Startup Weekend Manila Concludes with Mobile Monday Event
Posted on: October 25, 2011 – Filed under: Global
The frenetic 54-hour Startup Weekend Manila event in Taguig City, Philippines was book-ended Monday night by a Mobile Monday Manila meeting at the Calle Scirocco restaurant and nightclub in Makati City. [Congrats to our very own Christian Besler And Charo Nuguid who did a fantastic job on both of these events!]
There is no shortage of people in the Manila area – and increasingly, no shortage of tech ideas. Monday’s event featured talks from some of the teams who were on display over the week-end.
Monday’s event featured talks from some of the teams who were on display over the week-end. The 100 or so developers on hand Monday night also listened to pitches from Microsoft and RIM.
Norbert Aquende, a Microsoft Windows Phone MVP, said there would be 185 billion smartphone apps downloaded in Asia alone over the next five years, and that Microsoft intended to offer developers a vibrant ecosystem with Win7.
The Philippines is the social-media capital of the world, as measured by per capita texting and SM usage. This is no surprise given the tight bonds that unite families and friends here.
He was followed by Johan Kremer from RIM Singapore, who touted statistics that found Blackberry developers have been the most successful in the industry and that the company intended this to continue. He also made note of the company’s big Asian developer’s conference, to be held in Bangkok in December.
The country’s English-speaking dimension, a propensity for quick action (think of Manny Pacquiao throwing a few lightning combos and you get the idea), and a wacky sense of humor that underlies this reserved culture have likely found no better friend than the emerging smartphone app market. Building apps is not easy, but doesn’t require massive resources – a good idea, some creativity and humor, a good designer, and a few good code demons can be all you need. Plenty of all of all that here. Full article via Sys-Con Media