Everything Android

[Spazosaurus]

I'm with Wyatt on this one.

I think we have already established that mobile eh want nothing with the power of PC's now and probably never will.

That said, we are all aware of the long life cycles of the major consoles on the market. Like Messiah and myself discussed earlier, there's a 50/50 chance that mobile hardware could catch up to console power within 3-5 years of the new gen console's release.

Moving forward, i'm not saying consoles are going to be obsolete. In fact they are probably going to be alive and kicking long after we are all dead because there will always be certain use cases where a big screen is preferred (although as we know, phones are already connected to the big screen) or a "shared" environment exists where the entire family wishes to partake in some local multi player action.

HOWEVER, for your consideration, I propose that mobile is sooo ripe for the picking that very soon we are going to see it burst out as a new platform altogether. AAA titles are going to be announced: "Coming to Xbox Next, PS4, PC ANDDDDD Android Mobile".

The problem is, you'll need a LOT of accessories to truly harness the power of that tech to make 'top-tier, AAA' gaming on a mobile device any kind of viable.
You can only do do much with a touch screen.  When you have all that stuff hooked up, guess what...it's no longer mobile. 
Now you're in console territory...and the console will do everything better...well, except make/take calls. 

Now hold on...not necessarily eh.

Take a look...



When AAA titles begin to surface, people, things like these are literally going to sell themselves. It'll explode! Imagine having your console being with you at all times. This will appeal to shedloads of people, not least of which is the busy professional who doesnt get time to sit at home gaming. They will now be able to sneak in a high quality gaming session anytime and anywhere throughout the day when they have downtime!

Like I said before, consoles might not die but their territory is going to be seriously trampled upon.

Oh yeah. I could put my head on a block to say that the wheels for a move such as this are already turning SOMEWHERE in the world.

[Arcmanov]

Well look how I didn't know there was another version of the Gameklip.

I prefer Samsung's new controller-and-clip in one though.
Waiting patiently for that. 

Cap, you make some very salient points there, but only a very small niche of gamers will carry around a Gameklip.  I doubt it's enough to cause the 'explosion' that you're predicting.




SwiftKey 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | Tapatalk 2 | Omega v16

[MessiaaH]

Yes @ Arcman, and Capt. I not saying mobile gaming not going anywhere u know, don't get me wrong.
I saying the ludicrous idea that it going to replace console in the near future is absurd.
I'm also saying that when the next consoles launch, what would be high end gaming experience for mobile, will infact be a lack luster experience when compared to Next Gen / PC.

It have plenty AAA titles that launch for Xbox/PS3/PC/Wii, but u don't see men playing it on d wii because it looks like crap in comparison. Not saying mobile not getting better, it getting significantly better yes. But the Console/PC right now and in the forseeable future, is capable of producing ALOT more.

They not making games like Tomb Raider, Watch Dogs, Crysis 3, Bio Infinite, etc for mobile.
And those are multi billion dollar franchises. And those are not even next gen.......
Mobile gaming is great, and their are a lot of use cases for it sure. But looking at the lack luster market that is the PSP, which is capable of plenty, and still eh reach no way. It just not going change.
D hardware not here yet, and the echosystem not here yet to replace a Console.
You can picture men selling a mobile game for 50$? who d hell buying that.

Is money involved here too eh. Plenty factors to consider for the men who driving the industry.
Consoles / PCs eh going anywhere. Mobile go improve rel plenty yes, but it is in by no means replacing the Console/PC. Maybe like arcman said, when it have some gigantic leap in mobile tech then that mite be possible. But 5 years? hell no.

[Spazosaurus]

Convergence. This is why I think this version of mobile gaming could succeed. Not everyone wants to lug around a device specifically geared towards gaming ala PSP...but almost everyone has a smartphone though...

That's a vast, untapped market, people. Attempts have been made to penetrate but I think the winning strategy is still to come. Meh crystal ball saying things could explode in the near future.

[MessiaaH]

Yea Capt. I agree with that, it's an untapped market, but a New market. Not a replacement market for Console, an additional one. Which is what the PSP and DS suppose to be, which is what mobile gaming was always meant to be, a supplement, not a replacement.

When yuh working out they say take protein as a supplement, any trainer go tell u, it not meant to replace yuh food.

[Spazosaurus]

That's exactly what I mean...I actually said that consoles aren't going to become obsolete anytime soon.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[MessiaaH]

scene.

[woodyear99]

I've been using Viber for a while now, it is very similar to Whatsapp but also has voice chat. It now has a desktop app that can communicate with mobile users...

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/05/07/voip-app-viber-gets-a-major-holo-clad-makeover-releases-desktop-application/

It's a pretty big day for Viber, the popular VoIP application that brings "free messages and calls" to your mobile. Seems that the guys behind the app (appropriately named Viber Media) have been hard at work preparing not only major updates to the Android and iOS applications, but also on an all-new desktop client for Windows and Mac.
 
