"The development of iNKU is a small but significant step in our plans to make NKU a leader in the adoption of new technology," said Tim Ferguson, CIO at NKU. "We think the impact of technology on the student experience needs to be a focus in higher education and we hope to make major strides in the coming months."

The first version of this free mobile application is now available in iTunes (search "NKU"). The application's many features include a glossary of terms used at NKU, a trivia game, an NKU fight song player and a campus map that works with the iPhone's GPS.

"iNKU has some fun built into it, but it also has some practical solutions such as the GPS navigation," said Chris
Rider, senior technology architect for the Infrastructure Management Institute (IMI) in the NKU College of
Informatics.

The map feature will be especially useful to new students learning their way around campus or visitors looking for a specific building. "If you have an iPhone," said Rider, "it will show your current location on campus and can be used to find the way to your next class, the Student Union or campus event." The GPS capability has an accuracy of three to four feet.

The iNKU application takes advantage of some cool iPhone features, such as the accelerometer. "The glossary, which contains facts about NKU, cycles through terms when the phone is shaken," said Rider. The app's trivia feature will ask various questions, with answers accessed by scrolling down. If a user shakes the device, it plays random sounds and will change the trivia question. "The app plays the NKU fight song as a basketball bounces in time to the lyrics," Rider added.

iNKU is the launch pad to provide mobile access to university resources for the NKU community. With the development of iNKU, organizations in the community can see the type of opportunities NKU provides to students and the work they are capable of producing. "NKU is on the cutting edge of technology as one of the few universities that currently have an iPhone application," Rider said.

"We are excited about iNKU as it provides our prospective students information about the university and students interested in technology can see yet another reason to check out the College of Informatics," said Ferguson. NKU students helped develop iNKU, and the College of Informatics plans to begin offering a course that will cover the iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit) in the spring of 2010. Students in the course will learn how to write their own iPhone applications.

Ferguson said there will be updates coming with additional features designed for NKU students, faculty and staff. "NKU is focused on providing the necessary tools to allow our students that are accustomed to being 'connected to the net' all the time, to continue that feeling on campus," he said.