Author: Julie Campbell

Sony has announced that it will no longer be continuing with the PSM platform on its Japanese language site.

Sony has now revealed that it will be shutting down its PlayStation Mobile platform, after having struggled with it off and one throughout its entire history, without ever reaching its hoped-for heights.

The company stated that when it comes to PSM, its mobile gaming is now officially coming to an end.

The PlayStation Mobile service is still going to remain active for a number of months, but users are going to be able to continue purchasing new content only until July 15, even though the service will still remain for a time after that. During the months that follow, customers will still be able to re-download any content that they had already previously purchased. However, no new purchases will be possible after that date. It will be important for PSM users to complete all of their downloads rather promptly, though, because after the full shutdown is complete, their content will no longer be available to re-download.

As of September 10, 2015, PlayStation Mobile will be shutting down entirely and will not provide service for existing users.

It has been clear to many that right from the very start of this mobile gaming system, there have been struggles, and these were not challenges that would be easy to overcome. Sony tried very hard, and even waved the publisher license fee as of May 2013, in an attempt to make its platform more appealing to developers. Unfortunately for the company, this effort still didn’t go as planned.

Last year, PSM dropped its Android mobile gaming support, keeping itself open to indie developers with a focus on its PlayStation Vita. That said, the offerings were hardly bursting from the seams, even then.

Though this announcement is far from a declaration that indie games will stop appearing on the Vita, it should be recognized that Sony, itself, publishes a considerable number of games on the actual PlayStation Store. While PlayStation Mobile may be shutting its doors, it does look as though 2015 will be a positive year for fans of PS as a whole.

The wristwatch maker and tech company has revealed its plans to compete in the wearable technology category.

The bestselling watchmaker in the world, Swatch Group, has now announced its intentions to introduce new models of smartwatch that will allow consumers to be able to display data from smartphones and to even make contactless payments by way of wearable technology.

The CEO of the company, Nick Hayek, has stated that the first versions of this gadget will be available in May.

At the same time, Hayek made it clear that Swatch doesn’t intend to try to replicate the types of smartwatch that have now been launched by many of the major players in the wearable tech categories, such as Motorola, Pebble, and Apple. Those fully featured devices are not the type of product that this company will be producing, at least not for the first wave. As a company that currently sells 18 percent of all wristwatches in the world, it could be possible that Swatch has a good idea as to what consumers really want to be wearing and what they want from those devices.

Swatch is now adding the smartwatch to its massive lineup that has consistently been growing its market share.

The company makes wristwatches under a range of different brands, including Calvin Klein, Omega, Breguet, Rado, and several others, in addition to its own. It has managed to maintain a consistent growth of its market share over a steady five years and has seen significant sales growth, as well, despite the fact that wristwatches had been somewhat falling out of favor as an accessory.

Now, the company is stepping into a market that already feels flooded, even before these wearable technology devices have started becoming commonplace. Nick Hayek explained that there will be two types of wireless technology incorporated into the first wearables released by the brand. The first will be NFC technology. This will make it possible for the gadgets to trigger contactless payments, unlock hotel room doors and other compatible locks. The second will be Bluetooth, which will allow data to be sent and received through communication between the smartwatches and smartphones.