Test Lab opens at Innovation Birmingham for next generation games and apps
A NEW facility to help develop next generation games and apps has been opened at the Innovation Birmingham campus.
The Test Lab, which includes £10,000 of devices and software, is designed for tenants and members of the innovation hub to access for free. It has been delivered as part of the Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) Inspire project, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
More than 700 people now work at the Innovation Birmingham campus and the Test Lab has been delivered in response to demand from the community of tech entrepreneurs and developers.
The lab will be used to test how new apps and games function across a range of the latest devices, including a variety of smartphone and tablets from popular manufacturers. The Test Lab also includes a digital graphics pad, camcorder, directional microphone, WXGA projector, licensed load impact software for performance testing and licensed browser stack software for further compatibility testing.
Michelle Rayner, Innovation Birmingham’s e4f Programme Manager said: “I am really excited about the opening of the Test Lab, as there are so many tech developers based here that it will benefit. As new devices are launched to the market, we will refresh the offering and expand the equipment list wherever possible, such as from kind donations from tenants and our wider community.”
The Test Lab will be available by appointments ranging in length from 30 minutes to a maximum of half a day.
The e4f programme has incubated more than 100 start-ups, with 180 new employee and director positions created since November 2009. The new companies on the business incubation programme have secured over £6.8m of investment during initial funding rounds.
Innovation Birmingham has recently extended the duration tech start-ups can stay on the highly successful incubator. The free package of mentoring from an Entrepreneur in Residence, access to finance, visiting expert sessions, invitations to a wide range of tech events, wifi, telecoms, meetings rooms and office space – worth around £15,000 – is now be provided for up to nine months to circa 25 tech start-ups per year.
