Jamaica College Sixth Form Students given Tablets and 16 CAPE Books under extension of UWI TEST Project

“This is indeed a tremendous day in terms of learning in Jamaica and we certainly want to be a stimulus in ensuring that the education system in Jamaica is world-class, the same way we conquered athletics”

Principal of JC (Jamaica College) Ruel Reid during the handing over ceremony of 7” SmartTab Tablets under UWI’s (University of the West Indies) TEST (UWI Total eBook Solution Tablet) Program

The UWI (University of the West Indies) isn’t waiting for the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining to roll out their much touted Tablets as described in my blog article entitled “Minister Paulwell gives Parliamentarians and 20,000 Students in 30 Schools Tablets- Future in Science and Technology now rescued Indiana Jones and the Palace of Doom”.

They’ve decided to extend their Tablet Program to the Sixth Form Students at JC (Jamaica College) as stated in “'We couldn't ask for a better deal' - JC students excited about UWI eBook project for sixth-formers”, Published Saturday September 7, 2013 by Alessandro Boyd, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.

UWI has apparently decided on their own that Medical Sciences Students aka Med Sci peeps, aren’t so special. After all, they had already given their Med Sci Students 7” SmartTab Tablets from JL Mobile costing a mere US$200 for the Tablet and the Books since November 2012 as described in my blog article entitled “UWI Medical Sciences Students get deal on JL Mobile SmartTab Tablets and cheaper ebook versions of Textbooks - From Gross Anatomy to Islandwide Push towards Tablet Adoption”.

The Telecom Providers Digicel and LIME has also seized on the opportunity and donated a few Tablets as recorded in my blog article entitled “LIME and Digicel both make Donations of Tablets to Preparatory and Primary Schools - How Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark started a Love for Computer Programming Languages in Jamaica”.

Then the Ministry of Education Ronal Thwaites caught wind of the idea and in partnership with the Minister of State, Julian Robinson in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining decided to make Primary and High School Students get in on the action as described in my blog article entitled “Minister Paulwell gives Parliamentarians and 20,000 Students in 30 Schools Tablets- Future in Science and Technology now rescued Indiana Jones and the Palace of Doom”.

Meanwhile UWI’s re-branded the Med Sci Tablet Program and dubbed it TEST (UWI Total eBook Solution Tablet), as apparently the UWI Students in Academic Year 2013-2014 are Guinea Pigs for the idea of using Tablets and E-books. I had mentioned this in my blog article entitled “Crowdsourced, Teleworking Flex-work Publishers needed for UWI and High School Students with Tablets in 2014 - How Jamaican Writers can make money via ePub Publishing Books” as this presented an opportunity for writers of Books to get their work published by following the steps and using the software recommended.

But with the GOJ E-Learning II Project being held up by a lack of a suitable contractor, many of those Primary and High Schools promise to get Tablets won’t be getting them this year. Hence TEST has decided to recruit JC Sixth Form students as yet another batch of Guinea Pigs to test out this idea of improving learning via these Mobile Computer Devices.

Packed with sixteen (16) CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination) e-books that cost a nice caboodle of puppies, the material may be a godsend for many students, to quote Principal Ruel Reid, quote: “These books cost an average of [JA$]5,000 to [JA$]20,000, and they are getting all that for free, plus a machine in the form of a tablet that allows you to enhance your learning, search the Internet, interact with teachers, and post assignments. This is the future in terms of teaching and learning”.

The article doesn’t give much details, but I’m betting it’s the same exact tablets as those being used by the Med Sci Students. This would suggest that JC’s got some pretty decent Wi-Fi and equally decent Students ….or some very strong Porn blocker software as Millennials (ages 18 to 28) have a love for Porn as noted in “XXX-Rated Kids”, Published Sunday July 28, 2013, by Tyrone Reid, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.   

Still the students are grateful for the gift presented by UWI Special Projects Consultant, Dr Ronald Robinson who initiate the Tablet e-book project for Med Sci Students and then rebranded it to TEST, to quote Alex Chen Sue, a sixth-form student: “This project is very good and I will be taking part. I am asking them to keep this, going forward, as the tablets are very beneficial and will really help our parents financially as we are getting the eBooks for free. We couldn't ask for a better deal”.

Hopefully the next time I write about Tablets and Education in Jamaica, it’ll be about a Corporate entity making a massive donation of Tablet to Several Schools or the GOJ rolling out Tablets islandwide!

Oyster Books launchers US$9.95 Apple iPhone App for lending 100,000 book titles - Amazon Kindle Lending just got competition

Love visiting the library to borrow books for a good overnight read? Got an Apple iPhone? Then Oyster Books has launched an Apple iPhone App that allows people to borrow and read as many book as you can in a thirty (30) day period for only US$9.95 as declared in the article “Binge on books with Oyster”, published September 6, 2013 2:55 PM PDT by Tuong Nguyen, CNET News.

Oyster Books is named after a famous line in the Shakespearean Play “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in which a lead character speaks the words “the world's mine oyster”. Their inception in December 2012 was the brainchild of a team made up of a former Google Engineer and Apple Engineer who both apparently had a penchant for books.

