Apple has released a trailer of a new reality TV show, Planet of the Apps.  The show has been described as a mix of Shark Tank and The Voice.

The idea was apparently the idea of Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas fame, who came up with the concept and pitched it to Apple. Adding to the somewhat unreal nature of this, he will be one of the judges, along with Gary Vaynerchuk, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jessica Alba. In the trailer, the team were referred to as 'four of the world's most culturally influential entrepreneurs' by Apple Music host Zane Lowe. 

Will.i.am, who shared his interest in learning to code in the original Code.org video, see Zuckerberg, Gates And More Promoting Computing In Schools, explains his interest as being because:

"Developers, they're the rock stars of right now."

The show has received less-than-glowing feedback on Twitter. You can decide for yourself by watching the trailer below:

The trailer was presented at Recode's Code Media conference in California. Eddy Cue, Apple’s head of content, said that the show will air exclusively on Apple Music from spring onwards. The show has elements of Shark Tank, in which would-be entrepreneurs show off their inventions and attempt to get financial backing.

In Planet of the Apps, developers have just 60 seconds to pitch their ideas for apps in an 'escalator pitch' to the celebrity judges, who can then choose whether or not to mentor the developers. The judges make their choice by swiping right or left to show their decision, in the way Tinder users select or reject potential dates.

The successful developer/app combinations then get an adviser to work with who will help them make further plans on turning their idea into a business. They'll also get help from mentors at tech companies including Uber and Yelp along with other major tech firms.

Those apps that make it to the final round will then be presented to the venture-capital firm Lightspeed Venture for the chance to raise $10 million in funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners are well known for having backed apps including Snapchat, Giphy, Nest and TaskRabbit.  Winning apps will also be featured in Apple's App Store.

More Information

Planet of the Apps Website

Related Articles

Zuckerberg, Gates And More Promoting Computing In Schools

Facebook Hacker Cup 2017 Kicks Off

Google Code-In Underway

Microsoft Student Contests Emphasize Azure

Alexa Prize For Conversational AI

To be informed about new articles on I Programmer, sign up for our weekly newsletter, subscribe to the RSS feed and follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin.

Comments

Make a Comment or View Existing Comments Using Disqus

or email your comment to: comments@i-programmer.info