Mobile Gaming – A Sneak Peek at the Latest Trends!

Mobile gaming as an industry has witnessed mind-boggling growth in recent years. There are at least 100 million gamers (that’s 1/3rd of the total population) in the United States alone. What’s more, mobile gaming industry will be worth $54 billion by 2015. Almost 64% of the gamers play various games every day using their smartphones. In the years to come, mobile gaming is all set to achieve new heights. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular trends in mobile gaming.
Augmented Reality Gaming

Augmented Reality

With AR all set to become the next big thing, mobile gaming will surely see a mega transformation. Augmented Reality blurs the line between what’s real and what’s not. So, with AR based mobile games, users can have a more immersive or real-time experience playing games. It will definitely take the gamers’ experience to the next level. DroidShooting is the best example of this trend.

Multi Player GamingMultiplayer Games

When it comes to mobile game development, multiplayer games are becoming highly popular. Games that allow two or more players to fight with one another will also see an upward trend. Plus, cloud gaming is all set to witness a huge growth in recent years.

Retro GamesRetro Games

There are various old games that are now being revived. Examples include Monkey Island, Final Fantasy 4, Pitfall etc. The Retro classics such as these will reemerge to offer users the best gaming experience ever!

Community Building GamesCommunity Building Games

Do you enjoy playing Happy Street, Smurf’s Village, Jurassic Park Builder etc.? Well, it’s the community building games we are talking about. The demand for such games is on the rise in recent years and is sure to increase in coming years as well. What makes these more interesting is that these games are quite challenging. It’s not so easy to attain your goals in these because it’s necessary to use some game currency to reach the next stage. This can only be done through the in-app purchase facility.

Markets such as Africa and India seem to be very lucrative when it comes to mobile gaming. As more number of people, start having access to high-end phones, it creates innumerable opportunities for mobile game developers. Mobile gaming is definitely going to see some major transformations in coming years. What do you think?

The Amazing Secret to Crafting a WOW Wedding Invitation

You have been engaged for over 6 months now.

The BIG Day is just around the corner and you are going nuts thinking about how your wedding invite would look like.

You don’t get time during the entire day and it’s only during those 30-minute lunch-breaks, you think of conjuring up a brilliant wedding invitation idea that will blow away your guests.

What is it that you could do to make that tiny piece of paper more interesting and set the tone of celebrating your nuptials?

But, brainstorming doesn’t seem to work out.

Can technology provide a helping hand here?

Scratching your head for an answer buddy….?

Well, YES.

One technology is helping make wedding invitations more attractive – Augmented Reality.

Before, I move onto describing what these actually are, a brief overview might help. As a technology, Augmented Reality allows images to become alive in the form of 3D models, animations, video and audio when viewed through an app-enabled smartphone.

Use this tech to craft super-cool wedding cards that deliver information to your guests in an interactive way.

Imagine when your guests receive your wedding invite, they scan it using a free smartphone app and all the information on the card comes alive.

Take for example ALIVE. It is a great platform that makes wedding cards come to life. You can use this to add a new dimension to your wedding invites in the form of a video and much more.

You can have your own themes and colors too.

Your wedding venue can be added to Google Map using this platform, so that your guests know where exactly they need to arrive.

Should you go for such type of wedding invites?

Well,

YES,

NO, MAYBE YES…..

It all depends….

If you are really looking forward to create your wedding’s buzz, augmented reality wedding cards might be worth a try.

5 Reasons Why Your Cab Business is Crumbling and What To Do About It

There’s a bloodthirsty competition brewing in the transportation space. Top honchos like Lyft, Uber and Hailo have caused a disruption in the taxi industry worldwide with the launch of their mobile apps allowing people to book taxis at the push of a button!

Conventional taxi businesses have already started facing the brunt of stiff competition as their customers are gradually shifting to services like Uber that promise to offer reliable pick-up services with a standard.

