WRNI debuts first NPR application for iPhone

PROVIDENCE – WRNI, Rhode Island’s NPR affiliate, has become the first public radio station in the country to launch an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that lets listeners hear its content live.
The WRNI application allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to stream the station’s content over AT&T’s wireless network or a Wi-Fi Internet connection. It has been downloaded almost 6,000 times since debuting two weeks ago, according to Brian Stormont, whose company, Stormy Productions, developed the software on behalf of WRNI for free.
Stormont, a Woonsocket resident, formed the new company last summer. It is focusing on the iPhone and Mac platforms.
The WRNI application is simple – just a volume control and a play/stop button with the station’s logo – and is available for free from Apple’s new App Store, which can be accessed through the two devices or iTunes, the company’s music software program.
The new software was launched in mid-September, shortly after WRNI officially became independent of Boston University and its WBUR radio station. •