Being a University student? There’s an app for that.The LSU iPhone app, LSU Mobile, was released Aug. 16 and allows students and faculty to do a variety of tasks, from checking University news and videos to browsing faculty and staff directories, said Jeffrey Lee, University IT analyst.Heath Price, assistant vice chancellor of Financial and Administrative Services, said the app was sponsored by University Auxiliary Services and cost $40,000 to create, but the app will remain free to everyone.The new app has an interactive map feature that allows users to find information on buildings and landmarks on campus and track bus and tour times around campus. One feature left out of the app was University football content, but it does feature a link to sports content provided by Verizon Wireless.”Verizon has precluded iPhone applications from having LSU Sports content,” Price told The Daily Reveille on July 12. “There’s no problem with that — that’s a valuable partnership LSU Athletics has. But it will limit what data we can push through the app.”Although the iPhone was held in mind when creating the app, it will be available for BlackBerry devices within the next few weeks. There will also be a mobile version that will work on all web-enabled phones.The University is continuing to investigate the possibility for designing the app for Android devices, but the feasibility of doing so has not yet been determined, Price said.Originally, the app’s release date was in May 2010, but it was pushed back closer to the the start of the fall 2010 semester. Using the extra allotted time, the University was able to correct technical difficulties in Apple’s iOS 4 mobile software update and work with faculty to complete the requirements for the courses app, Lee said in an e-mail.”I feel that the resulting application and the systems that power it will be great resources for students and the entire LSU community,” Lee said. “We’ve managed to update and add functionality to existing systems and create new systems that power the app and have uses elsewhere on campus.”If the app is well received by students and faculty the license with Blackboard, which owns the software, will be renewed in December 2010, Price said.If the  license with Blackboard is renewed, the University IT team would like to pursue greater integration with campus. Some new features that have been discussed are course registration, parking maps, library integration, directions, printer status, an event calendar and TigerCard management, Lee said.”I believe I speak for the entire team when I say that LSU Mobile is a terrific suite of applications with a lot of value and potential,” Lee said.____Contact Eric Allen at [email protected]