Irynsoft

Irynsoft is a software and services company that is focused on mobile and web technologies. In addition to software products, Irynsoft provides customer solutions and consulting services to small and large enterprises. Irynsoft is based in the Bay Area of California and was founded in 2008.

Irynsoft's first released product was "Friend Atlas", which debuted on the Apple App Store in January 2009. Irynsoft has since shifted its focus to education products. The primary product is the Virt U mobile education platform. Irynsoft released the open courseware version of the platform for the iPhone. "Virt U: The Virtual University" reached the App Store in September 2009.

Friend Atlas for the iPhone

Friend Atlas looks through your iPhone Address Book and finds out which 10 people live closest to your location (using your GPS or Location Services). You can also input the address of where you plan to be so that you can plan ahead. Friend Atlas spent several weeks in the Navigation Apps Top 50 and exceeded 10,000 downloads in the Fall of 2009.

The Virt U Mobile Education Platform

According to Irynsoft, Virt U is an interactive mobile learning platform where you find and "attend" lectures & collaborate on coursework among a social network of peers, all within a rich smartphone interface. With Virt U's portability and community, students overcome the most common hurdles that impede online educational success: finding the time and finding the help. Virt U's initial target is the iPhone, promoting learning anytime and anywhere. In addition, Virt U makes liberal use of Facebook Connect to leverage the social graph and making mobile learning a collaborative, social experience.

The Virt U Platform has three primary roles to facilitate distance learning:

Relationship Generation Platform

Designed for online educators to optimize their qualified lead generation and build their brand. By putting a small set of classes on the App Store for free, educators will reach a viable set of potential customers and build a relationship that is much stronger than what is generated from traditional approaches like magazine ads or CPC buys.

Distance Education Extension

Designed for online educators to provide students with yet another way to attend classes and interact with their classmates while fitting education into their busy schedule. By extending attendance options, schools can increase the attractiveness of your program while increasing satisfaction and retention by reducing the time-management hurdle.

Mobile Education Marketplaces

Allows educators of all types (schools, training, etc.) to join a co-op marketplace or create their own exclusive branded marketplace to provide a new channel for distributing valuable educational content. It opens their content to world of mobile users that might otherwise not find the time to view your content.

Virt U: The Virtual University Open Courseware Edition for the iPhone

In September 2009, Irynsoft released an open courseware version of Virt U on the Apple iTunes App Store for no charge. Virt U debuted with 50 lectures and has gone up to over 500 lectures from schools such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, and Yale. Irynsoft is continually adding courses and lectures to increase the breadth and depth of the selection. The Virt U app is located on the App Store at the following link.

External links

Irynsoft Company Site
Official Virt U Site
Virt U Demo on YouTube
Virt U Mobile Education Platform presentation on Slideshare
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