Oyster Books has managed to wrangle deals with major publishers to lend their books to their subscriber for this cut-rate monthly fee. Currently their reading app is available only in Apple iTunes Store, but the Apple iPad will be added to that platform by December 2013, with Android sure to follow.

Please note this is borrowing, not downloading of books as described in my blog article entitled “US$199 Amazon Kindle Paperwhite upgrades Hardware and Software - How to find free Ebooks and e-Book Readers for Laptops and PC”.

Also, for now it’s only on the Apple iPhone; clearly the Engineer’s an Apple fanboy or Apple iTunes Store’s a lot more profitable, as the Google Play Store is not exactly made up of users who like to even spend on buying books when so many free book Apps are available.

Take note of the fact that an equivalent lending service, Amazon’s Kindle Lending Library that’s availed to Amazon Prime users who pony up US$79.99 per year, only allows you to borrow one book per month. The publishers and their stable of Authors they’ve managed to get onto the Oyster Farm are as follows:

1.      HarperCollins

2.      Houghton Mifflin Harcour

3.      Workman

4.      Smashworld,

5.      HarperCollins

Thus jumping on the Oyster bandwagon is inevitable, as more big publishers are being negotiated and more books are coming, if your eyes can stand the eyestrain from the Apple iPhone. I suspect their negotiations with these Nook Publishers are based on increasing readership in a kind of Taste-and-buy model like Spotify or even Netflix.

By allowing Lending via Oyster Books, it translates to more book sales via other portals for the Book Publishers, such as Kindle. For US$9.95, you can buy some lower end e-books on Amazon as opposed to using your Credit Card and buy the  book in Paperback or hardcover format!

Publishers, it seems, are getting hip to the reality: low-cost e-readers and cheaper e-books are the way to go to stave off e-book piracy as stated in my Geezam blog article “Piracy and E-Books in a Tale of Two Cities”. 

With a pricing and business model that mimics Netflix or even Spotify as suggested in the article “Netflix for books? Oyster launches with over 100,000 in-print titles”, published September 6, 2013 By Mike Flacy, DigitalTrends, Oyster with their nearly 100,000 titles is yet another option to Torrenting books or downloading them from Free Resources if you’re a  fan of the Apple iPhone and the Apple iPad.

Happy Reading!

Animation after KingstOOn - Reel Rock GSW secures 52 Episode Animation sub-contract for a Globally popular English Cartoon

“We executed a memorandum of understanding with GSW to arrange and to participate with the training of animators with the provision for them to consider hiring them at the completion of the course”

Quoted from Carimac Director and Professor of Communications Policy and Digital Media, Hopeton Dunn by the Gleaner on Wednesday, September 4^th, 2013

Life after Kingstoon has been great for at least one Animation Studio, Reel Rock GSW, who have now secured a very large Animation contract with Walt Disney as stated in the article “Local animation firm reels in another big contract”, published Wednesday, September 04, 2013, The Jamaica Observer.

More encouragement for the animation peeps in Jamaica after the inaugural KingstOOn Animation Conference and Film Festival in June 2013 as described in my blog article entitled “Inaugural KingstOOn Animation Competition a boost to local Animation Industry - State Minister Julian Robinson give Graphic Artists the chance to Feel this Moment Pitbull and Christina Aguilera Style”.

Reel Rock GSW previous international work as a sub-contractor to Studio Red Frog in France to animate the Disney Junior France kids show Quiz Time must have been a huge recommendation for them. I don’t have Cable or access to Canal+, so I can only guess that this show’s either in French or English Dubbed with French Subtitles ….or vice versa. The action is animated according to script and sent back to Studio Red Frog when they add in the Audio Dub, completing the project.

The name of the contractor or even the animation project’s name or even the Cartoon remain secret, but what’s known is that it’s a thirteen (13) month animation contract, which start in March 2014 and requires fifty two (52) episodes! Also it seem it’s a cartoon in English and with a very big animation Studio, as can be derived from Director of GSW Wayne Sinclair partial quote in which he commented quote: “……… international exposure and calibre of the co-production partners will officially put Jamaica on the map”.

Not only is this big news for Reel Rock GSW but it also means that they’ll need a WHOLE lot of animators. To be precise, they’ll need to ramp up from twelve (12) to seventy five (75) animators, basically an extra sixty three (63) animators fresh from training as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “KingstOOn Animation Festival and GG’s “I Believe in Jamaica” Animation Training – Genesis of Animation Outsourcing”.

So for those of you following my postings on Animation, just Google “Animation after KingsTOON” to get tips on how to do basic animation work and how to market your work online. Who knows, you may end up become as success and as well known as Reel Rock GSW, who just only started work in September 2013 are one of three (3) animation studios in Jamaica who are STILL in a ramp up stage, both in terms of studios as well as Animators who are in short supply!

According to JAMPRO (Jamaica Trade and Invest) Animation represents a US$222.8 billion industry in 2013 and Jamaican can get in on the animation-outsourcing shtick by taking advantages of animation work  usually farmed out to countries like India, South Korea, and the Philippines!

