Here’s our new feature back for a second week, in which we each pick the tech story of the week that we felt was the most significant. And, true to form, we reckon these developments are ones that’ll shape the future. Join in the debate in the comments section!
Charlie’s pick: Call of Duty Online coming to China via Tencent
OK, so this is a bit of a dark horse pick, but I think history will prove me correct, or at least not insane. Call of Duty’s addictive gameplay plus Tencent’s China expertise plus a China-friendly business model (finally) should equal mainstream success. There are plenty of ways Activision and Tencent (HKG:0700) could throw this opportunity away, but I don’t think they will, and a few years from now FPS players here can look forward to hearing twelve-year-old boys scream about how they’re noobs in a whole new language.
Line’s new platform is huge: it’s big news for Japan, NHN, social media, and mobile commerce. Apps like Whatsapp and Wechat need to do this – or die!
Willis’ pick: Line app becomes a platform
This has got to be the biggest news of the week! Line has shown its competitors how to potentially monetize a chat app (watch out Whatsapp and WeChat!). I thought that the idea is smart and I personally think that it could potentially work really well for Line. For some, it might be hard to imagine a chat app turning into an app platform for other services like games, deals, and e-commerce to co-exist and to leverage on Line’s whopping 45 million users. [Korea’s KakaoTalk will do the same later this month — Ed]. But I think Line has taken the first bold step to announce its vision. It is risky step but an innovative one too, and I hope it succeeds. Fortune favors the bold.
Rick’s pick: Get in Line!
Yeah, I also think Line’s move to become a platform was pretty big news this week. I don’t think that all aspects of its new endeavors will succeed, but I think if they are quick to make adjustments then it could be ok. I do like how it cross-promoted its new Birzzle game in its sticker shop (it had two million downloads in its first day), which is certainly a smart way to market new Line services to the over 45 million existing Line users.
In any case, Line is another good example of a Japanese company looking to ride the smartphone platform to success in international markets. I like that they are trying new things, making this an especially interesting case study to watch.
Enricko’s pick: 6 reasons why new Chinese smartphones should be feared
This post made me happy. But I live in Indonesia and have never heard any of the new Chinese phone brands mentioned in the post, so how did it make me happy? Well, the fact that people in China can already buy better phones with a cheaper price compared to the more famous brands is a cause to celebrate.
Older Chinese brands like ZTE and Huawei have provided competition here in Indonesia, and I believe (or hope!) that more Chinese brands – like Xiaomi – will follow suit. That combined with the awesome news of Foxconn opening new factories here, I’d say that the day where high quality smartphones are very much affordable to the average Jakarta Joe like me is now not that far away.
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