The Winner Takes It All: "Forgeathon" Richer Communications App Challenge Winner Goes Global With Acision!

READING, England, Feb. 26, 2015 /CNW/ -

Intelligent and intuitive language exchange networking app "Yoroshiku" wins Acision's "forgeathon" 

Acision, the global leader in secure, mobile engagement services and innovator in WebRTC technology, today announces the winning application of "forgeathon", its online, richer communications app challenge for projects built using the forge SDK. "Yoroshiku", a language exchange networking app by French developer Romain Pellen, took the top prize after judges nominated it based on criteria including SDK feature usage, Viability, Creativity and User Experience. The name of the app was inspired by a Japanese greeting, often translated as "pleased to meet you" or "I look to you for guidance" - suiting the aim of the app perfectly.

Using the forge by Acision SDK, the six week online codefest organised in conjunction with BeMyApp, challenged teams, individual developers and entrepreneurs from around the world to either create a new Android, iOS or web app or service, or enhance an existing one, by taking advantage of the richest, next-generation communication capabilities on the market today - WebRTC. The winner now has centre stage at two of the world's leading mobile tech events, Mobile World Congress and SXSW Interactive, to demonstrate their app live on Acision's stand, providing a platform to take their app global!

The winning submission, Yoroshiku, built as an iOS app, provides a platform for those learning new languages to practise their speaking, writing and reading skills with real people, in real-time from users around the world. Users create their profile specifying which languages they can speak or have an interest in, and can provide a short introduction about themselves with other interests. The app then suggests potential "matches" within its community based on these preferences, which the user can review in "Tinder-esque" fashion by swiping their profiles from left to right. The app remembers what choices are made and can make further suggestions based on the intelligent profiling and user feedback. Once a user chooses to connect with another, the forge SDK integration means they are able to see their presence and when they are online, can start a voice call directly within the app to practise their skills, initiate a video chat session for an even more personal experience, or send an instant message to commence a quick interaction.

The self-professed entrepreneur, Parisian developer Romain Pellen said: "While at university, I studied for a year in Japan on an exchange program, combining my love of learning languages, experiencing new cultures and travelling with my studies as a software engineer. I was inspired to create a service that connects people from around the world to provide a personalised way to practise and enhance their chosen language, often learnt from books or apps, with real people, in real scenarios, and with native speakers, establishing a true learning experience."

Romain continued: "While I already had the concept for this app, hearing about the forgeathon challenge and the capabilities the forge SDK could bring using WebRTC technology motivated me to take part. Being able to integrate such rich communication features within my app was what I needed to bring it alive and make it a more complete offering. Even though I was not previously aware of the forge SDK, I found the tutorials and documentation incredibly helpful in order for me to create my app in a short timeframe. Integrating the SDK into the app was also straightforward, and easier than other SDKs I've tested in the past."

Among the judging panel was celebrity guest judge and WebRTC industry guru, Dean Bubley, a communications and mobile analyst, founder of Disruptive Analysis, an independent industry research and consulting firm. Commenting on the deliberation, Dean said: "When choosing our top submissions and testing the apps, we rated each entry across four criteria: the extent and effectiveness with which the forge SDK was utilised; the viability of the application concept; the creativity and originality of the idea; and lastly the overall user experience. Yoroshiku consistently stood out in all of these areas, demonstrating a simple, yet intelligent concept which really utilised the richer communications capabilities from the platform, creating an intuitive service which could have real traction amongst users."

Along with the winning app, two runners up were also selected: Codemate by Indian developer Akshat Goel was a firm favourite, with his real-time code pairing web app where developers can share and collaborate on the same code with friends or other developers using the service simultaneously, via messaging or video chat using WebRTC. Trippr, created by team members Ricardo Vegas, Juan Miguel Garcia and Juan Ernesto Garcia, is an Android app which helps people to decide upon a holiday destination based on publically available photos related to a particular city or country, scraped from search engines. The user can swipe left or right to choose the photos they prefer, which the app records and then offers a destination suggestion based on those choices. It also allows them to book a flight directly from within the app.

Eric Bilange, Head of Rich Engagement Services commented: "We launched our first ever "forgeathon" as a platform to open up our SDK to developers and showcase the exciting and varied ways in which our rich communication tools can be integrated into services, providing new user experiences beyond capabilities popular today. Above all other submissions, Yoroshiku, used the most features of the forge SDK, built within a sleek prototype, whose service was most enriched as a result of the SDK capabilities. This process has uncovered some great concepts and prototypes, which we hope will be developed further, even among those who didn't make our top three."

The winning app Yoroshiku, will be showcased on the Acision stand during Mobile World Congress and SXSW Interactive, with developer Romain Pellen providing live demos and available to speak in more detail about his development experience using the forge SDK. To book a meeting or briefing at either event, please contact [email protected] or visit Acision's stand A41 at Mobile World Congress in the App Planet, and stand 1235 at SXSW Interactive.

About Acision
Acision connects the world by powering relevant, seamless mobile engagement services that interoperate across IP platforms and enrich the user experience creating value and new communication opportunities for carriers, enterprises and consumers across the world.

For more information, visit Acision at http://www.acision.com and forge at http://forge.acision.com

About BeMyApp
BeMyApp is specialised in developer relations, and organises developer events such as online challenges, hackathons, incubator workshops and more, all around the world. www.bemyapp.com.com

SOURCE Acision