Wondering what to give your mobile device loving family member or friend this holiday season? Looking for a special mobile gift for yourself? Well, get ready to Deck the Halls with these great gift ideas:

Mark your calendars and plan to join us for another fun and informative Extension Mobile Device User Group (EMDUG) online meeting this Thursday, November 29 from 2:00-2:45 p.m.

This month we will have a special guest, a real live Android smart phone user! (don’t want you Android fans feeling left out!) We will also talk about how to find, evaluate and obtain apps; review the new iPad Mini from Apple; discuss the Responsive Design makeover of this blog and, of course, more mobile app reviews and recommendations from Jeff and I.

As always, this session is geared towards EMDUG members, but open to anyone interested in mobile device use.

The online meeting will be done via Adobe Connect (instructions below).

Access information for the online “EMDUG Meeting”
Date:  Thursday, November 29
Time:  2:00-2:45 p.m. PDT
URL: http://oregonstate.adobeconnect.com/emdug

Just enter as a GUEST by typing your name in the text box that appears.
For this session you will be listening to audio via your computer speakers. If you are in a public area, consider using a set of headphones. A chat window will be available so you can ask us questions.

NOTE: This webinar will be recorded and available online for those who are unable to attend the session.

Victor Villegas

Hey EMDUG followers, as you’ve probably noticed, our blog has a new look. This new WordPress theme is a responsive design developed by OSU Central Web Services. It reformats itself to fit the size of the screen you are viewing it on, whether it be a desktop, tablet or smart phone. If you are using a desktop computer, you can see the blog automatically reformat itself by making your browser window smaller, similar to a mobile device screen size.

With more and more people accessing the web via a variety of devices with varying screen sizes, it’s important to start thinking in terms of responsive design when setting up new websites and producing content with mobile device users in mind.

So we figured we should practice what we preach! Let us know what you think of the new look.

Mobile PodcasterOne of our EMDUG users recently asked whether it was possible to produce a podcast on an iPad or iPhone. Well yes, it is possible, as a matter of fact. You can use any audio recording app (there are hundreds) to record an audio podcast. There are, however, some apps which allow you to produce more professional podcasts by giving you editing, mixing and file upload options.

VR+: Voice Recorder – simple and basic. Allows you to record and append audio in a linear fashion.

Garageband – record audio and edit it, add music beds and post/upload to iTunes, Soundcloud, Facebook, YouTube, etc.

Caster: Mobile Studio – an app actually geared towards making podcasts. Allows importing audio files, recording/editing/mixing, and export via FTP, email and Twitter with more options to come including video podcasting.

Mobile Podcaster – another podcasting specific app which allows you to post directly to WordPress sites.

BossJock Studio – great little podcasting app, allows file imports and has automatic ducking (background music becomes softer when you push a button to talk).

NOTE: You can obtin a better audio recording on an iPhone by using an iRig Mic or iRig Mic Cast by IK Multimedia. On an iPad, you can connect a USB mic such as the Samson Meteor using the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit.