Mippin Wins in Google Android Developer Awards and Appoints Nick Barnett as CEO
By Mippin, PRNEMonday, November 30, 2009
New Chapter Ahead for UK Mobile Media Company as Industry Award Wins Round-Out Successful Year.
LONDON, December 1 - Mippin, the leading mobile media company (www.mippin.com), today
learned that it has won Google's annual Android Developer Challenge. Its Buzz
Deck mobile application was awarded first prize in the Media Category. The
Google Challenge recognises and awards developers writing the very best
applications for the Android mobile platform.
Mippin has developed applications for Android since the
platform's launch and is delighted to be recognized with such a prestigious
prize. Buzz Deck (www.mippin.com/buzzdeck) provides a simple, elegant
and fast way to get all of your favourite web content in one place, perfectly
optimised for mobile use. You can flick through your daily hit of favourite
news topics across more than twenty different content categories from Tech to
Entertainment. Buzz Deck learns what you like and recommends cool new stuff.
And you can even get Twitter & Facebook updates alongside. An iPhone version
is to follow soon.
The Google win comes hot on the heels of another major award
for Mippin's Buzz Widget application in Forum Nokia's recent Calling All
Innovators competition. Buzz Widgets deliver content directly to a phone's
home screen, and are available across both the Nokia and Android platforms.
Buzz Widgets were also a finalist in the UK's technology innovation industry
awards, the iAwards in November 2009.
Mippin's achievements this year speak to the company's
founding commitments to deliver the best, most compelling mobile content
services and user experience to all mobile users, regardless of device,
market or operating system.
"One competition win could be regarded as good fortune, but
winning two major awards in the space of two months shows the momentum we
have established at Mippin. The fact that that we've won these awards for
different products across different platforms, truly demonstrates Mippin's
skills and passion to deliver fantastic user experiences built upon our world
leading content aggregation platform." Said Richard Hyndman, CTO.
In keeping with this commitment, Mippin is also announcing
that Nick Barnett has joined as Mippin's new CEO. Nick brings a wealth of
relevant experience to the role, most recently as Managing Director, Phorm
UK, which provides targeted online content and advertising solutions.
Previously Nick was Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development at
O2/Telefonica for five years and prior to that at McKinsey & Company.
"The explosion of mobile applications and services over the
last two years creates a really exciting future for Mippin. We play a central
role in mobilising the vast range of web content and delivering compelling
mobile application experiences, not just to iPhones and smart phones, but to
any mobile device, legacy or new. With demand growing so rapidly, I'm excited
about new opportunities for Mippin, working with established players in the
industry to deliver mobile application experiences for all of their
customers. Given my background - a combination of telecoms, technology,
online media and advertising - Mippin is the perfect fit and I'm really
looking forward to driving the company forward. Obviously, I am absolutely
delighted that the team's accomplishments have been recognised in winning
both the Google and Nokia developer competitions - it's a really great time
to come on-board" says Nick Barnett.
Judy Gibbons, Mippin Chairman and Venture Partner at the
company's investors Accel Partners, commented: "It's great to see the team
recognised in this way and to have Nick on-board - his experience of working
with major operators, equipment manufacturers and online publishers is really
valuable and will help Mippin take a major step forward in this truly dynamic
and high-growth market. Mippin's innovative and highly scalable technology
platform aggregates content from over 90,000 individual publishers and
mobilises it in real time, perfectly optimised for the capabilities of every
mobile handset. Combined with its award-winning application technology,
Mippin can offer a wealth of content to any existing app-store, and to
companies with an existing customer base who are looking to give their users
a compelling content offering on mobile."
About Mippin
Mippin is the trading name of Refresh Mobile Ltd, and is one
of the worlds most advanced, scalable, and accessible mobile content
platforms offering solutions for content packaging, discovery, distribution
and delivery across the mobile web and mobile app stores.
The service aggregates content from over 90,000 individual
internet publishers - major titles and niche sites alike - and uses
proprietary crowd-sourced algorithms plus editorial input to manage over 100
content categories ranging from entertainment to sports to breaking news.
Mippin optimises content for mobile consumers, delivering it
real time through a range of compelling user-experiences tailored to over
3,500 different devices across multiple platforms, from the latest generation
of Apple iPhones and Android handsets to the 'long tail' of current and
legacy mobile devices.
The company provides its services both directly under the
Mippin brand across over 210 countries and through major 3rd party
distribution partners on a white label basis, by providing tools for
publishers, handset manufactures and network operators to enable the rapid
large scale delivery of mobile optimised web content to their customers.
The company is funded by the leading venture capital company
Accel Partners, who are also investors in companies such as Facebook, AdMob,
GetJar, Digg and Real Networks.
www.mippin.com
For further information, please contact: Justin Baker, Senior Marketing Manager, justin at mippin.com, +44-7958-487-842
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