Category: Gadgets

Wearable technology isn’t winning over the U.K.

| March 24, 2015

People in the country have yet to be convinced that they will be impressed with ownership of wearables.

According to the results of a recent study, people across the United Kingdom have yet to warm to wearable technology to the point that they will believe that their lives will be changed enough by these gadgets that it will be worth actually buying them.

In fact, the research indicated that 1 in 10 consumers feel that wearables will make their daily lives more challenging.

While people in the United Kingdom have been quick to embrace many other forms of technology, as smartphones penetration is tremendous there, but wearable technology has failed to win over that population, as of yet. This is the case, regardless of the fact that some of the most beloved brands, including Apple, have launched or even rolled out their own gadgets. Moreover, people in the U.K. aren’t even convinced by collaborations with some of the most prominent designers.

Only 25 percent of British people feel that their daily lives would be improved by wearable technology.

Wearable Technology - Not impressing UKThe survey was held by British Gas on behalf of Hive and it involved the participation of 2,000 people. It has arrived at the same time that the British Government revealed that it would be making investments worth several million pounds toward automatic vehicles and devices for connected homes. Clearly, the British people don’t hesitate to look to the future of tech, but smartwatches simply don’t appear to be on this list.

The 25 percent of people who felt that their day to day lives would be improved by wearables represented a much lower figure than those who were on board with connected home devices. A much more notable 56 percent felt that connected home devices would change their lives . Moreover, 43 percent feel that artificial intelligence would help to make their daily lives more simple. About 30 percent of people felt that driverless cars and 3D printers would enhance their everyday lives.

With the high expectations for all of these other types of tech, it is interesting that smartwatches and other types of wearable technology have not managed to show their appeal to this same population.

PlayStation Mobile is shutting down this fall

| March 20, 2015

Sony has announced that it will no longer be continuing with the PSM platform on its Japanese language site.

Sony has now revealed that it will be shutting down its PlayStation Mobile platform, after having struggled with it off and one throughout its entire history, without ever reaching its hoped-for heights.

The company stated that when it comes to PSM, its mobile gaming is now officially coming to an end.

The PlayStation Mobile service is still going to remain active for a number of months, but users are going to be able to continue purchasing new content only until July 15, even though the service will still remain for a time after that. During the months that follow, customers will still be able to re-download any content that they had already previously purchased. However, no new purchases will be possible after that date. It will be important for PSM users to complete all of their downloads rather promptly, though, because after the full shutdown is complete, their content will no longer be available to re-download.

As of September 10, 2015, PlayStation Mobile will be shutting down entirely and will not provide service for existing users.

PlayStation Mobile - Shutting DownIt has been clear to many that right from the very start of this mobile gaming system, there have been struggles, and these were not challenges that would be easy to overcome. Sony tried very hard, and even waved the publisher license fee as of May 2013, in an attempt to make its platform more appealing to developers. Unfortunately for the company, this effort still didn’t go as planned.

Last year, PSM dropped its Android mobile gaming support, keeping itself open to indie developers with a focus on its PlayStation Vita. That said, the offerings were hardly bursting from the seams, even then.

Though this announcement is far from a declaration that indie games will stop appearing on the Vita, it should be recognized that Sony, itself, publishes a considerable number of games on the actual PlayStation Store. While PlayStation Mobile may be shutting its doors, it does look as though 2015 will be a positive year for fans of PS as a whole.