Category: Featured News

Zynga sets its sights on the growing mobile sector

Mobile and social game developer Zynga has announced that it has yet another new CEO. Frank Gibeau, former vice president of mobile games for Electronic Arts, has become the developer’s latest CEO. Mark Pincus, the founder and current CEO of Zynga, will remain as an executive chairman of the company after Gibeau takes the position. Appointing Gibeau as the new CEO highlight’s Zynga’s efforts to focus more heavily on the mobile space, which the company had moved away from in the past.

Mobile gaming continues to grow in power

Mobile gaming has become a very powerful force in the overall game industry. This fact has lead several companies, including prominent developers Nintendo and Konami, to focus more heavily on developing mobile games. Zynga has specialized in social games for some time, producing titles that can be played of Facebook. These games highlight interaction over social media networks, but this is not something that is foreign to mobile gaming. Consumers playing games on their mobile devices can easily interact with one another, making the mobile gaming space just as social as any other gaming sector.

Gibeau may lead Zynga to success

Zynga intends to provide consumers with an innovative experience when it comes to mobile gaming. Gibeau will lend his expertise in this regard, as he has more than 25 years of experience in the game industry. Gibeau has been involved in the mobile space for a significant amount of time and believes that interactive entertainment can be better, especially on mobile platforms. Zynga already has a strong consumer base to draw from, but the company has been heavily criticized for the decisions it had made in the past.

Mobile gaming may be a difficult market for Zynga

Zynga has managed to find success in the social gaming market with only a very small number of games. While the developer has produced many such games, only a few of them have managed to become universal successes. This may be mirrored in the mobile space, where consumers have proven themselves to be fickle when it comes to the type of mobile games they want to pay and, more importantly, pay for.

Regardless of where you’re traveling, why, or with whom, your smartphone will be going with you.

Because mobile devices like smartphones and tablets go with us, no matter what, there are some very important travel hacks, including finding the most powerful portable charger, that can make all the difference to your convenience or frustration level while you’re away.

Pew Research Center data shows that almost two out of every three Americans is a smartphone owner.

Moreover, Pew’s data also says that nearly half of all Americans own a tablet. When traveling, we don’t like to leave those devices behind. Just as you wouldn’t go anywhere without packing your toothbrush and spare pairs of underwear, your smartphone is something you won’t leave home without. That said, while your toothbrush can be used as many times as you want, your mobile devices do have a limited battery life. To overcome that problem, you’ll want to pack the most powerful portable charger you can find, not just any little battery pack.

Having the most powerful portable charger means that, no matter the delays you face, you’ll still have enough battery.

Other handy tips? Consider the following:

• Connect to WiFi when you can – tons of airports, restaurants, coffee shops, train stations and malls offer free WiFi. Use that whenever you can so you can shrink your data usage.
• Download music playlists and movies – do this before you leave. That way, you don’t have to rely on data or WiFi for the entertainment you want (and need) while you’re stuck in airplane mode, don’t have a connection, or don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for roaming data.
• Roam wisely – if you are going to be traveling a lot – particularly internationally – it might be worth your while to investigate plans that are designed for usage outside the US. You can choose options specific to other countries to which you’ll be traveling regularly, or you can find a plan that will cover lots of different places so you’ll have affordable service no matter where you go.
• Keep your power bank charged – don’t forget that even if you have the most powerful portable charger out there, you have to juice it up before you go!