Mob4Hire Spiffy Award Nomination Rounds Out a Great 2010!

We were pleasantly surprised last week to be named one of the finalists for a Spiffy award from the Telecom Council of Silicon Valley (Love the award name!): San Andreas Award for Most Disruptive Technology http://tinyurl.com/2emsm3c

This is icing on the cake after an incredible 2010. With our v4.0 platform release in April, our business turned a corner ... well, many corners to be exact. We ran hundreds of projects for mobile developers and brands around the world, and most recently in November, announced Mob4Hire v4.5 with the expansion of our mobile product line for brands entering the mobile space.

I ESPECIALLY love what we're doing in mobile usability, as it's recognized as world-class leadership in this leading edge space. For mobile app creators, it's become increasingly hard to get noticed, so GREAT mobile usability is a must ... and our tools not only help you get a GREAT mobile app, but we can also guarantee you'll receive four or five stars in the app stores once you release and iterate your product. Good stuff.

With great respect and sincerity, I give MANY THANKS and Holiday Wishes to the Mob4Hire team, our customers, our investors, our partners, and of course, our spouses and families who, along with us, live and breath the roller coaster ride of being a successful global startup.

Peace and Joy to all.

Stephen King
CEO, Mob4Hire.com

P.S. 2011? It's going to be an AMAZING year!

Mob4Hire recognized by TechRev as a top 10 Innovator

We were pleasantly surprised last night when our name was announced at the annual TechRev awards here in Calgary. The top 10 awards were presented to the following companies:

• Computer Modelling Group Ltd.
• Ice Edge Business Solutions'
• Multiplied Media Inc. (Poynt Mobile app)
• Psyko Audio Labs
• Sustainable Energy Technologies Inc.
• Mob4Hire
• Benevity Social Ventures
• Wedge Networks
• Userful Corporation
• Genesis Technical Systems

More details can be found here on the TechRev site. And, our "Success Story" can be found here.

TechRev is an initiative founded by Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, Calgary Economic Development, and Calgary Technologies Inc. with a mandate to increase awareness of and investment activity in the technology sector in the Calgary region.

The second year of the awards, there were 304 companies competing, and we were shortlisted for the 25 that were looking for one of the top 10 awards. That was honour enough, actually ... the list of 25 companies is extremely impressive, and certainly shows the breadth and depth of the local tech community. Which, as I always say, is swimming in a sea of oil and gas here in Calgary, and often doesn't get the exposure it should.

TechRev aims to help change that, and these awards have become coveted for that reason. So, for us to be awarded one is a great honour, certainly comparable to all our global awards like our Meffys Award in London, our Red Herring 100 award out of San Diego, Under the Radar in Mountainview and various others from Barcelona and Toronto and such. Despite global success, it's good to be recognized in your home town.

I know many of the smart and hard working people in the winning companies ... Congratulations everyone!

Stephen King
CEO, Mob4hire

Mob4Hire Awards $1000 to Winner of Over-The-Air Hackathon in London ... Good job everyone!

(By Richard Cooke, Mob4Hire VP Technology ... pictured far right)

I had the honour of representing Mob4Hire at the Over The Air 2010. The event was fantastic, with the highlight for many an appearance by the legendary Sir Tim Berners-Lee.

For me though, the highlight was the Hackathon competition for which over 20 teams stayed up all night creating mobile applications. The quality of the entries was simply stunning.

Mob4Hire presented a prize of $1000 worth of free mobile app usability testing to the app deemed ‘best-in-show’ and I therefore had the difficult task of helping judge the entries alongside representatives from many of the major carriers and device manufacturers. We deliberated long and hard, but eventually we had to come up with a decision as the cleaners were waiting to move in.

Best in Show was awarded unanimously to a team dubbed ‘The Ben Collins Appreciation Society’ for their application ‘First Gear’.

This was a team headed up by Ewan Spence, ably assisted by his team: Simon Maddox; Sam Machin; Rachel Clarke, Robert Lee-Cann; Karl Turner.

The demonstration was a complete tour de force, overrunning enormously although nobody minded. The team had hacked together an iPhone and Android interface using accelerometers to remotely control a couple of RC cars and, most notably, a quadricopter known as ‘The Parrot’. They had also implemented Paypal APIs so that they could charge people for playing with the toys and, reputedly, make extra charges any time somebody crashed the car. Here it is in action:



A full list of winners can be found here at the OTA site: http://overtheair.org/blog/category/competitions/

Some of my notable favorites were:

Audience choice: Lobster – Light Blue
A little London-centric this one (as was the audience). With this app on your iPhone you can ride on London buses for free since it emulates the ubiquitous Oyster card.

