One month already down for 2013 and we’re rolling with getting through some of those resolutions that we’ve posted about earlier. To recap what those resolutions are:

1. Explain, emphasize, and demonstrate the theological underpinnings to mobile ministry
2. Detail and expand on knowledge of Non-English Language/Cultural expressions of mobile ministry
3. Increase number of and collaboration with ministry partners
4. Refine and release v2 of the Mobile Ministry Methodology
5. Embed Mobile, Not Mobile As Layer

We’ve got a few things brewing that will bear fruit soon towards all of these. What about you and any mobile or mobile ministry resolutions that you’ve put forth, how are you doing with them?

The other day, when we posted about this idea that you have a choice when it comes to your mobile device, we didn’t really get into what kinds of choices that you have. With that so fresh in memory, and some people looking at what kinds of options they will have at some point this year when it is time to look for a new mobile, let’s put out there some platforms that are worth taking a look at – platforms beyond the Apple iOS and Google Android ones that are essentially the usual choice in these moments.

Windows Phone
Back when MMM began, Microsoft was the large and reaching PC arm that made life all kinds of difficult for many mobile companies. They were successful in part because of their strategy of attacking phone-like mobiles with their Windows Mobile Smartphone platform, and the PDA/PC-like devices with their Windows Mobile platform. After the iPhone, such a strategy was nixed for something more coherent, and largely a forshadowing of the kinds of changes all of Microsoft’s products would see. The result is called Windows Phone, and depending on your perspective, its either a really good idea, or one that needs a bit more to be complete.

The major companies selling Windows Phone devices are Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and a few more up-and-coming companies. The base experience with Windows Phone devices assumes consistent connectivity, and something of an attachment to or trusting of Microsoft’s cloud services and developer-enabling to knit a solid experience. Social networking integration is played up big, but done in a manner that relies on hubs to information, rather the apps-per-service. I had some extended time with one Windows Phone device and cannot say that I came away totally convinced that it was perfect for me. However, I have come across several people who have Lumia devices and really do like them. I get why they do, and given the way their lives are connected around people and events, Windows Phone does make for a decent choice there.

BlackBerry
Like Windows Mobile, BlackBerry was around even before MMM got started. Then, it was all about the super-professional who used it to keep connected, or the kids of those professionals who received the hand-me-down and utilized BBM and the tight messaging experience to stay connected. And also similar to Windows Mobile, the BlackBerry platform is seeing a reinvention of itself. In about a week, the first all new BlackBerry devices in over a year will be unveiled (during the Super Bowl for those USA football fans out there) and these will be a radical departure in everything except the attention to security, typing, and getting things done that has always marked this platform.

BlackBerry is only made by one manufacturer (RIM, the parent company), yet sold through carriers. Generally, its been a very friendly platform for carriers to carry. Developers have also found the BB platform a bit of a hidden gem (one of the little known facts about applications for BlackBerry is that they constantly make developers more money than on other mobile platforms; those who own a BB are more likely to pay for software, and more likely to have the money to pay for it).

The closest device in my stable to this upcoming BlackBerry is the Nokia N950 (pictured) which uses the MeeGo operating system. BB10 (the new platform for BlackBerry devices) shares some with it, and refines a good bit of things along the way. The gesture-based interface to peek at notifications and running applications, the separate work and personal modes, and even the ease at which it will integrate with automotive and big-screen experiences goes a long way towards making this a platform to not count out. Sure, you can get a BB7-powered device right now, but that won’t be upgradable to BB10, and you will certainly miss much of the energy that developers and carriers will put towards making sure this new one is a huge success (webcast tomorrow too, so yea, peep that energy).

Several Other Choices
The other thing that 2013 seems to have under its belt is the rising of many open source-based mobile platforms either being announced or even to the point of having devices available. Here’s a small summary of the notable ones:

