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"This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.  The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.\nName: Appboy\nQuick Pitch: Social network for mobile app developers and users. Personal appstore. Add, share, comment, vote, socialize, submit app ideas, and get discovered.\nGenius Idea: Appboy bills itself as a social network for mobile app developers and users. It lists apps for various mobile platforms (iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Palm Pre) and users can comment and rate apps and create their own custom app stores. Developer can add their own apps to the store for additional promotion and users can submit ideas for future applications.\n\nUsers can create their own custom app stores that contain apps they like and earn a 5% commission based on app sales that originate from their stores.\nFor developers, Appboy offers another avenue of promoting your product and gaining more attention.\nThe app-idea feature is pretty intriguing. The idea is that users submit app ideas and the community votes on what ideas it likes. The best ideas will be made into actual apps (though it isn't clear who will take on the development task or how that task will be funded) and will win $250. It's sort of like Threadless for mobile apps.\n\nHaving another avenue to find and rate mobile applications is always helpful \u2014 especially as app stores become larger and harder to navigate. Appboy's focus on multiple platforms and the way it tries to encourage interaction from both users and developers shows the promise of a cool mobile app community.\nWhere do you go to find out about the latest mobile apps? What do you think of the concept of custom app stores? Let us know!\nSpark of Genius Series Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark\nBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.\nEntrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the \"new CloudApp()\" contest - use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).\u201D"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/10/27/appboy/>