Information technology is a continually evolving brave new world — a few years ago the idea of downloading an application for just about anything onto a hand-held telephone or computer was just a pipe dream.

Back in 2008, Alex Powell recognised the potential of the new-fangled apps and was determined to get involved in the revolution — he just wasn’t sure how.

Then a meeting with former Honda Formula One worker Otmar Snafnauer provided the inspiration.

Mr Powell, 35, explained: “We started asking whether we could do something with F1 and Otmar suggested a device that showed the exact location of the cars during a race and I said I could do it.

“He said he would set up a meeting with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and I thought it would never happen. But three weeks later he called me and said he was meeting Bernie in an hour and a half.

“I had to get to London and then take part in a Dragons’ Den-style pitch to him but he could see it was something new and it went from there.”

Later that year, Mr Powell went to an F1 qualifying round at Silverstone and started to realise the full potential of having a device that pinpointed the location of the cars on the track in almost real time.

“I have an interest in F1 but I realised I couldn’t identify the drivers or see the screen particularly well, so I couldn’t enjoy what was going on as much.

“I thought that if I had something that would tell me who was going past, it would improve the experience.”

That was the final straw and Mr Powell threw himself into developing an app for the latest generation of mobile telephones and tablet computers such as the iPad.

He was able to tap into the expertise of his existing employees at Wheatley-based IT training firm Exscien and six months later it was ready in time for the Turkish Grand Prix.

The system works by tapping into the live, centralised feed of information that all the teams receive on the side of the track.

Sensors are set up around the circuit which relay information back to the UK, and this is then processed and relayed back to the individual user’s hand-held device, wherever they maybe, either at the race or simply sitting in front of the TV at home — all within a few seconds.

After picking up 47 users for Turkey, the F1 Live Timing and Track Positioning App was officially launched at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last year.

Mr Powell continued: “Apple then got in touch with us and started asking us if we were real.

“They said they liked what we were doing, particularly as we were not a game.”

Soft Pauer then received an unexpected and very welcome boost when Apple co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs used the app at the worldwide launch of the iPad to illustrate its capabilities.

Compared to ‘normal’ apps, most of which are low cost, F1 Live Timing and Track Positioning is expensive and will cost £19.99 for the 2011 Grand Prix season.

“We took the decision at the original pitch to make it a premium service. There are other options with it which make it expensive to maintain.”

These options include news updates throughout the season, driver profiles and team information.

“We supply more than 120 hours of live content for the app, commentary in three languages and you can compare the present season with the previous one.”

Ironically, the service is more comprehensive than that fed back to the teams at the track, as they can only see the position of their own car.

Part of the success of the app is down to what Mr Powell terms ‘the power of F1.’ He said: “When you are watching at home, you don’t understand how many people in different nations are tuning in at the same time. It’s like having a World Cup final every second weekend.”

Financial figures in F1 are confidential but despite high start-up costs, Mr Powell says the company is making a healthy operating profit and recently branched out to offer a similar service for the Moto GP season involving motorbikes. Other sports could also be considered.

And the pace of development has not slacked as the service is now being rolled out to Android telephones.

The possibilities seem endless, moving faster than F1 itself.

Name: Soft Pauer Managing director: Alex Powell Number of staff: Eight Annual turnover: Confidential

Contact: 01865 876562 Web: www.softpauer.com