While your business resorts to the age-old method of booking pick-ups (via phone calls), players like Uber are acting as matchmakers between drivers and passengers using real-time mobile technologies.

Estimates suggest that taxis lose close to £25 million every day just because people are not able to find a car.

The result?

Your customers are drifting away in packs, you did never imagine!

So, where do you think the Achilles Heel of your business lies?

Here’s what you need to know.

Using Obsolete Technology for Taxi Booking

If your customers need to call you to book taxis, take a step back and think about the kind of experience you are delivering. Imagine a potential customer waiting outside in the inclement weather and he/she needs to call you for pick-up.

You then confirm the booking and there goes your taxi. All this takes minutes and keeps the customer waiting. In an era, wherein customers want speed, the booking should take less than a few seconds. However, thanks to the outdated systems and you keep losing customers every time.

Relying too much on manual processes

Since you accept bookings through phone calls, there’s a lot of staff and back-end processes you need to manage. It eats up your precious time.

Your competitors are using cut-throat tactics to pull your customers towards them and by not using technology; you are digging your own grave!

There’s no way to monitor the productivity of your drivers

If you are not measuring the productivity and efficiency of your drivers, you are committing a big mistake. Traditional taxi businesses have no way of monitoring what their drivers are up to. This leads to under-utilization of your resources further aggravating your bottom-line problems.

Drivers spend up to 60% of their time idle on the roads looking out for passengers

Poor passenger experience

Booking taxis through phone calls are gradually becoming unreliable. Plus, the manual processes add to the problems. Passengers need confirmed, reliable pick-ups on time. If your business is failing to fulfill their basic need, you are losing that customer forever!

Because you are using outdated systems, your passengers are completely unaware about the ratings & reviews of your drivers. A slight discomfort caused during the journey leads to bad experience hurting your reputation.

No real-time connectivity between drivers and passengers

You have reliable, professional drivers but your prospects are completely unaware of the fact that they are available to pick them up from various points like bus stops, airports, stations etc.

Remember, this is a huge opportunity you are missing out on. It, further, adds to the existing woes of your business.

Taxi Dispatch System – A Kick Ass Solution for your Cab Business

taxi dispatch system

Most of us depend on our hand-held devices for almost anything including taxi booking. Mobile offers limitless opportunities to modernize your taxi business and take it to the next level.

Your competitors are already investing in Custom Taxi App Development to elevate their customers’ experience.

A Taxi Business Solution comprises of three major components

  • Passenger Application – Your customers download this app (iOS or Android or Both) on their device. They register and sign up. They see drivers nearby their present location and with one touch they will be able to book a taxi. A completely different way to hail a cab, isn’t it! What’s more, an interactive Google Map View allows them to track drivers approaching them. Plus, the payment is made via credit card so there’s no question of cash exchange and tip.
  • Driver Application – Drivers can register and sign up. They get booking requests on the go! In as few as 40 seconds, the passenger gets confirmation for pick-up. A driver has the option to accept or reject a request depending on his availability. The beauty of this solution is that drivers also receive pre-booking requests for a particular city, date and time. Reminders are sent to each party before the pick-up.
  • Web-Based Admin – As the cab business owner, you have access to a master admin panel through which you get to manage drivers and your taxi fleet. You can view and monitor your drivers in real-time and manage them more efficiently. Add to it, you get to see driver history, ratings and reviews etc.

 Benefits to your Cab Business

  • Reduced booking time that leads to enhanced customer experience
  • Streamlined business operations
  • Reduced costs
  • Improved revenues, driver productivity and profitability
  • Stop losing your customers to competitors

 

A Taxi Booking Solution is 100% Customizable depending on the needs of your customers and business. As a white-label solution, it’s custom-made for different platforms like iOS and Android to help grow your taxi business in the most cost-effective manner possible.

Conclusion

The need of the hour for taxi companies like yours is to go the mobile way! With a mobile app in your arsenal, you can easily counter your competition, retain customers, attract new ones and most importantly deliver a WOW passenger experience.

