Zuztertu, a little-known firm making apps for the iPhone, is hoping to make a big splash in the educational space.
The company, which has been self-funded by CEO Gerlinde Gniewosz, currently has over 30 apps available covering a multitude of topics from The Beatles and architecture to accounting.
Speaking at TechnologyWorld09, she explained that Zuztertu had grown out of a love for all things mobile, with the concept being developed around Christmas of last year and it’s first app having gone live back in February.
“Mobile technology is fantastic but there used to be issues with user interfaces and getting apps onto mobile devices,” Gniewosz added, “with even the experts taking days to figure these thing outs.”
However, with the arrival of the iPhone she realised that things were about to change in a big way.
“Obviously it set a whole new benchmark and fixed the user experience with the touch screen and the ability to get an app within seconds with just a couple of clicks.”
Then, when she began looking into this, Gniewosz realised that she might be able to make an impact on the educational markets, probably the weakest sector out there for iPhone applications right now.
“The games sector is also highly competitive and the apps have a very short lifespan,” she added. “I also wanted to be able to help people out and come to work thinking I had done something good, so I picked the education segment.”
At the moment Zuztertu does mostly standalone applications such as revision and general knowledge quizzes, but has its first flash card application coming out in a few weeks so users can practise for exams.
“Mini courses are also proving popular, where we take a topic and condense it down to the bare facts,” she added.
Zuztertu is beginning to roll out tools too.
“We have a CPD tracker so professionals like accountants or lawyers can keep track of their personal development activities,” said Gniewosz. “This produces reports so you can see how many hours you’ve done and what you have left over.”
Gniewosz said that this was doing particularly well in the UK at the moment, growing steadily by word of mouth.
“Education is not just for the children but also for adults who are time-poor and want to keep developing themselves,” she added.
