Top Korean Apps Launched at Muhibbah Apps Talent 2015

Last week, I talked about the invasion of Korean Mobiles Apps in Malaysia and during the launch I was really honoured to be able to meet all the main developers of all the apps mentioned as well as some local Malaysian App Developers as well. Coming from an IT background where I used to develop educational Multimedia PC apps for my thesis, way before smartphones came in the scene, I found the whole event very interesting and eye opening to the many possibilities of using our Smart devices for a better purpose such as making free calls, learning through reading and even stimulating the brain using entertaining games.

A total of 10 Korean mobile apps were launched in Malaysia last Wednesday, 9 Sept in Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside Hotel. This was an event sponsored by MOIBA, co-organized by Ubinuri Inc. and hosted by My Appszil Asia Sdn Bhd and supported by Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) Sdn Bhd. MOIBA is an association that owns the largest members associated with the mobile industry of South Korea, including major companies such as SK Telecom, LGU +, KT, Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics and other 370 companies in various related fields.

The developers also shared with us tips about all areas of app development for enthusiasts or students wanting to enter this industry. (Video is only in Korean ya)

The event that ran over 2 days showcased the top mobile apps from Korea and Malaysia with presentations by each of the app developers who shared their success strategies as well as the lessons they learned in the process. We learned that developing an app can take anywhere between 5 days to few months and needs a team from a few to over 20 people with a typical budget of USD 3-5 Million. MyAppsZil Sdn Bhd do offer courses to train programmers in app development so do check them out, as this is a very potential industry that will only continue to boom.

The event was graced by The Ambassador of Korea to Malaysia H.E Cho Byung Jae 조병제 who visited every developer’s exhibition and encouraged them in their good work. It was great to witness this collaboration between Malaysia and Korea that opens up more opportunities for all students, programmers, gamers and more and is able to create future technopreneurs in both countries.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between UbiNuri Inc., My Appszil Asia Sdn Bhd and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) Sdn Bhd. in order to collaborate on the promotion and localization of Malaysian apps in Korea.

L-R: Mr Alfred Tan, CEO of MyAppsZil, En Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad, Ir, Director, Digital Enablement MDeC, HE Cho ByungJae, Ambassador of Korea to Malaysia, Dato’ Ng Wan Peng COO of MDeC, and Mr Paul Noh, CEO of Ubi Nuri Inc.

The blue and yellow balloons were released as a launch gimmick, incidentally both blue and yellow colours are part of the colours of Korea and Malaysia with significant meanings.

After the formality, we get to listen to each and every one of the prestigious developers that shared with us about their apps. You can read my previous post for more about the app description as here I will just be writing about what I think of the apps, my opinions in brief.
1) BOTO the Pink Dolphin : http://goo.gl/B4tEJB

I like this app a lot due to the nice characters and animations. I was told by the developer from Creative Bomb that every character was chosen by children during their development days. I love that it is so child-centric. There are many stages to play inside this app and I was particularly attracted to the music part of the game. Children aged 6-8 get to complete each stage to move on the the new stages and it will challenge their creativity to solve the puzzles and questions presented in game form.

2) English Reading Adventure 1 http://goo.gl/NQ142s

This app created by Unidocs Inc. will give you a sample book for free but the rest of the books are in-app purchases. This is probably a great app for non English speakers to teach their kids aged 6-8 the love for English story books. The app can read to you or you can choose to touch the words to read. The narration is very good and lively, makes the story interesting. I would prefer though if the words light up one by one rather than a whole sentence. There are many series of this app, from Stage 1 to Stage 7 depending on your reading level. The books come in all kinds of subjects; about nature to biographies, so I guess you can really increase your knowledge in many areas using this app. It’s actually available in iOS too.

3) Damyeongi 다면기 V1.0 Go Board Game http://goo.gl/2Dz3rn

Damyeongi or Baduk is a very popular board game in Korea that originated from Ancient China. It is a strategy game between black and white player that is all about capturing space and gaining territory. This app is like a pro player simulation app that you can play with online players. I guess this is the new generation way of playing rather than playing at the park like many uncles 아저씨 do. It’s a great way for new players to learn as well in a non threatening environment.

4) RE-VOLT 2: Multiplayer http://goo.gl/58KYmx

Truth be told, I never knew Wego Interactive that created this successful game is from Korea. This is probably the one company that I had heard of before the event. RC Car racing is one of the games I used to play on the iPad too, it is an adrenaline rush and now it has multiplayer ability. By next year Revolt 3 will be released so get very excited for it.

5) FAMY (Family Chat & Location) http://goo.gl/ou9GZB



FAMY by Spacosa should be a really important app that every parent or pet owner want. It is basically an app that can accurately track your group’s location via GPS very quickly. Family members or group members added in the app can see each other’s location and even chat or send SOS message. In this day and age of many kidnaps of kids, this app will become really important. So you might ask how about kids and pets that do not carry handphones. In comes the round device LINK that can be placed anywhere in your kid’s bags or hang on the collar of your pets to be able track them in case they go missing. This app is also useful for bosses to track their staffs from cheating on their time or for tracking products from getting missing.

6) Mask Masters PLAP http://www.semsgames.com/mask-masters-plap.html

This is a new app that I did not talk about the last time. Mask Masters is actually an animated Cartoon on TV, but this is the app that allows you to design their mask and costumes I believe.

7) Invention Savers JIN http://goo.gl/XHs97P
This is a very cute app featuring a young boy Jin that travelled back in time to save his inventor friend from an evil kidnapper. While in his journey he will chance upon many real life inventors and learn about the things they have invented in the past. I would say this is a history based game and will be able to teach young learners about many things they might take for granted today that was invented in those days.

8) God Summoners http://goo.gl/DAGux6

This app by Solideng is quite interesting too, made for multi players to play on the TV together as well. It’s a typical RPG with cute characters, gamers would surely love this.

9) BridgeCall http://goo.gl/oUGCxV

Bridgecall is a basic app that allows free calls between users with a unique feature that others might not have. When you have this installed, you do not need to open the app to make a free call, you just make a call like you normally would from your phone native caller, and if the person you are calling has this app, your call will be free, that is if both of you are online either with Wifi or data, 3G/4G/LTE. You may be able to save quite a bit using this app. Plus, it is said to be very clear too, unlike some apps I have used that is so noisy.

We also checked out some local Malaysian app developers with pretty interesting apps like iMalaysia Game, Mathmagician amongst others. I thought iMalaysia Game was worth downloading as it featured scenes from all over Malaysia, with the character running and collecting coins, something like Temple Run. Mathmagician is great for brain training in Maths as it is a Maths game that can be played with two persons.

For more info about all the organisers:

www.moiba.or.kr

www.ubi-nuri.com

www.myappzil.net

www.mdec.my