WATERLOO - The University of Waterloo has joined Maclean's and Canadian Business as one of the few publishers of a free weekly mobile news digest, becoming the first public-sector organization to use new technology developed at UW to provide this service.

People with a particular interest in UW -- whether alumni, industry partners, students on co-op or government officials -- and a BlackBerry smartphone will get a news digest of stories. The digest downloads on Mondays, stores automatically and appears instantly when the small black-and-gold UW icon is clicked -- no long waits for web downloads.

"This technology presents us with a tremendous tool to further connect with alumni and friends of the university, and highlight certain activities and developments for them," says Meg Beckel, vice-president of external relations. "It also gives us another wonderful opportunity to help showcase a new piece of technology with strong connections to the University of Waterloo."

The technology to make the mobile digest possible for UW, the two magazines and others has been developed by Polar Mobile Group, a content delivery firm formed in 2007. The firm's five founders studied computer engineering, software engineering and economics at the University of Waterloo, and the company continues to hire UW alumni as the business expands.

"As co-op students at Waterloo, we were exposed to and got excited about the mobile industry," says Kunal Gupta, CEO of Polar Mobile. "As well, being in the backyard of RIM (Research In Motion) we got to know the BlackBerry. We started thinking about ways to repurpose content effectively to reach people through their mobile devices."

The mobile digests are currently designed specifically for the BlackBerry, though Polar Mobile intends to expand to include other smartphones in the near future.

"Because the content has already been stored, you don't even need a network signal to read UW Mobile," says Gupta. "You can read it anywhere, even on an airplane."

The first issues of UW Mobile, published at the beginning of each workweek by the university's department of communications and public affairs, will each contain two news stories, two stories or profiles focused on research, and a profile of a UW alumnus.