Practitioners as innovators: Emergent practice in personal mobile teaching, learning, work and leisure

Mobile devices have become commonplace tools, yet little is known about how individuals use them in their teaching, learning, work, and leisure. We report on an investigation into personal mobile device use by students and alumni from the global master's degree in online and distance education offered by the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University (UK). The study identified various types of activity undertaken, and focused on emerging issues in relation to innovative practices. Participants described their uses of four types of device, the frequency of specific uses, and their views on the attractions and disadvantages of mobile learning. The chapter is intended to inform those who are interested in the potential of mobile learning, designing learning for a specific type of device, or who own a mobile device and are simply looking to make better use of it in the future

Application for Controlling iNELS Intelligent Electrical-Installation for the Windows Phone Platform

Tato práce se zabývá inteligentní elektroinstalací iNELS od společnosti ELKO EP a jejím ovládáním pomocí zařízení využívajících platformu Windows Phone. V textu je popsána komunikace, kterou využívá systém iNELS a multimediální systém iMM, především pak protokoly EPSNET a XML-RPC. Dále je popsána platforma Windows Phone a implementace samotné aplikace. V závěrečné části se práce zabývá zajímavými rozšířeními dané aplikace.This thesis talks about iNELS Intelligent Electrical-Installation, which is developed by ELKO EP, and its controlling using Windows Phone based devices. We describe communication, which is used within the iNELS system and the iMM multimedia system, especially focusing on the EPSNET and XML-RPC protocols. Windows Phone platform is discussed and the implemented application is presented. The last section talks about interesting extensions to the application.

A wireless handset strategic marketing plan for PRC Market.

by Lam Wai-Tat.Two pamphlets inserted.Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-127).APPROVAL --- p.iABSTRACT --- p.iiTABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iiiLIST OF FIGURES --- p.viCHAPTERChapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1Chapter II. --- COMPANY BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES --- p.2Nortel and Nortel China --- p.2Corporate Goal --- p.5Goal of Nortel China --- p.5Product Group Goal (Wireless) --- p.6Chapter III. --- RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN --- p.7Research Objectives --- p.7Research Design --- p.7Market Survey --- p.8Survey Design --- p.9Survey Results --- p.9Chapter IV. --- PRODUCT AND MARKET BACKGROUND --- p.12Wireless Communication Standards --- p.12Wireless Phone Types --- p.13Wireless Telecommunication Network Markets --- p.13Wireless Communications Equipment Market --- p.14Cellular Handsets --- p.15Chapter V. --- MARKETING ENVIRONMENT AND TRENDS - MACRO --- p.17General China Economy --- p.17Telecommunication Services and Regulation --- p.18Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) --- p.18Directorate General of Telecommunications (DGT) --- p.19Provincial Post and Telecommunication Administration (PTAs) and Local Telecom Bureaus --- p.19State Radio Regulatory Commission --- p.19Type Approval Procedure --- p.20Imported Pagers and Mobile Phones --- p.20Pagers and Mobile Phones Assembled or Manufactured in Mainland China --- p.21Cellular Operators --- p.21MPT --- p.22Unicom --- p.23CESEC --- p.24Tariff Structure - Mobile Services --- p.24Liberalization of Telecom Services --- p.25China Unicom --- p.25Liberalization of the Retail Market --- p.26China Consumer Market Size --- p.26China's Growing Urbanization --- p.28Cultural Forces --- p.30Technological Direction --- p.31Chapter VI. --- MARKETING ENVIRONMENT AND TRENDS - MICRO --- p.34Direct and Substitute Competition --- p.34Mobile Satellite Services --- p.34Nortel China Resources --- p.34Supplier Influence --- p.35End Customers --- p.35Consumer Profiles --- p.36Consumption Trends --- p.38Consumer Buying Decision Process --- p.38Cellular Handset Market Share --- p.40Competitors --- p.41Ericsson --- p.41Motorola --- p.42Nokia --- p.43Cellular Handsets in China (Competitive Products in the Market) --- p.44Nortel Wireless Handset Product Portfolio --- p.44Chapter VII. --- SWOT ANALYSIS OF NORTEL --- p.46Chapter VIII. --- STRATEGIES --- p.48Marketing Objectives and Strategies --- p.48Market Potential --- p.49Nortel's Position --- p.49Target Customer --- p.50Target Markets by Geographic Location --- p.52Beijing --- p.52Cellular network --- p.53Strategic relationship --- p.54Shanghai --- p.54Cellular network --- p.54Strategic relationship --- p.55Guangzhou --- p.55Cellular network --- p.56Strategic relationship --- p.56Target Markets by Demographics --- p.56Competitive/Differential Advantages --- p.58Chapter IX. --- MARKETING PROGRAM --- p.61Product --- p.61Core Product --- p.62Tangible Product --- p.62Augmented Product --- p.63Product Evolution --- p.64Distribution --- p.66Identification of Channel Members --- p.66Phase I --- p.67Primary distribution --- p.67Secondary distribution --- p.68Phase II --- p.68Physical Distribution --- p.69Promotion --- p.71Summary of Nortel's Current Promotional Activities --- p.73Advertising --- p.73TV commercial #1 (corporate) --- p.73TV commercial #2 (product) --- p.74Newspaper advertisements --- p.75"Magazine advertisements and ""advertorials""" --- p.75Outdoor advertising --- p.75Personal Selling --- p.76Sales Promotions --- p.77Point-of-purchase materials --- p.77Trade shows and exhibitions --- p.77Consumer promotions (replacement promotions) --- p.78Trade promotions (trade rebates) --- p.78Sales forces promotion --- p.78Product demonstrations --- p.79Sponsorship --- p.79Publicity --- p.80Budget --- p.80Pricing --- p.82Mobile Handset Prices and Service Charges in China --- p.82Estimated Costs of Other Vendors' Handsets --- p.82Pricing Considerations --- p.83Revenue Analysis --- p.84Chapter X. --- LIMITATIONS --- p.87Chapter XI. --- CONCLUSION --- p.89ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS --- p.90APPENDIX 1 --- p.91APPENDIX 2 --- p.96APPENDIX 3 --- p.100APPENDIX 4 --- p.102APPENDIX 5 --- p.104APPENDIX 6 --- p.105APPENDIX 7 --- p.107APPENDIX 8 --- p.109APPENDIX 9 --- p.111APPENDIX 10 --- p.113APPENDIX 11 --- p.115APPENDIX 12 --- p.116APPENDIX 13 --- p.118APPENDIX 14 --- p.119APPENDIX 15 --- p.122BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.12

