Zynga Adds Huge Partners For Its Gaming Platform; Google Looking To Muscle In

Zynga's social gaming platform is a very interesting take and it marks the ability for the Z to break away from its reliance on Facebook for gamers.  And while Zynga's new social gaming platform (SGP) has a good future, I wonder if it's creating more of a Hulu-like environment for gamers and developers?

It just added three new studios, Konami, being one of the biggest and baddest in the video game arena.  And likely, we'll see Z announce more partners in the future.  And I'm liking this quite a bit, much more than Hulu's ad-based and subscription business model.

As we know from mobile gaming on Apple's iPhone and iPad and Google's Android, in-app purchases has become very popular and is one of the preferred business models.  This is a recurring revenue that is just right for picking from developers.

I'm no stock guy but if I had some money that I don't need, I would consider buy Zynga stocks because of this huge potential.  And as this SGP grows, Z can leverage its power over Facebook.  

Perhaps, this is why we are beginning to hear Google talk more about their own gaming platform.  Interesting days ahead in mobile and social gaming.

Source: Pocketgamer.

Only Apple, And Michael Jackson, Can Grind The Internet To A Halt

When the news of Michael Jackson's death hit the web, millions flocked to Google to see if the news was true. It was assumed a massive denial of service attack was on-going.  Now, there's anther kind of event that can bring websites to their knees: Apple media events.

When the iPhone 4S was introduced, many live blogging sites failed.  You'd think live blogging sites have learned their lessons.  Have they?

I started off the day with 7 blogs running simultaneously because I knew most of them will fail by the end of the day.  By the time Tim Cook wrapped up the event and said "expect more innovation from Apple" in 2012, I was down to two blogs because the other sites failed.

This gigaom post gave a detailed account of what happened.  So, the answer to the above question is: no.

Trust me when I say that the next Apple event this fall for the unveiling of a potentially redesigned iPhone (no more iPhone 5 as Apple has gotten rid of the numeric suffix).  These blogs will have more than six months to prepare.

The Battery That Is The New iPad - Retina Display Reason For Bigger Power Draw

The 2012 iPad has 42.5-watt battery compared to the iPad 2's battery coming in at a mere 25-watt.  And yet, the new iPad manages only to meet the battery life of the iPad 2 - coming on at 10 hours of use on WiFi and the same cellular use at around 9 hours.  The main difference here is the vastly improved Retina Display on the 2012 iPad versus the iPad 2.

The question is just how much of a big deal is LTE use for the new iPad versus the 3G in the iPad 2?  With both coming in at 9-hours, you have to assume the power consumption are the same.  And the only other factor that might impact the extra power use would be the new display.

And you have to marvel at Apple's engineering for managing to fit such a bigger battery inside the 2012 iPad.  You can almost correctly say that the iPad is a battery that happens to have a dense multi-touch screen that runs iOS.

A further thought along this line is that the Retina Display is not very efficient.  We already know the LTE chip inside the iPad draws as much power as the 3G chip inside the iPad 2, hence, the display probably could use a little more work.  More likely, we'll see some kind of improvement with the 2013 iPad's display.

Once Apple's engineers manage to smooth out the power issue of the 2013 display, we should see Apple continue its march towards a thinner iPad along with improved battery life.

Apple's Own Apps Drive Competition and Raises Experience Bar

As I begin to process the iPad media event yesterday, March 7th, it is really hard to begin until we actually have the new iPad in hand and be able to truly get a feel for what the Retina Display and speed it offers.  But there are some things that we might be able to talk about with authority.  That's the iLife and iWork apps that Apple made available.  The newest one is iPhoto.

And I'm still in the process of getting to know the app better.  I like iMovie and I am sure iPhoto will not disappoint.   At the same time, I wonder why is Apple competing with other text editing, office suite, and movie/photo editor apps in the app store.  That cannot be a good thing right?

Well, it make me thing about Google with the Nexus phones and, soon, tablets.  If we take Google's words at its face value, which is harder and harder to do these days giving their privacy changes, the Nexus hardware serves as a template for how Android devices should be.  

And I reckon Apple is out to make the best iOS and Mac apps that it can in order to raise the bar for other developers.  One supporting evidence in this regard is that iPhoto is not everything Photoshop is.  It's not even everything Photoshop Elements or the newly released Photoshop Touch is.  But it offers a new UI and experience that challenges other developers to step up their game.  

The same is true of Pages and Numbers.  It's not everything Microsoft's Office is but it's easy to use and has gained a sizable market.  And whether its for the iOS or Mac, iWorks has managed to get others, possible Microsoft as well, to innovate with their apps.  

With the just released iPad, Apple not only upped the ante on the hardware but also raised the possibilities that exists from an experience standpoint for everyone, specifically the developers.  Knowing that Apple is also well represented in the app store keeps the competition well and alive.

Apple's New Catalog Section, Catalogs, IS Really An E-Commerce Push?

