iPhone users flock to students' battery app

Thu, July 9, 2009 |

Have you wanted to pass the time on an airplane flight by watching a favorite movie on your iPhone, but wanted to make sure there was still enough battery life to call a couple friends to let them know you've landed?

A team of three Valparaiso University students have created a solution for that dilemma: Battery Go! The new iPhone application gives users an easy way to see how much battery power their device has and the amount of time they can talk on their phone, watch videos, browse the Web or listen to music before running the battery dry. Since the July 5 launch of Battery Go!, the application has reached No. 74 on the iTunes App Store list of most downloaded paid iPhone applications.

Cameron Banga, a senior economics major from Hobart who helped develop the application, said that the Battery Go! application solves a need that every user has, particularly since iPhones use more battery power than traditional cell phones.

"Battery life is something that's always on the mind of people, whatever demographic they fall into," Banga said. "Whether someone is a 50-year-old businessperson or an 18-year-old college student, everyone is interested in knowing how much longer they can use their phone."

For the 99 cent download, Battery Go! lets people calculate various scenarios of how much different iPhone functions will drain battery power, for instance, whether the there is enough battery power to watch a video or browse the Web for a certain amount of time. The application also offers helpful battery saving tips and is accurate to within 5 percent.

Working with Banga to develop the application were Michael Phelps, a senior mechanical engineering major from Hobart, and Jeff Lange, a junior communication major from Crete, Ill.

The team was featured in the July 14 Chicago Sun-Times article "Valparaiso students' iPhone product is a monster hit."

"We decided to devote the whole summer to developing an iPhone application," Banga said. "We saw this as a self-imposed internship that would allow us to gain some new knowledge and experience and create something that we could demonstrate people, even if only a couple people downloaded it."

The team started working on their application the day after finishing finals at Valpo in May, and has blogged about creating Battery Go! and the launch of their business CollegeKidApp.

The past month and a half has been a whirlwind for the three Valpo students, none of whom had previously done any coding.

Banga said the team looked at high profile applications such Tweetie, Fieldrunners and Koi Pond for inspiration, and were thrilled to watch as Battery Go! surpassed them in popularity.

"It's like you're in the gym with LeBron James and Michael Jordan," Banga said. "Those are some of the greatest applications out there."

The rapidly rising popularity of Battery Go! surprised members of the team.

"Watching it climb up the list of most downloaded apps during the 48 hours after it was released was really cool," Banga said. "I think we've been a little lucky to achieve what we have so quickly, but we also created something that solves an important need that people have, and that's the key for any successful business."

Since the application's release, it has been reviewed by PC Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Gadget Review, AppAdvice.com, Takes on Tech, iPhoneItalia and several other Web sites.

The team plans to continue working on Battery Go! and other iPhone applications during the school year, and there's a possibility it could even develop into a career for the three students.

"As a student who will be graduating in less than a year and with a recession going on, it's a scary environment," Banga said. "But we've shown that if you play to your strengths, put in hard work and have an entrepreneurial spirit, you still can achieve success."