Mobile Technology
TThese recommendations have been reviewed and ratified by the E-standards Expert Group.
They are valid for use in the Australian VET system in 2008.
Refer to the background information on Mobile technology for more information on this topic.
Mobile learning (m-learning) content developers are advised to consult and use the general VET e-standards found on this website in combination with these specific m-learning recommendations.
For background information and support, please refer to the M-learning teacher's guide [PDF 685KB].
Local Playback
| Type | Recommendation |
| Music/Sound (MP3 for Flash Compatibility) | |
| Transparent Quality (e.g. music industry students) |
LC-AAC / MP3 160kbps / 192kbps 44.1kHz Stereo |
| Standard Quality | LC-AAC or MP3 128kbps 44.1kHz Stereo |
| Portability | LC-AAC or MP3 48-96kbps 44.1kHz Stereo |
| Speech | |
| Flash-Compatible Speech | MP3 48-96kbps 22050Hz or 44.1kHz Mono |
| High Quality/A2DP | LC-AAC 32-48kbps 44.1kHz Stereo Mono |
| Portability | AMR-WB 16-24kbps 16kHz Mono |
Wireless/streaming access
| Type | Recommendation |
| Music/Sound | LC-AAC or MP3 32-96kbps 44.1kHz Stereo |
| Speech | LC-AAC 8-32 kbps 44.1kHz Mono |
Local Playback
Video Encoding
| Type | Recommendation |
| Basic Video | |
| H.263 Baseline/MPEG-4 Part 2 (if targeting .3gp container) MPEG-4 Visual Simple, Level 0 (for MP4/M4V/AVI containers) |
|
| Video Resolution | 176x144 |
| Frame Rate (fps) | <=15 |
| Bit Rate (kbps) | <=64 |
| Optimal Video | |
| H.263 Baseline/MPEG-4 Part 2 (if targeting .3gp container) XviD MPEG-4 Visual Simple, Mod Level 2-3 (for MP4/M4V/AVI containers) H.264 must be used for delivery on Sony PSPs and may be used for Apple Video iPods |
|
| Video Resolution | 176x144 – 320x240. Video specifically designed for use only on Video iPods may use a resolution up to 640x480. |
| Frame Rate (fps) | 20-25. Frame rate for mobile devices should never exceed 30 fps. |
| Bit Rate (kbps) | 140-300 |
Audio Encoding
| Type | Recommendation |
| Basic Audio | |
| LC-AAC (with MP4 /3GP for mobiles, iPods and PSPs) MP3 (with AVI container for PDAs) |
|
| Channels | 2 (Stereo) |
| Sample Rate (KHz) | 44.1 / 48 |
| Bit Rate (kbps) | 64 |
| Optimal Audio | |
| Apple/Nero LC-AAC | |
| Channels | 2 (Stereo) |
| Sample Rate (KHz) | 44.1 / 48 |
| Bit Rate (kbps) | 96 |
Containers
| Device type | Recommendation |
| iPods, Sony mobiles/PSPs, and other mobiles | MP4 (M4V) |
| Mobile phones, PDAs (3rd party software required) | 3GP |
| PDAs | AVI |
Wireless/streaming access
Video Encoding
| Type | Recommendation |
| Basic Video | |
| H.263 Baseline/MPEG-4 Part 2 (if targeting .3gp container) MPEG-4 Visual Simple, Level 0 (for MP4/M4V/AVI containers) |
|
| Video Resolution | 176x144 |
| Frame Rate (fps) | 5-15 |
| Bit Rate (kbps) | 10-38 kbps |
| Optimal Video | |
| H.263 Baseline/MPEG-4 Part 2 (if targeting .3gp container) XviD MPEG-4 Visual Simple, Mod Level 2-3 (for MP4/M4V/AVI containers) |
|
| Video Resolution | 176x144 – 320x240. |
| Frame Rate (fps) | 5-6 fps |
| Bit Rate (kbps) | 38-50 kbps |
Audio Encoding
| Type | Recommendation |
| Basic Audio | |
| LC-AAC (with MP4 /3GP container for mobiles) MP3 (with AVI container for PDAs) |
|
| Channels | 2 (Stereo) |
| Sample Rate (KHz) | 44.1 |
| Bit Rate (kbps) | 8-16 kbps |
| Optimal Audio | |
| Apple/Nero LC-AAC | |
| Channels | 2 (Stereo) |
| Sample Rate (KHz) | 44.1 |
| Bit Rate (kbps) | 16-32 kbps |
Containers
|
Recommendation |
| Container(s) | MP4 (M4V) for Sony and other mobiles 3GP for mobiles, PDAs (3rd party software required) AVI for PDAs |
Additional Considerations
Some practitioners have advised their use of free, easy-to-use Windows-based tools for creating videos and video slideshows, such as Windows Movie Maker and Microsoft Photo Story 3. These programs enable the creation of mobile content for a number of applications, but only export in Windows Media Video (WMV) format. WMV is a proprietary standard and will not play in most non-Windows environments; if platform interoperability is desirable, WMV videos can, however, be easily converted to other video formats such as those described above.
Wireless Data Connectivity
| Type | Recommendation |
| Mobile phone data interaction/delivery | Test accessibility and download speeds on 2G GPRS mobile phone |
| Short range, device-to-device interaction | Bluetooth - Class 2, Version 1.2 and 2.0 |
| Wireless infrastructure interaction/delivery | Wi-Fi/WLAN – 802.11b, 802.11g |
| Type | Recommendation |
| Web Page formatting | External CSS Level 1(W3C 2006a) Link external CSS with LINK not @import |
| Maximum Total Page Weight | 20 kilobytes (W3C 2006a) 10 kilobytes is a 'usable' page weight (W3C 2000a s.5.3.2.3) |
| For web/embedded interactive content | Flash Lite 1.2/2.0, Frame Rate <=12fps Provide non-Flash alternative to devices that do not support it |
| For stand-alone application development for mobile devices | Java 2 Mobile Edition (J2ME) |
It is good practice that documents should not be created with fixed layout, but should be designed to flow, or adapt, to the screen size and capabilities of the delivery platform. This is particularly important for m-learning content due to limited screen sizes.
