Presenter, Journalist and Technologist
Posts tagged iPhone
BBC Local Radio Interviews on iPhone 5 Announcement Day
On the day of the iPhone 5 announcement I was appearing on various BBC local radio stations (and some commercial ones too) throughout the UK talking about the unveiling, offering my insight into which new features it might include.
Apple’s annual announcement of its latest and greatest iPhone generates more tweets, posts, column inches and airtime than any other consumer technology product launch.
On air I also discussed some research carried out by gadget recycling website cashinyourgadgets.co.uk revealing what we do (or rather don’t do) with our old gadgets after we’ve upgraded. I’m as bad as anybody with several old laptops, mobile phones and cameras slowly gathering rust in my drawers contributing to the estimated £1 billion of old, unused tech cluttering up our cupboards in the UK alone.
Listen to an excerpt from one of the interviews where I chat with Tony Fisher from BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester:
Like most other pundits my predictions for the iPhone 5 came true, hardly surprising given all of the leaks ahead of the launch.
How to Make Movies – and Money – with your Mobile
10 months ago
Earlier this month I was commissioned by CNET to write a couple of features on making high-def movies with a smartphone.
The first of those features, How to make HD movies on your iPhone 4 or 4S, went live yesterday and right now I’m working on an equivalent how to make movies feature for Android based on the Samsung Galaxy S3 – watch this space.
In my iPhone feature I mention recently launched service called Newsflare. As mobile journalism (‘MoJo’) is a particular interest of mine, I find the Newflare concept very interesting indeed. The Newsflare app lets you upload video footage from your iPhone, either on-spec or in response to an ‘assignment’, which Newsflare will then try to sell to a media outlet for you (obviously taking a cut of your cash for their troubles).
I haven’t submitted anything yet to Newsflare, but I’m certainly curious to give it a go. I’m not at all convinced that it poses a serious threat to professional video journalists and cameramen but I suspect it could lead to more of the ‘good enough’ shots of breaking new stories airing before professional news crews arrive to capture broadcast quality footage.
A shot in the arm for citizen journalism?
iPhone Video in the Hands of a Pro
1 year ago
by David
in Mobile Journalism
I simply must share this delightful video and post by mobile journalism practitioner and trainer Glen Mulcahy.
Filmed and edited entirely on iPhone and iPad this short video really shows off the high-quality output that is achievable from iPhone video with the right accessories and workflow.
Of course, while I tend to get excited about the technology and the tools here it’s very easy to forget the critical role of the film-maker. Hand over a top quality camera and software to somebody who doesn’t have a story to tell nor know how to tell it and the result will very likely be uninteresting, no matter how technically steady or clear the picture and sound are.
The message is that the technology itself ultimately should be transparent to the viewer; these tools are there only to help realise and deliver the story-teller’s vision.
That said Glen Mulcahy, a Production Development Manager and Trainer for RTÉ in Ireland, is very much an expert in story-telling too and the work he does within the Mobile Journalism community to develop and share new workflows and technologies is inspired.
If this field of work interests you I urge you to check out Glen’s Mulcahy’s blog for his video and mobile journalism technology news and thoughts.
Serious about Siri
I’ve been getting all tingly and excited lately about Siri, Apple’s all-hearing personal assistant technology.
Speech recognition has never reached the heights of the public’s lofty expectations, but in its inimitable style Apple has re-invented and re-invigorated a stagnating technology.
In this post for Computer Weekly a few weeks ago I explored how Siri is far more than just a neat trick inside an iPhone.
Siri can – and should – be embraced to help us interface better with other everyday objects. Think of it as a Universal Remote Control but instead of pressing buttons it listens to what you ask it and sends the commands to your TV, DVD player, alarm clock, central heating, washing machine, car – the possibilities are endless. This use of the iPhone as a VR Gateway has recently been demonstrated by some clever people using Siri Proxy.
You can read my full post in Computer Weekly right here.
Finally, I couldn’t help but share this video: just imagine if Apple had announced an Apple TV set at during its announcement last week (who knows what they might have called it: iTV, ATV, Apple TV?) and had gone ahead and integrated Siri rather than a traditional hand-held remote control. Might it have looked like this?
BBC Smartphone Teardown
1 year ago
by David
in Television
Last week I filmed a piece for a new BBC One show examining exactly what goes into making the everyday things we take for granted, anything from a latte in our local coffee shop to the trusty smartphone in our hand.
Armed with nothing more than an Apple iPhone 3GS, a screw-driver, a plunger and a spunger tool I set about dismantling the smartphone for the cameras while explaining what each of its internal components was and how much they might cost individually. As a final coup-de-theatre I even managed to put the phone back together again and prove that it still worked (that it did was as much of a surprise to me as it was to the rest of the crew).
