SPB Software

SPB Software, a division of Yandex, the leading Russian IT company which operates the largest search engine in Russia, develops mobile solutions for OEM mobile device manufacturers, mobile carriers, smartphone, tablet, and end users worldwide. On November 28, 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Yandex acquired SPB Software after its own initial public offering [1] debuted on the NASDAQ as the fourth largest IPO for all of 2011.[2] SPB Software's most popular solution, the SPB Shell 3D, has been described by The New York Times as an application that makes for a much more user-friendly phone.[3] SPB Shell 3D utilizes SPB Software's SPB UI Engine, a cross-platform modular plugin for building hyper-realistic 3D interfaces on a variety of devices. Android Arena describes the SPB UI Engine as being written in native C++, meaning that it takes advantage of everything a chipset has to offer, sailing smooth at the default 60 frames per second, and making laggy performance a thing of the past.[4] SPB also develops software running on Android, iOS, Symbian, bada, BlackBerry, Maemo, MeeGo, webOS, Windows Phone 7, and the Windows Mobile operating systems.[5]

SPB Software Inc.
IndustryMobile application development
Founded1999 (1999)
Key people
Sebastian-Justus Schmidt (CEO)
Vassili Philippov (COO)
Yaroslav Goncharov (CTO)
Juggs Ravalia (VP)
Olga Steidl (CMO)
Productsuser interfaces for mobile devices, system, communication, business, multimedia software, games
ParentYandex
Websitewww.spbsoft.com

History

Formation

Formed in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1999, the company was named SPB Software House, but removed the word "House" in 2008. The company released its first mobile application in 2001 and went on to win the Developer Of The Year Award 2003 by Handango, the leading provider of mobile content. The company subsequently won the same award from Handango in 2006, 2007 and 2009. SPB Software went on to develop mobile apps for a variety of platforms and expanded its title lineup to include games, utility apps and mobile OS shells. SPB Software is now developing apps for all of the major mobile phone manufacturers. SPB Software also works with phone makers and mobile operators in various countries to develop customized versions of its software and optimized applications for particular devices.

Acquisition

On November 28, 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Yandex NV, operator of Russia’s most popular Internet search engine, acquired SPB Software "to expand mobile products and the use of its search capabilities on mobile devices." [6] The CEO of Yandex, Arkady Volozh, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as stating that "Mobile is a vital part of our growth strategy. The acquisition of SPB Software creates new market potential for us and a plethora of possibilities for innovative solutions for our partners."[7] The CEO of SPB Software, Sebastian-Justus Schmidt, was appointed as EVP Mobile and General Manager by Yandex.

Products

SPB Shell 3D

SPB Shell 3D is the most popular mobile technology developed and sold by SPB Software. A shell application allows users to customize the user interface of their phone and add features not offered by the original manufacturer, such as an enhanced address book features, phone dialing capabilities, calendar organizers and various utilities for configuring the mobile device. The shell application allows users to include more personalization and sometimes more precision in navigating the phone using gestures. The previous version called SPB Mobile Shell remained one of the most widely used and recognizable mobile OS shells in the world since its introduction in 2007. In February 2010, SPB Software announced SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 for Android and Symbian operating systems. Major updates to the new version include a new 3D engine and improved social networking integration. A customized version of SPB Mobile Shell was preinstalled on a number of devices by the world's leading manufacturers such as Acer, AnyDATA, Huawei, Genesis Skyworth, K-Touch, Mio, Pharos, RoverPC, Sony Ericsson, and Toshiba.

SPB TV

SPB TV is a subscription free mobile television viewer that allows users to tune into over 100 publicly available television channels in many languages, including English, Russian, German, French and Spanish and Thai, among others. SPB TV, which is available for Windows Mobile, Symbian, bada, BlackBerry and Android mobile devices and for iOS as a free download. According to iPhone Life Magazine, the application supports must-have TV features, such as a TV browser with quick channel previews, an instantly accessible TV guide for all offered channels, quick channel switching and more.[8] SPB TV supports picture-in-picture mode, TV guide integration with personal calendars and Outlook reminders and network bandwidth fluctuation support. SPB TV also supports Wi-Fi and high speed data networks. In February 2010 SPB released the SPB TV Mobile Operators Solution, a combination of server-side and client-side software allowing carriers to attach SPB TV their own infrastructure and subscription models. SPB TV Mobile Operators Solution supports iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, webOS, Windows Mobile and Feature phones (WAP version). SPB TV solution was deployed with 3 mobile operators - StarHub, MTS, MegaFon and Skylink.