Objective and Subjective Evaluation of Wideband Speech Quality

Traditional landline and cellular communications use a bandwidth of 300 - 3400 Hz for transmitting speech. This narrow bandwidth impacts quality, intelligibility and naturalness of transmitted speech. There is an impending change within the telecommunication industry towards using wider bandwidth speech, but the enlarged bandwidth also introduces a few challenges in speech processing. Echo and noise are two challenging issues in wideband telephony, due to increased perceptual sensitivity by users. Subjective and/or objective measurements of speech quality are important in benchmarking speech processing algorithms and evaluating the effect of parameters like noise, echo, and delay in wideband telephony. Subjective measures include ratings of speech quality by listeners, whereas objective measures compute a metric based on the reference and degraded speech samples. While subjective quality ratings are the gold - standard\u27\u27, they are also time- and resource- consuming. An objective metric that correlates highly with subjective data is attractive, as it can act as a substitute for subjective quality scores in gauging the performance of different algorithms and devices. This thesis reports results from a series of experiments on subjective and objective speech quality evaluation for wideband telephony applications. First, a custom wideband noise reduction database was created that contained speech samples corrupted by different background noises at different signal to noise ratios (SNRs) and processed by six different noise reduction algorithms. Comprehensive subjective evaluation of this database revealed an interaction between the algorithm performance, noise type and SNR. Several auditory-based objective metrics such as the Loudness Pattern Distortion (LPD) measure based on the Moore - Glasberg auditory model were evaluated in predicting the subjective scores. In addition, the performance of Bayesian Multivariate Regression Splines(BMLS) was also evaluated in terms of mapping the scores calculated by the objective metrics to the true quality scores. The combination of LPD and BMLS resulted in high correlation with the subjective scores and was used as a substitution for fine - tuning the noise reduction algorithms. Second, the effect of echo and delay on the wideband speech was evaluated in both listening and conversational context, through both subjective and objective measures. A database containing speech samples corrupted by echo with different delay and frequency response characteristics was created, and was later used to collect subjective quality ratings. The LPD - BMLS objective metric was then validated using the subjective scores. Third, to evaluate the effect of echo and delay in conversational context, a realtime simulator was developed. Pairs of subjects conversed over the simulated system and rated the quality of their conversations which were degraded by different amount of echo and delay. The quality scores were analysed and LPD+BMLS combination was found to be effective in predicting subjective impressions of quality for condition-averaged data

