WAMU-FM DC announced it is one of ten NPR member stations participating in the launch of NPR Mobile–a new co-branded service that brings local and national public radio content to users of mobile phones and handheld devices. The project allows WAMU and NPR to take a first step into the new medium of mobile services through two products: NPR Mobile Web and NPR Mobile Voice. NPR Mobile Web uses a "wireless access protocol" (WAP) to deliver audio, text, pictures, and video to handheld mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs. Users access a web site (wamu.npr.org) through their mobile device that is optimized for small screens and automatically formatted for each specific device’s capabilities. The service has a customized local home page with links to WAMU local hourly newscasts, as well as NPR newscasts and other features. NPR Mobile Voice allows users to make a call to a local number to directly access content through a menu using interactive voice response (IVR) technology. The phone number works on any type of mobile phone, regardless of carrier, as well as through landlines.
