futurezone Award: Shpock is the winner app

Shpock is a smartphone app that is designed to be a flea market for your pocket. And that is where the name comes from: “shop in your pocket.” Like on eBay, users can browse through and buy second-hand articles from other users, and can offer things of their own for sale.

In addition to used articles, the offers also include do-it-yourself articles and even the occasional valuable antique. Whether you are looking for an old camera or a unique piece of clothing, you have good chances of finding what you are looking for with the app. You may even find one of the last tickets for the sold-out concert next week on Shpock. This wide-ranging offer combined with the good structure of the app convinced futurezone’s readers and the jury, and the software took first place in the futurezone App Award powered by ORF TVThek.

The app also accounts for the user’s location and shows what treasures are to be had nearby. If you find what you are looking for, you can make the seller an offer. The seller than has 36 hours to react or to accept the offer. If he does, a binding sales agreement is concluded. If he does not react within 36 hours, the buyer must confirm his offer again.

The young company has gotten off to a very good start this year, and the app has already been downloaded over one million times. The app is available for Android and iOS, and the offerings can also be viewed in a normal web browser.

Second place went to the online network for pets Peterest, and third place was taken by the app Helios, which provides information about art in public spaces.

“A crucial part of many people’s media use”

“Increasing mobility and the rapid growth of the smartphone market make apps a crucial part of many people’s media use,” said Thomas Prantner, deputy director of technology, online services, and new media at Austrian Broadcasting Corporation.

The decision to support the futurezone Award was logical, Prantner said: “As a modern media company, Austrian Broadcasting Corporation has long offered its audience a diverse and successful range in this area, from the TVthek app and apps for all ORF radio stations to the Second Screen apps for world championship skiing and the recent national council elections. Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is proud to support an award given by futurezone as one of the leading technology portals in Austria and that highlights the most exciting developments in this sector.”