In a while, we’ll know what Apple will unveil.  Okay, we kinda already know.  The iPad 3.  Or the iPad HD.  Or judging by this morning’s rumors, maybe Apple might be unveiling the iPad touch.  What I want to speculate about now is the changes Apple made to the App Store before today’s unveiling.  There is a whole new catalog section called “catalogs”.  Why?  Is Apple about to get into more e-commerce?

The most logical reason is that Apple want to separate them from the other apps.  So be it.  But with Apple, it might not be so simple.  Think about it.  By offering a catalog section, it makes very sense in and of itself just to separate apps that showcase goods.  It isn’t as if they were getting in the way of app discovery so much.

Apple has often bragged about just how many credit cards it has access to via its iTunes and iOS customers.  Apple could be unleashing its marketing prowess and offering its customers easy access to millions of products with a simple click or two.

More than iOS devices or Macs sales and if I’m right, this is what will make Apple’s capitalization head towards $1 trillion.

And again, if I'm right, Amazon's screwed.

3DS Sales Show Still A Market For Dedicated Mobile Gaming Machine - But Pie Shrinking For Nintendo And Sony

News come that Nintendo managed to sell 4.5 million 3DS in the US alone.  While the global 3DS sales figure is more elusive, let’s say closer to 20 million units (I made this up – 10 million or so for Asia and another 5 million for EU and the rest of the world), it’s a viable platform.  Perhaps, we might even seen the platform go across and move closer to 75 to 100 million in five years or so.  And given the still vast size of dedicated mobile gaming from the likes of Nintendo and Sony, the question for gaming developers is where to invest your limited resources.

Obviously, the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices have wrecked havoc on the dedicated mobile gaming market and mobile gaming in general will shift towards smartphones and tablets.  In just three years, the collective gaming prowess of iOS and Android have taken over the gaming revenue and it’ll only get worse over time.  Mobile gaming is estimated to take 58% of all revenue while incumbent players like Nintendo and Sony will collectively take 42%.  It was only in 2009, the dual powerhouses had 70% of the market.  2012 Will like yield a similar trend (Phandroid).

It’s obvious that if you’re a small developer, you go which ever way the wind blows.  What if you’re a developing and publishing powerhouse?  You might want to still support the dedicated Nintendo and/or Sony mobile machines but at what point do you make Apple and Google devices a priority – giving smartphone gamers the same level of game play and depth that DS, PSP, and 3DS players are used to?

So far, Vita sales are par at best and it took a big price cut from Nintendo to get the 3DS to where it is today.  It begs the question at what point does Nintendo and Sony begin to think if their development dollars should really be spent on hardware or, perhaps, take things into a whole new direction.

For instance, Sony layered on top of Android - the result, the Xperia Play.  Sony has found some success and is likely to move forward with future plans.  Nintendo may need to consider similar moves if it wishes to remain a dominant hardware player.  Or perhaps, Nintendo may consider a move along the line of former foe, Sega, and focus exclusively on gaming development only.

Future Mobile Development Likely To Have Chinese Influence

Apple recognizes the importance of the Chinese market to its mobile and computing focuses.  Mac sales are doing pretty well, growing faster than the US and Europe while mini-riots break out for iOS launches. Oh, let's not forget about the gray market for Apple goods because Chinese launches lag US and EU launches by months.

So, when Apple release the Mountain Lion beta, few were surprised that Apple integrated some popular social network and email services popular in China and most agree it makes a lot of sense for Apple to make it easier for the Chinese mobile warriors to integrate their contacts, calendars, and social needs into their iOS devices and Macs.  

As a Weibo user (because I'm trying to learn Chinese), this is perfect.  At this time, I'm unable to figure out how to access Weibo but if you're a fluent Chinese speaker and uses this Chinese version of Twitter, you'd find it very useful.  I know I would, again, if I can figure out how to access it from my US version of Mountain Lion.  

I've no doubt that iOS 6 will bring similar integration for the same Chinese social services.  

And this is likely just the beginning as Apple begins to show the fruits of its work to make its products even more appealing to the Chinese market.  And it's likely that others like Microsoft will offer Chinese specific features.  We know that Renren, a Facebook clone, will headline Windows 8.  

Essentially, we are seeing the beginning of developments for the average Chinese mobile warrior.  And going forward, not only will such developments accelerate, it's like future OS developments, specially in the mobile area, will be influenced by the Chinese market.  

As a mobile fan, I am excited by the possibilities, especially if it's develop by Apple's focus on ease of use and on what "just works".  

Note:  I'm unable to find some sharing options like Weibo and Vimeo-like video sites.  I hope it's just the fact that Mountain Lion is in beta and that once the final version ships, those options will be right there along side Twitter, Vimeo, and others.  

Another Note:  It's really weird that video sharing via Youtube isn't an option while Google account integration is still there.  However, Youtube sharing via iMovie is still there.  Perhaps, by signing into a Google account, there is no need for a separate Youtube login.  Boy, this war between Apple and Google is really making OS development very interesting.