It took a good few years for most academics to accept the notion of online classes, and many still aren’t there yet. So try this one on for size: a college class in Japan is being taught entirely on cell phones. Now, not only can you “go to class” in pajamas, but you can do so while watching YouTube videos and chatting on IM… because– seriously – your computer can’t sit there idle for an entire class period.

The class is taught via Cyber University in Tokyo, which offers only online (and now, mobile) classes. The class consists of a powerpoint presentation downloaded to students’ handsets, accompanied by streaming audio of the professor’s lecture.

The university is majority-owned by Softbank, a dominant Japanese carrier. And herein lies the catch: the classes are currently only available on select Softbank phones. This will be an interesting company to watch, as I’m curious to see if this single class spirals into a full-fledged marketing play.

As a sidenote— the topic for the class: “Mysteries of the Pyramids.” Random for a jumping off point, no?

[tags]The Web Outside, cellphone college class, Japan, mobile class, online classes, Cyber University, phoning it in[/tags]

When CoolHunting calls something “awe-inspiring,” it’s gotta be pretty nasty; Earthdesk does not disappoint. Check this out– you can add a dynamic snapshot of the Earth, constantly updating, right on your desktop (mac or PC- compatible). It’s completely customizable, so you can focus in on a specific city, on the sun or the moon, or switch around your viewpoint daily. You can see live-updating weather patterns, city lights, and track phases of day around the world. There’s a licensing fee of $23.95 for a single user ($39.95 for 5 licensees), but that price seems fairly reasonable given its current buzzfactor. I’d love to see a free trial option to get a better feel for it before committing… I have a suspicion it’s even cooler than it looks (which, incidentally, is similar to the suspicion most people have about me).

[tags]The Web Outside, cool products, earthdesk, coolhunting, desktop bling, self-flattery[/tags]

Smashing Magazine tipped me off to some hot new User Experience technologies, some of which are absolutely too cool to pass by. In particular, I recommend checking out the video for Photosynth– the resolution on the images is absolutely insane, and their multidimensional navigation tools are incredible. It’s more than worth your seven minutes. Looks like they have some mapping apps up their sleeves as well. The demo received a standing ovation at TED2007, and I must say I almost stood up and cheered myself. (Okay, fine, I did.)

[tags]The Web Outside, Photsynth, TED, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Seadragon, Smashing Magazine[/tags]

Thanks to Read/WriteWeb for linking to Tim Berners-Lee’s post about the “Giant Global Graph,” a broader take on the trendy-yet-weighty “Social Graph” concept, and how it relates to OpenSocial. It’s great to see the “Father of the World Wide Web” talking about OpenSocial, as he’s tended to shy away from most Web 2.0 Topics Du Jour over the past few years. Perhaps the “GGG” will become the semantically-powered iteration of the “WWW.”

In a nutshell, Berners-Lee breaks down the evolution of computer networks into three stages:

1. The Net: connects computers

2. The Web: connects documents

3. The Graph: connects people and documents (thus forming relationships)

Berners-Lee goes on to cite the implications of the Social Graph on the Mobile Web, noting that the content itself will soon trump webpages as the primary module, thus making “the network and the devices tertiary.”

That said, I have an addition to his list:

4. The Web Outside: connects people, documents, and locations (thus forming relationships linked to –yet not contigent upon– real world nodes).

[tags]The Web Outside, Social Graph, Giant Global Graph, Tim Berners Lee, semantic web, Read/WriteWeb, OpenSocial, Brad Fitzpatrick[/tags]

Big congrats go to Ripple for inking a deal with Border’s Books and Music. They’re set to launch a screen network of 60 locations, starting in major markets including Chicago, LA, New York, and San Fran. We’ve met the Ripple folks on multiple occasions, and we wish them all the best for a quickly expanding network!

Congrats also go to IKEA for being lauded by the Massachusetts Association of Retailers for having the best in-store signage. Now, how about making that signage even more engaging?
Mobile-Interactive Swedish Meatball TV? Well, naturally…

[tags]The Web Outside, Ripple, Ripple TV, Borders, IKEA, MA Association of Retailers, Digital Signage[/tags]

Apple’s latest iPhone commercial stars a proud flight crew member who, upon hearing the Captain’s announcement that they’re facing a 3-hour delay due to bad weather at their destination, whips out his iPhone, proves him wrong, and gets the flight underway.

