Category: Featured News

Augmented reality toys from Disney may be jumping the gun

| January 14, 2013

augmented reality disneyWhile there is some promise behind these high tech products, many believe the concept is lacking.

Disney has announced a line of augmented reality toys that allow a child to view the object through a smartphone or tablet in order to watch a favorite character interact with the item, but many reviews have indicated that the technology may not quite be adequately developed to provide the magical experience with which the company is typically associated.

Though there are some strengths to the idea, critics are calling it gimmicky and confusing.

Is augmented reality ready for the type of play experience that Disney is hoping to achieve? The products have been geared toward a very young demographic, in order to allow them to both play with the toys and watch their favorite characters do the same, with a certain level of interaction, as well.

However, many wonder if this type of augmented reality product is being released too soon for the tech.

It may be that the concept itself has not been fully developed in order to allow for the ideal level of interaction and, therefore, value to be obtained in this type of product. While those who are in favor of the toys feels that it adds an added element of fun and magic, critics wonder why a child should have to set the toy aside and watch a character play with it, instead of actually using the object him or herself.

At the same time, they augmented reality feature of the toys does offer an added experience, not only through the fun of watching a favorite character magically appear to play with the toy, but the animated characters also encourage the child to participate through song and interactive games.

Though the concept may be somewhat basic, it is still applying a great deal of fascinating technology that remains in its infancy in terms of consumer involvement. As adults seem divided, it appears that it will need to be the children who decide whether or not the effort was worthwhile.

The toys themselves were created and manufactured by a licensee called Jakks. They worked together with NantWorks, which is a company that uses augmented reality primarily for Disney developing and advertising.

T-commerce will be the driver behind an explosive mobile marketplace

| January 14, 2013

t-commerce

A new report has predicted that tablets will lead the channel to a $50 billion in 2014.

A recently released report by eMarketer has added yet another piece of evidence to the claim that mobile is no longer a convenience or a fad, as t-commerce starts to come into its own and will lead the way to a highly valuable marketplace.

The report indicated that tablets alone will generate $24 billion in sales in North America by the end of 2013.

However, that is merely the beginning, as the report also indicated that this t-commerce figure will climb nearly twice over, to reach $50 billion in the United States by the close of 2014. This not only indicates that the role of mobile is growing explosively, but it also shows that tablets are now playing a vitally important part in this increase.

The spending in both m- and t-commerce has jumped tremendously since 2011.

Including both smartphone and t-commerce, the mobile spending reached nearly $25 billion. That represents a spike of 81 percent over the figures that were achieved the year before. This year, it is expected that m-commerce will be cutting a share worth 15 percent of the total online sales numbers, according to the predictions from eMarketer.

From the t-commerce side, on its own, tablets will make up over 9 percent of all sales made online. By 2016, eMarketer feels that tablets will represent up to 17 percent of the total sales online.

The majority of the t-commerce traffic will come from the popular iPad. The report predicted that “the bulk” of the tablet based web traffic will come from this Apple device, as it currently accounts for around 90 percent of the web traffic from this type of gadget. Though this may shift somewhat within that time, it will still maintain its majority share, said the report.

Previously performed t-commerce research has already indicated that consumers are more likely to use a tablet than a smartphone for doing their shopping online. It also determined that when those customers make purchases, they’re likely to spend a larger average amount of money than their cell phone using counterparts.