BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Nov 12, 2014) - The Ovation Awards -- the only app awards to measure what brands & developers truly seek: the love and loyalty of users and experts -- officially launched today with a call for public voting and a roster of expert judges from across the apps economy.
In today's connected world, users decide which apps receive standing ovations and which ones receive a smattering of applause (or even bring out the boo birds). Created by Applause to celebrate app quality as defined by the people who matter most -- the ones who live, breathe and, most importantly, use apps, the Ovation Awards will unfold in three stages:
- Public voting: Nov 12 - Dec 14 - Vote for your favorite apps -- vote for just one, or vote for 20 (one per category per OS) from our pool of 200 finalists. This is a big part of what our panel of expert judges will consider.
- The Judges weigh in - Our panel includes accomplished mobile engineers, VCs, journalists, CEOs and others who understand apps inside and out. The decision of the judges will be final.
- Winners to be announced January 14, 2015 - The winner for each category + OS will be announced, as will the grand-prize, overall winners for iOS and for Android.
Categories and Operating Systems
Winners in both iOS and Android will be decided across 10 categories: Business/Finance & Productivity; News/Info. & Books; Education; Entertainment & Fun; Games; Health & Wellness; Retail & Lifestyle; Music & Multimedia; Sports; and Travel.
Prizes
The 200 finalists, the 20 category winners and the two grand prize winners will all receive fantastic prizes that acknowledge the current and continued quality of their app. Prizes include $5,000 in cash and $25,000 in free app quality services.
Determining the Finalists
To accurately measure user sentiment in order to narrow down millions of apps to a field of 200 finalists, a team of Applause analysts and data scientists utilized our mountain of data that fuels Applause Analytics (number of reviews, Applause score to measure user sentiment, et al). The team combined this data with additional data sources to gauge each app's popularity and impact on the apps ecosystem to come up with a proprietary algorithm that determined the field of finalists. For the inaugural Ovation Awards, only apps from the U.S. app store were selected.
Judges
Judges for the Ovation Awards include Futurist Robert Scoble, WayMedia's Herminone Way, LeWeb Co-Founder Geraldine LeMeur and experts, entrepreneurs and tech luminaries from across the apps economy.
The Ovation Awards are the latest news in what has been a busy year for Applause. In January, the company announced it received a $43MM E-Round, led by Goldman Sachs. In May, Applause announced an expanded app quality offering and rebranded from uTest to Applause, and also made its entry into the EU with a major acquisition of top EU crowdtesting company, testhub (which became Applause EU). Just last week, Applause launched ARC -- a free publication dedicated to providing expert analysis, information and research on every aspect of today's apps economy.
About The Ovation Awards
The Ovation Awards are the only app awards to measure what brands & developers truly crave: the adoration and applause of users and experts. Public voting is open from November 12 - December 14, 2014. Winners announced January 14, 2015. The decision of the judges is final. For more information and to vote for your favorite apps, visit http://ovation.applause.com.
About Applause
Launched in 2008 as uTest, Applause is leading the app quality revolution by enabling companies to deliver digital experiences that win -- from web to mobile to wearables and beyond. By combining in-the-wild testing services, software tools and analytics, Applause helps companies achieve the 360° app quality they need to thrive in the modern apps economy. Thousands of companies -- including Google, Fox, Amazon, Box, Concur and Runkeeper -- choose Applause to launch apps that delight their users. Learn more at www.applause.com and follow @applause on Twitter.