• Tizen: perhaps the only one of these other choices that has a ton of muscle behind it. Tizen is an Linux-based open source effort that has its foundings in the previously mentioned MeeGo initiative. Samsung is the primary company behind Tizen and has promised that at least one Tizen-powered device will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in a few weeks. Aside from integration to Samsung’s other product families (TVs?), there’s not much known yet about its targeting or what the aim for this platform will be from them. Given Samsung’s abilities, they could literally pull off anything.
• Jolla: another movement/project/initiative which comes from the ashes of Nokia’s Maemo/MeeGo efforts, Jolla has already announced their platform, called Sailfish OS, and carrier agreements in Finland and India. Its assumed that the initial focus for devices will be in Eastern Europe and Asia, with other markets getting attention as they ramp up production and marketing. Thing is, Jolla doesn’t so much want to be like HTC or Samsung, they posture more as a movement, and I wonder how that will influence the uptake of devices – especially by those in the mobile ministry sect.
• Firefox OS: from the folks who brought you the web browser that literally changed the game, the Mozilla Foundation seeks a similar disruptive performance in mobile with Firefox OS. Firefox OS is the web-based entrant of this group, borrowing lessons from Palm/HP’s webOS, Nokia’s Maemo, Intel’s Moblin, and even some from Apple. At this point, they’ve already announced the platform and a developer preview phone. What remains to be seen is the kind of effect Firefox OS will have as its being pointed at areas that are still getting 3G up and running, and the Internet while there, isn’t a primary aspect of being on a mobile device.
• Ubuntu Mobile: the last platform worth keeping your eyes on, and one in which has a bit longer of a gestation period, is Ubuntu Mobile. Very much like the full Linux distribution, Ubuntu Mobile is designed to shift the power of the mobile device into the hands of the user, not so much the service providers who might offer the hardware. Right now, there is a preview version of Ubuntu Mobile available (a) for those with certain Android devices or (b) those with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and want to go the route of building from near scratch. The first official devices should be here in 2014, and there’s much work happening on the OS, but its also one to watch as it will be similar to Tizen and Jolla in that there’s Linux on the back and lots of leveraging web frameworks in the middle.

And Then There’s…
Honestly, there’s not much more out there. Yes, you can make the argument that there’s just too much happening in terms of this focus on smartphones and there needs to be something said for non-smartphones. I won’t disagree with you. I’ll just point out that its a lot simpler, you might be happier, and things just work. Non-smartphones are still very solid choices, even if becoming a limited option if you shop through a carrier store. Your best bet is to seek out a mobile phone brand you are familiar with, and then use sites like GSM Arena to compare similar models.

You also might be like a few folks and find that Android is a better place for your mobility than Apple, which also isn’t a bad decision to make. You just want to be sure that you also count the costs in terms of applications you might need to repurchase, getting used to a different form factor, or getting acquainted with some of the niggles between tablet and phone experiences. Its different to move to something new, even if it does seem like a near-copy of what you used to use.

Having said all of that (and if you got to the end of this), I hope this helps you make a decision this year or upcoming when its time to look at mobile devices. I’m not of the opinion that mobile is no longer about devices, but I do think that its a better environment when we know our options, and exercise the freedom to go mobile in the best way possible.

This past weekend, the USA mobile and technology community experienced something that doesn’t come around so often – the removable of rights, or as I’d argue, the perceived ability to make a choice towards what you can do with mobiles.

The short end of things is that starting Saturday, any mobile devices that you purchase cannot be unlocked unless the terms of the original sold contact are completed. Or, to quote the CTIA blog:

…That’s all that is happening here: consumers who pay the full price for a phone can take that phone to the carrier (or carriers) of their choice. However, if a carrier subsidized the price of the phone in exchange for the consumer’s agreement to use the phone on that carrier’s network, the consumer can only transfer the phone to a new carrier once the terms of the contract (or the carrier’s unlocking policy) have been satisfied…

Now, to clear up the confusion… because its gotten really long in the mouths of many folks talking about it.

When you purchase a mobile from your carrier, and sign a contract to do so, you are generally paying only a portion of the complete cost of the mobile device. The rest of the cost is spread out over the life of the contract. Yes, you don’t own the mobile when you purchase it on a contract, you lease it.

You have a choice to purchase a mobile outside of this contract-lease method. In this case, you would purchase the mobile, usually from the manufacturer, or another retailer. These mobiles are much more expensive – because the carrier is not subsidizing part of the cost of the device for you. And then after purchasing the device, you will have to find a plan (whether that’s pre or post-paid) that works with your mobile device. Now, you can choose to get on a contract, but generally, and I’m speaking only of USA carriers since this law is only in effect here, you can’t negotiate a contract. Its only with the carrier T-Mobile that you have the case where if you come with your own device that the cost for a contract plan is less than if you purchase both the device and contract from them.

