Australian mobile app developer BigTinCan has a hit on its hands with its locally developed Blackberry application, BuzzMe, taking the number one spot globally for sales.
BuzzMePro, which costs $US2.99, was the number one paid application on AppWorld, while its free counterpart came in a close second behind the popular Pandora mobile music service.
The developer has clocked up more than a million downloads so far on the platform and continues to attract new users.
BigTinCan managing director David Keane said the company was winning between 10,000 and 20,000 new users every day.
BuzzMe allows smartphone users save up to 50 per cent on local calls and messaging when dialing internationally. It also adds smart calling options such as enabling multimedia messaging and recording phone calls.
"Having a registered user base of more than a million users gives us a really strong platform to extend the business." Keane said.
At this stage it was difficult to forecast an upper limit to the number of downloads, Keane said, as the application’s growth rate showed no sign of leveling out.
The company has also developed an iPhone application aimed at reducing international mobile costs by connecting existing mobile networks.
The challenge, Keane said, was for mobile developers to get noticed amidst the thousands of applications in the marketplace.
"Once you make that break though and have a strong user base and a reputation for making quality applications, it becomes much easier,” he said. “As we keep engaging with our users with promotions, give-aways and quality applications, they will continue to respect and identify with the BigTinCan brand."
With the Blackberry Curve 8520 due for release later this month, BigTinCan has teamed up with the handset vendor to launch an interactive competition for registered users to win one of five of the new handsets.
Users are encouraged to make a video of themselves making use of a BigTinCan application on a BlackBerry phone with the theme 'Disco' (see www.bigtincan.com/september for details) for the chance to win one of the new handsets.