How does your news organization define "mobile?"

Does that mean everything beyond desktop computers? Does that just mean iPhones and iPads?

Here's our current definition of "mobile." We exclude tablets because we view them as a different channel with unique usage. Let me know what you think in the comments.

What is mobile? 

A new media channel. Powered by users who are:

• Connecting at various times from various locations
• Using smartphones and feature phones
• Seeking information via messaging, the mobile web and mobile apps
• Mobile does not include tablets.

The chart below explains the differences between the three digital channels (mobile, tablets, desktop).

This figure shows the times various channels are used by audiences:

Journalists live in on shaky newsroom ground as dips in revenue cause tremors and fault lines deepen between journalists all fighting for what they believe is the best future of news.

Those fault lines are often said to be drawn along the print/digital divide - those who care the most about our digital audience and those who care most about the print audience. Sometimes people also try to draw those lines along the age divide - younger people must be more digital because they grew up with computers and older people must be more set in their ways and focused on the old newspaper model.

But those adages are both wrong. Too many times I've met just-out-of-college journalists who pine for the days when newspapers were the dominant news and advertising medium. I know far too many print journalists who understand the future of news better than web journalists.

The divide, it seems to me, is in a journalist's relationship with the audience.

Big "J" Journalists

 Journalists on one side view themselves as thought leaders in the community who always know more than the audience. When a new story idea is brought up based on something seen from the audience (something is trending on Twitter, bringing Google visitors to the website, a question was asked on the organization's Facebook page) these people will respond with statements such as "We did that story" and "I don't care if people are talking about it online, I know a lot about this topic and that's not important." These are the people who dismiss page views, unique visitors and time spent on page because all they really care about is writing and publishing - even if no one in digital reads or interacts with the content.

"We the People" Journalists

These are the journalists, young and old, print or digital, who care most about serving the audience. They consider themselves one of the people, not a journalist lecturing the people outside. When a new story idea presents itself from the audience directly they consider it, and will even offer to have a conversation with other people about what questions to ask, what the problem is and how it will impact people. To these people, publishing content that impacts people's lives (people read, talk about and act on the content) is the highest priority.

The best thing about this divide is that is a self-construct. If someone wants to change and join the "of the people journalist" movement the first step is simple: listen to your audience.

Resources for mobile designers - please add in comments what other things I've missed so we can grow this collection for the benefit of everyone.

Examples of great mobile design:

• A collection of various UI patterns for specific functions
• Another collection of UI patterns
• 30 examples of great iOS design
• Examples of great logos
• Color inspiration
• 38 Mobile Sites to check out
• Mobile web design examples
• LovelyUI.com [submitted by @GestureTheory]

Free (or almost free) design resources:

• Royalty-free vector images
• Free misc. icon sets
• Awesome mobile icons (iOS design, but somewhat platform neutral)
• Free modern social icons
• More free icons
• Download the free iPhone GUI PSD
• Smashing Magazine Freebies category - be sure to subscribe to find the latest

Guides and tools for mobile design:

• An overview of mobile design
• "A Book Apart" - great books explaining mobile design theories - written by the folks who created "responsive web design" and other such design practices
• How to create a cross-platform web design
• The 411 on NFC
• Great thinking on mobile design
• Getting started in app design: iOS | Android | Windows
• How to add push notifications in an iOS app
• A guide on web design adaptation for multiple mobile devices
• HTML5 semantics explained
• Designing for the mobile web
• Mobile web design "best practices"
• How to make an HTML5 iPhone app
• Smashing Magazine category on "UI"

Tools for designing:

• Balsamiq - use it to quickly create wireframes
• Screenfly - a website for emulating mobile device experiences (instead of a download or extension)
• Collection of links to download SDKs and emulators for various platforms
• HTML5 boilerplate code
• Easy mobile-ready form builder
• Sketchy - for designing wireframes on your iPad (exports to Balsamiq)
• iMockups - another iPad wireframe designing app (just as good as Sketchy, it comes down to personal preference)
• Tablet user agent strings

Here's an idea that could potentially help all of us: post the year-over-year growth rate of your mobile traffic for October-October (if you can - each of these on its own - mobile web, mobile apps, ipad web, ipad apps).

Then, I'll draw up a chart showing the various growth rates at different places.

We wouldn't be revealing specific page view numbers, but it could help my organization and yours to see how much of the mobile/tablet growth is our action and how much is caused simply by the environment.

The iPhone 5 that is rumored to be announced Oct. 7 that is rumored to be for sale Oct. 15 is rumored to include NFC.

I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think it is worth discussing ideas of what media can do with this new technology.

But first…What is NFC?

• A way for two things to communicate with each other - generally prompted to communicate by tapping.
• On one end: you have an initiator. A sticker-like mini transformer that posses content (much like how QR codes posses content).
• On the other end: you have a target. This would be the iPhone 5 possessing an NFC-enabled chip.

