Category: Percolate

EA Games Launches Subscription-Based Gaming Plan On Xbox

Posted on by Lab Team

Following the footsteps of Kindle Unlimited, another company is getting Netflixified, as EA Games announces its plan to launch an all-you-can-play monthly subscription plan on Xbox. For just $5 per month and $30 per year, the service, aptly named EA Access, will allow subscribers unlimited access to a “Vault” of games that promises to feature all of EA’s best offerings, including Madden 25, FIFA 14, Battlefield 4, and Peggle 2. It is still early to tell if this move would boost the Xbox sales or disrupt the current business model of the gaming industry, but Steam, another major game distribution platform featuring subscription plans, sure can’t be too happy about this.

Update: Sony has reportedly rejected EA Access for the PS4 after evaluation.

Foursquare Integrated Into Cortana, Windows’ Siri

Posted on by Lab Team

Following its pivoting re-launch last week, location service Foursquare is once again trying something new, as it has reported been integrated into Cortana, the Windows Phone’s answer to Siri. Its addition now enables window phones carrying Cortana to make customizable, local recommendations based on your location, and presumably, your account history. Such integration fits with the new “local discovery” position that Foursquare took up since its recent update, while also puts it in direct contest with Yelp, which Siri enlists for the same function.

BMW Partners With Medium On A Sponsored Collection

Posted on by Lab Team

Medium is partnering up with auto-maker BMW to bring a collection of 100 sponsored posts to Re:form, a design-focused blog nested under the renowned blogging platform. As Medium’s first attempt at generating revenue since its creation in 2012 by Twitter’s former CEO Evan Williams, this sponsorship also offers a new spin on native advertising. Instead of populating the elegantly designed site with BMW advertorials, for now** the partnership simply manifests as two bold and strategically placed “Presented by BMW” logos on each page, with absolutely no other advertising in sight. And rather than measuring impressions and pageviews, Medium will guarantee BMW a total reading time metric measured in minutes.

Such a novel, minimalist approach allows BMW to attach its brand of excellent German engineering to the great reading experience of the flawlessly designed site in the least intrusive way possible, as it utilizing Medium’s celebrated reputation of smart design and high-caliber contributors to elevate BWM’s brand in the design industry. Any brand could slap their logo on a given website and call it a sponsorship, but only when the feel of the sponsored content is aligned with the brand image would such method work effectively and effortlessly.

Native advertising is currently on the rise, but as customers become more familiarized with and therefore, desensitized to branded content, its magic will inevitably start diminishing. Trying out new approaches like this is certainly one way to prevent such diminishing effect from occurring too soon, especially in a market as innovative and capricious as digital advertising.

** Some branded posts on BMW is reportedly in the works according to AdAge, It’d be interesting to see how they perform compared to other posts in the sponsored collection.

Apple Reports High R&D Intensity, Indicates iWatch Launch

Posted on by Lab Team

Apple released a new earning report last week, and everything seems pretty normal. But our friends over at Statista noticed that Apple reported a R&D intensity–the ratio between the company’s revenue and R&D expenditure–of 4.28%, the highest in 8 years for the company. Interestingly, the last time Apple hit a R&D intensity of more than 4% was back in 2006, right before it launched the revolutionary iPhone. If anything, this statistic firmly points to a new product line extension, most likely the impending launch of Apple wearable. Beacon technology and DRM are among other likely candidates that cut into Apple’s research fund, but recent reports seem all but confirmed that Apple is betting big on iWatch. Would the wearable market blow up like the tablet market did when Apple introduced iPad? The big spender seems pretty confident on that.