Business, Communication, and Multimedia applications
  • SPB Migration Tool
  • SPB Traveler
  • SPB Wallet
  • SPB Wireless Monitor
  • SPB Time
  • SPB Weather
  • SPB News
  • SPB Radio
  • SPB TV
  • SPB Flash Cards
  • SPB Phone Suite
  • SPB Finance

Games

SPB Software has released an assortment of games for smartphones and mobile devices. SPB Brain Evolution was named the bestselling Windows Mobile game of 2008 and as the Best Casual Game of 2009 by the online mobile software store Handango.[9] Brain Evolution is described on the Windows Mobile Marketplace site as an intellectual software game that helps to train the brain and improve memory, logic, arithmetic, and puzzle-solving skills.[10]

Most popular SPB games:

  • SPB Brain Evolution
  • SPB Puzzle
  • SPB Quads
  • SPB Geo Game
  • SPB Online Games

Awards
  • 2009 - Handango - Developer of the Year, SPB Software[11]
  • 2009 - Google Android Developer Challenge, SPB TV[12]
  • 2009 - Nokia Must-Have Entertainment App, SPB TV[13]
  • 2010 - Race To Market Challenge - Most Revenue Made by Paid Application, SPB Mobile Shell[14]
  • 2010 - Microsoft Mobility Solutions Partner of the Year Awards - Consumer Application, SPB Mobile Shell[15]
  • 2010 - CSI Awards 2010, Best mobile TV technology or service, SPB TV[16]
  • 2010 - bada Developer Challenge Russia - SPB TV[17]
  • 2010 - Nokia's Calling All Innovators (Russia), SPB Mobile Shell[18]
  • 2010 - Smaato Mobile Advertising Award, SPB Mobile Shell for Symbian[19]
  • 2010 - "Best UX" award, Korean tech newspaper "IT Today", SPB Mobile Shell
  • 2011 - M-Days, Show Your App Award, SPB TV for Android
  • 2011 - Handster Award 2011, Overall Winner, SPB Shell 3D for Android

Partners

SPB Software works with phone makers and mobile operators such as Huawei, HTC, Toshiba, (now Fujitsu), ZTE, Starhub, O2, K-Touch, Megafon, Acer Inc., HP, Nokia, MTS, Swisscom in various countries providing customized versions of its software and optimized applications and for particular devices.

Headquarters

SPB Software's development headquarters are located in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Financial Headquarters are located in Hong Kong. The firm also has offices in USA, Brazil, Taiwan, and Thailand.

References
  1. Shatalova, E: "Yandex Acquires SPB Software Developer to Expand Mobile Products", Bloomberg Business Week, November 28, 2011
  2. "The United States’ biggest IPOs in 2011", Washington Post, 12/30/2011
  3. Tedeschi, B: "Unhappy With Your New Smartphone’s Home Screen? Try Customizing It", New York Times, 11/19/08
  4. "SPB UI Engine is a promising cross-platform solution for building 3D user interfaces", Android Arena, 12/23/10
  5. SPB Software
  6. Shatalova, E: "Yandex Acquires SPB Software Developer to Expand Mobile Products", Bloomberg Business Week, November 28, 2011
  7. Empson, R: "Yandex Acquires SPB Software Developer to Expand Mobile Products", Tech Crunch, November 28, 2011
  8. Adcock, N: "Free SPB TV released for iPhone!", iPhone Life Magazine, 04/03/10
  9. Handango Announces 2009 Handango Champion Awards Winners PocketGear, 12 October 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  10. "SPB Brain Evolution", Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace
  11. http://spb.com/uploads/images/awards/Winner_2009DeveloperOfTheY.jpg
  12. https://code.google.com/android/adc/gallery_winners.html
  13. http://blog.ovi.com/dailyapp/appawards/
  14. http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/wmdev/archive/2010/02/16/marketplace-momentum.aspx
  15. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/jun10/06-23MSPOTYPR.mspx
  16. http://www.csimagazine.com/awards
  17. http://developer.bada.com/challenge/main.do?menu=CM01010000&regionID=L000000001
  18. http://callingallinnovators.com/russia
  19. http://www.smaato.com/award
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