In English?

• You go to Starbucks and pay for your latte by bumping your iPhone to the cash register.
• You go to board the Metro and bump your iPhone against a box to pay to board.
• You go out to dinner with friends and split the bill. Your friend pays the bill directly and you bump phones with them to transfer your share of the payment over.
• You go on a tour of the Grand Canyon and to learn more about the canyon you tap your iPhone to a sign.
• You see a postor for a new movie at the theater and you tap it with your iPhone to watch the trailer.
• You go to the grocery store and you see a deal on a product, you tap the product's sign to download the coupon and, when paying, you tap the cash register to transfer the coupons.

So, how could this be applied to media?

How could this apply to newspapers, websites, radio and TV stations? Here's a few of my random ideas, and I'd love to see your ideas!

• Include NFC tags in every Sunday newspaper (probably once, because this could cost a lot of money) and the tags send people to a special advertising experience.
• A company puts kiosks or posters or bus shelter ads throughout the community (on the streets, in shops) and they all include an NFC tag sending people to more information based on the ad.
• If the company is a large sponsor/partner with a local pro sports team: for 1 game add postors or have fliers available throughout that include an NFC tag that sends people to your organization's mobile site/app for your coverage on the team.

More resources on NFC:

• NFC Wikipedia entry
• ReadWriteWeb post on how to make NFC tags
• "A day at MIT with Near-Field Communication" - Video scenario on future everyday life usage of NFC
• Mashable NFC Topic
• NFC Rumors
• NFC Forum
• NFC World
• NFC Times
• Near Field
• NFC News

The needs and wants of mobile audiences (feature phones and smart phones) are different from those audiences who accesss our desktop site.

Here are the "8 unique mobile qualities" shared by Jason Grigsby.

1. Personal. 63% do not share phone
2. Permanently carried. 50% of people in the U.S. admit to sleeping with phone
3. Always on
4. Built-in payment channel
5. Creative impulse
6. Accurate measurement
7. Social context
8. Augmented reality

Based on that, and research on the Register's mobile audiences, here's a list of what YOU can do NOW to provide different and better content for mobile audiences.

• When writing breaking news, first publish a headline and a sentence and THEN continue updating as we get more details. Do not only do updates from your regular sources. Include updates based on things your audience is saying that you can quickly fact-check. Put yourself in your reader's shoes and think about where they might be and what they might be.
• Think beyond 9-5 M-F. Early mornings, nights and weekends used to be the low-traffic times for our audiences but those are the top times for mobile audiences.
• Include more than just the regular text and links. If you link to a site with important information, check to see if the link works on mobile devices - and if not, if there is a different link you should add for just your mobile users. Don't just mention areas, mention the exit on the freeway or the block number or the closest big intersection. Include phone numbers so readers can touch to call a business or resource that you mention.
• Do not hold new news at night or on weekends. Publish content when most relevant. Ask your desktop web editor to rerun last night's or last weekend's news on the homepage.
• Build niche text alert streams. Remember to send them. Remember to tell your audience to subscribe.
• Gather more content by using your smartphone: photos, videos, audio.
• File quick updates from the field in breaking news situations (photos, story updates, quick-videos, quick-audio). For editors: Help your direct reports or colleagues on the desk-end by weaving together these updates and publishing.
• Pay attention to your total digital traffic - not just your desktop web traffic. This will be the best, simple view of your overall traffic across all channels.
• Turn on news and social alerts on your phone so you can be more in touch with your audience and your beat.
• Add five super-related links on every story you write. These will go to all of our products.
• Use your company's mobile products. Provide feedback. Tell your audience about our products.
• Use other mobile products. Think of ideas for your company's mobile products.
• When creating a new xxxx or changing xxxx make sure you talk with your mobile manager so the new content, design, workflow, change can work on mobile devices.

I've been following the #bdconf this week and I found two GREAT sources of information:

A guide to mobile statistics, how to use them and where to find them

A chart explaining HTML5 functions

Download and start using the WordPress mobile app to be more efficient in posting to and moderating your blog.

The WordPress app is free and lets users write new posts, edit content and manage comments. The app is available for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and iPad.

Can I use my personal smartphone or tablet with the app?

Yes.

Can I use my work smartphone or tablet with the app?

Yes.

How do I download the app?

• For Android users: you can search for "wordpress" in the Android App Market. You will need a Gmail account to download apps (free or paid) from the Android Market.
• For iPhone and iPad users: search for "wordpress" in the iTunes App Store. You will need an iTunes account to download apps (free or paid) from the store.
• For BlackBerry users: search for "wordpress" in the BlackBerry App World. You will need a BlackBerry account to download apps (free or paid).

How do I start using the app?

