Author: Rebecca

Mobile games may be the rulers of the gaming industry in 2015.

According to market research firm, Newzoo, the mobile gaming industry may be exceptionally strong next year, as mobile games are expected to beat console games in revenue, hitting the $30.3 billion mark in 2015, an increase from the anticipated $25 billion in 2014.

There has been strong year-to-date growth in both mature and emerging markets for tablet and smartphone games.

Compared to the predictions of SuperData Research, the Amsterdam-based Newzoo has greater optimism when it comes to mobile games. Newzoo’s rival, SuperDatat Research, expects that mobile games will only reach $21.1 billion by the end of 2014. That being said it is anticipated that by 2017, games for mobile devices will hit $40 billion.

According to the newly revised 2014 Newzoo forecast, Western Europe’s mobile games market revenue is anticipated to grow 47%, while North America’s is anticipated to grow 51%. Of all the markets, Southeast Asia and China are predicted to be the fastest growing and will expand by 86%

Newzoo credits the high mobile growth rate to “organic growth” for boosting the market in general and “cannibalistic growth”, which comes at the cost of other segments. Spending for massively multiplayer online games and online PC games is moving toward tablets and smartphones, while social, casual and handheld console gaming have weakened.

Apple mobile gaming is doing better than Nintendo.

It also appears that the game revenues of Apple could actually be two times greater than Nintendo in 2014. The electronics giant is expected to produce $4 billion in revenue from mobile games sold in iTunes. Meanwhile, Google may generate game revenue totaling $3 billion this year. On the flip side of the coin, Nintendo’s revenues were $2.4 billion in 2013 and this number is predicted to drop in 2014.

Newzoo CEO Peter Warman commented that in the mature Western mobile gaming markets, the battle between Android and iOS is shifting its focus to tablets. Although the iPad gives iOS the advantage in general mobile game spending, the Android market is split across diverse devices and operating systems.

Those enrolled at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies are trying out various forms of technology.

The Center for Advanced Technical Studies in Lexington County, South Carolina is not a typical high school experience, particularly now that students there are learning through the use of high tech gadgets ranging from Google Glass to robots and drones.

Students in the school do not receive the traditional type of classroom education, but are surrounded by tech.

While in some schools, kids would be punished for throwing paper airplanes, in this one, they are encouraged to do it, particularly when they are comparing the various aspects of those planes to that of flight simulators. It is all a part of the lessons in this school that is also pioneering one of the hottest new technologies on today’s market: Google Glass. Those augmented reality glasses that are connected to the internet and essentially work as a mobile device that is worn on the face.

Students have been quite enthusiastic about being able to try out Google Glass for a hands on experience.

According to aerospace engineering class senior, William Blanks, “I wish I was able to take more classes like this.” That is one of the courses that uses augmented reality wearable technology as well as other tech such as flight simulators and drones, as a part of its regular curriculum. Blanks went on to say that “This gives us hands-on technology that’s actually useful in the real world and lets us do real-world scenarios. … It’s amazing that we have all this.”

The Center gives priority to creation and innovation, when it comes to its budget. Its classrooms have technologies that range from the latest in tractors from John Deere for its agriculture science program, to a media technology program that has a video editing lab and production studio. Now, the augmented reality glasses – which come with a price tag of $1,500 each – have been brought into the aerospace engineering classes.

That said, while the Google Glass use is starting in aerospace engineering, the goal is to bring the devices into every classroom in the school.