Can you remember a world before the smartphone? Back in 2008, ten years ago, the iPhone was introduced to the world. Since then, everything changed about how we interact with people and how we consume media. Blockchain and Crypto-Currency are just the newest addition to an ever-changing society, the likes of which we haven't seen yet.
After the wild success of the Nintendo Switch in 2017 and an epic lineup of games, the Japanese video game giant has pulled, well… they’ve pulled another “Nintendo” on us. They are the only company that keeps making moves nobody would expect or think of. The first look at Nintendo Labo on January 17th showed us a new way to interact with your Switch. On April 20th this year, Nintendo Labo will launch worldwide and will feature different packs of games and cardboard accessories that you must put together yourself.
You may have already encountered a massive movement of friends and family migrating into new platforms. I currently see this in Germany regarding Instagram. I have been there for a couple of years now, but lately, I see more and more people creating their account. Sure, Facebook is actively pushing people to go there or giving you the power to invite people to the platform, yet the real movement is coming in 2018.
Despite its original cult status, Twitter has lost a lot of gravitas during the emergence of Instagram and Co. and since then struggled to increase its user base significantly. I've grown fond of the service in the last 24 months because it became more and more of an underdog and but I feel the community being a lot tighter and responsive than compared to Facebook - at least I the sense of topics around Hashtags.
Today companies look for influencers, people who have a big online following and work with them to promote their product, service or otherwise. The goal is to maximize conversion and minimize cost per conversion. If your influencer is worth their money, you will find no better ROI in the market right now. Heck, you can even find influencers who love your product, and they will promote it for free if you send them one of your cool phones or stickers or whatever.
Can you remember a world before the smartphone? Back in 2008, ten years ago, the iPhone was introduced to the world. Since then, everything changed about how we interact with people and how we consume media. Blockchain and Crypto-Currency are just the newest addition to an ever-changing society, the likes of which we haven't seen yet.
You may have already encountered a massive movement of friends and family migrating into new platforms. I currently see this in Germany regarding Instagram. I have been there for a couple of years now, but lately, I see more and more people creating their account. Sure, Facebook is actively pushing people to go there or giving you the power to invite people to the platform, yet the real movement is coming in 2018.
How can we teach machines a lesson in morality? One of the most interesting questions of our time.
The discussion about how autonomous driving can change our society, help us save time and ensure traffic security is at the heart of the current media. However, when we think about scenarios in which you won't have a steering wheel in your transport vehicle and something malfunctions, what does the car do? Does it come to a complete halt? What if the brakes won't work and the car has to decide to I crash into a wall, and the driver will die or do I drive into the next shopping mall in the hope that I won't hit anyone?
Currently, everyone is caught up in this mega trend called "Digitalization." Every company started initiatives around this topic; they began to put out prototypes of new products, offering new services or simply renamed items on their portfolio to fit this new hype. However, what is digitalization?
I recently got ask, how would you explain digitalization to someone? What is it is core ingredient and why are we doing this?
If you ask me, I will try to make this sound as simple as possible. A tangible statement that describes such a virtual process in human history. My definition of digitalization is this:
Virtual reality is going to be big in the future and it might just be the platform that will substitute the laptop. Today you turn on your laptop and got your desktop with applications ahead. Tomorrow you might wake up and just put on VR glasses and you find yourself in a different reality where everything can be virtually processed and shown to you. Writing an email, fixing a machine, scanning for viruses...
I was never a big fan of traveling, but today everything became so convenient that it is not much of a chore anymore. For ten years now we have smartphones, and I am amazed at how much you can achieve with just your phone and the right data plan or even Wifi. It has never been a better time for writers or artists to work creatively on the go. Also, your office work is also the perfect thing to do on the go. Of course, it highly depends on the type of labor and the intensity you are looking for.
The Nintendo Switch, Nintendo's next entry into the consumer market, is a kick-ass tablet with an innovative controller. While Sony and Microsoft are trying to trump each other in the hardware department, Nintendo keeps ignoring the gaming juggernauts. The new console will not have any high-end graphics power; it might not even reach the PS4, but it will bring an entirely new storm of ideas to the gaming market, just as the Wii did when it came around.
Gamescom 2016 is over and the last few days were packed with new and exciting technology. First and foremost, Virtual Reality. Last year was just a sneak peak of what was to come. We still have to reach mass market with VR and by the end of this year and Sony's Playstation VR entry, I'm confident the market will get there. If you haven't tried out VR yet, just go get your hands on one of those Google cardboards https://vr.google.com/cardboard/ it's easy, it's cheap and you'll get the idea.
Imagine this: You wake up, you know that you are not at home but you feel close to it. You take your first step out of the house, breathe in the air and take a look around. Everything seems familiar but also new at the same time. There are buildings you've seen before, roads you've taken before but something is different. Is it yourself or the city that changed?
Finally! Nintendo made a move into the smartphone market in March 2016. I'm not counting Pokémon Shuffle, which was already released on mobile in August 2015, because it was a "Pokémon-game" and a simple copy-and-paste title released on the 3DS ca. 6 months before. I didn't count it as native to the platform.
Miitomo, in the graphical style of a former game called "Tomodachi Life" for the 3DS, is about conversations with friends. You can connect to your existing Nintendo account or just start with a new one. Once hooked up, the conversation can begin.
Did you ever put on VR glasses before? The thing that really suprises you is how close everything is and how your brain somehow can and can't handle it. So in regards to games this is obviously a big selling point, just think about all those years we've spent on immersive ego-perspective games, be it a shooter or action rpg. Put on the VR machine, some nice headphones and you will find yourself in a completely different world. A whole new era of escapism is awaiting us.
Digitization is a trend we've been seeing in conservative industries for the last 20+ years when Windows 95 started to ship to the end consumer and companies now had the ability to give people without any technical background the chance to become more productive and embrace software like email for day to day business.
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