1. Open the app.
2. IF you are adding a work-hosted blog, of the options listed, choose "Add self-hosted WordPress blog."
3. Enter the URL for your blog. Make sure you add the "http://" to the URL.
4. Enter your username and your password.
5. Touch Save.
6. The app will take you to a list of all the site-wide blogs of which you are a member. Choose all the blogs you would like to add. You can also touch the button for "Select All."
7. Touch "Add Selected."
8. The blogs will be added to the app.

How do I use the app?

Touch on the name of the blog you want to manage from your list of blogs.

The comments area shows approved and pending comments. Pending comments are shown in yellow. Touch on a yellow comment to review the comment. A button (different for each device) will let you approve the comment, mark the comment as spam, edit the comment or delete the comment. You can also quickly reply to the comment from this screen.

In the posts area you can view published, scheduled and draft posts. You can create a new blog post from this same area. You can start a post and publish straight from the app, or you can start a post and save it as a draft by changing the post's settings.

You can also view, edit and create pages in the pages section.

The stats section is not enabled for Register blogs. To view your statistics, use the Omniture app.

What is the "Quick Photo" button?

This button is only available, for now, for iPhone users.

The button is intended to let you quickly take a photo (you cannot access your library of previously-taken photos), write a quick bit of text and publish quicikly.

Can I adjust the size of photos uploaded from the app?

When in the tabbed view of your blog, select ‘Menu’ -> ‘Blog Settings’, then change the ‘Maximum thumbnail pixel width’ setting to your desired width.

Every few months your work email (especially if you use Outlook) requires the user to change our email passwords.

Every time you do this, you will need to update the password on your smartphone or tablet.

Here's how.

iPhone

Go to your homescreen.

Open the Settings app.

Touch Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

Touch on your work email account.

Touch on your Account where it shows your email address.

Change the password.

Touch Done.

All set.

T-Mobile G2

Go to your homescreen.

Touch Menu.

Touch Settings.

Touch Accounts & Sync.

Touch on your work email account.

Touch Account Settings.

Touch Incoming Settings.

Change the password.

Touch Next.

Touch OK.

All set.

T-Mobile myTouch 3G

Go to your homescreen.

Touch the Menu button (the black button with the three lines).

Touch Settings.

Touch Accounts & Sync.

Touch on your work email account.

Touch Account Settings.

Touch Configure Server.

Change the password.

Touch Save.

All set.

iPad

Go to your homescreen.

Open the Settings app.

Touch Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

Touch on your work email account.

Touch on your Account where it shows your email address.

Change the password.

Touch Done.

All set.

A round-up of mobile web app versus native app discussions. More to come.....send along any links that have been missed.

Why mobile web apps should stop trying to act like native apps

"Pretenders are mobile Web apps that try to replicate the native experience. You’ve no doubt seen Web apps with iPhone-style back buttons, awkward attempts at implementing gestures, laggy scrolling and the like."

HTML5 Is An Oncoming Train, But Native App Development Is An Oncoming Rocket Ship

iOS 5 Brings Native-Style Scrolling to Web Apps

A "new inherited CSS property, -webkit-overflow-scrolling, is available," these notes explain. "The value touch allows the Web developer to opt in to native-style scrolling in an overflow:scroll element."

Facebook’s Focus In 2011: Better Cross-Platform Unification Led By HTML5

“When we update something, there are about 7 different versions we have to update,” Taylor said. He rattled off a few: facebook.com, m.facebook.com, touch.facebook.com, the iPhone version, the Android version, etc. “It’s an incredible challenge,” he said. “And there’s feature-skew,” he continued. ... He did acknowledge that HTML5 was still a bit quirky when compared to native applications. “But the gap is closing,” Taylor concluded. Google Continues To Embrace Native iPhone Apps As Google Translate Hits App Store "Google Translate has previously been available on the iPhone via an HTML5 experience since mid 2008. But again, now iPhone users are getting a native experience with some significant new additions." Scrollability, New iOS Physics Project from Facebook for iPhone Creator, Joe Hewitt

The goal of Scrollability is to give mobile Web applications "a pretty darn good approximation of native scrolling," the description reads on GitHub.

The State Of Web Development Ripped Apart In 25 Tweets By One Man

"As someone who has tried to do both cutting edge native and web iPhone apps, iPhone Safari is a joke compared to iPhone Cocoa."

The myth of the “native” app

"I think the basic point should be emerging. Users really aren’t all that concerned that an app “follows the conventions of a native app”. Like much to do with these debates, such observations are mere assertions, unsupported by any evidence. From the perspective of the user, the “native” app is a myth. If “nativity” were such a compelling user desire, would 90% of the top paid iPhone Apps use little if any CocoaTouch UI elements? ... When building web apps, don’t ape “native” (that is iOS) user experiences. User’s it would seem don’t actually give a damn."