I wouldn’t have been able to do this piece at all without the excellent team from iFixit who ritually rip anything and everything apart just for kicks, nor the analysts at IHS iSuppli Market Research who do pretty much the same thing for supply chain reports (and probably for kicks too).
I wanted to share this picture of a mostly dismantled iPhone 3GS:
Photo credit: iFixit.com
(Note how here the RF protection has been removed from the logic board revealing the iPhone 3GS ARM Cortex-A8 processor and storage etc, plus the screen and digitiser have also been separated – in reality these are rather tricky to take apart and, given the cost of readily available replacement components, perhaps unnecessary)
In total, we reckoned that a 32GB iPhone 3GS would have cost around £130 for parts and assembly, yet retailed at around £538 (without contract). What our figure doesn’t include is anything that represents Apple’s vast logistics and marketing machinery, its outlets or, significantly, its research and development costs which are sure to add considerably to the unit cost.
I’ll be sure to post up here when I hear about the broadcast date for the show.
BBC finds mobile journalism MoJo at RTS Update TV
1 year ago
by David
in Mobile Journalism
Bush Antique Television Set – Image: Black Country Museums
The Royal Television Society‘s inaugural Update TV event took place on Saturday at the BBC White City in London, and of particular interest for me was what Simon Morice and David Willox had hidden in their bags for their ‘OB in your Briefcase’ mobile journalism session.
RTS Update TV
The day’s ambitious aim was to bring RTS members up to speed with the very latest developments in broadcast television technology and trends, and was particularly angled towards television professionals who have taken a break from the business, perhaps to bring up a family, who are now keen to jump back onboard but are mindful of how television has changed significantly even over a handful of years.
Some of the events were very practical – for example, hands-on training with the BBC’s newly approved HD camera, the Canon XF305; others were interactive – Mark Aldridge, Executive Producer at Princess Productions, workshopping new interaction and engagement ideas for an imaginary (at least, that’s what we were led to believe!) 2012 revival of The Generation Game during a session on using social media in television.
Mobile Journalism Workflow
Now, as some of you reading may know, I’ve been developing a mobile journalist (or ‘MoJo’ as the discipline is known) workflow over the last few months that I’ve been using to capture some great results when reporting from events. The principle around which this branch of mobile journalism is based is that a smartphone today integrates all of the technology required to research, script, shoot, edit (even brand, dub and grade), file and distribute a story. With the addition of a few pieces of hardware (e.g., microphone, tripod) and some downloaded apps, an iPhone in the right hands becomes a viable and vital news reporting tool capable of recording quality footage and getting it online in an incredibly quick time.
OWLE Bubo Camera Mount For iPhone
I was first introduced to the OWLE Bubo iPhone HD Video rig by journalist colleague Leila Makki when we both covered an event at Bletchley Park earlier this year. Manufactured from a single chunk of anodised aluminium the Bubo lends the iPhone much needed handles and heft to help stabilise handheld shots as well as a wide-angled lens, four tripod mount points, a cold-shoe adapter and a simple external microphone. After helping to film Leila’s report that afternoon on the Bubo, I was hooked: the package that I subsequently picked up also included a Rotolight RL48-A LED ring light which handily includes its own ND, diffusion and colour correction filters. To this rig I tend to add a 3.5mm jack to XLR adapter and a professional Beyerdynamic M58 reporter’s microphone for far better quality sound, and either a tripod or monopod depending upon the job.
So I felt incredibly reassured in the ‘OB in your Briefcase’ session when Simon Morice, whose career began at the BBC in the 1970s, demonstrated an almost identical Bubo-based kit list to mine and extolled the virtues of the technology, workflow and benefits with similar rapture. He has also taken the rig on the road to produce reports and in the session played a story filed from IBC earlier this year featuring Kate Russell from BBC’s Click. His software workflow does differ somewhat from what I currently use but I’ve downloaded the Vericorder editing app to give it a try.
Content is Still King
While chatting with Simon afterwards he was quick to point out that whilst these new technology and workflow innovations themselves are terrific enablers, the overall success of a report still stands on its content. I couldn’t agree more: the real skill of the journalist is in telling a story, through whichever medium, and Simon touched on what were some equally exciting and innovative story-telling principles and philosophies that I hope I get a chance to explore further.
Other personal highlights of the day included sessions featuring Suzie Marsh (currently series editor for Live with Gabby on Channel 5); Amy Walker, a factual producer who now runs Media Parents to promote flexible working in television; and the vastly experienced Shu Richmond who recently set up TV blog, ‘So You Want to Work in Television‘.
The Royal Television Society are planning on running further similar events next year – if you’re interested in finding out more do take a look at the RTS website.
Find out more about mobile journalism at Glen Mulcahy’s Video Journalism Blog, frequently updated with great MoJo stories and technology.
Simon Morice runs ICM Business Video where there are some good examples of the MoJo kit in action.
