Mobile, Software, IT

Azuki Systems Builds Swimsuit iPhone App for Sports Illustrated

Wade Roush 7/21/09

Being neither heterosexual nor much of a sports fan, I’ve never quite understood the annual excitement generated by the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. But lots of folks out there will no doubt be glad to hear that the swimsuit models, like everything else these days, are now available as an iPhone app.

Azuki Systems, the Acton, MA, mobile developer that raised $6 million back in May, created the application for Sports Illustrated. The SI Swimsuit app, which sells for $2.99 and is rated “17+” for “Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes” and “Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity,” appeared in the iTunes App Store today. The news hounds over at TechCrunch broke the story.

Naturally, the app includes “spectacular high-quality pictures” of the swimsuit models from the print magazine. But it isn’t just about skin. “SI Swimsuit 2009 not only provides pictures and videos of nearly two dozen gorgeous models from the 2009 ‘Bikinis or Nothing’ issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, but also a feature-rich sports calendar,” the app’s description in the iTunes App Store reads. “It’s a convenient way to keep track of schedules and scores for up to six of your favorite American pro and college sports teams and lets you choose a different girl to feature for every month of the year.”

Rotating the iPhone to landscape mode starts a full-screen slideshow. But I’m sure users will be too busy trying the team-tracking feature to notice that.

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com, call him at (617) 252-7323, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wroush.