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Android will account for more than half the smartphone application downloads in 2013, research says
Apps
March 6, 2013
OpenSignal, the network mapping tool, has won the Smart UK Project award for the UK’s most innovative mobile company at Mobile World Congress.
A collaborative project between UK Trade & Investment and its media partner for Mobile World Congress (MWC) XL Communications, Smart UK Project aimed to celebrate UK innovation and showcase the best examples of mobile UK mobile innovation.
All finalists won a ticket to Mobile World Congress, where OpenSignal was announced as the winner.
What does it do, now?
What Mobile had a run down of the start ups who made it through to the finals here. OpenSignal’s Android app has been around for a while – the Apple version is imminent, the company said. In short, OpenSignal maps cellphone and WiFi coverage across networks. Using signal strength readings from your and other phones, the app produces a coverage map, which can be set to 2G, 3G and 4G, as well as WiFi hotspots and given networks.
UK Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey presented the award to OpenSignal chief executive Brendan Gill, who said the company was delighted to win.
“The UK is such a hotbed of innovation and the quality of the finalists was so high.”
The judging panel included Telefonica Europe vice president Mike Short, Mobile Industry Review’s Ewan MacLeod and TheAlloy director Geoff McCormick, who said the quality of the finalists, including Paddle and RealVNC, was impressive.
“The judges’ decision was strongly influenced by the value that OpenSignal brings to mobile users by providing them with the best signal for their phone.”
The competition began in November with 70 entries, looking for smaller companies with ideas that had the potential to disrupt the mobile industry globally.