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Top mobile game record officially snatched by Pokémon Go

Move over Candy Crush, Pokémon Go has become the biggest mobile game in the US.

Pokémon Go has been steadily breaking records since the first day it was released. The augmented reality scavenging game broke download records on its launch day. Now, the game has 21 million active daily users in the United States. It is the nation’s top mobile game, successfully surpassing Candy Crush Saga’s 20 million peak active user total.

Pokémon Go may even surpass SnapChat.

In addition to leaving Candy Crush in its dust, Nintendo and Niantic’s crown jewel is also squashing other hugely popular mobile games. Both Supercell’s Clash Royale and Slitehr.io were big candidates for 2016’s top mobile game title. Not anymore. These games don’t have a chance to compete with the all-out sensation that Pokémon Go has become.

Top Mobile Game - young woman with smartphoneIn fact, according to data from SurveyMonkey Intelligence, the Pokémon mobile game phenomenon is predicted to beat the number of Snapchat active daily users on Android devices within the next couple of days.

If this should happen, the augmented reality mobile game will also surpass Google Maps active daily Android users. More smartphone users will use maps to find Pokémon than anything else. This is quite remarkable to say the very least.

This top mobile game is even more engaging than Facebook.

The AR game doesn’t only have more active daily users than any other mobile game. It is also proving to have better average user engagement than social media giant Facebook. A news article from Forbes noted that according to Sensor Tower data, the game is more engaging and taking up more user time than Facebook.

If Pokémon Go continues with its latest trend, it will no doubt continue to become more popular than social media apps. It should be noted, however, that even though the game is toppling social media apps, it isn’t surpassing other mobile games in terms of time spent playing. For instance, the average Game of War player spends 2 hours daily playing. Even Candy Crush Saga players average approximately 43 minutes daily, which still exceeds Pokémon’s 33 minutes daily average.

Pokémon Go will soon be launched in other major countries and has recently been released in Germany. It will be interesting to see if the game manages to claim the top mobile game spot in these other countries as well.

Samsung Pay mobile payments arrive in Brazil ahead of Olympics

The electronics and tech giant is introducing its branded app just in time for athletes and spectators.

Samsung Electronics Co. has announced that it is launching its mobile payments app, Samsung Pay, in Brazil. Certainly, the fact that the Olympic Games are headed to the country played a vital role in this decision. Should the launch be successful, it may open the door to more countries throughout Latin America.

Mobile phones are a primary access point for the internet in Latin America, making this strategy promising.

The mobile app, Samsung Pay, first saw its world debut in South Korea. That occurred nearly a year ago in August 2015. It has since become available to more countries. It has been in the United States since September 2015. Now, Samsung will be sending the mobile payments service to smartphone users attending – and participating in – the Olympic Games. This, according to the vice president of the unit, Haley Kim.

Samsung Pay will be up against some stiff competition as Apple and Google also make a grab for that market.

Samsung Pay Brazil The largest company in South Korea will be pitting its mobile payments service against Google Pay and Apple Pay. This is no small market opportunity. Forrester Research Inc. predicts that by 2019, it will have broken the $142 billion mark. Those three companies have been rivals in every major marketplace. They are seeking to draw customers to their apps not just to encourage them to use the mobile applications themselves, but also their devices.

In Brazil, Samsung already has a 42 percent share, said Gartner Inc.. That is sizeable when taking into account that there are more active mobile phone accounts than people in the country. The company is aiming to use its mobile payments service to bring in an even larger number of new users. That said, it could be a challenging effort considering the current state of the Brazilian economy. It is currently suffering the deepest depression it has faced for at least one hundred years.

Kim explained that “The demographic group buying and using these devices in Brazil is more the high-end or premium customers who may not be significantly impacted by this economic crisis.” Samsung Pay may have a bit of an advantage as the company is a corporate sponsor of the games. It is also selling a limited edition Galaxy Edge S7 featuring the Olympic rings and colors. The mobile payments app will also be compatible with users of other S7 devices, in addition to the A5 and A7 models and others.