Corporates and start-up apps scoop 2011 Mobile Awards

Architecture software maker Aconex, Rebel Sport and start-ups LookOut Mobile and Apps Perhaps have been named as some of the winners of this year’s Mobile Awards, organised and run by eBusiness consulting firm A Thinking Company.

Event organiser Nick Esser says the quality of all the winners is evidence of the vibrant application community thriving in Australia.

“The quality of the apps shows that mobile has well and truly arrived,” Esser says. “It is now absolutely necessary that businesses need to be mobile savvy.”

“I think this also shows the sheer quality of some of the talent we have in the local scene.”

The awards, which were revealed last night and were judged by a number of entrepreneurs in the technology and marketing industries including Nick Bolton from Viocorp, Jenny Goodridge from Samsung, Mike Okyere from Google and Chris Winter from the ABC, celebrated the best apps in a number of different categories.

Sensis took out four awards for its White Pages and Yellow Pages apps, Fairfax won three, while major corporates such as PayPal and Deloitte also won awards for best online shopping and payments, and best government service app.

But some of the more interesting winners have been from smaller businesses, including Temporary Gallery, a crowd sourced online creative community which won the Gold Mobie, which comes with a 12-month mentoring scholarship worth $1,000.

“Winning the Gold Mobie gives us a fantastic opportunity to bring collective corporate intelligence into our community based creative platform,” co-founder Erik Rathmayr said in a statement.

Esser says the entrants have displayed “a really great sense of technology”.

The awards come as the Australian mobile space has been exploding over the past few years, with many of the world’s most successful app makers located here.

Melbourne-based studio Bjango has been recognised by Apple for its apps, while Firemint has seen its Flight Control and Real Racing games become some of the most successful on the App Store, leading to an acquisition by gaming giant EA.

Esser says the inclusion of smaller apps also shows that there is a good mix of apps being made by corporates and large agencies, as well as start-ups and smaller teams.

“There is plenty of innovation in the mobile space here. The awards are a combination of the best of what’s going on in all of the different spaces of the industry.”

“It shows that businesses really do need to be mobile savvy – that’s the best way to describe what’s going on.”

Some of the awards included:

• Best Audience Migration to Mobile: Domain.com.au, Fairfax
• Best Mobile Marketing Campaign: Lexus CT City Challenge, the White Agency
• Best New Service or Application: Yellow Pages for iPad, Sensis
• Best Use of Mobile in Marketing: American Express, Big Mobile Group
• Children & Early Childhood Development: 1 2 3 Sheep, App-titude Learning
• Education: LaTrobe University 2011 Open Day, La Trobe University
• Education & Family: Taronga Zoo, Taronga Zoo
• Fashion: iFrockup iPhone App, Direct Digital
• Fitness: Time to Burn It, Rebel Sport
• Food and Drink: Good Food Guide 2011, Fairfax
• Government Services: EzyReg, Deloitte
• In Field Services: Woven Image, Woven Image
• Medical: NPS Medicines List, NPS
• Mobile Payments: Sydney Film Festival 2011, eFirst
• Navigation: Whereis, Sensis
• News: The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age iPad apps, Fairfax
• Nightlife: Everguide, Lifelounge Group
• Utilities: OzTV, Apps Perhaps
• Sport: Aussie Rules Live, SportsMate Mobile

This article first appeared on SmartCompany.