Apple's Invite confirms Apple iPhone event on Tuesday September 10 2013 - Expecting News on the Apple iWatch, iRadio, Apple TV and Apple Video Game Console

Looks like I was indeed right about the apple iPhone launch Date as mentioned in my Geezam blog article entitled “Apple’s Golden Dragon iPhone 5S and C for Caring iPhone 5C may be coming on Tuesday September 10th 2013”!

Apple does indeed have a product launch date set for Tuesday September 10^th 2013, now confirmed to be at 9 a.m. at Apple’s Cupertino Headquarters as they’ve now sent out invites to the shindig as stated in the article “Apple sends out invites for Sept. 10 iPhone event”, published September 3, 2013 9:04 AM PDT by Josh Lowensohn, CNET News. Below is a copy of the invitation. 

The date of the Invitation I had already figured out from All Things Digital Reporter “Circle September 10 on Your Calendar for Apple’s Big iPhone Event”, published August 10, 2013 at 4:22 pm PT by Ina Fried, All Things Digital. They have had a strong track record of predicting Apple’s Product Launch Dates as well as their intentions long before.

It’s on that basis I had penned my ditty predicting the Champagne coloured Apple iPhone 5S and the multi-coloured US$199 plastic Apple iPhone 5C, as Apple need to break into the Chinese and Developing World Markets to keep growing as surmised in my blog article entitled “Apple to launch the Apple iPhone 5S and a S$199 Contract-less Apple iPhone 5C on Tuesday September 10 2013 - ATL and LIME Jamaica may not get Goldfinger that's Made for China”.

Interesting tagline that suggests to the Tea Leaf reader in me that Apple has products lined up that may be multi-coloured, hinting strongly at the Apple iPhone 5C to make its debut in a rainbow of colours. It also suggest a translucent material for the packaging, as most of the multi-coloured bubbles are transparent but overshadowed by a white apple logo, an indication that this material may be made of Plastic with an Apple Logo emblazoned on it.

The Invite also hints at a Gold or Champagne coloured Apple iPhone as confirmed by All Things Digital Reporter John Paczkowski “Yes, Apple Will Sell a Gold-Tone iPhone”, published August 19, 2013 at 9:31 am PT by John Paczkowski, All Things Digital, as suggested by the odd presence of the Gold or champagne coloured bubbles, which is unusual, as the main colours are those in the rainbow, including yellow. 

 

The Buzz around the upcoming Apple Event feels a bit muted, naturally, because a lot of leaked pictures are floating about on the Internet. These photos above in the article “iPhone 5C colorful packaging pops up in leaked photos”, published September 2, 2013 4:56 PM PDT, by Dara Kerr, CNET News strongly suggest that either Apple does have a budget Apple iPhone called the Apple iPhone 5C or those Apple Fanboys have been playing with Adobe photo shop a bit too much!

Still, it’s a big date on MY Calendar and I can’t wait to sit down and watch the events unfold and follow CNET’s bloggers as they describe the even post-by-post on their webpage. Why you ask? Because aside from the Apple iPhone 5S and Apple iPhone 5C, there also the possibility that we might hear more news about a thinner Apple iPad 6 as well as an Apple iPad Mini 2 with a Retina Display (finally!).

Additionally, more details on the newly redesigned Apple Mac would also be great, such as the pricing and the Launch Date, which by now would most likely be in Christmas. Ditto too any news about an Apple iRadio device, possibly an upgraded Apple iPod line with built in Streaming via Wi-Fi enabled to stream from Apple new iRadio Service using Airplay as mentioned in my blog article entitled  “ATL is now the Official Distributor of Apple Product in Jamaica as of July 2013 - Jamaica can now share in the innovation with Apple’s Future Products Despicable Me 2”.

But what I’m really hoping to hear more about is the Apple Television Set that’s slated for a possible launch in 2014 as that may herald a revolutionary shakeup in how Television on a whole works by making Streaming a priority as hinted in my blog article entitled “Parks Research says Roku Streaming Box is Consumer favourite - Traditional Jamaican Free-to-Air Broadcasters in a state of Paranoia over Streaming”.

At this point I’m gonna go out on a limb: an Apple Video Game Console based on former Apple CEO Steve Job’s hobby, the Apple iTV as prognosticated in my blog article entitled “Apple to launch TV and a Cloud Gaming Console in 2014 - How the Apple iTV and Television Set can kill The Grandmaster in the guise of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft”.

So that’s what I’m expecting come Tuesday September 10^th 2013. This time around too, once it launches in the US, we Jamaican can get a bite of the Apple thanks to ATL (Appliance Traders limited) who are now the official representatives for all thing Apple in Jamaica along with Telecom Provider LIME are reported in my blog article entitled  “ATL is now the Official Distributor of Apple Product in Jamaica as of July 2013 - Jamaica can now share in the innovation with Apple’s Future Products Despicable Me 2”.

Like any true Apple Fanboy, I’m hoping for something to excite me and tell me that Apple’s got their Innovation Mojo back.