Cherry Mobile phones get the ‘Start’ treatment

MANILA, Philippines – More than new 20 Cherry Mobile smartphone models will get an new high-tech interface, part of a recent partnership with Celltick, a global mobile commerce company.

The interface is based on Celltick’s ‘Start’ technology which gives Android users a Home screen that is automatically customized based on their needs.

Start’s utilizes a recommendation engine which learns and adapts the home screen based on the user’s behavior. This adaptive configuration makes use of big data technology and collaborative filtering.

Start will be fully customizable. Its growing ecosystem has already produced hundreds of custom themes and plug-ins available for download from Google Play. With a cleaner interface, new social media tabs, and a simplified plug-in area, the Start app has gained positive reviews from various tech websites.

“It manages to simplify the experience even more, without taking away the functionality and usefulness of plugins,” said Justin Marden of AndroidGuys.

AndroidTapp gave Start a rating of 4.3 stars out of 5, saying that Start provides “faster access to frequent things like calls and messaging, apps, custom themes and a host of other features right from the lockscreen.”

Last year, Celltick handled billions of mobile-initiated commerce transactions for virtual and physical goods across 25 countries. Cherry Mobile will be added to the company’s long list of high-profile partners around the globe which includes Yahoo!, iG Brazil, and ESPN.

“It is our mission to provide our customers with easy and affordable tools to enhance their mobile experience,” said Maynard Ngu, CEO of Cherry Mobile. “With Start, our customers will have greater flexibility and freedom to personalize their device, while benefiting from faster access to the most relevant features,” he added. – Rappler.com