What do most college kids do during summer break? Some go on vacation, some get jobs, others chill at home.
Three Valparaiso University students decided to spend their summer by starting a business and creating an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Battery Go! is a utility that helps users determine the amount of talk, Internet, video and music time remaining on their current battery charge.
The application was created by Cameron Banga and Michael Phelps, seniors from Hobart, along with junior Jeff Lange of Crete, Ill.
"Our goal wasn't necessarily to make money," Banga said. "What's driven us has been passion."
With no jobs or internships lined up (Phelps' internship at Caterpillar was canceled because of the tenuous economy), the students wanted do something of value over the summer that would look good on a resume.
"Something to be proud of and to show Mom and Dad that we weren't sitting in the basement doing nothing," Banga said.
The trio had a list of more than 40 ideas for iPhone applications (including a barking puppy) before coming up with Battery Go!
"I thought it would be really cool if you knew how much talk time you had left on your phone (as opposed to the little bar on the screen)," Banga said.
With little programming experience among them, the three students downloaded the software to write iPhone apps and paid the required $99 to become "an actual developer."
"Our goal was just to get something in the iTunes store in general," Banga said. "And Apple is picky -- which they can be, because they have so many apps in their store."
Not only did they get their app in the store, at press time Battery Go! also ranked 73rd out of overall paid applications.
"Way higher than we expected," Lange said.
Showing worldwide appeal, the app reached number one in the Netherlands.
It costs 99 cents to download the app, and Apple holds the money until it reaches $250 -- which is why the students met with a bank, created an account and launched their business, CollegeKidApp.com.
"Selling something in the apps store is a coin flip," Banga said. "For every app like ours, there are 5,000 that maybe never see that first $250 in profit."
And the sales are growing.
"Needless to say, we've done well," Lange said.
Lange noted they've had to compete in the store against conglomerates such as Electronic Arts.
"Their overhead costs for one day is probably our entire cost the whole summer," Phelps said.
Support work on Battery Go!, creating more apps and offering consultation is next for the young team at CollegeKidApp.com.
Not bad for a few "kids who didn't want to get real jobs."
To download Battery Go! visit batterygo.collegekidapp.com.
