Comet Branding - Branding | PR | Social Media

Math skills? There's an App for that.

On Wednesday, October 28th at 11 a.m. Central, Comet Branding Radio will be talking with Steve Glinberg, developer of top-ranked iPhone App, KidCalc. Steve has an interesting story that we think you will find inspiring and informative, so we hope you will join us by listening in. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.

One day not too long ago, Steve Glinberg watched his 2 1/2 year old daughter, Mara, pick up his iPhone and use it without any instruction. Rather than snatch away the precious machine that connects him to the rest of the mobile world (as I may have been tempted to do…), Steve drew inspiration from the experience and decided to develop a teaching application to introduce math to children. The iPhone’s intuitive interface and colorful display offered an attention-grabbing opportunity to leverage technology for learning in a fun way.

And thus, KidCalc was born. Steve’s daughter, Mara, is now four years old and she provides the application’s voice over talent.

KidCalc is a great example of the intersection of social media, education and audience engagement, which is something right up our alley for the Comet Branding Radio show. In the context of marketing, PR, branding and social media, KidCalc demonstrates how the identification of an audience need creates opportunities to fill that need with creativity and technological enablement.

As brands scramble to define their strategies and build quality engagement with their communities, it is absolutely essential that community needs and usage habits are taken into consideration. KidCalc addresses both needs and usage in a simple, yet elegant way: kids can intuitively figure out how to use it, they have fun while learning and they want to come back again and again for more. A recipe for success.

Steve is a self-professed independent software developer, iPhone enthusiast, and dad who is passionate about finding simple and effective ways to teach even advanced concepts to young children. Created with the help of public and private school teachers, as well as parents homeschooling their children, KidCalc helps teach crucial math skills to children ages 3-9 years.

When I heard about Steve and the KidCalc app, I decided to give it a try for myself and put it through the ultimate test: give it to my own four-year-old and see what happens. No surprises. She loved it and now she wants to use my iPhone every time she sees it. Of course then my two-year-old ALSO wants to use it, resulting in a group discussion about sharing. And I end up having to hand over the iPhone.

Thanks, Steve (insert sarcasm here).

KidCalc is enjoying success as it continues to climb the ranks of top-rated iPhone apps. The highest rank an education app has ever climbed on the overall top 100 apps list is 28. @KidCalc is currently 32. It’s also the #1 ranked app in the education category.

The app has been reviewed by a bunch of people, the following is one of the most demonstrative:

KidCalc review on HowCast.com

You can buy the app in the iTunes store here.

Please join us on Comet Branding Radio to hear more about how Steve developed the application and what may be in store for the future of KidCalc and other educational iPhone applications.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.

Tags: community engagement, educational apps, iPhone, iPhone app, iPhone app rank, KidCalc, social media, Steve Glinberg