Jun Da at the Teliwave booth showing off Hoiio at the Gitex trade show in Dubai.
It won't come as a surprise to anyone that the developer of SG Pools likes making friendly wagers. That's because SG Pools is a free but ad-supported iPhone app that delivers the latest football betting odds from Singapore Pools.
What is surprising though is that Ong Jun Da doesn't bet on football very much. His last soccer bet was during the Euro 2008 championships in June.
This wasn't always the case though. "It (betting on football) was quite often two years ago, when I was very interested in probability and soccer odds," says Jun Da. "I would bet a lot but only ranging from $5 to $15 to prove that my calculations were good.
"I started with capital of $100 and ended up with about $140 before I lost interest in betting week after week."
This Chelsea fan says the most he's ever won on a single bet is about $50. He managed to contain his biggest single loss to around $40.
The origins of SG Pools
So if he's not a big football gambler, why choose to write this app? "I chose this as the first application because I still like soccer and betting, and I think the crowd at Singapore Pools outlets is too much :) There was a problem, so I provided the solution."
He originally planned to develop a Singapore bus guide but waited too long. "I was busy with other stuff and delayed and delayed. And one day, someone else released it for $0.99! (I think you know it, it was a badly criticized paid app.) I decided not to waste more time and release good applications."
He wrote 80 percent of SG Pools in just two days. The remaining 20 percent, he says, took him another two weeks.
He was able to produce SG Pools so quickly because he's been writing code ever since he was in junior college. Propelled by an interest in programming, he joined the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore (where he also picked up a few awards). After graduating earlier this year, the 25-year-old Singaporean joined Teliwave where he is the mobile development lead. Teliwave provides a callback solution called Hoiio which works with landlines, mobile phones and through the web.
"I joined Teliwave even before I officially graduated and have worked on Hoiio ever since. I have another two colleagues in my team working on Symbian and Windows Mobile, while I handle all the other platforms - Java ME, BlackBerry, iPhone and WAP site." Jun Da is working, among other things, on an iPhone app to access Hoiio. He says Facebook, Fring and Cydia are his favourite apps, but expects to be able to replace Fring with Hoiio soon.
Now that football betting is in the past, he bets on other things instead. "I bet over small things with my friends and colleagues regularly. For example, I'll bet this process will finish under one minute. I'll bet this API will not work. I'll bet the lift will not stop on any floor.
"The stake is usually a Milo-peng (iced-Milo)."
This penchant for flirting with Lady Luck no doubt explains why he is looking to score a double brace by bringing 4D, Toto and Big Sweep results to the iPhone as well. Judging from the public's initial reception to SG Pools, Jun Da's upcoming apps look like they will be a sure bet.
Related links
So if he's not a big football gambler, why choose to write this app? "I chose this as the first application because I still like soccer and betting, and I think the crowd at Singapore Pools outlets is too much :) There was a problem, so I provided the solution."
He originally planned to develop a Singapore bus guide but waited too long. "I was busy with other stuff and delayed and delayed. And one day, someone else released it for $0.99! (I think you know it, it was a badly criticized paid app.) I decided not to waste more time and release good applications."
He wrote 80 percent of SG Pools in just two days. The remaining 20 percent, he says, took him another two weeks.
He was able to produce SG Pools so quickly because he's been writing code ever since he was in junior college. Propelled by an interest in programming, he joined the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore (where he also picked up a few awards). After graduating earlier this year, the 25-year-old Singaporean joined Teliwave where he is the mobile development lead. Teliwave provides a callback solution called Hoiio which works with landlines, mobile phones and through the web.
"I joined Teliwave even before I officially graduated and have worked on Hoiio ever since. I have another two colleagues in my team working on Symbian and Windows Mobile, while I handle all the other platforms - Java ME, BlackBerry, iPhone and WAP site." Jun Da is working, among other things, on an iPhone app to access Hoiio. He says Facebook, Fring and Cydia are his favourite apps, but expects to be able to replace Fring with Hoiio soon.
Now that football betting is in the past, he bets on other things instead. "I bet over small things with my friends and colleagues regularly. For example, I'll bet this process will finish under one minute. I'll bet this API will not work. I'll bet the lift will not stop on any floor.
"The stake is usually a Milo-peng (iced-Milo)."
This penchant for flirting with Lady Luck no doubt explains why he is looking to score a double brace by bringing 4D, Toto and Big Sweep results to the iPhone as well. Judging from the public's initial reception to SG Pools, Jun Da's upcoming apps look like they will be a sure bet.
Related links
See also interviews with Muh Hon Cheng, the developer behind SG Buses and other applications, Shen Weijia, who developed the Singapore Bus Guide, Michael Tan of Upcoming Events, Harish Mallipeddi of Cinepura and Jon Petersen of iSinGeo and iSinJet.
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