The other aspect of this law happens to take effect when you decide that you want to sell a device. You see, many folks make the choice to sell their device to another company (like Amazon, Gazelle, etc.) before the contract is up, so that they can recoup some funds and then get something new. Thing is, the person purchasing the device would be breaking the law to unlock it so that they can use it. Ouch right? Well, it is for folks that like to purchase and release mobiles often. Essentially, these people would need to buy-out their contracts, then have the device unlocked by the carrier, then sell the device.

Almost makes it crazy to think of purchasing a mobile on contract now doesn’t it?

Look, I get it that it makes it a lot more difficult for some of you who are under a social and economic obligation to have the (near-)latest mobile device to have one. Getting an unlocked device from your carrier, and even opting into extending your contract to do so remains an option, just more expensive to pursue.

If you are someone who travels beyond the shores of the USA, your first intent with a mobile should be to purchase it completely, and then keep your option of carrier open. Does this mean that using Verizon, Sprint, and other CDMA-based carriers decline in option? It does? These mobiles might offer you the best signal here, but unless you are purchasing their global models (models that are locked for VZW/Sprint in the USA but have a GSM radio that is unlocked for outside the States), then yes you are stuck.

You’ve always had a choice though. And this call by CTIA is in part going to make you a smarter consumer of mobile devices. Whether it works best for you or not will take a bit more homework and recommendations.

I think that one of the reasons that wearable technologies find their appeal is that many of us either have the impression, or live the lifestyle, that computing is more work that it needs to be. With these wearable devices, we are able to put a more appropriate level of attention onto the technology, but moreso onto the context of life going on around us. To that end, this idea some kind of balance between tech and life needs to be ironed out, makes wearable computing not just an attractive matter from a psychological perspective, but also from a computing one.

Over at GigaOm, the world-renowned human interface/user experience designer/developer Christian Lindholm (@clindholm) has posted 9 trends to pay attention to concerning wearable technologies:

1. Watches enjoy a renaissance as accessories
2. Functional jewelry as armbands takes off
3. Audio wearables shape luxury electronics
4. Sensors connect our everyday objects
5. Wearables get dressed up
6. Sensor platform wars begin in the bedroom
7. Apps make wearables’ data actionable
8. Sensors in labs reveal our souls
9. Google glass becomes a social transformer

Christian Lindholm is the CEO and co-Founder of Korulab, a wearables company based in Finland; he’s also the inventor of the mobile phone interface made popular on the various Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, and other mobile devices we’ve seen for over a decade (green and red buttons, numeric pad-grid icon navigation, etc.). His exposition on these 9 trends in detail should enter your radar now as mobile has not just become an entrenched matter of behavior and life, but we are into the 3rd (or 4th, depends on where you start from) generation of mobile within consumer spaces.

That said, the idea that wearable computing has a context that’s relevant to the field of mobile ministry is a preemptive one. One of the challenges we see now with mobile technology is the struggle that many have had just wrapping themselves around context-appropriate behaviors. And now we’re proposing that there’s another evolution of computing in progress that will also have a set of behaviors, perspectives, and implications towards ministry endeavors. That’s a lot to take in… and yet it has to be.

Just using the 9 items above, we’ve got several questions in which aspects of ministry have answered, or might have to reframe expectations for how we respond to them:

• When the computer is just as much a fashion accessory as it is a communications and functional one, where do we start the conversation about modesty in dress
• When we talk about wearables now, its mostly about the fitness end of things; how does the traditional perception of the out-of-shape church leader become a voice worth hearing
• Its not just 3rd party companies that will be able to mine the information these devices create, people themselves will be able to mine, mashup, and even go off the grid because of these devices – or the behaviors they will incite. What about connectivity needs to be kept, and what does fellowship become redefined as if I can connect with you over data streams, not just physical presence
• What kinds of social transformations do non-religious artifacts instigate into normative religious traditions (for ex., wearing of a rosary could also be the wearing of a pedometer and communication handset – see Nokia’s Human Form Concept)

Not that we have to have the answers now, but this is the tech that is becoming the new(er) wave. Wearables also gets into things such as cybernetics and cosmetic augmentation, items that were once the realm of science fiction only. Its here now, and whether or not it comes in the next decade is non-essential. What’s clear from Lindholm’s trends is that we should be thinking and working on understanding the spiritual implications of these now. Not when it becomes mainstream… at that point, its too late and now you are just catching up to the slowest runners.

Last November, MMM’s founder, Antoine, was invited to participate on a podcast/videocast wtih Social Media Church (@socmediachurch). That episode has since gone live and from time to time, it has showed up in our logs as a means in which folks are finding out more about mobile ministry. Here’s that episode if you missed it and want to catch some thoughts on mobile, taking a Sabbath from tech, and creativity as mobile’s window of opportunity.

