uTest Archive

Here are a few updates from a variety of NYC-based startups.

uTest

Last week we posted a demo presentation and some notes about uTest. This week the company announced the launch of mobile application testing. They currently have 15,000 testers from 150 countries available to complete the tests that companies setup although I am not sure what percentage are mobile testers. The company noted regarding the launch, "uTest provides real-time access to testers with a wide range of locations, languages and platforms, specifically important to mobile app developers; having many unique dimensions in a testing matrix is a reality (and a daunting task) for mobile developers."

KickApps

This week KickApps announced a new partnership with Hearst-Argyle Television which will bring the KickApps social media app to Hearst’s nation-wide network of television-station websites. The program is named "u local" and will be pushed out to 25 television websites during the first half of 2009. The first u local website went live in December 2008 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Check out all of our KickApps coverage.

Pingg

When we interviewed Pingg founder Lorien Gabel last month, we discussed the partnership Pingg has with Martha Stewart. Stewart is an investor in Pingg and this week they two companies announced the next step in integration. The release notes, "Martha Stewart and her team of expert designers have culled a special collection of diverse, stunning images from MSLO’s extensive content libraries that can now be incorporated into online invitations and e-cards."

Tonight at the TechAviv meetup in NYC, uTest CEO & Co-Founder Doron Reuveni provided an overview of how their testing marketplace works. I call it a testing marketplace because companies bring their applications and match up with testers from around the world. They currently have 15,000 testers from 150 countries available to complete the tests that companies setup.

Companies can select the characteristics of testers they want for a specific test. I asked the management team about payouts to the testers and they told me typically they start at $2 and go up from there to about $30. The tester gets paid only if the company accepts the bug report. uTest also provides load testing and can bundle the bug testing on top of the load testing as sometimes applications perform worse under load.

In the video below, Doron speaks about a new product launch coming from uTest next month. It’s called "AppGrader" and will allow startups to get free reviews of their web applications using a select set of testers in the uTest service. The information on the example Doron showed included usability reviews, first impression reviews, etc. Looks like it could be a win for both startups and uTest as startups get a chance to test the service with limited functionality for free and as the startup grows, they will come back to uTest for more involved bug testing.