Furious Tribe Launch App Builder Platform | The Irish Film & Television Network

While ApptivateHQ will initially focus on the iPhone platform, Furious Tribe have plans to add iPad and Android support in the near future. “With over 4.6bn mobile subscribers worldwide, the launch of Apptivate is a strategic move, that will position Furious Tribe as a leader within the European App market,” reported Patrick Leddy, the MD of Furious Tribe.

Furious Tribe has already done well in the enterprise market acquiring accounts ranging from O2 to Citibank, EMI Music, Royal Sun & Alliance, RTÉ, TV3 and more. “While we have always seen a strong demand in the enterprise market, we have witnessed an insatiable demand for mobile Apps in the SME market,” Patrick states.

“We realised that SMEs needed to go mobile as well, but more often than not, they lacked the budget to deliver meaningful mobile experiences. We identified this gap in the market 12 months ago, and started work on ApptivateHQ.com” he continues, adding: “The ApptivateHQ.com is provided as ‘platform as a service’. It is entirely web based and allows anyone to build and manage iPhone Applications. The product is based on a ‘freemium’ business model meaning that ApptivateHQ.com is completely free to sign-up and build your first App. You can build a fully functional App and then preview it in the web based simulator before publishing to the Apple App Store.”

ApptivateHQ.com charges a $399 submission fee for publishing of Apps + a $25 monthly fee. The monthly fee includes hosting of one’s App on the ApptivateHQ Cloud and on-going access to the ApptivateHQ CMS.“The new platform is a perfect example of a disruptive business model,” Patrick explains. “Currently developers charge up to $500 per day for iPhone development services. Our product aims to "level the playing field" and turn the market on its head. Now everyone can have a mobile App to represent their business and engage customers on their own terms.”

The platform will be targeted primarily at the North American market and will focus initially on launching App's for newspapers, popular blogs, bands & events. Yesterday Furious Tribe signed a deal with EMI Music Ireland, one of their enterprise customers - to publish a number of Artists on the Apptivate platform - starting with artist "Codes".

”Mobile is the future, and companies that do not adopt a mobile strategy in 2010 – will become reactive followers in 2011,” he concludes.

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