Press
Voice of America Joins DC's MobileTours.org
Posted on: 04/23/2007
Mobiletours has joined with Voice of America to bring visitors to DC the opportunity to learn about the VOA by simply dialing a number. Starting today, dial 202-522-1258 and hear a four minute audio tour that explains the inner working of the VOA.
The Voice of America is a 24-hour, international multimedia news broadcast facility operating around the clock. The headquarters building is on the corner of 3rd and Independence Ave. SW.
Visitors can also take a tour of the headquarters building with a behind-the-scenes look at live broadcasting in radio, television, and the Internet in several languages. Tours are guided with audio and video features, and last 45 minutes. Tours begin promptly at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visit the tour website for more information: voatour.com
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages.
Reference links:
VOA News
In Case Your Trolley is in The Shop
Posted on: 04/19/2007
The link below is to one of DC's best 'to do' blogs. Here Mobiletours gets a shout out as a way to save locals from having to study up and play tour guide every time an old high school friend comes to town.
Highlight of the article:
"Another reason I'm a fan? NYC and Boston should be rolling out next -- but DC was first. Which is kind of a first."
Reference links:
The DC Concierge
Want more free stuff for your phone?
Posted on: 04/09/2007
Pimp out your phone with the Free services described in this article on TMCnet.com
Reference links:
Pimp my Phone
Mobiletours on TV!
Posted on: 04/09/2007
Check out this link to a news segment on WUSA Channel 9.
Reference links:
Video
The Washington Post
Mobiletours: New Dial-a-Tour Service for DC Tourists
Posted on: 03/06/2007
 The Washington Monument is just a little over 555 feet high. Pierre L'Enfant originally envisioned building digs for the president that would have been four times the size of what we know as the White House.
Launched Monday, there's a new service is designed to let tourists dial their cell phones to learn such fun facts about Washington's local tourist attractions. Dial one of 11 numbers that went live today, and you can learn a little history about topics ranging from Arlington Cemetary to the White House.
The service, called Mobiletours, is the work of a recent Georgetown grad Richard Zielinski, who works as a tech consultant for IBM during the week -- and as a tour guide for students on the weekends. Today, the service is ad-free, but Zielinski is hoping that businesses catering to tourists will soon see the appeal and buy short ads at the beginning of the recorded guides. At the Mobiletours Web site, users can also opt to download the tours as a podcast.
This isn't the first tourguide-via-cellphone service out there, but Zielinski thinks that his is the first free one out there. The competition, called Talking Street, charges $5.95 for tours delivered via cell phone. Their Boston tour is read by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Talking Street's DC tour host: Larry King.
Zielinski says he plans to expand the service to Boston and New York City soon.
Reference links:
washingtonpost.com
Launch Press Release
Posted on
03/05/2007
Press Contact:
info@mobiletours.org
202.246.2928
New Company Offers Free Cell Phone Tours of Washington, DC
Washington, DC - Just in time for the busy tourist season, DC's newest Internet startup company, mobiletours.org, launches today with a free tour of the Capitol's major sites for mobile phones. The service has eleven separate numbers to call, each of which corresponds to a famous building or memorial. The company plans on rolling out a marketing campaign that consists of handing out flyers to tourists and educating the tourism industry about the service.
Founder of the company, Richard Zielinski says, "We are using the latest IP phone technology, based on the Asterisk® open source PBX, to bring our podcasts into people's mobile phones. Its cutting edge stuff, but the service is very user friendly. Anyone who can dial a phone number will be able to access the tour."
The tours consist of short two minute histories of the site followed by a story or audio file. At the Lincoln Memorial for example, users will hear a rare audio interview from 1938 of an old man recalling what it was like, as a 9-year-old school boy, to watch Abraham Lincoln deliver his Gettysburg Address. At the Washington Monument the narrator reads an article from 1908 in which a Washington Senator baseball player catches a ball dropped from the top window to win a $500 bet. At the war memorials, listeners will hear interviews with Veterans. Says Zielinski, "We want the tour to be informative, but we also want it to be engaging. Visiting these national treasures can be a deeply personal experience; we want to help enrich that experience."
While mobile phone tours are becoming popular, mobiletours.org is the first company to offer their services in a major city for free. Although not intended to replace a knowledgeable tour guide, mobiletours can be an excellent alternative that allows for both convenience and flexibility.
The tour can also be freely downloaded off of the website for use in digital MP3 players. Mobiletours.org is planning on rolling out a New York City and Boston tour later this spring.
Info@mobiletours.org |
