August 20, 2009
UW’s new mobile app named ‘m.UW’
The organizers of last month’s contest to name the UW’s new mobile application have announced a winner. Out of more than 800 submissions, the winning one was sent in by Shane Bunker, a UW student majoring in Informatics who will enter his senior year this fall.
The winning name was announced Aug. 15. Bunker works in the UW’s Catalyst group in summer. He and his workmates were batting around ideas for possible names. He suggested the name mUW as a play on the “myUW.”
“The name was simple,” said contest judge Harry Hayward, the UW’s director of electronic media. “It related really well to the emerging lexicon of mobile platforms, and m.uw.edu has a nice feel to it. It speaks to exactly what it is.”
The new app will be pronounced “m-dot-u-double-u” or “m-dot-udub,” depending who you talk to.
The iPhone app is on target to launch in mid-September, in time for the start of classes, said David Morton, director of mobile communications in UW Technology’s Network Systems. The mobile app will initially be offered for the iPhone but a mobile Web version will support other devices such as Blackberries, Google Android phones, Windows Mobile devices and most phones with a Web browser. The tool will offer easy access to campus maps, directories, course calendars, sports scores, and links to campus news and photos. Stay tuned for more details.
