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12.21.2012What Can Rendering Service Market Get From Cloud Computing?
12.20.2012Penetrating the Japanese Social Gaming World With the Help of Japanese Social Gaming Companies
12.19.2012Cloud-Based Rendering – the Logical Next Step for Render Farms
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09.14.2012
When it comes to gadgets and games, you just can’t beat Asians, especially the Japanese, as they have been frontrunners in the usage of Smartphones. Whether it’s an Android, iPhone or a Windows phone, Japanese always welcome them with open arms. With the increasing popularity of smartphones, applications from the mobile gaming industry is also booming in the land of the rising Sun. Where gaming market used to be a battle ground of PSP’s and Nintendo’s is now dominated by smartphone-based gaming apps.
If you want stats to go with it, then take a closer look at this. When Japanese mobile gaming network GREE launched the Sci-Fi game on September first, the response to it was overwhelming. Within eight days the game had reached a user base of more than 1 million and over 1200 new players signing up every hour – this is simply amazing! In fact not even popular social networking flicks do not have such a fanfare in Japan. And if you thought that GREE was the face of the Japanese mobile gaming industry, then take a look at the height scaled by its rival Mobage. When Mobage launched the highly acclaimed Robo-War game Gundam Royal, the number of users reached to an unprecedented 6 digit number within a short span of 6 days.
The success of these two games as well as the hosting gaming network of the games is a testimonial to the growing affinity of mobile gaming in a place where even 5 year olds have Smartphones. The technology mindset of the average Japanese person is a huge factor in the increasing dominance of Smartphones. Additionally, increasing affordability of phones in comparison to the past decade, more and more people would want to get their hands on the latest phones. The Japanese economy may have lost its supremacy over the last decade, but the people definitely have not lost their quest for innovative technology products.
The domestic success has motivated Japanese mobile gaming giants to consider options to expand their footprint into international gaming markets. This trend fuelled a massive acquisition drive by major gaming giants. The recent acquisition of the US based Open Feint mobile gaming network by Japanese giant GREE is an example of its intention to expand into the international market. Another example is the venture of Mobage into China, US and other markets. Additionally, there is an inward trend also, with major global players in the gaming industry making their way into the lucrative smartphone gaming sector of Japan. With the smartphone user base of over 15 million, the region simply opens up a host of possibilities for the gaming industry. The mobile gaming sector of Japan is reportedly headed for a total of nearly 255 Billion Yen by 2015 and if the current growth rate continues, it won’t take that long to reach the prospective mark.
With the rise in the popularity of Smartphones and tablets, the home consoles and home console software market in Japan has declined. According to a Jiji Press report, gaming console sales dropped eight percent in 2011 as compared to 2010, for a total of $454.3 billion. As far as the games are concerned, strong sales have been reported for games with local content despite the fact that many international games continue to dominate the number of downloads. Android is without doubt the most happening of gaming platforms with the iOS right on its tail. Microsoft and other proprietary smartphone operating systems have to do some heavy homework to catch up but with the new Windows 8 platform launched for smartphones, and Apple winning a crucial lawsuit against Samsung which indeed does have some blows for the Android OS, things are going to get interesting in the months to come.
Irrespective of the platform, the Japanese have always embraced technology in whatever form it is presented to them. The mobile gaming industry is undergoing a revolution and it is slated to continue its good run for quite some time.
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About the Guest Author:
Mandira Srivastava is a fulltime freelance writer who specializes in technology, health and fitness, politics, and financial writing. Equipped with degree of mass communication and having worked for both private and corporate clients, I have experience meeting a wide range of writing requirements and styles.
09.13.2012
Without much fanfare, cloud computing is making big waves in the field of education and we are now seeing the growth of virtual learning centers, the advent of personal learning systems and distant learning programs. Yet another big differentiator is information durability. This ensures that data can be stored in the cloud indefinitely and thus over time, a great data resource will be built up that will benefit several generations.
You only have to look at the many slide sharing sites, the video lessons that are available on-line and see how easy it is to explain complex concepts to students with animation and video. And if the lesson is created once, why should it not benefit students all over the globe?
An ever increasing number of libraries are going on-line. Students from different countries are already working collaboratively and generating new concepts and ideas. All of this is just the beginning of the change that cloud computing can bring to education. Luckily for our younger generations, this is a rapidly growing trend and many government agencies are understanding the benefits as well.
A recent UNESCO report on cloud computing in the education sector makes for very interesting reading. Besides discussing the by now well documented advantages of cloud computing in education, the report also discusses some other, less well discussed benefits. Some of these are mentioned below –
In spite of the advantages, UNESCO is also quick to point out the areas where universities must be careful about during their move to the cloud.
A major concern is of course security of data. There is fear that sensitive student or institution data could be breached. Besides, the reliance on a single cloud provider, it is feared, could introduce a single point of failure. However this is not really a worry. Large financial and legal institutions regularly trust their data to the cloud. The worry about failure is also not real because cloud service providers give guarantees of uptimes better than 99%.
There is also fear that institutions could be subject to advertising that they do not want to see. This can be easily handled by a well drafted service level contract. While selecting a cloud service provider, UNESCO recommends that institutions carefully evaluate the functionality offered by the company. They must also see that the platform suits the applications that the university intends to use and that the solution also supports tablets and other mobile devices. In addition to this, there could be some technical requirements that the solution must be able to meet. All of these have to be considered carefully.
