The definition of a Smartphone has evolved. It is no longer just a personal information management platform. The birth of the concept of application stores has fueled the smartphone race to the point that hardware is just one aspect to be looked at. For a majority of customers , it is the kind of and number of apps available on the store which matters. And bringing you those apps are the developers. Working behind the scenes, these individuals or teams strive to provide consumers engaging content which will keep them occupied for hours.

One of the leading development teams from India are the guys at Spice Labs. We recently got a chance to sit down with a member of the development team, Prashant Singh. Prashant a Product Manager at Spice Labs gave us a tour of the entire product portfolio. Spice Labs is a part of the Spice Mobility group and has operations in the entire gamut of WAP , Consumer Apps and even Enterprise Mobility. With the increasing popularity of BlackBerry smartphones in the Indian market , Spice Labs have been working on their app portfolio for the enterprise centric device. The key focus is on consumer apps which would enhance the usage of business oriented device in a non business environment. Ranging from Games , Social Networking , Utilities to Kids Apps , Spice Labs covers a majority of the spectrum of mobile apps from a usability perspective.

Spice Labs have enjoyed enormous success on the BlackBerry App World. Out of the top 25 applications , 6 are developed by the team at Spice. The breakup of the 19+ apps in the store leans towards casual games and the remaining are children oriented. The cumulative download count till now is in excess of 10million on the Blackberry platform alone.

Applications like Kiddo and Hangman have been a global success for the development team and have attained top download positions across platforms. With Kiddo , the development team has reached a perfect balance between education and fun. Available globally , the application makes extensive use of images and sounds coupled with an engaging UI to become a teaching aid. In fact the app has been proven to enhance cognitive skills and memory , pattern matching skills. Good work Spice !

In the casual apps segment Hangman has been a major success for the team at Spice. This globally available app has ranked amongst the top three apps on the Blackberry platform consistently. With inbuilt Facebook integration and daily word packs you are assured to have fresh content. This has been a major pull for the consumers.

A quick walkthrough of the applications later , it is obvious that the team has dedicated a lot of effort to make the game sticky. The user is very likely to keep coming back for more. On the flip side , the application look a bit crude and could definitely do with a user interface overhaul. Larger and sharper screens demand high quality UI animations and gameplay. Considering their global appeal , Spice Labs could do well by following this advice. Making the game look good is almost as important as ensuring compelling gameplay.