Are you using a mobile taxi booking solution to grow your business? If YES, what’s your experience like? Share your insights in the comments below.

How To Build Highly-Productive Mobile Enterprise Apps?

When it comes to business, mobile apps have started playing a crucial role for organizations these days. Mobile applications have the power to redefine the way we conduct a business. Embracing mobility in true sense not only provides a competitive edge to your business, it also enhances customer satisfaction. Come 2020 and the global enterprise mobility market will be worth $140 billion.

Today, as many as 75% of the Fortune 500 companies are gearing up their efforts to deploy HTML 5 based mobile apps for their business. What’s more, the Mobile CRM apps are expected to grow by 500% in 2014 and about 50% of the enterprises will use hybrid cloud by 2017. All this implies that enterprise mobile apps are definitely going to be very important for businesses in the coming years.

However, building and deploying enterprise mobile apps is far from easy. There are various nuances one needs to consider while developing such applications. End-user requirements, technology to be used, cost factors, scalability etc. need to be considered before creating a mobile enterprise app. So, if your business is considering having a mobile enterprise app for better productivity, here’s what you need to know about creating the ultimate app.

Have a Clear Objective

It’s very crucial to be crystal clear when it comes to the objectives behind building a mobile enterprise application. Whether it is simplifying business processes or improving customer relationships, you must have a good idea about why you are investing in developing a mobility enterprise application. The underlying principle of building a mobile enterprise app is always to add value to your business enterprise. For instance, consider the following examples.

A life-science company might build an enterprise app to help scientists/researchers search compound IDs to make drugs. This process generally takes hours to complete. With a mobile enterprise app, it could take a few seconds for a researcher/scientist to search compound IDs. The objective here is to simplify complex tasks.

Large organizations that are in retail business often require their district managers to go out to do store auditing. Now, this audit process generally is paper-based which is very time-consuming. With a mobile enterprise app, district managers would have to spend a few minutes instead of hours to register information regarding store issues.

It is, therefore, important to understand the basic objectives before you invest lots of money into building that mobile app. If objectives are not clear, you might be wasting your money. Also, remember that the objectives come first than choosing the right technology. Technology will only help you achieve those target goals.

Never Compromise on UX

No matter how many brilliant features you put into your application, if it does not offer the right user-experience, your efforts go in vain. Your mobile enterprise application has to be extremely user-friendly. For instance, if you are building a mobile CRM application for your sales team, it is essential that the managers are able to use with little technical knowledge. The application has to be easy in terms of entering lead information, managing customer contacts, email marketing campaigns etc. Think about the end-user and build a mobile enterprise app. Take a look at some tips for building a wonderful UX for enterprise apps here.

Contemplate before Coding

Many developers don’t think before coding a mobile enterprise application. That’s when all the blunders are made. Before you sit down to code, think twice! Know the requirements properly before coding and programming. What will be the workflow, will the application run online or offline, what will be the back end system like etc. are some crucial factors to be considered before writing those long pieces of codes.

Involving End-Users is Crucial

The golden rule to build highly productive and amazing enterprise mobile apps is to involve users in your development process. All users want is an easy to use application that helps achieve their objectives. If it’s not user-friendly, you won’t get that WOW response from them. Once you build a prototype or something, ask your end-users to use the features. They will give you valuable feedback which can then be applied to create those killer enterprise applications.

Follow the Best Practices

There’s always a certain method, best practice to build an enterprise mobile app. Make sure you follow that. These practices will help you build remarkable apps that allow end-users to perform their tasks effortlessly. Remember it’s all about helping the users out there rather than being cool! Remember that your mobile app has to leverage the capabilities of a handheld device. Creating task-oriented applications is very much important.

Don’t Complicate

If you want to impress your end-users, instead of complicating features in the enterprise app, make it as simple as possible. By keeping the app simple, you will be able to achieve the target objectives more quickly! By being focused and eliminating unnecessary features, you allow your users to accomplish complex tasks seamlessly. The key is to include a few features in your application that perform brilliantly!

