A decade ago such technology would likely have been developed in California's Silicon Valley, but today those apps are being churned out by Vietnam's startup sector -- an industry driven by local techies trained overseas but returning home to prowl for opportunities.
The logo of French IT company Linkbynet at their offices in Ho Chi Minh City. (AFP photo)
The sector's growth in a young tech-hungry nation has caught the eye of foreign firms -- French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday leads a cohort of businessmen to meet tech investors in Ho Chi Minh City, the communist country's startup hub.
Much of the technology, which also includes popular mobile games and e-commerce software, is being produced for local consumers in Vietnam, where the median age is 30 and internet connectivity is rapidly expanding.