Developers show some App-titude

CARYS MONTEATH/The Press

GOOD CALL: Jade Software Corporation innovation marketing consultant Andrea Hastie with an Apple iPhone, for which Jade's developers are designing programs for.

Christchurch software developers are stepping outside their usual world of serious computer programming.

Jade Software Corporation has launched a program called Innovate to encourage staff to think like entrepreneurs.

Staff are competing to create applications for Apple's iPhone. Once finished, the applications will be uploaded to Apple's online App Store. The person or team with the most downloads will win an iPhone paid for by Jade for two years.

The prize was worth $3300. Jade is ready to give up to three iPhones away if the winner is a team.

"We want to be seen as an innovative company and behave in a more innovative way and that starts with the people," Jade chief innovation officer John Ascroft said.

Jade was spending about $250,000 on the project, but it was mostly staff time, Ascroft said.

The competition has been more popular than Ascroft expected. Jade had planned to run two one-day technology courses to teach staff how to write iPhone programmes. After 70 developers signed up for the contest it has had to schedule six courses. Staff are being given half a day each week to work on the project.

Jade's developers designed software that moves Europe's trains, controls world ports and solves crimes for police forces. Designing an application was different to what they were used to, Ascroft said. "It's something that is exciting and interesting for the staff. It's a good thing for the staff to do."

He said the competition had positive spin-offs for Jade, helping to generate new ideas.

Competitor Jade senior developer Peter Roselli, who has been with the firm for 15 years, said it was an innovative idea. "It's good to see how other technology comes together," he said.

Jade innovation marketing consultant Andrea Hastie said 85,000 applications were already on the App Store, so Jade employees would be competing against them for downloads.

Ascroft said staff would have to come up with good marketing plans. "Having the best technology does not mean anything if no-one knows about it," he said.

Hastie said one person, not at Jade, created an application in three days that made farting noises and $75,000.

Staff would have to decide whether to charge for their applications and if they did, Apple would take a 30 per cent cut and the staff could keep the rest.

Apple has to approve the applications, but it was purely a rubber stamping process to make sure there was no objectionable material in the application, Ascroft said.

The ideas being created were a closely guarded secret but once they were uploaded Jade would be running a regular leaders board before announcing a winner in December.

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