Author: Stephen

New partnership in Spain may boost mobile commerce

| June 9, 2013

Telefonica launches new venture to promote mobile commerce in Spain

Telefonica, a leading Spanish telecommunications company, has announced a new partnership with CaixaBank and Santander in order to create a joint venture that aims to develop a new mobile banking solution that include launching a mobile wallet service for consumers. Mobile commerce has been showing strong growth throughout Europe, leading many telecommunications companies to make their way into this space in order to meet the changing needs of consumers. Banks have also been taking note of this trend and have been following in the footsteps of telecommunications companies.

Joint venture may be the largest of its kind in Europe

Telefonica claims that its new joint venture is the largest of its kind in Europe and suggests that the endeavor will help make mobile commerce more common in Spain. The initial stages of the joint venture are meant to target more than 600,000 businesses in Spain, offering these businesses various mobile commerce services that will allow them to engage consumers in a more dynamic way. The joint venture will eventually see international expansion as it becomes more popular.

mobile commerce partnership spainMobile wallets are gaining consumer support

The mobile wallet associated with the joint venture will serve as a platform to allow consumers to make mobile payments for goods and services. It will also facilitate person-to-person money transfers. Mobile wallets have been growing in popularity among consumers as they offer a convenient way to store and use financial information without having to deal with a variety of plastic cards or cash. While mobile wallets have been met with modest interest in the U.S., European consumers have proven to be more accommodating of these applications.

Telefonica continues to support mobile commerce

Telefonica has experience in the field of mobile commerce and CaixaBank and Santander are not the first banks to partner with the telecommunications company in this field. Telefonica has been one of the chief supporters of mobile commerce in Spain for the past few years and has been working aggressively with many banks and financial service institutions to develop convenient platforms for consumers.

Japanese publishers showing more love for mobile games

| June 7, 2013

Japan may lead the charge toward mobile games

Japan has long been a hub of activity in the game industry. The country is home to many of the world’s most acclaimed game development studios and publishers and has been a very prominent market for the game industry for years. In many cases, Japan has been the birth place of many of the trends that are being seen in the game industry today and the country may be on the frontlines of a major shift away from traditional gaming platforms toward mobile games.

Metaps reports publishers flocking to mobile games

According to Metaps, an Android monetization platform, a large number of Japanese game publishers are beginning to show strong interest in mobile games. These publishers have been taking note of the rising popularity of these games among consumers with smartphones and tablets. Part of the allure of mobile games has to do with the money that can be found in this sector. Consumers have shown their willingness to spend money on mobile games time and again, which itself has been more than enough encouragement for game developers and publishers to show more interest in the world of mobile games.

Japanese Publishers Love Mobile GamesTrend could spread throughout the world

With Japanese publishers showing such extreme interest in mobile games, a number of new titles for mobile platforms are expected to enter the Japanese market in the near future. This trend may quickly spread to the rest of the world, especially as large publishers, such as Electronic Arts, have already expressed strong interest in mobile games of all kinds. If mobile games continue to grow in popularity among consumers, publishers are likely to begin pressuring developers to begin crafting mobile titles at a faster pace.

Mobile not likely to dethrone consoles

While mobile games are becoming significantly more popular, console games remain the staple of the game industry. Mobile games may eventually cut into the console market, but with a new generation of consoles on the horizon, this is not likely to take place within the next several years. Moreover, console makers are not blind to the opportunities that exist in the mobile space and have been working to make their traditionally stationary console systems more mobile friendly.