-standard apps,” I agree with the application developers who are cursing him for hampering of others’ creativity.

From a marketing standpoint, it’s a risky move. Apple is a company that projects an image of innovation, and yet they are the first to smack down other’s ideas. To me, a person who is soon-to-be in the market for a new cell phone, the iPhone’s allure is its trillions of useful – as well as funky – applications.

If irritating application developers drives that creativity away from Apple, the iPhone might just lose its luster. However, knowing Apple, I’m sure they will continue to push their supremacy down our throats and hold their ground until a device finally has the power to knock ‘em over. For now, though, Jobs’ stubbornness wins again.

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During SXSW, Jodi whipped us all into content creating shape to the point I imagined myself a TMZ reporter (much to Brad’s delight). While famous people didn’t assault me, I did learn that a few tricks go a long way to avoid dirty looks (from both your Content Task Master or the mobile content subject).

Snap a Picture of:

• Famous People—go right ahead and paparazzi your little heart out. They’re famous and used to being hounded by the press. And, you my friend, are the press.
• Normal People—ask first before going in for the kill. You’ll often find this diminishes blurry photos from people ducking out of the way or giving you the stink eye. And 9 times out of 10, they agree to have their photo taken.
• Things that don’t talk/animals/buildings—no need to ask. They don’t talk back.

Smile. You’d be surprised how showing a little Southern Hospitality goes a long way when you are raising your iPhone to snap a photo.

Get The Name of:

• Famous People—you should already know their name (or have someone tell you). Just avoid the awkwardness of saying how uncouth you are for not knowing who they are.
• Normal People—you will need to ask their name (first and last). Could be done during the whole, “Can I take your picture?” conversation.
• Things that don’t talk/animals/buildings—you might need to ask someone around for this. It will come in handy when your Task Master asks you why you took a picture of it.

Don’t forget the Twitter Name of:

• Famous People—you should already know their Twitter handle. See above for reasons why not to ask.
• Normal People—they’ll be flattered that you are social media savvy and will give it up. Plus you can go back, stalk them, and make sure you got their real name right the first time. And you’ll be able to Tweet them properly and share their photos with them.
• Things that don’t talk/animals/buildings—because they might be famous enough to have a Twitter name. Just look around. It might be posted somewhere.

After you get back to command central, your content manager (and your subjects) will be very grateful that you followed these simple rules.

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Live Video Streaming Comes to the iPhone, Thanks to uStream – Apple approves an application that enables iPhone 3GS users to record and broadcast live video on both 3G and Wi-Fi connections over the Internet.

The Google Phone, Unlocked (Confirmed and More Details) – Google is set to release Nexus One—its first ever mobile phone.  The phone, manufactured by HTC, will be GSM-based (meaning it can operate on T-Mobile and AT&T networks), run on Google’s Android platform and will be sold unlocked.

Foursquare and Pepsi Make Location-Based Social Networking Real – Pepsi jumps into the mobile LBS SNS game by sponsoring the NYC foursquare leaderboard to support a technology-based charity where donations incur every time users earn foursquare points.

Location’s Social Paradox – Is it true the more people you follow on location-based services, the less useful the service becomes?

Texting at Work? The Supreme Court to Decide About Your Privacy – The U.S. Supreme Court plans to hear a case that will determine if an employer may view text messages sent during the workday.

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