Testing Matters

Lastly, don’t forget the testing part! Test your enterprise app across multiple devices and see how it performs. Most developers overlook the testing part because it can turn out to be very time-consuming and expensive as well. But remember, testing will show you the loopholes in your enterprise app and also help you incorporate useful changes.

Conclusion

As smart phones continue to become popular, mobile apps will also see an upward trend in the years to come. Gradually, businesses will have to realize the importance of having an enterprise app for their organization because of the many advantages associated with having one. It is important to remember that you will also have to identify and measure the success of your mobile enterprise app apart from considering the points mentioned above. And, most importantly, all this has to revolve around your business goals and objectives!

Every Day Object Soon To Become Smart Objects

Today’s topic for the blog only says most of it. Yes, today let’s discuss the topic of all our objects getting smart. We want all our things to be smart. We have smart phones, smart watches and by 2014 as we all know we would even have smart cars with the new iOS 7.

However today I am talking about day-to-day small things. For example, here let’s say a door. Yes, you can have a smart door with a smart lock or you adjust the lights by keeping your device on the switch. Amused, aren’t you? Well this can really happen only through Augmented Reality Technology

Well this technology is a mixture of real and virtual world but according to me, this technology can make impossible things possible. Recently I read an article saying that soon all our physical objects would become smart but I shall say sometimes, the solution itself becomes the problem. If all physical objects become smart, they will individually need user interference and an app to operate them and this would become a big difficulty for us.

However, this problem won’t occur when our things turn smart as the MIT Media Lab Fluid Interfaces Group is working on a project towards a new type of system. Here is what they have to say.

“The Smarter Objects system explores a new method for interaction with everyday objects. The system associates a virtual object with every physical object to support an easy means of modifying the interface and the behavior of that physical object as well as its interactions with other “smarter objects”.

As a user points a smart phone or tablet at a physical object, an augmented reality (AR) application recognizes the object and offers an intuitive graphical interface to program the object’s behavior and interactions with other objects.

Once reprogrammed, the Smarter Object can then be operated with a simple tangible interface (such as knobs, buttons, etc). As such Smarter Objects combine the adaptability of digital objects with the simple tangible interface of a physical object.

We have implemented several Smarter Objects and usage scenarios demonstrating the potential of this approach.” – Fluid Interfaces Group

Well I am actually waiting for this, as this would be another miracle from the field of Augmented Reality Technology, as it would enable our everyday physical objects to become smarter and transform the way we use and interact with our things.

Amazing isn’t it?

Audi’s eKurzinfo-Audi A3’s AR Manual App

Ok so let’s be honest, how many of you have actually read their owner’s manual which came along with the car thoroughly? Not many, if I am not wrong. And then we all regret it when we don’t know what action a specific button performs! As a result we end up pressing all the buttons and experimenting with the brand new car!

So what do you do when you land yourself in a situation like this? We can’t go searching and rambling through our glove compartment at that time. To get rid of that last moment panick, Audi came up with a genius and interesting AR app which is its recent car Audi A3’s manual.

The app is called eKurzinfo and is available on iTunes app store for iOS. It’s a very simple and easy app to use. If you don’t know what a specific button does, just open the app on your smartphone and point it at the button. It will tell you exactly how it works. Let’s say you don’t know how to refill the coolant or rather where you are supposed to fill the coolant, just point the phone after opening the bonnet of your car and the app will show you exactly where to fill your coolant.

They have included many features of the car which will be explained via this app so it’s a nice alternative for your owner’s manual but can’t replace it completely. The app is only available for iOS as of now but Audi might soon make it available for android market too.

The app is absolutely free in iTunes but does require an Audi A3 to work.
Undoubtedly the app is a good way of showing off the awesome features Audi A3 has and we can only hope that other car manufacturers make something like this for our cars as well.

