Sprint Corp. and Smith Micro Software Inc. have joined forces to groom the next generation of digital artists.
An educational initiative known as Avatar Challenge has high school, college and trade school students using the company’s animation software to create characters that can be viewed and used by millions of subscribers using Sprint’s visual voicemail, a preloaded application on all of its Android smartphones developed by the Aliso Viejo-based software maker.
“Many experts in education and business believe that art and design are also critical skills for next-generation innovators,” Smith Micro’s Chief Executive William Smith told the Business Journal. “Today’s mobile messaging apps are increasingly visual and perfectly illustrate the marriage of design and technology.”
Its new AniMates mobile messaging app, the basis of Sprint’s new avatar messaging feature, allows users to create animated characters and vibrant backgrounds. The free app aims to generate revenue through 99-cent character purchases.
The added exposure through Sprint should help Smith Micro, which posted a $2.4 million loss in the second quarter on $8.5 million in revenue.
Overland, Kan.-based Sprint is the third largest carrier in the U.S., with 54.5 million subscribers through the June quarter.
It has long been a Smith Micro customer, using the company’s QuickLink connection manager, NetWise network traffic management tools, and CommSuite visual messaging.
Teachers enrolled in the program receive one free license to download Anime Studio Pro 10, which costs $300, and up to 15 free licenses of Anime Studio Debut, which costs $50, for student use. Students can submit characters beginning Oct. 1, with the top 10 designs earning copies of Smith Micro’s Artists Bundle Debut software. Monthly winners will receive a $2,000 scholarship and professional versions of its animated software offerings, valued at $1,100.
Tech Job Cuts
The U.S. tech industry in the first half of the year has made nearly as many job cuts as it did in all of 2013.
The latest data from Chicago-based consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. underscore the fast-moving nature of the industry and an inherent paradox: On one hand, the influential sector is performing strongly and had a big hand in pulling the country out of the global recession, but certain segments have been a drain, particularly personal computers.
PC makers announced some 30,000 planned layoffs from January through June, up 51% from the same period a year ago. OC has felt the downturn, with the Business Journal recently reporting that Irvine-based Vizio Inc. halted PC production as it weighs its “product assortment strategy.”
The PC market has been in gradual decline for years, and market tracker Gartner Inc. forecasts tablet sales will outpace PC shipments next year for the first time.
Tech companies planned to cut 48,402 employees through the first six months of the year, up 68% from a year ago and inching toward the 56,918 planned cuts in all of 2013. HP accounted for 16,000 of that total.
Tech sector employment is off to a rocky start in the second half of the year, with Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. announcing plans to cut some 2,500 workers globally by early next year. Its Irvine headquarters is slated to cut 240 of those as part of a widespread restructuring.
Ingram Micro Lauded
Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc. was recently named Original Equipment Manufacturer Distributor of the Year by Microsoft Corp., and the North American Distributor of the Year by EMC Corp., the world’s largest data center builder.
Ingram Micro is the world’s largest distributor of computers, software and other technology products, with sprawling operations around the globe.
