The Underground's iPhone App wins Hong Kong's first-ever "Battle of the Apps" competition . . . and walks away with US$4,980 in free Rackspace hosting
Hong Kong--(Business Wire)--The Underground, Hong Kong's premier indie music showcase, took on nine of the best local innovators, entrepreneurs and programmers to win the city's first-ever Battle of the Apps contest, organized by Hong Kong's premier internet networking community, Web Wednesday (www.webwednesday.hk).
The Underground's app - presented by founder Chris B (AKA, the godmother of Hong Kong's indie music scene) - won over the voting audience with its user-friendly graphics and entertaining content.
The iPhone-friendly program plays new music; publicizes bands and upcoming shows; presents news from The Underground; and more. The software was created by Mangrove Giant, the Hong Kong-based applications developer whose game Kill Kill Monster Campaign entered the Top 100 in 66 countries last year and sold over 100,000 copies.
The Battle of the Apps contest, which featured video and live presentations, took place at Volar on July 20th in front of more than 170 guests and members of the Internet and digital media community. Apps on display included a city food locator, a guide to buying local property, a Chinese learning tool, a location-based gaming platform, a rugby match analyzer, a photo sharing network and a smart phone function that automatically shuts down WiFi to save battery power.
All the competitors were vying for the main prize: US$4,980 of basic IT hosting from Rackspace - the world's leader in the hosting and cloud computing industry. In the end, though, The Underground triumphed handily.
Said Chris B, of The Underground: "We are truly delighted to win and to get such a great response from the audience and Rackspace. We have discussed the prize and I would like my developers, Mangrove Giant, to use it to host The Underground app as well as their business.
"Mangrove Giant and The Underground will be working together on launching the Android version of The Underground app soon as well as developing other musical projects."
"We are very excited to work with The Underground and Mangrove Giant as they promote new music, apps and projects around the city," added Jim Fagan, VP, and Managing Director, Rackspace Asia. "IT solutions, such as Cloud Computing and Application Acceleration Services, help form valuable new connections, so it has been our pleasure to offer this award and be involved with this competition. In all, we look forward to taking care of the basic IT needs of The Underground and Mangrove Giant so they can devote more time to bringing independent music to the city and to developing new apps and projects for their customers and fans."
Web Wednesday is a rapidly expanding community of internet entrepreneurs and digital media executives with networking events in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore, Bangkok and Dubai. The community was founded by Napoleon Biggs in June 2007 and now boasts some 6,000 members across Asia. Napoleon is also Senior Vice President, Head of Digital Integration, Asia Pacific for Fleishman-Hillard Communications Inc.
Join the community via www.webwednesday.hk, www.rackspace.hk, and undergroundhk.com.
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For more information on The Underground or Mangrove Giant, please call Chris B at 852-9486-4648, e-mail her at contact@undergroundhk.com, or visit undergroundhk.com
For more information on Rackspace Asia, please call senior marketing manager, Cecilia Lau, at 852-3752-6431, e-mail her at cecilia.lau@rackspace.com, or visit www.rackspace.hk.
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