If you have ever been in a foreign country and needed to find a restroom or a bus station or a street address; if you have ever needed financial advice before making a significant purchase; or even if you just needed to know the key ingredients to your favorite cocktail… there’s an “app” for that, and Milwaukee native Matthew Friedel, president and owner of Jam-Mobile.com probably created it.
Friedel works full-time as a mechanical engineer at Harley-Davidson Inc. In 2003, Friedel ventured out and formed Jam-Mobile, a smart phone application design website.
Friedel started out developing smart phone applications for the Sprint Palm.
“My education played a huge role in me starting this business. I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, but I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” Friedel said. He later received his MBA and a master’s degree in engineering from Marquette University.
“The game changer came with the mobile storefront that allowed developers like me to create a product, submit it to the smart phone company and sell to individuals all over the world,” he said
Friedel’s days of developing smart phone applications for the Palm have taken him in the direction of developing for Blackberry as well as the Apple iPhone.
“These are clearly the best platforms to develop for. I started out doing the Palm, but quickly realized that both Blackberry and iPhone are slowly capturing the majority of the market share,” Friedel said. “It just made sense, because I felt there was the most opportunity there.”
According to Friedel, the programming language for the two platforms is completely different, and most developers focus on a single niche market.
“In a little over a year, the number of available applications rose to nearly 60,000,” Friedel said. “It’s a competitive marketplace. I just focus on creating something that will enhance or improve personal productivity.”
So far, Friedel has created personal finance applications, travel and language applications, personal productivity applications, lifestyle applications and sports games and entertainment applications for both the Blackberry and iPhone.
“The theme of my developments really follows a pattern that fits the consumer’s lifestyle,” Friedel said. “Each one fills a need that I have discovered in my own life and realize that need might be present in someone else’s too.”
Friedel has developed an auto car loan calculator, a mortgage loan payment calculator, a retirement 401(k) and an IRA investment calculator for smart phones.
In 2008, his wife traveled throughout Europe, so Friedel developed language translators in Spanish, German and French for the Blackberry which include audio sound bytes and language translators in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Swedish, Czech and Portuguese for the iPhone.
Friedel also has developed a few sports trivia applications, a grocery shopping assistant and even a bartender application with built-in drink and shot recipes.
All of Friedel’s applications are stand-alone, he said. That means individuals do not need to access a data network to use them.
“Often applications will require a user to access a system, and then when you get to a foreign country and you want to use a language application it doesn’t work,” he said. “Mine aren’t like that. You can use them anytime, anywhere.”
Friedel works as an engineer, but wants to eventually be more entrepreneurial and run his own business.
“All of my applications are functional. I want them to serve some sort of purpose,” Friedel said. “There are thousands of applications out there, and eventually I’d like to do this professionally. I just need to get my name out there first.”
Friedel has not developed any Milwaukee-specific applications yet. He pitched an idea for the Governor’s Business Plan Contest about an application for a Milwaukee City Guide, but hasn’t expanded that idea yet.
“There is so much opportunity in this market long-term,” Friedel said.
Friedel is currently working on his Ph.D. at Marquette and doing engineering research combined with a study through the Medical College on mild brain trauma. According to Friedel, the future of mobile technology could lie in API sensors for smart phones that could read body metrics like blood pressure or heart rate.
“Right now I am just getting a feel for the market,” he said. “But the possibilities in the future are endless, and I feel like I am in a good place right now.”