Best Android App: FindMyMates – Paul Johnston
An ambitious app combining location data from FourSquare with the camera API to pinpoint friends in a crowded room. This was my personal favourite and, although not quite finished when demonstrated I would like to see more of it.

The Most Useful: BlueBabelTextFish – Sam Machin
Using the Google Translation API and #Blue this application was able to translate incoming SMS messages from any supported language into English.

Best Hardware Hack: The Eyes Have It – Adam Cohen-Rose
Adam demonstrated an unholy marriage of a Lego Mindstorms Robot and an iPhone which implemented face recognition. The robot fixated on a face and then followed it, rather in the manner of a newly born duckling. Truly awesome.

Best use of Open APIs and Open Data : UK Traffic- Dale Lane
A mashup of google maps with some publicly available but currently less than useful traffic data to show traffic information on top of mobile GMaps.

I look forward to seeing the source from some of these projects. I think we could all learn a lot. Well done to everyone that took part.

- Richard

Mob4Hire wins Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) Meffys Award

The summer has been so busy that we forgot to blog about this significant award we won in London ... a Meffys Award!

We were in the Innovative Business Model category, and we're happy the judges from 45 countries saw the value in what we do. For content publishers and developers, we save from 65% to 90% off functional and usability testing costs while at the same time helping to produce apps and content that will be more successful and viral when released. For our Mobsters in the community, they make between $20 and $50 an hour for their work. And, for us, we are a broker, earning a transaction fee on helping put the community together with state-of-the-art collaborative tools.

The Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) unveiled the winners of this year’s coveted Meffys awards at a sold-out gala dinner in London. The Meffys, supported by Dolby, Buongiorno, Symbian, 7digital, MTS, Quickplay Media and Vodafone seek to honour the most influential players in the mobile entertainment industry from across the world.

Rimma Perelmuter, MEF's Executive Director, said

"Congratulations to Mob4Hire for its Crowd-Sourced Mobile Testing which demonstrates the importance of understanding mobile user experience and behaviours before launching new applications.

MEF is proud to celebrate a diverse $36 billion mobile media industry which continues to innovate and thrive. This year’s Meffys winners highlight the industry’s true coming of age with an array of content-focused applications, cross-platform media and mobile commerce offerings. The Meffys have become the global standard for measuring success and serve as a window to the industry’s future."

The winning entries of the seventh annual awards once again provided an insight into the wide range of innovative products, services, applications and projects which are shaping and defining the evolution of the mobile media industry.

Thanks to everyone involved at MEF and the Meffys Awards for your recognition of our hard work! For more information, see the Meffys website: http://www.meffys.com/about/2010-highlights

Winners of some of the other categories include CBS Mobile, Motally, Taptu, Popcap, Shazam and Zed Group.

Mob4Hire wins spot in Silicon Valley Telecom Council Innovation Showcase at CTIA Oct 2010

We are super-pumped to be one of the 16 companies selected out of over 100 entries to participate in the Silicon Valley Telecom Council Innovation Showcase at CTIA Enterprise and Applications 2010 in San Francisco in early October. To be specific, you'll be able to find us at: "Telecom Council Innovation Showcase Booth 908C"

Thank's to the Telecom Council (and the broad range of judges) for recognizing Mob4Hire's innovative business and opportunity!

More information can be found on their site: http://telecomcouncil.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=75f325c4-d299-4eab-807e-95020abe6008

Here's the LinkedIn event: http://events.linkedin.com/Telecom-Council-Innovation-Showcase-CTIA/pub/381844

And for you Facebookers: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119157021465436

The Telecom Council is working with CTIA Enterprise & Applications to promote innovation, startups, and entrepreneurs in the wireless industry by highlighting them at this year’s Fall CTIA show on the show floor and with stage time. Over 100 wireless entrepreneurs from every segment of the ecosystem applied to be included in this showcase. Applications were judged by a prestigious Council member panel based on standard Telecom Council criteria – innovation, momentum, viability, and management. Together with our judges from AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Marvell, Huawei, Qualcomm, Motorola and others, the Council is proud to bring 16 forward-thinking companies to the CTIA Enterprise & Applications audience at booth 908.

See you at the show on Oct 6 to Oct 8, 2010!

Mob4Hire named on Branham 300 annual list of top technology companies in Canada

We were honoured to be named one of the Top 25 ICT Up and Comers on Branham's annual list of 300 top technology firms in Canada.