Good for him? I guuuueeess… but he also comes across as quite the pompous bastard.

So, what’s worse?
How about having the same thing happen in real life, except this time with some random Joey Jackass wielding the iPhone, rather than a crew member?
Yea, that’d work.

Planebuzz reports that passengers on a flight from Memphis encountered just this scene. An annoyed passenger recounts: “We push back, get advised of a ground stop in MEM due to storms in the area. Go to the penalty box and wait. My Captain does the lecture over the PA… not one minute later, we get dinged from the F/A ‘Some guy with an IPhone says the weather is good, and wants to know what the real reason is for the delay. Is something wrong with the plane?’”

Oy.

[Now, given that I hate (hate, hate, hate) planes, this is not even the slightest bit amusing to me... even given the remote chance that he was simply trying to be helpful.]

Thankfully, the Captain had eaten his Flagrant Flakes that day. His response is nothing less than masterful (okay, cheeky, but masterful nontheless):

If the passenger with the IPhone would be kind enough to use it to check the weather at our alternate, calculate our fuel burn due to being rerouted around the storms, call the dispatcher to arrange our release, and then make a phone call to the nearest Air Traffic Control center to arrange our timely departure amongst the other aircraft carrying passengers with IPhones, then we will be more than happy to depart. Please ring your call button to advise the Flight Attendant and your fellow passengers when you deem it ready and responsible for this multi-million dollar aircraft and its passengers to safely leave.

I thank you, Sir.

Anyone willing to rival the iTunes/iPod model has my respect and admiration… okay, and skepticism. While the changes in DRM regulations can only help push forward the entire industry, any competitors are fighting against quite the behemoth (a very shiny silver and white behemoth, at that).

So who’s jumping into the ring?

Say hey to the new phone from AT&T and Samsung— powering Napster.

Yup, Napster.

Users can search through a music catalog of 5 million+ songs, preview song samples, and download their picks right to their phone. For every song downloaded, the user will also receive an email allowing him to pop a copy onto his computer for no extra charge.

Only prob? Well, other than the fact that it’s not iTunes… each song is $1.99. That’s twice the price of what iPodders are ponying up…

[tags]The Web Outside, Napster, Samsung, AT&T, DRM[/tags]

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[tags]The Web Outside, shelfari, reading list, new media, media studies books[/tags]

Okay, so in yesterday’s post I promised a wrap-up of the Google Android talk; forgive me, but I’m going to need to reneg. As evidenced by the awesomely informative and detailed picture above, being 5′2″ at a stand-up lecture isn’t quite conducive to…um… hearing and seeing things. (And, sadly enough, that pic was taken with my hand stretched above my head.) Combine that with two poorly-mic’ed speakers (yea, yea, fine, I’ve also been told I have “hearing deficiencies”), and you wind up with one frustrated listener – on her tiptoes. Here’s hoping Mobile Monday Boston posts a transcript of some sort, because I’m going to be of little worth in that department. If any readers were able to snap a few pics that aren’t of the backs of people’s heads, or get their hands on the PowerPoint deck of the presentation, please send them along. The talk surely looked interesting…

[tags]The Web Outside, Android, Mobile Monday, Mobile Internet World[/tags]

I’m headed to a Mobile Monday event tonight, held in conjunction with the Mobile Internet World Conference at Hynes Convention Center. The guest speakers are David Carson and Alan Blount from Google, slated to talk about Android and the Open Handset Alliance. If that’s not enticing enough, the last hour is devoted to “schmoozing and demos.” In particular, I’m psyched to try out Vlingo and RoboCal.

If you haven’t already, go sign up… it’s free (thanks to dotMobi) when you register for either the conference or the expo!

I’m also planning to attend the keynote tomorrow afternoon, Is An Open Platform the Future of the Mobile Internet? (open to all attendees), so I’ll be back with a round-up post later in the week.

[tags]The Web Outside, Mobile Internet World Conference, Hynes Convention Center, Mobile Monday, Boston, dotMobi, Vlingo, RoboCal, Android, Open Handset Alliance, David Carson, Alan Blount[/tags]