Dirk Heikoop, left, Garry Seto, centre, and Ken Seto, right, of Endloop Studios, created iMockups, an application for the iPad. JENNIFER ROBERTS FOR THE GLOBE AND MAILJENNIFER ROBERTS/The Globe and Mail
Toronto has become a hotbed of app development for mobile phones, churning out everything from productivity apps for businesses to sports and entertainment apps. The iPad's bigger screen opens up even greater possibilities and Toronto developers are eager to seize the opportunities. The city is well-placed to do so. Its bustling film, Internet, design and creative industries have merged around the city's universities and institutions to create an ideal ecosystem for app development, says Krista Jones, who heads the information and communication technology division at the MaRS Discovery District, a small business incubator. "Toronto is an app hub because we have deep roots in both the creative and design industries, and the technical industries," she says. "It's the perfect mix for apps."
EndLoop Studios
Founders: Brothers Garry and Ken Seto
No. of employees: Three
Most popular creation: iMockups
The e-mail from Apple Inc. that landed in Ken Seto's inbox was crystal clear: If you want your app to be in the grand opening of the iPad App Store, you have precisely three weeks to submit it. "We only really started putting hand to keyboard then," says Mr. Seto, 42, who became a developer after a decade spent as a technology consultant. The company met the deadline, taking its iMockups product from concept to downloadable app in less than a month. "We're a small team, so we work fast," Mr. Seto says. EndLoop's app, which costs $9.99, allows designers to mock up Websites and layouts by choosing from a small display case of options, including various video and text icons, and sweeping them onto a digital whiteboard; a designer can shrink, enlarge and move things about on the screen as clients sit next to them. After being featured on the front page of Apple's app store, downloads soared 300 per cent.
Five Mobile Inc.
Founders: Troy Hubman, Ameet Shah, Oliver Tabay, Jeff Zakrzewski
No. of employees: 35
Most popular creation: The Score Mobile for BlackBerry
Shortly before Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in September, 2008, the financial giant pulled the plug on one of its many investments: Tira Wireless, a mobile app developer with a large office in Toronto. Five of the employees started the aptly named Five Mobile and never looked back. "When we started the company we had our first four contracts waiting to be signed as we were waiting for our incorporation papers," says Ameet Shah, a Silicon Valley veteran. The company has grown to become one of the city's larger developers. From NHL games for simple cellphones, the firm went on to create a popular BlackBerry app that aggregates sports results for The Score television network, as well as apps for Walt Disney Co., Sony Pictures Entertainment and MapQuest.
NuLayer Inc.
Founders: Jeff Brenner and Peter Kieltyka
No. of employees: Five
Most popular creation: CrowdReel
When the executives at Twitter fly you to California for a meeting, you know you're on to something. NuLayer's 25-year-old co-founders have gotten used to the attention, as they start pushing their most ambitious creation, CrowdReel, which allows users to pull together themed photos from Twitter - every image that, say, mentions "World Cup" or whatever other term you choose to search. (You would be shocked by some of the photos that appear after dark.) The two McMaster University graduates demonstrated CrowdReel - which is currently a Website, but will be an iPad app by June - to the Twitter folks using an iPad, which they bought on a pilgrimage to Buffalo, N.Y., a few days after the U.S. launch of the tablet. "If we hadn't had the iPad, it would have been much harder to convey how great CrowdReel is," Jeff Brenner says. NuLayer has also landed the job of building the iPad app for The Score sports network, allowing users to not only follow scores but track player stats.