Have a look at Backbone Magazine's coverage of the Top 25 list. We were equally honoured to be one of only two Albertan companies on the list, sharing the podium with our friends over at Tynt (as a sidenote ... we use their technology on our new Version 4.0 of our Mob4Hire platform, launched last week).

According to Branham's, the top 25 ICT Up and Comers "... are selected based on creativity and innovation whether in a new technology area or optimizing existing technology in an innovative manner." and, further, "because of the progress they made in a period of time when the margin for error was extremely small."

Branham Group is a leading industry analyst and strategic consulting firm servicing the global information technology marketplace. Entering its 17th year, the Branham300 highlights the top Canadian and Multinational ICT companies operating in Canada and is widely considered to be a leading source of intelligence on Canada's ICT industry.

Thanks, thanks, thanks ... we appreciate the recognition for the work that we're doing for our customers!

Mob4Hire wins 2 out of 5 Investor Choice Awards at Vancouver Angel Forum

Last week, we were honored to receive not one, but two, out of the five investor choice awards at the 26th Angel Forum in Vancouver: "Best Company with Revenue" and "Best Presentation." This is great recognition of the journey we've been on, the progress we've made and the opportunity that we have in front of us.

We are, of course, in the middle of raising a private round of financing. If you're interested, please contact investor@mob4hire.com for more details.

During the day, we were treated to several presentations, one of which focused on Investment Trends from V.C.s' and Angels in Canada. The thoughts were encapsulated nicely by Boris Wertz on the Techvibes blog. In fact, in addition to the "re-thinking" of section 118 which makes it more complex for U.S. investors to put money into Canadian, I would also add the challenge of getting B.C. investors to put money into Alberta companies: B.C. investors enjoy a 30% tax credit ... for every $1,000 they put into a B.C. high tech company, they get $300 back on their tax return. I guess that's why us Alberta companies try harder!?

The most human moment of the evening goes to Mike Volker, who won the award for BC Angel Investor of the Year ... speaking about recently departed Don Ricks. Don apparently was a shoe-in for the award ("investing $50K in over 30 startups"), but his biggest legacy was Mike's testament: "When Don was with us, he was a great Angel investor. Now, he's a great Angel."

Thanks to Bob Chaworth-Musters for organizing great day!

Mob4Hire joins Twitter as one of the Red Herring 100 top technology firms!

Wow ... we won a Red Herring 100 award in San Diego on Wednesday! Knowing that Twitter is on the same list as us this year is a wonderful accomplishment, and is great recognition for the progress we've made at Mob4Hire. Thanks, Red Herring judges!

Read more: http://www.techvibes.com/blog/mob4hire-wins-red-herring-top-100-award

What do we think separated Mob4Hire from the other 1200 applicants?

"I think that we have an elegant solution to a large problem in a massive industry. There is really no one else doing what we do in the same way. There are 3 billion mobile phones in use today and a massive amount of software being written for those handsets. The problem of fragmentation in the mobile industry is huge - currently estimated at $3 billion. There is no effective way to test on a foreign network unless you are on that network. It is a location specific problem which plays perfectly to the strengths of our crowd-sourced methodology." says Paul Poutanen, President and Founder of Mob4Hire (pictured here with Alex Vieux, CEO, Red Herring).

GSMA MWC Barcelona a Mob4Hire Success!

Wow ... what a great week at GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona 2009. I think I'm finally coming out of jet lag!

I wanted to give you some highlights of the week for us:

- O2 Litmus announced their Appstore and our Mob4Hire partnership: "O2 Litmus users will have the opportunity to earn hard cash for every application they test, via a ground breaking partnership with multi award winning Mob4Hire." http://www.ixplora.com/?p=3593. It came in with rave reviews; e.g. "O2 Litmus is Better than Apple AppStore" We couldn't be more excited to be involved! We hung out with the O2 Litmus team, and also spent time with them at the Telefonica offices in Barcelona.

- We presented three times to about 1,500 people from a cross-section of the mobile industry: Paul spoke at the Mobile Monday Peer Awards (in which we won second place!). This resulted in blog buzz ... e.g.: http://www.gomonews.com/momo-peer-awards/. I spoke at the GSMA Top Innovator award competition and the TechCrunch Mobile 2.0 wrap-up seminar (http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/02/19/live-from-barcelona-techcrunchtalk-mobile-20-where-next/).

- Had great meetings with potential partners and developer network customers! There is great emphasis on app stores and developer networks in the industry as applications become the new focus so we're pretty happy with the industries response to us!

- Had great Tapas, mucho Cafe con leche's, toured La Ramblas and the Sagrada Familia, which was awe inspiring! Made me think about putting passion into whatever you create in life.

