Taiwanese computer maker Acer Inc (宏碁) is set to work with local start-ups to develop new applications based on its cloud platform, and the move could help these small companies gain a foothold in the international market by using Acer’s global presence.
The Acer “Blue Sky” initiative would initially target award-winning developers from the 2014 Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards and Taiwan’s Mobileheroes 2014 Communications Contest to design new applications using Acer’s open cloud platform or its partners’ technologies, Acer said in a statement.
Building an alliance with start-up frims is expected to expand the scale of Acer’s cloud ecosystem and help the budding businesses carry out their innovative ideas, Acer’s Build Your Own Cloud and tablet business group president Maverick Shih (施宣輝) said.
Photo: EPA
“Many domestic and foreign start-up groups have developed amazing innovative ideas and technologies, but they also have trouble finding a clear path to the global market,” Shih said.
Under the Acer Blue Sky initiative, developers would be able to leverage the Acer Group’s resources, such as brand image, distribution network and services locations to gain a foothold in the global cloud ecosystem that integrates hardware, software and services, Shih added.
He said the New Taipei City-based company hosted an internal briefing late last month to showcase the applications of select start-up teams, such as the SingChat app that can translate voice and text messages into sign language on mobile devices.
Acer is expected to team up with two or three groups of developers by the end of this year and introduce global investors to them, in a bid to improve the features of their applications, which could potentially fit a global demand, Shih said.
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