The Mormon Channel Project

[russellhltn]

Of course we have a problem in your viewpoint, RussellHltn.

I understand that. But the projects are being done by the community, not "the church". Things move forward because people with an interest and the ability are coming forward to do the work. Typically it would be someone doing the work on a phone they own.

I too am disappointed to see that there's currently nothing for Android (which is expected to be the #2 OS by 2013) and yet Palm (which has few expectations) has a beta out.

Nokia has poor market share in the US. I checked the various websites and could only find two models from a single vendor that even comes close to appealing to a typical geek. All other Nokia models appeared to be basic. From a statistical point of view, I can't hold out much hope. But it only takes one individual with the interest and the ability to change that.

If you have ideas on expanding the forums into other countries, Tomw would be the person to talk to.

[JamesAnderson]

It's only really in the US/North America areas where the big smartphone formats like iPhone, Android, and Blackberry will be dominant in the market. But we do have to think of the whole world and what Mormon Channel can accomplish in spreading the message of the restoration to the rest of the world just by being available. So it is very important to develop this in Symbian because of the potential reach of Mormon Channel worldwide, both to members who have devices with Symbian, and nonmembers who want to hear it as well.

[kennethjorgensen]

With the forthcoming release of Windows Phone 7 I saw it was pointed out that Symbian was still the clear leader so I agree with one side in this thread on that.

There is however a sticking point to this and that is that Symbian is unlikely to be the leader when it comes to smartphones with wireless and unlimited/big data access talk plans. Users of the "Mormon Channel" would typically be people who have those.

On top of that, I believe (correct me if I am wrong) it would be a bit of a nightmare to support all versions of Symbian as there are different frameworks for each series. So which one do you choose to support and suddenly the chosen one is no longer a leader.

Because the church itself is stretched as it is on IT projects I too believe any development like this must come from within the community.

[russellhltn]

There is however a sticking point to this and that is that Symbian is unlikely to be the leader when it comes to smartphones with wireless and unlimited/big data access talk plans. Users of the "Mormon Channel" would typically be people who have those.

That's a very good point. Without the proper data plan, no one is going to want to use the channel.

The situation in other countries may be different. We'll have to see. However, this may be another strike against finding a volunteer in the U.S. to develop it.

[MorettiDP]

I understand that. But the projects are being done by the community, not "the church". Things move forward because people with an interest and the ability are coming forward to do the work. Typically it would be someone doing the work on a phone they own.

I too am disappointed to see that there's currently nothing for Android (which is expected to be the #2 OS by 2013) and yet Palm (which has few expectations) has a beta out.

Nokia has poor market share in the US. I checked the various websites and could only find two models from a single vendor that even comes close to appealing to a typical geek. All other Nokia models appeared to be basic. From a statistical point of view, I can't hold out much hope. But it only takes one individual with the interest and the ability to change that.

If you have ideas on expanding the forums into other countries, Tomw would be the person to talk to.

I believe now my past post are so rude, but sorry for that RussellHltn, that's not my intention... Is hard to try talk in English the same things I can fast say in Portuguese. The great thing I desire to share with you at the forum, guys, is that we don't have the same workforce available in IT area in around the world. I hope a day we can call a friend at the ward ans ask then a question of Java programming, for exemple, but that's not true by now...

But you believe we need to begin with the Church's members most used softwares or with the top market sold softwares? In some cases, the products best sold aren't the best for the great majority of Church members...

[carioca76-p40]

This is great. We Android users are anxious to have the same thing on our phones. I couldn't find anything out there yet.

I have also been searching for a way to listen to Mormon channel on my android phone. I really wanted it before conference since I now live in an area of the US that doesn't just have it on broadcast tv. I found this one today. It works great! http://daappsblog.blogspot.com/

[JamesAnderson]

A very fast way to get to the app on the Android Market is to go to this page, and if your Android phone has a barcode scanner app (if you don't have one there are several free ones on the Market), you can scan the QR code on this page, and go straight there without having to search.

http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/org.lds.radio/

What are QR codes? There's a good basic article about them on Wikipedia, and I've found there are many uses for them, some fun, some serious, and anyone can create one via one of many free QR code generator pages on the web.

[russellhltn]

Doing a search in "Market" gives two results for "LDS Radio".

[silid]

It is this sort of discussion that furthers my opinion that you should start with open standards and make platform/device specific apps to follow.

For example you could start by publishing the address to the mp3 stream, this would allow anyone with a device, application or platform that supports it to listen from day one.

Other content/podcasts can use an xml file so that those who wish to subscribe can access them in whatever application or device supports them.

Then you can if you desire start building custom apps that may make accessing this content on specific platforms easier.

You have to start with content anyway and this way you start by being inclusive and your custom apps are built on open standards. If you start by designing the reception method (ie single platform apps) you begin by excluding participants and you may have to develop multiple sources to support first your exclusive listening methods and then (if ever) retrospectively start trying to be inclusive.

[ericbowman-p40]

Just got the iPhone app and have to say I'm very impressed with the speed. Up until now people with paper scriptures could beat me in a scripture chase but no more! muahaha

I would love to see the hymns and manuals show up in a future release. Thanks for building a great application guys!