What are your opinions regarding this? Do you think this can bring a new sensation in automobile industry? Don’t you think if we all had this app for our cars we would be saving so much of paper and nature? Drop in your comments below.

AR in ER- an App to Help Remove Liver Tumor

It’s quite amazing and fascinating how quickly technology is helping humans in different sectors. Smartphones and tablets have found a way to guide/assist doctors in the emergency rooms now. They were quite helpful in providing clinical information and measuring important angles during orthopedic procedures but now an AR app exists for iPad which can assist in removing liver tumor. The app was launched by Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing MEVIS in Germany.

Liver tumor removal is quite difficult as it requires precise information about the exact location of blood vessels. Liver hosts a branching vessel structure through which one and a half liter of blood flows every minute. This makes the procedure even more risky because even a slight error in judgment could cause severe blood loss.

Now even before the AR app was launched, there existed software for liver operation which supported doctors. They could print a 3D x-ray images which had reconstructed locations of blood vessels in the liver for each patient. But while operating we would want that a doctor should have to switch his sight back and forth between the actual liver and the 3D x-ray, right?

So thankfully they came up with this AR app which could assist them without them having to deviate their attention from the patient. This app would be open in the camera mode and will superimpose the blood vessels on the original liver. It would also help doctors by telling them the exact measurements of removing the tumor by removing the blood vessels. The app can let the doctor to measure the length of the vessel by simple touching the screen. This is also helpful when doctors need to decide whether insertion of a new vessel is required or not. If it’s found that the tumor size is bigger than originally thought, doctors can make a quick decision and the app helps them there. It will tell them exactly which parts will be deprived of blood if the extra vessels are to be removed. This lets the surgeon decides whether the remaining organ volume is large enough for the patient to survive.

Agreed it isn’t as simple as it sounds, but it sure makes it a lot easier in the emergency room. Doctors have tested it in Germany and it was a success. The app is currently only for iPad and tablet devices because only they can be helpful in this. A phone’s screen would be quite small compared to a tablet.

It always amazes me how all of our worlds are coinciding these days. There’s literally a thin line of difference left between any two professions. Doctors are solving operations via augmented technology; AR developers are creating such app with the help of doctors. So in the end, this is all a mixed world.
Anyways, what are your thoughts on this awesome app? I personally think we can solve many other medical problems using AR. We just need to open our gates of imagination and let the thoughts flow! So let your comments flow and we can discuss there.

Taxi Apps – A Boon to Humans

Did you know that 50% of cab drivers time is spend in looking for a fare? Well I also wasn’t aware about this unlike you all. It was only when I was searching something on Google, I came across this and along with this; I found some amazing taxi apps. So I can easily say gone are the days waiting for bus or searching for a cab specially when you are tired and its pouring. Treat yourself to ultimate luxury through these apps. Now there won’t be any need of waving your hand to find a cab. All you have to do is just use these amazing apps and you get a taxi at your doorstep or either way.

Well I did a little research and found these apps really beneficial so let’s have a look at few of them. We shall begin with the Get Taxi App. The free mobile app can be downloaded from the App Store for iPhone, for Android it can be downloaded from the Google Play & one can download this app from Blackberry app world for your blackberry devices. Also, the Get Taxi App will soon be launched for Windows Phone.

One click and this app would send a black cab instantly. No need to wait as you can monitor your booked cab. In other words, you can always track the cab that is approaching to you on map in real time. Amazing, isn’t it? Another amazing thing that I like about this app is that it allows you to pay directly from the app. So even when you don’t have your wallet there is no need to worry about the payment as you can pay directly through the app and get the details and receipts in your email.

Well Get Taxi is an amazing app and now let’s move further to the next app and that is ‘taxicode’ app. You can book your next taxi through taxicode, as it not only offers the best airport pickup & transfer services but the services offered by taxicode are prompt & reliable. While booking through taxicode you can pay either by cash or by your credit/debit card.

