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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Craig Forman Named Executive Chairman at Appia
Durham, N.C. - September 7, 2011 - Appia, the largest open application marketplace in the world, today announces that Craig Forman has been brought on as executive chairman. Forman, a former Yahoo, EarthLink, Infoseek, Dow Jones and Time Warner executive, will focus on corporate development and strategy. He will work closely with Appia’s leadership team as the company continues to power an increasing number of app storefronts for the world’s leading mobile operators, OEMs, media brands and retailers.
Forman assumes this new role after most recently serving as executive chairman of Boston-based WHERE, North America’s largest location-based media company, which was acquired by eBay in April 2011. Previously, he served as president of the $1 billion consumer access and audience business at EarthLink, the Atlanta-based Internet services provider.
“Craig is a widely respected executive, entrepreneur and investor with more than 20 years of experience at major brands within the technology, media and telecom industries,” said Jud Bowman, founder and CEO of Appia. “He will be instrumental in helping us scale and accelerate our growth prospects in the U.S. and abroad.”
Prior to EarthLink, Forman spearheaded Yahoo’s media and information units, leading Yahoo News, Finance, Sports and other award-winning products to first-place in their respective categories. Forman also oversaw large internet and media divisions at Time Warner’s CNN and TIME divisions, and Dow Jones's Wall Street Journal. Earlier, Forman served as the first editor and vice president of product management at the pioneering search engine Infoseek, where he was a member of the team that took the company public. Forman began his career as a Pulitzer-nominated foreign correspondent at The Wall Street Journal.
“The global opportunity for mobile applications is huge and growing fast. Jud and his Appia team have already set a pace for success, and I look forward to helping them accelerate the company’s leadership position as a trusted, global app store provider for leading entertainment portals, carriers, and handset manufacturers,” said Craig Forman, executive chairman of Appia.
Appia has seen tremendous growth and industry demand for its white label app store solution in recent months. In addition to partnerships with Opera, Telcel and others, the company announced more than 40 million downloads in July, a rate of more than one million downloads per day, and a growth rate of 2,282% from July 2010. Appia’s app store catalog currently contains over 140,000 applications from more than 32,000 developers across every major operating system, with thousands of new apps being added each month.
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