O2 invites customers to test phone apps

UK-- Mobile operator O2 is inviting customers to join an online community where they can test and rate new mobile applications and have an influence on whether they sink or swim.

The O2 Litmus community was launched in December as a tool to help app developers research, build, test and distribute their products. It has now been opened up for any customer to try out the latest pre-release applications, including games, GPS software and communications tools.

Customers who test applications will be offered free access to the completed product if it is made commercially available, as well as cash incentives through a system where users ‘bid' for the amount they want to receive in return for testing an app.

James Parton, head of O2 Litmus, said: “Opening an apps store has become the new mobile vogue. But for O2 it misses something fundamental: the collaboration of the customer, developer and the network operator. We are in the unique position to be able to draw on over 19 million customers and offer those with a proven interest in new mobile technologies and a real thirst for new ideas the chance to shape the future of their network by working directly with software developers to provide feedback on mobile applications.”

O2 is the exclusive carrier for Apple's iPhone in the UK.

Author: Robert Bain