- I sang/played guitar at a "MobileJamaoke" at the WIP (http://www.wipjam.com) MobileJam pre-party in which people came up on stage to sing songs and play guitar ... that's me playing "free-falling" with the team from Symbian Foundation. At one point, the whole Mob4Hire team was up ... too much fun! There were also a wicked flamenco 3 piece band that I got to play with / listen to. Si!

- On the downside, our VP Business Development, Allen Poutanen, sprained his ankle, lost his cellphone and got his wallet stolen on the subway! Sorry, Allen!

As a last point, I want to tell you a handset comparison story. Paul has an iPhone and I have a Blackberry Bold. We used the mobiles equally over the week, not many voice calls, and lotsa data. The roaming charges for Paul's iPhone were 630% MORE than my Blackberry Bold ... due to Blackberry's data compression. ANOTHER reason I love my Blackberry handset! (Although admitedly, I did play a lot of "Zombie Attack" on Paul's iPhone).

Mob4Hire competes for Mobile Monday Peer Award

Barcelona, Spain—January 26, 2009—Mobile Monday Peer Awards announced that Mob4Hire is one of the twenty nominees to present and compete at the Peer Awards event in Barcelona. The MobileMonday Mobile Peer Awards Barcelona are among the most influential events in the mobile industry and, with over 1000 attendants, the point of reference in startup innovation during the Mobile World Congress. 163 startups participated and 42 nominees were selected by their respective chapters. Mob4Hire was selected as one of the 20 finalists to present by an international Jury.

Ok ... double WOW!!! Between this and the GSM Top Innovator award, we're gonna have a great (if not intense!) time in Barcelona.

Mob4Hire one of GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Award Top Innovators

Barcelona, Spain—January 22, 2009—The GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Awards today announced that Mob4Hire is one of the top three "Most Innovative True Mobile Startup" companies. The Global Awards recognize excellence and showcases innovation by providing innovators the opportunity to be endorsed by the GSMA.

Wow ... we are one of the top 15 winners out of 450 global entrants! This is really a good thing for us ... in addition to amazing exposure, we also get some great benefits: a booth in the "Innovation Zone" (IZ4 to be exact). "SpeedDating" conference with execs from big firms and VCs. Lotsa fun!

Stay tuned ... see you in Spain.

Mob4Hire wins Award at Under The Radar out of 400 competing companies

Calgary, Alberta, Canada—November 14, 2008—Mob4Hire Online Mobile Testing and Developer Community, today announced that it has won Under the Radar’s Audience Choice award for the "League of their Own" category at Dealmaker Media’s Under the Radar event held on November 12, 2008 in Mountain View, CA. Mob4Hire was named winner over other early stage companies based on its technology, market opportunity, and unique value proposition, by a panel of judges comprised of media; corporate development executives from leading mobile/wireless companies; VCs; and audience members.

Mob4Hire was handpicked by the Under the Radar editorial team and advisory board based on its review of over 400 companies in this space. A total of 33 companies presented at Under the Radar.

Participants hailed from Verizon, Motorola, QUALCOMM, Microsoft, CBS Interactive, T-Mobile, BlueRun Ventures, KPCB’s iFund, VentureBeat, AT&T and many other leading players in the industry.

“The standard of presentations was extremely high. These are the companies which are truly innovating and getting rapid traction in the enterprise space,” said Debbie Landa, CEO of Dealmaker Media “These emerging companies are the ones to watch and most likely to enjoy breakout success.”

Stephen King, CEO of Mob4Hire, says "Paul [Poutenan, President] and I both agree that the Under the Radar conference was run really well, and it was very valuable to us especially from a networking perspective. Getting the award was very cool ... we appreciate the recognition that our business is an innovative and unique way of solving a real big problem ... as corny as it sounds, we're gonna put it on our shelf."

Backbone Magazine Picks Mob4Hire to be one of Canada's top Web 2.0 companies

We placed #14 on the BackBone Magazine top 20 Web 2.0 firms, and the only one on the list in the Wireless industry!

http://www.backbonemag.com/Web2/default.asp

"A crowdsourcing site that came out of Cambrian House, Mob4Hire is a bidding system for mobile application testing. Testers bid on various projects and developers choose the testers they require.

Trgovac said she can “totally see the business value, as there is huge competitive advantage here both for the parent company as well as any application developer that uses them.” Both Moffitt — “It’s a great model if they can find customers and build enough testers” — and Geist — “It’s a cool idea that could take off as the mobile market grows” — are positive but are looking for numbers."