(GOOD NEWS FROM FINLAND) Blaast, the Finnish company known for its cloud-based mobile app platforms, is expanding in Asia with new operator partnerships which add 30 million subscribers to its network of 46 million users.
The company also has surpassed their four million download marks, and have established a 4000 strong developer community. As part of leveraging the Blaast cloud-based platform, the company provides developers with an array of tools as well as free global distribution.
Blaast was launched in Indonesia in January, in partnership with local operator XL. Blaast’s app, which is funded by investors including Skype’s founding engineers and ex-Nokian Pekka Vartiainen, can be used on more than 2,000 handset models.
Currently, there are over three billion feature phones, with the majority located in emerging markets such as Africa, Asia and Latin America. As a result, these markets offer huge opportunities to mobile app developers as they look to extend their reach beyond more saturated marketplaces.
“Our approach has really struck a chord with developers as well as operators looking to extend their reach both geographically as well as to the low-end device segment. In fact, we are on course to support over 500 million Blaast-enabled feature phones by 2014”, comments Joonas Hjelt, co-founder and CEO of Blaast.
Blaast is a subscription-based service averaging approximately $1.50 per month. This provides users unlimited access to over 100 mobile apps including more popular mobile apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, social games and news. All apps are available in one download and are compatible with over 2,000 mobile phone models such as Nokia Asha, Blackberry and hunderds of local brands in emerging markets, and it will be soon available on Android.
More about Blaast in Asia: www.helsinkibusinesshub.fi
Source: goodnewsfinland.com