Audio MP3 Download

I think this latest ad by Samsung poking fun at BlackBerry’s “platform for professionals” ads that were going for sometime is pretty neat. Lots of people who use BlackBerry devices testify to their continued use of them on the strength of being so profitable for getting things done. And in doing so, they point to something that kind of happens pretty often – we frame one another by the mobiles in our hands and what we think those mobiles are most likely able to enable us to do.

I can remember years ago that the appeal of the iPhone wasn’t that “it had so many apps,” but that it had so many games. A distinction made by many who only saw the platform for the fun that it induced, not for the work that it could enable to get done. You can argue that such a perception still exists, and because it does, many of the application and service makers for the platform, do a hard job towards making sure the platform keeps a sense of seriousness amongst this ease of play that it continues to have.

When I tell people about MMM, I still am asked one core question, “what’s your Bible app like?” Then there’s that looking for a cross or some other kind of religious symbol on my device(s) that shows that I’m not just a mobile user, but the brand of faith that I have is also to be pushed out in front. Folks won’t find it, but I wonder if there’s a overriding perception of religious mobile users that developers, organizations, and even ministries tend to put forth… perhaps unintentionally.

Gaudy or pastel colors, pale skinned front-persons, or darker-skinned persons with looks of melancholy or need in stock images. Crosses, halos, and that neat inner-glow filter from Photoshop. English-first, and perhaps a biblical quite that is KJV before any other. Do our mobile services and apps posture the faith that we live, or a perception of religious mobile users that doesn’t look much like the people using them?

Are we guilty of building into mobile ministry these perceptions of religion that don’t lead to much of anything at all except a passing fad of faith that never pointed towards the grace that Jesus offered? Leaves me much to think about concerning MMM (am watching the inauguration as I type this, so you can figure some of that context).

A news story that’s making the rounds in the educational space is that of the Saanich School District (British Columbia, Canada) getting ready to release their own student/faculty management software suite – one that they have built from scratch. That’s something that friends and I have talked about from time to time when its come to church management systems – whether there is enough IT/IS savy in churches for many churches to just pull off-the-shelf open source components, and create something usable and scaleable? I think there is. But, as the Saanich story illustrates, there’s a lot to consider when getting away from packaged solutions and developing something of your own.

Just referencing the Saanich story linked, here are a couple of the items that people see and don’t see as considerations:

• The cost of developing the suite ($1.5M)
• The cost of maintaining a staff that builds it, and then is willing to stick around to support it (costs not mentioned)
• The time to concept and develop (took 17 months)
• Similar strategies to develop/self-develop an open source student-focused software suite
• Training

From personal experience of using a content management system for personal endeavors, there’s a lot that if you don’t scope for, then you end up spending more time with things such as building schemas to export to better software, dealing with multiple user sessions, dealing with multiple-non-web-connected devices, and even simple items such as just putting content into the system in the best managed and speed-sensitive way.

I don’t know churches that are trying this. I do know of companies that stepped out of the shadows of their churches and now do this for others. But, could the way forward be more that teams of IT/IS-gifted persons come together to make these for their churches, and then teach other churches how to mature similar groups that create self-designed software? I wonder…

I thought this was interesting, and something that many tech/creative pastors and speakers would find interesting. This idea that even the antiquated Apple II can be used for making a suitable screen for presentations seems like it follows right along with some of the ideas we’ve posed before towards making the presentation screen something a good bit different, yet approachable by audiences.

A co-worker used an iPad to give a presentation. I thought: why take a machine as powerful as an early Cray to do something as low-overhead as display slides? Why not use something with much less computing power? From this asoft_presenter was born.

The code is a series of C programs that read text files and generate a large Applesoft BASIC program that actually presents the slides. All the code can be found in my dos33fsprogs package.

The venue was the ICL Lunch Talk. ICL is a high-performance computing group; you’ve probably heard of the Top 500 Supercomputer list that they release each year.

They have a 3-projector setup for talks. The Apple II hooked into the composite input of the center, while I used an eeePC to project “higher quality” slides to the outside two screens (mostly in case people wanted more details on the graphs). This worked well.

The machine I used was an Apple IIe Platinum. It has a CFFA3000 card in it instead of floppy disks. I did the initial code development under Linux and an emulator, but used a real live Apple II at the talk.