The update to the Android version of the app brings many new features, including a new Holo'd-out look. Aside from that, you can now send video messages, a new voice engine improves the audio quality, there's an online status indicator, and you can transfer active calls seamlessly between the mobile app and the just-released desktop client.

Like the mobile app, the desktop version of Viber is also available free of charge. Head here to grab that download, or hit the widget below to check out the mobile app.

[Spazosaurus]

Ok whatsapp, the ball is in your court.

[shivanandrs]

Thanks for the heads up on the desktop application, will test it out! +1

I've been using this for quite a while as well, especially for the voice calls. I was really impressed with the sound quality. Even when used on edge, I have no issues with call quality.

What I really don't like is during voice calls my phone screen does not turn off when placed against my ear. Or am I doing something wrong?

Sent from my C6502 using Tapatalk 2

[TriniXaeno]

I've been tepid about viber, looks like it is now entering into killer app territory.

Whatsapp has done it's darndest to resist a desktop app. Nice to see the competition embracing that.

Agreed @ awesome, the ball is now firmly in their court.

How to respond to this?

Skype could be another big player in this space if the client gets a little bit nimbler (either that or phones get so powerful, they could handle the bloat normel)

[LQDSNK]

I've been tepid about viber, looks like it is now entering into killer app territory.

Whatsapp has done it's darndest to resist a desktop app. Nice to see the competition embracing that.

Agreed @ awesome, the ball is now firmly in their court.

How to respond to this?

Skype could be another big player in this space if the client gets a little bit nimbler (either that or phones get so powerful, they could handle the bloat normel)

Whatsapp needs to become as good as BBM first before they expand. I didn't spend long with BBM but i know at the very least it is ~reliable.

I think MS purposefully made Skype that way on Android. I used it on WP7 and it's very nicely integrated. No FC or slow responses

[Arcmanov]

'...needs to become as good'.  Really?

Isn't WhatsApp head and shoulders above BBM in just about every way already?

BBM isn't multiplatform last time I checked.




SwiftKey 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | Tapatalk 2 | Omega v16

[Spazosaurus]

I was on bbm for a couple of years and now whatsapp. As far as I can tell, whatsapp is a the very least on par with bbm in every way (except maybe message security) with the added bonus of being cross platform. Never had a reliability problem with either platform tbh.

[LQDSNK]

Yes multi-platform is great. I am not saying whatsapp is not great but a few things are lacking for me.

1) As awesome said: security, which admittedly would be pretty hard if not impossible to achieve across so many platforms.

2) In my experience the message delivery is not instantaneous across all forms of connectivity(the fastest for me has been mobile data). Messages take a while to be delivered and often come in a glut (10 minute blocks or so). Sometimes they don't even appear until you've opened whatsapp.

3) Icons, sure there are many icons but too much of them are the same thing with no explanation of what the difference is e.g. there is a smiley with an open mouth and then right next to it, the same smiley; an open mouth but with eyebrows and then right above that; open mouth, eyebrows, blue tinted forehead.

4) Encouragement to communicate. Status updates are open to everyone in whatsapp however BBM placed the statuses where you can easily see it has been changed. This encourages people to talk and use your platform. It worked for BBM it works for FB.

I am not saying these issues are a dealbreaker, I am saying these simple things would make BBM vs whatsapp a no contest. It is for some people already, that doesn't mean it can't be improved.

[woodyear99]

I will never use BBM since I will never own a blackberry. Thank goodness for alternatives like Whatsapp and viber.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

[MessiaaH]

I also not using bbm, because like woodyear I eh using no blackberry. I wont say never cuase u never know, but based on usage of the Z10, hell no.

Crossplatform is the way to go. Whatsapp may have it's quirks, but the fact that u can communicate with anybody , including blackberry users, makes it worth while. I'm sure most blackberry users also forced to use whatsapp to communicate with ppl who don't own a bbm. And the number of ppl who own a bbm getting less and less and less.

I agree with wyatt doh, Skype should be made as simple to use and streamlined as whatsapp, we could do with some competitors in the crossplatform chat game.

[woodyear99]

Skype drains my battery if I leave it running all the time. Whatsapp handles iffy 4G better imo.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

[MessiaaH]

On windows phone 8, Skype runs as a service. so the app is not actually running all the time. So it don't drain battery.
But as far as the chat interface etc, I think it's sloppy. If they clean up the UI and Workflow of the program to make it more streamlined, and improve efficiency. They go have something.

[Arcmanov]

Skype drains my battery if I leave it running all the time. Whatsapp handles iffy 4G better imo.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

I have Skype running almost constantly, and I still get about 16-18 hrs daily runtime...and I'm a 'power-user'

What's your usual Note 2 daily runtime like?