Data Communication With A Nano-satellite Using Satellite Personal Communication Networks (s-pcns)

Satellites typically communicate with locations on the ground to receive commands and send data back. Establishing reliable communications generally requires dedicated ground stations, which in turn require hardware and expertise. Developers of nano-satellites, however, may not have the expertise or resources necessary for establishing a dedicated ground station. Therefore, the use of an existing communication system, such as the Satellite Personal Communication Networks (S-PCNs), is attractive. Another shortcoming of the fixed ground stations, already available, is that they are normally only able to communicate with Low Earth Orbit (LEO) nano-satellites four times per day (two10-minute windows separated by 90 minutes, followed 12 hours later by two more such 10-minute windows). This drawback is also overcome by the use of S-PCNs which provide increased access times, smaller gaps in contact between the satellites and ground stations, and easier tracking of satellite health. In this thesis, the capabilities of S-PCNs for communications with a nano-satellite are explored. Software simulation and analysis have been performed to assess system performance. Ground testing of the hardware is done to understand the use of such systems for small satellites

The Domestication of Voice Activated -Technology & EavesMining: Surveillance, Privacy and Gender Relations at Home

This thesis develops a case study analysis of the Amazon Echo, the first-ever voice-activated smart speaker. The domestication of the devices feminine conversational agent, Alexa, and the integration of its microphone and digital sensor technology in home environments represents a moment of radical change in the domestic sphere. This development is interpreted according to two primary force relations: historical gender patterns of domestic servitude and eavesmining (eavesdropping + datamining) processes of knowledge extraction and analysis. The thesis is framed around three pillars of study that together demonstrate: how routinization with voice-activated technology affects acoustic space and ones experiences of home; how online warm experts initiate a dialogue about the domestication of technology that disregards and ignores Amazons corporate privacy framework; and finally, how the technologys conditions of use silently result in the deployment of ever-intensifying surveillance mechanisms in home environments. Eavesmining processes are beginning to construct a new world of media and surveillance where every spoken word can potentially be heard and recorded, and speaking is inseparable from identification

Inferring Social and Internal Context Using a Mobile Phone

This dissertation is composed of research studies that contribute to three research areas including social context-aware computing, internal context-aware computing, and human behavioral data mining. In social context-aware computing, four studies are conducted. First, mobile phone user calling behavioral patterns are characterized in forms of randomness level where relationships among them are then identified. Next, a study is conducted to investigate the relationship between the calling behavior and organizational groups. Third, a method is presented to quantitatively define mobile social closeness and social groups, which are then used to identify social group sizes and scaling ratio. Last, based on the mobile social grouping framework, the significant role of social ties in communication patterns is revealed. In internal context-aware computing, two studies are conducted where the notions of internal context are intention and situation. For intentional context, the goal is to sense the intention of the user in placing calls. A model is thus presented for predicting future calls envisaged as a call predicted list (CPL), which makes use of call history to build a probabilistic model of calling behavior. As an incoming call predictor, CPL is a list of numbers/contacts that are the most likely to be the callers within the next hour(s), which is useful for scheduling and daily planning. As an outgoing call predictor, CPL is generated as a list of numbers/contacts that are the most likely to be dialed when the user attempts to make an outgoing call (e.g., by flipping open or unlocking the phone). This feature helps save time from having to search through a lengthy phone book. For situational context, a model is presented for sensing the user's situation (e.g., in a library, driving a car, etc.) based on embedded sensors. The sensed context is then used to switch the phone into a suitable alert mode accordingly (e.g., vibrate mode while in a library, handsfree mode while driving, etc.). Inferring (social and internal) context introduces a challenging research problem in human behavioral data mining. Context is determined by the current state of mind (internal), relationship (social), and surroundings (physical). Thus, the current state of context is important and can be derived from the recent behavior and pattern. In data mining research area, therefore, two frameworks are developed for detecting recent patterns, where one is a model-driven approach and the other is a data-driven approach