Seton Hall University, located in New Jersey, is announcing a new component of the University’s Mobile Computing Initiative, which has been providing students with laptop computers since 1997.

Starting this Fall, all incoming freshmen will receive a Nokia Lumia 900 each for extensive use across the University. As a part of the initiative, the Lumia 900 will be used to give the students state of the art technology and a way to connect inside and outside the classroom. 

Why Seton Hall leaders chose the Lumia 900

When I asked David Middleton, Executive Director of the Center for Mobile Research and Innovation at Seton Hall, why they chose the Nokia Lumia 900 for this huge Initiative, he said the choice was simple. 

After surveying the competitive landscape, Seton Hall wanted a phone that was solidly built (to stand up to the abuse a college student is capable of providing) and would offer an extension of their existing campus IT infrastructure:

The Lumia 900 was the logical choice for our project as it provides deep integration with our Microsoft infrastructure, critical native academic (Office) and social applications (People Hub, live tiles) and extensive multimedia consumption and creation tools in a high quality form factor on the fastest cellular network.

The University already has an existing partnership with Microsoft and having the capable Lumia 900 can extend existing Windows services into the pockets and hands of incoming freshman.

Connecting freshman before they step foot on campus

In addition to the Lumia 900 hardware, Seton Hall students will have access to SHUMobile, an app that provides campus news feeds and maps. The app will be customized for new batch of incoming Seton Hall students with a Freshman Experience component that will have social media integration and direct communication channels with freshman peers.

“The idea is to connect incoming freshman before they come on campus in the Fall”, says Middleton. In the application, freshman can connect with other classmates, peer advisers and roommates, as they first meet at Freshman orientation in the early Summer.

Additionally, the University will leverage Nokia Data Gathering, recently made available for Windows Phone to communicate with the incoming freshmen beginning this summer by conducting polls, providing information to help students prepare for college and to learn how the Lumia 900 device and other technologies are being used.

Meanwhile back on Seton Hall campus, AT&T is working hard to make sure the 4G network is seamless. 

A fantastic partnership for enterprise productivity

Seton Hall’s Mobile Computing Initiative utilizes the best of Nokia, Microsoft and AT&T’s offerings to create a seamless, connected experience for the class of 2016.

As a bonus, Seton Hall Freshman will receive pre-paid service on AT&T that will get them through the Fall semester with fast 4G speeds and 24-hour access to friends, classmates and campus-focused materials in the SHUMobile app.

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pretty jealous of those Seton Hall freshman. Are you sending your college student off with a smartphone this coming school year?

Want to read the full press release? You can get it right here!

Photo credit: Milan Stanic

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