Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: Friday, June 10, 2011
New York (Tadias) – ArifSoft, the Bay Area based developer of Ethiopian mobile apps, has announced the launching of ArifLife – a free application for the iPhone and iPod that helps users easily access business directories, news, and Ethiopian American events all over the United States and beyond.
The new app is developed by the same group that created ArifZefen, an app that enables Ethiopian artists to share their music. The organization is also behind ArifQuas and EriSoccer, both aptly named to provide soccer enthusiasts with real-time scores and festival information. ArifQuas was released during the 2010 Ethiopian Soccer Tournament, while EriSoccer makes its debut at the annual Eritrean sports gathering this year.
Bef Ayenew, a software engineer and one of the two former MIT classmates who conceived the idea for ArifSoft, says their latest offering is an information bank that can be tapped by everyone with an iPhone, iPod, iTouch or iPad . “ArifLife is a one-stop reference app for events, places and news in the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities,” Bef said in a recent interview with Tadias Magazine. “Not only does it help you stay informed about all the activities in your community, the app will even map your events for you, and give you the directions to each location.”
“Suppose you need directions to the closest church or the phone number and operating hours of a local restaurant. Or maybe you need to know what time the hottest party in town is starting and how to dress up and get in for free. These are the kind of things that will be at your fingertips with ArifLife. It’s an international app that is designed to work everywhere including in Europe and Africa,” adds Bef.
The application, which is integrated with popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, offers a number of activity categories including dining, nightlife, film screenings, art shows, cultural gatherings and religious services.
“ArifLife app has three major components: events, businesses and news,” says co-founder Ephraim Tekle. “The events section includes concerts, parties, movies and several other events within the community and the business section serves as mobile yellow pages with a variety of business listings ranging from restaurants and coffee shops to barbers and travel agencies.” He points out that the application relies on a largely self service model– allowing the end user such as a business owner or promoter to manually add and update information in the database.
Ephraim notes: “iPhone remains the platform of choice for developers worldwide. Now that Verizon also offers the iPhone, the user base of iPhone users has and will continue to grow significantly. This offers a great opportunity for app developers to tap into an ever expanding customer base.”
And why is the application free and how does ArifSoft plan to make money? “We are currently focused on getting the word out, introducing the technology and platform to businesses, and incorporating more and more regions in our goal to go global over the next few months,” says Bef Ayenew. “We believe in the long term profitability of the app as more and more users on both ends of the spectrum, businesses and end users alike, realize the value it adds, but ultimately our revenue will come primarily from advertisement and listing fees.”
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You can download ArifLife at the app store and learn more about ArifSoft at www.arifsoft.com.