Last modified: Monday, January 31, 2011
IU mobile apps now available through Android
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 31, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A new, free Indiana University mobile application for Android handsets is now available via the Android marketplace to provide IU information -- from how to get to the closest bus route to real-time news and sports -- to students, faculty, staff and the public.
Users of Android handsets, which have increased in popularity throughout IU campuses, can now access free Indiana University applications ranging from class and transportation information to sports and news announcements by installing the IU Mobile application on their Android phone.
The new mobile platform for Android comes at a time when the Google-engineered operating system is experiencing unprecedented growth, according to Brian McGough, director of Enterprise Services Integration and Delivery for Indiana University Information Technology Services.
"The market has spoken," McGough said. "Indiana University has seen an increased use of Android phones by its constituencies, and that, coupled with the increased adoption of Android in general, led us down the path to developing this Android-specific application."
IU released its iPhone-compatible version of IU Mobile in September 2010 and McGough said the university would continually evaluate which other platforms might need to eventually have IU-specific deliverables crafted for them. In the meantime, all phones will still be able to leverage m.iu.edu. The Android app is GPS-enabled and will be able to provide services like bus route information, sports and news updates, and unique services like access to AskIU.
McGough credited the work of seven Masters in Information Systems candidates from the Kelley School of Business who, working alongside UITS staff, developed the IU Mobile Android project during the Fall 2010 semester.
"This was a semester-long real-world project for these seven students in my s528 course (Object-Oriented Business Programming) last fall," he said.
Kelley School of Business Master in Information Systems graduate students Harini Kannan and Preeti Bangali (front row, from left) and Nikhil Dharap, Vaibhav Shah, Vasundhara Tyagi, Abhishek Purohit and Khushbu Shah (back row, from left), working together with UITS built the Indiana University Mobile application for Google's Android operating system.
The graduate students who completed the development project were Nikhil Dharap, Vaibhav Shah, Vasundhara Tyagi, Abhishek Purohit, Khushbu Shah, Harini Kannan, and Preeti Bangali.
Another group of students from the IU School of Informatics, are currently working with UITS staff to deliver additional student self-service features across all of IU Mobile's platforms. Particular emphasis will be placed on delivering mobile access to University wide systems and services like Oncourse and Library services.
Now that IU has platform support for iPhone and Android -- in addition to m.iu.edu, which works on any handheld device with a browser -- the emphasis of the IU Mobile effort will be shifting focus toward delivering additional new and valuable services across all of the supported platform implementations of IU Mobile.
For more information or to speak with McGough, please contact Steve Chaplin, University Communications, at 812-856-1896 or stjchap@indiana.edu.