Read the rest of Apple II Presetnation at Weave’s World
What would you consider as being innovative and approachable uses of tech for presentations? Have you tried anything similar (or weirder)?

Chances are, if you are reading MMM, you are well past owning and using your first smartphone. And even if you aren’t there are some things that you’ve noticed about using that smartphone that aren’t all that… smart. For example, having to remember to turn off your phone in church is really something that mobiles should do already. But, because they don’t, we’re here to offer some ways in which you can add some intelligence to your smartphone.

For iPhone folks, if you’ve upgraded to iOS6 then you will want to utilize the Do Not Disturb setting for the time period that you are in service. Its not an automatic setting, but passable. For other iOS versions, you pretty much are on your own for turning it off when you are in meetings and such. Other options that you can take advantage of is that of using Notifications to let you know of updates from apps and services instead of using email for those. That way, you leverage the device’s ability to keep you informed, while not filling up your inbox.

For all you Android-toting folks, you will want to use apps like Tasker, Locale, or Sanity in order to create an auto-setting that would automatically stop all sounds, open your Bible app, open a notes app, etc. when you are in church/community gatherings or bible studies. Once you set this up, you will wonder why this isn’t normal. In the same way, you’ve got that notifications drawer at the top of your screen For recent Motorola Droid folks, you can use SmartActions to do the same thing.

BlackBerry users, there are several profile apps which do the auto-setting as described above. These rely usually on having the event in your calendar, and then the phone will adjust itself based on how you’ve programmed it. What’s really neat about the upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform (BB10) and associated devices, this kind of functionality will not just be there, but many of the social and communication apps/services, they’ll plug into the OS and be seamlessly viewable with a gesture.

For Windows Phone users, there’s not an application that does this (that I’ve seen). So like iPhone folks, your smartphone isn’t so smart in this instance. I’m hopeful that Windows Phone 8 will step up in this regard.

For folks like myself who use Nokia’s Symbian platform, the application Situations or (the old BetaLabs app) Bots I would recommend. Situations is like the Android apps in that you can setup situations in which your device adapts itself. Bots is an app that learns that you set your device to quiet/silent at certain times and will literally make your device start doing that itself – without your attention needed.

A device that adapts, or can be progammed to adjust itself to social contexts. Kind of neat when you put it together. And the best part, you end up not spending unnecessary time on your mobile when other situations warrant your attention.

What kind of things have you done to add some intelligence to your mobile? Or, is it smart enough as is.

Part of the challenge towards any paradigm shift is coming out of the mentality that the old perspective needs to dominate the newer application. Thing is, its hard to get out of such thoughts when we are so entrenched in what some sociologists would call our behaviorial plateaus – that state of development where we pretty much settle into whatever will become our norm. Even still, we oftentimes find ourselves challenged by another perspective, and from that, we should endeavor to press forward:

…Is it time for agencies to rewrite their manufacturing processes around the most responsive and data-rich medium?

Designing an identity around a logo is as strange a notion as building your house around a sink. It just doesn’t make much sense to allow one small part of a system to dictate the overall course. The same insight needs to be brought to marketing campaigns.

Many organizations have missed the boat by treating digital as an add-on to an advertising concept. But this is starting to change. Instead of trying to plug in a technology, or throw away the traditional part, we need to bake in digital from the very beginning. It might even be time to put digital at the core, and then work everything else around it…

Read the rest of Working Backwards from Digital at Ideas on Ideas

And it makes sense to most of us. If mobile has its own unique qualities and features, then it stands to make sense that mobile ministry would also foster some of the same. Shouldn’t it?

To that extent, I wonder if we are taking advantage of mobile by making downloadable applications, instead of a series of embedded services. Much of the Bible has been translated, and where there isn’t text, we plug into audio. That means more working together for a common access format… or even a common access browser. But, that means something different than the paradigm of the mainframe and punch-card that mobile apps seem stuck in (not needing to be poked that what I described is nothing more than an abstract client-network architecture). Screw another social service, or even the existing ones, where’s the church community of developers that builds the sharing API that turns our devices into a mobile mesh network?

When unique becomes common, mobile is no longer a layer, but a part of the DNA of how #mobmin is done
(@mobileminmag)

Shift your perspective… or rather, find that stream of life that’s not exactly like what media did previously. And create a new strand of the kind of DNA that makes sense when done with mobile or any other tech-bending perspective.