Fitbit Becoming First Fitness Band To Support Windows Phone

Posted on by Lab Team

As the current 3rd place in the race of mobile operating systems, Windows OS often gets neglected by app developers in favor of iOS and Android. But after getting a fashion make-over, Fitbit, the current forerunner in fitness tracking wearable, decides it’s time to cover all bases by releasing a mobile syncing app for Windows Phone 8.1., with all functions in tact. Sources cite the new Phone’s improved Bluetooth support as the reason that Fitbit moved in, but most likely, that’d be true if other fitness band manufacturers follow suit and create apps for Microsoft’s mobile platform as well. Obviously, just as advertiser always follows the audience, developers first go where the users are before branching out. And for now, Windows Mobile OS is usually not the starting point, but a mere afterthought. And Microsoft still has a lot to do to bridge that gap.

Amazon Introduces Dedicated Web-store For 3D Printed Products

Posted on by Lab Team

As the need for customizable goods continue to rise, 3D printing is ascending from a niche novelty to one of the hottest trends in tech right now. Now digital retail giant Amazon is hopping in on the hype and introducing a new web store portal specifically dedicated to 3D printed goods. By partnering with a few suppliers including Mixee, Scupteo and 3DLT, Amazon is set to make 3D printed items easily accessible and commercially viable. The market trend in online retail has seen a growing endorsement of direct production and selling, especially suitable for one-offs and small orders, which truly puts each individual customer’s need front and center. And that’s an edge that mass-produced retailers will never have.

HBC Stores To Deploy In-Store Beacon Technology

Posted on by Lab Team

Beacon technology is getting another seal of approval from the retail industry. Department store chains Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay (both are owned by HBC) are rolling out in-store beacon marketing platforms, powered by Swirl, in over 130 retail storefronts across North America to deliver branded content and personalized offers to consumers’ smartphones while they shop. An ambitious application of beacon marketing in the retail industry, this marks the first time retail players test the technology. Pending customers’ feedback, the micro-location tech is ready to take the retail business by storm. Similar efforts would be expected in other retail stores soon, if offering a better, more integrated shopping experience is of their concern.

Keep Introduces New Universal Shopping Cart Feature

Posted on by Lab Team

NY-based start-up Keep is aiming to take a bite out of Pinterest by introducing OneCart, a universal shopping cart that works across different online stores. This new feature on the Keep shopping platform (web and mobile) is designed to work as a unified storefront enabled with one-click cross-platform check-out. Disappointedly, the function is not powered by an automated purchasing system, but instead relies on manual labors of its employers to finish the orders for their users one by one. While a universal check-out function definitely has its potential, as fewer payment hassle could facilitate more sales. But the way that OneCart is currently operating is not exactly sustainable if it grows in scale. Sooner or later, the company will need to figure out a better solution to offer the e-shoppers a seamless online retail experience.

Google Reportedly Buying Game-Streaming Platform Twitch For $1 Billion

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One billion dollars. That’s the reported price Google is willing to pay to get Twitch, the biggest real-time game-streaming platform, into its digital empire. The deal has yet to become official, but the industry is already buzzing about all its implications. Twitch provides the players with platform to broadcast their gameplay sessions on PC, Xbox One, or PlayStation 4 live to online viewers, building a community of over 50 million of monthly active gamers around the world, which would provide Google with a enormous advertising opportunity. Furthermore, this billion-dollar deal, if confirmed, would not only validate the emerging market of live-streamed gameplay, but also seem to signal an upcoming transformation of YouTube’s current streaming model. It’s an acquisition that could potentially upend the status quo of OtT video market, bringing Twitch’s live-streaming model into the mix.

Update : In an interesting turn of events, Amazon has closed a deal to buy Twitch for $970 million. — Aug. 25, 2014

Samsung Teaming Up With Oculus For VR Headset

Posted on by Lab Team

A report surfaced from CNET claims that Samsung is collaborating with Facebook-owned Oculus on a virtual reality headset powered by mobile devices. Last we heard, Samsung appeared to have a prototype design for its Gear VR ready, so this collaboration comes as a slight surprise. But taking a closer look, this could easily be a win-win situation for both companies, with Samsung offering access to a mass consumer base and Oculus providing the VR technology. Clearly Samsung wants to realize mobile VR fast and well, and teaming up with Oculus seems like just the right way to do it.