CLE Mobile – What’s Next?
Authored by Michelle Cabbage, Director of Product Management & Operations
CLE Mobile continues to be a success! The app has been live for just over a month and we’re already nearing 1,500 users, 1,800 program downloads and 700 program completions. The team is already in the early stages of planning for updates to CLE Mobile.
We’re investigating several new features for future versions of the application:
• Ability to search the West LegalEdcenter catalog
• Ability to purchase programs
• Ability to delete programs from your device (in the current version, programs are automatically deleted 180 days after purchase)
• Ability to update your West LegalEdcenter profile
• Streaming audio
• Video downloads
• Streaming video
The team is also looking at other platforms – Android and BlackBerry — for potential future expansion. Stay tuned for more on that throughout 2010.
What would YOU like to see in CLE Mobile? Let us know what think! Post your comments here or send an e-mail to CLEMobile@westlegaledcenter.com.
Your Thoughts
Comments moderated for clarity, grammar, and authenticity.
“The team is also looking at other platforms – Android and BlackBerry — for potential future expansion. Stay tuned for more on that throughout 2010.”
I stayed tuned in 2010, and 2011… it’s now 2012. Most attorneys still use BlackBerry. Where is the BlackBerry version?!
Brian,
I’m sorry you feel misled by our previous response. We have done a lot of research and even began prototyping the app for Android and Blackberry, and had every intention of building it. However, due to limitations of the Blackberry platform, and for many other reasons we will not be creating CLE Mobile for Blackberry. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. If you’d like to discuss over the phone or if there is anything else I can do please contact me directly.
Best Regards,
Chris Knutson
Marketer, West LegalEdcenter
651.848.5614
Android. Please!
Peter,
We’ve certainly had some requests for Android and have not ruled it out as an option. However, we’re thinking about focusing on a mobile optimized web version of our website rather than native apps. What are your thoughts on that? It would allow you to easily access westlegaledcetner.com from any device with a browser and be very similar to the app both functionally and visually, but would not be native (i.e. nothing to download). We’re trying to gather as much feedback as possible and your thoughts would be very helpful.
I just saw this response. I just want to be able to easily access west cle from my phone on the go. Whether it is an optimized website, or a dedicated app really doesn’t matter to me as long as it is easy to use, navigate and search on the phone. It would be great to have an optimized westlaw.com too.
I guess the biggest advantages of app support could be a link on the android home screen, and maybe integration with speech to text and the genius button.
Bottom line should be ease of use.
Unlbeiveable how well-written and informative this was.
I assume the delay with other platforms is DRM. You need some method of making sure that each program disappears after 180 days. Easy to do with Apple … Not so much with with RIM, Droid, HP/webOS and other platforms. It seems to me that that must be the real issue. Yes?
Florida (like many states) doesn’t need anything from West in order for me to obtain CLE credit for listening to a program. I simply need to notify the Bar that I listened to the program. Most of us on non-Apple platforms don’t really need a platform-specific version of CLE Mobile … we just need EITHER (a) platform-specific CLE Mobile, OR (b) access to a download of the CLE Program in a standard podcast format. But, as indicated above, I suspect that WLEC won’t release a podcast unless it will self-destruct at the appointed time. And, so far, WLEC only knows how to do that with Apple.
And by the way … I’ll sign whatever you want me to sign that says I won’t share it. And you can require me to certify within 180 days that I have deleted and rendered unusable my one copy of the download, without sharing or making any copies. I’ll gladly certify under penalty of perjury, credit card charging, face slapping, or whatever, that I’ve followed all your rules. But jeez, I have lots of West titles on CD (as well as pdf and in print), none of which are copy protected. Not to mention a bazillion old CLE programs on non-protected audio cassettes, VHS, DVD, and CD. Nobody ever expressed much angst when I bought those. So, what’s the hold up??
You are correct. Florida, in particular, doesn’t need anything from West in order for you to obtain CLE credit for listening to a program. In fact, those of you on non-Apple devices can download one of the 2,374 podcasts we have available on westlegaledcenter.com. In Florida, all 30 credits may be satisfied with podcast audio programs. Note, however that accreditation rules vary by state, so check your state requirements before you download any podcast to ensure you understand what type of credit you will receive, if any. As far as the podcast destructing after 180 days and the digital rights management of a program, we have had quite a bit of discussion on this topic here at West LegalEdcenter. We have come to the conclusion that because there is currently no technical solution for automatically deleting a podcast after 180 we will simply trust that our users will not share the file with others.
We continue to investigate other platforms and are dedicated to delivering a superb experience. Each mobile platform poses new challenges in exceeding your expectations. Right now we are working on improving our syncing time on V2 of the iPhone app. We are hoping that our customers using non-Apple devices leverage our podcasts and westlegaledcenter.com until we are ready to release a well-designed app. We decided, as with our podcasts (see comment 2), that DRM was not our primary concern when developing our mobile platform. Instead, we focused on the viewing experience – with program materials, discussion board, etc. – as we wanted to make this as easy and interactive as the online experience available at http://www.westlegaledcenter.com and ensure compliance with all regulatory safeguards!
I have an iphone 3s.
why does it take so long to sync discussion posts?
How do we switch playback from the iphone speaker to blackberry devices like a car stero without restarting the program?
Can you get this program to start as fast as my ipod? It takes forever to load and begin playing?
Craig, in response to your question regarding the time it takes to sync discussion posts. Version 1.0 of CLE Mobile syncs all discussion posts at startup. Users with many programs may experience longer sync times; your connection may also be a factor in sync speed. Version 2.0 (currently in review with Apple) will only sync discussion posts for programs that have been downloaded but not completed.
I’m not clear on your second question. Can you send me more details?
On your third question, device performance will vary by user and connection. If you have concerns about storage space, Version 2.0 of CLE Mobile will offer the ability to delete programs from your device.
I hope this was helpful. Stay tuned for V2.
Shawn Stavseth
ANDROID???
We are looking at developing CLE Mobile and other apps for platforms like Blackberry and Android. We haven’t fully fleshed out our timeline however.