Smart calendar iOS app Tempo opens to all in Canada [500 queue-jumps for TNW readers]

Tempo AI is bringing its Tempo smart calendar app to Canada. Nearly two months after the launch of its iPhone app, which resulted in an unpopular wait list, the company is confident that any lengthy reservation will soon disappear and anyone with an iOS app will be able to download Tempo instantly. It has also announced that it has processed more than 50 million calendar events in its first month using its artificial intelligence.

As an added bonus, we now have queue jumps for the Tempo — scroll down to the bottom for more information.

Tempo Smart Calendar is an app that takes your meetings and appointments listed in your native iPhone calendar app and imports it into a sophisticated personal assistant service. Once integrated, users will find additional and relevant information added to each event, such as associated emails, contact information, directions, and more.

The app was spawned from the idea factory at SRI International, the same non-profit research institute that created Siri, its travel-related sibling Desti, and the personalization engine Trapit.

Raj Singh, Tempo AI’s CEO, says that the move to Canada is something he’s excited about: “Our goal is to bring the Tempo experience to as many users as fast as we can.”

Another feature that has arrived is the ability to support multiple devices. Beginning today, users can install Tempo onto their iPhones or iPads and access their calendars practically simultaneously.

Interesting discoveries

Now that the app has been out for a few weeks, Tempo AI took a look at its statistics and shared with us some interesting news. Specifically it found that the most used feature in the app involved the emails and links to documents. Singh believes that with people running off to meetings, being able to review documents quickly that are relevant to that appointment has been a critical thing for users.

Another thing that has fascinated the company is that within the first couple days of using Tempo, Singh and his team have noticed a large number of meetings being created. It turns out that users are being creative with their events and are treating it almost similarly to Siri — they are typing in different names to see if Tempo knows who to invite to a meeting while also trying to learn the app’s algorithm.

Queue up to install the app

One of the problems that Tempo AI encountered when it launched was the enormous demand and the extremely long amount of time it took to get people on-board. With the first 24 hours, potential users were complaining about its lack of service and inability to work. We spoke with Singh, who eventually resigned himself to establishing a wait list, similar to what Mailbox did recently. Singh admits he’s not a fan of the wait list and believes that anyone still on it will receive access to the app very soon.

What caused the need for the wait list? Singh says it was because the system had trouble with Microsoft Exchange. It turns out that Tempo is the only calendar that supports this software, which had many configurations that needed to be done. Some of these users had thousands of attachments or contacts which the server needed to review and import, which ultimately needed to be addressed. Singh says that within the first week of launch, most issues had been resolved, although the company still needed to fix any outstanding issues that were still left unresolved.

Increasing its acceptance rate

With today’s news, Singh says that the company is doubling the rate in which people are being accepted into using the app. He tells us that Tempo has a high Word of Mouth sharing score with some telling their friends that it’s “worth the wait”.

Although Tempo seems to have its defenders, it’s quite obvious that its launch did not go as smoothly as it hoped, leaving the door wide open to other calendar apps like Sunrise and Fantastical.

Jump the line

If you happen to be waiting your turn in line to try out Tempo, the company is giving 500 TNW readers the chance to jump ahead of everyone if they register using the passcode “TNW500” here.

➤ Tempo Smart Calendar for iOS

Photo credit: Lindsey Turner/Flickr

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