The thing that amuses me about taxicode is the drivers are very friendly & polite and there is no charge for waiting time. Also along with this, the price remains fixed in actual sense as there are no hidden fees or any other hidden charges.

Coming to the next app and it is the taxibeat app, booking a cab through taxibeat.com will change your taxi experience forever. What makes taxibeat different from others is the liberty that they give to their customers. Yes while using taxibeat you get to choose your taxi driver. The choice can be made on specific needs. Other than choosing the driver, you can see the nearest cab, see the vehicle driver possess & check out the languages he can speak. Amazing isn’t it?

Well I am totally mesmerized researching and knowing just few things about the taxi apps. So now it’s time for me to experience it…

Sphero – Game Apps & More

Hello, everyone Sphero fan is here again. and is actually sorry. Yes, I owe all my readers an apology. As promised you in my last blog that I will be back soon with more detailed technical blog about Sphero. Deep research with completely detailed research but as soon mesmerized by the games played with this technical ball, I took quite a long time to get back to you and I really apologize for the same.

Let’s start up our discussion with the best three games that can be played with Sphero. Let’s begin with everyone’s favorite – zombie games. My favorite here for Sphero is ‘THE ROLLING DEAD’. Your surrounding turns into a video game when you play this game. Unlike other Augmented Reality games you’ve ever played, ‘the rolling dead’ is completely different and amazing. The robotic ball is a ball of fire, which shoots the zombies coming towards you. You need to look through the camera of your device and use Sphero as a fireball-shooting warrior against the zombies. Your challenge is to stay alive in this game.

The next game that I want to talk is ‘SHARKY – THE BEAVER’. A simple and lighthearted game actually relaxes you after a hectic day and the specialty of this game is the character. Your robotic ball turns into a cute beaver named Sharky who loves eating cupcakes and you can play this game anywhere and everywhere as this is not a marker based Augmented Reality game. In other words, Sharky the beaver is the first app ever to let you take 3D dimensional character for a walk around your house or anywhere else and since this character loves cupcakes you can interact with the real world by launching virtual cupcakes into Sharky’s mouth.

These two games can be played individually but now here is a game that you can play with your friends and see who wins this game. ‘Pass the Sphero’ is a party game, which can be played among 2 to 6 people. The target is pre selected by each one who is playing the game and the one who reach first wins. However, the twist here is that your Robotic ball is actually a ticking time bomb, which can explode at any time. Amazing, isn’t it?

Wow, I think I am just addicted to these games and I think once you play,you too might get addicted to it. So why not try it and your gaming experience.

Make Your Business Catalogue Interactive with Augmented Reality

Don’t you think it would be so much easier if you could carry your entire business catalogue with you anywhere you wanted? Yes that’s possible and that too with the help of augmented reality!

Augment, the brand has launched “Business Catalogue” which enables the sales person to carry the entire catalogue in 3D form with him on his iPad.

They had released the beta of premium app version earlier and now have come up with a full fledge version of this app which is available for $30 per month per user. There’s also a free version but as usual it has limited number of models and they need connectivity to upload to your team’s iPad.

In the premium version, the items are pre loaded in the iPad so that even when the sales executive is in a network less zone, he still will have full access to everything. Also there’s no hassle of waiting until the products load when the products are pre-loaded into the iPad app.

Augment has many clients which make their models in 3D and thus it is very helpful for them.

Even the new clients are supposed to make a 3D model and then send it to Augment.

This has gained quite popularity amongst the market due to the fact that this enables the clients to visualize any item before purchasing it via their tablets. It will also enable you to feel the painting you have your heart set on, in your living room above the fireplace. Yes that’s possible with the help of this app.

Don’t you think that this a very very helpful app? It helps all of us in so many ways! It helps the sales executives as they just have to carry an iPad and not the bulky catalogues. It helps the end users as they can see and feel their product in a whole new dimension and that becomes quite helpful in deciding what to buy and what to not.