International Games System plans to take over Taiwan gaming and break into South Korea
International Games System, one of the largest game development firms in Taiwan, is looking to enter into the mobile gaming market of South Korea. The company has a strong interest in online gaming and has recently announced its partnership with Chunhwa Telecom, which will pave the way for the launch of a new online mobile game. Though International Games System is looking to break into the South Korean market, it will also be launching a number of mobile games in Taiwan as well.
Mobile gaming gains momentum
Mobile gaming is picking up steam, even as the industry itself is already inundated with products from a vast multitude of development companies. One of the reason mobile gaming has been gaining attraction is because of the widespread use of smart phones and tablets. The advent of these mobile devices opened a new avenue for the game industry, through which is could target a demographic that was interested in playing games wherever they may be at the time.
Developer aims to develop largest gaming platform in Taiwan
International Games System has plans to create the largest online gaming platform in Taiwan. Through this platform, it expects mobile game sales to more than double in 2013. Currently, the company’s most popular game, Salon Boss I, boasts of 300,000 users in Taiwan, Hong King and Macau. International Games System believes that it can expand its reach by creating an online gaming platform that acts as a hub for all of the company’s current and future titles.
Plans in place to enter South Korean gaming market
Breaking into the South Korean gaming market may be significantly more difficult task. International Games System will have to face down much larger companies than itself if it wants to be competitive in the market. Currently, the company is working on agreements with SK Telecom, KT Corp, and LG U+ that may help it establish a foothold in the South Korean gaming market.
Taxi drivers are discovering that smartphones may be the opportunity they’ve been waiting for.
Though digital wallets may be struggling and mobile payments in stores might not be taking off at the rate that was anticipated, taxi drivers are seeing the true potential in the technology for adding practical convenience and a new way to pay for the ride.
Cabbies are seeing the benefits in this technology both for themselves and their customers.
It is still rare for taxi drivers to be able to process transactions with credit cards, which means that many of them find themselves missing opportunities to make money every day. They find themselves having to send customers away when they cannot accept their preferred method of paying for the fare. Many complain of animosity from the lost customers, due to the limited options.
However, with mobile payments, this could entirely reverse the problem in a practical way.
There have been two major developments in providing mobile payments options to taxi cab passengers. The first is through an actual physical device that can connect to the driver’s smartphone or tablet. The second is through mobile apps to which both the driver and the passenger have subscribed.
In the first case, a device – often known as a dongle – is attached to the smartphone or table of the taxi driver. This allows mobile payments to be accepted by using the device to swipe credit cards. This is a highly convenient service that is offered by a number of different providers to small businesses and services such as cabs.
The idea has become so popular that there are some cab companies that will be distributing the dongles to all of their drivers so that they will have mobile payments available throughout. The advantage is that the service is quick and easy to use and doesn’t require the passenger to have a either a smartphone or an app installed on their own device to make it work.
However, some people are uncomfortable with making mobile payments on the devices of someone they don’t know. In those circumstances, apps are often available that allow them to not only book the car, but also make the payment for the ride through their own device, using a credit card.
In both cases the mobile payments typically come with a per transaction fee that will usually be in the range of 2 to 3 percent.