Finally, it is also recommended that the negotiations for comprehensive cloud services not be carried out individually by each institution but by regional or national educational authorities since they have better capabilities to negotiate and select services. Having many institutions use a common cloud service will also help in cross flow of ideas which is after all the very idea behind education.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.
09.12.2012
For a relatively tight-knit market where penetration of outside and unconventional services rarely succeeds, Japan has already warmed up to the idea of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) due to the various benefits it offers to any type of industry. Based on a recent study of Gartner, the SaaS market in Japan is expected to rise to $495.2 million this year, which is a 16% increase from last year. This figure provides a clear picture of how strong this type of service is being accepted in the market right now and how it is going to further impact different sectors in Japan in the coming years. Whether you’re in the government or private sector, SaaS has definitely made an indelible mark in improving business operations in Japan leading to an evil growth in their respective markets.
The main components which have made SaaS particularly appealing to the Japanese are its ease of use and customization features to suit the needs of a business. Japan has always been known to be the driving force in technology especially in the Asia-Pacific market. Keeping ahead of the times and its competitors means deploying the latest and fastest IT systems possible to stay on top. What could be more advanced than an online-based system? It is where technology is at and where the future of the entire world relies on. Another factor to consider when it comes to SaaS advantages is the opportunity to lower expenses when buying hardware and software systems. With SaaS, Japanese companies are able to control their costs with competitively priced applications which are on a subscription-based fee.
With the unfortunate tsunami event last year, local businesses are searching for alternative means to support their operations in case another disaster strikes again. The diversity and flexibility of the SaaS make it one of the better options that companies could look into to preserve their businesses. Though this newfound appreciation for the less than traditional approach has already been recognized, companies wanting to offer their own on-demand software still need to go through a number of hurdles before triumphing in this exclusive and hard to convince consumer market.
For starters, the Japanese would welcome and appreciate more your offered service and all other marketing strategies if they understood what you are selling and saying. Case in point, write your texts in Japanese language. If you have a website, manual or social networking account, you better hire a good translator or communication specialist to get your message across your target market the right way. If you want to do one step better, make sure to have a competent Japanese team on your side who knows the market more than you do especially if you are a foreigner.
Moreover, the Japanese also responds more positively to personalized services and who wouldn’t? When business owners themselves take the time to chat or answer customer comments and questions, that is what sets them apart from the rest. Japanese consumers feel more valued when service providers directly interact with them as if they were their real friends. Timely responses offered in a courteous manner always give off the right vibe especially for a country that values good manners and professionalism as part of their personal and work ethics.
As in any other country, a marketing scheme is always a topnotch priority when trying to break into a new market. If you want your SaaS product to be noticed, researching the channels to saturate should be of paramount importance. When it comes to Japan, social media is a definite gateway to promote your product. With Facebook and Twitter booming in the market, you can take advantage of these networking sites but always remember to not overdo it as it can backfire on you. Introducing prizes or freebies for signing up to your service could also lead to more users. It will attract more customers who shall then spread the word on your product and with everything in Japan nowadays, a good word or a rave review always goes a long way.
There are indeed grand opportunities waiting to be discovered for SaaS providers wanting to infiltrate this previously closed market. If approached the right way, you can gain more than what you initially expected in this flourishing market in Japan.
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About the Guest Author:
Rodolfo Lentejas, Jr. is a fulltime freelance writer based in Toronto. He is the founder of the PostSckrippt, a growing online writing business dedicated to producing top quality, original and fresh content. To know more about him, please visit www.postsckrippt.ca. Like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.
09.11.2012
In October 2011, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched a rare Digital Malaysia Initiative (DMI) that is meant to turn this South-East Asian country into a hub for e-commerce activities in Asia. This giant, one-of-its-kind project aims at creating an initial 160,000 high-value jobs by 2020 and subsequently increases the country’s Gross National Income contributed by the IT sector by about 17%.
This information paints exactly how bright the prospects of IT investment will be in Malaysia in the coming years. And interestingly enough, the projected success of Digital Malaysia Initiative is entirely hooked on Cloud Computing technology.
DMI is primarily designed to foster a rapid growth in the areas of online education, e-commerce, mobile technology, e-payment among small- and medium-scale businesses, evolution of e-entrepreneurs, and coordination of all Internet-based business activities with the view to guaranteeing higher productivity and creating jobs that will boost the economic activity of Malaysia.
With this scale of explosive digital adventures, one will expect that Digital Malaysia Initiative will bring about strategic changes as well as new challenges to the Information Technology processes in Malaysia. Some of the unavoidable challenges Malaysia’s IT sector will have to grapple will include but are not limited to:
For Malaysia to become a center of Asia’s e-commerce, it definitely has to devise the appropriate mechanism for dealing with the issue of large generation of sensitive data that will require safe and flexible storage facilities. Online education, e-payment system, e-entrepreneur activities, e-government procedures, e-commerce operations etc will all require the kind of efficient storage facility provided by Cloud Computing. Storing time-sensitive and highly confidential data through cloud technology provides the flexibility and scalability most e-business operators desire; in other words, e-entrepreneurs can sign up with cloud service providers for a limited storage capacity based on their current needs. And if their storage requirements increase in the near future, they can request for a bigger storage space. Using cloud computing, Malaysian e-commerce operators can rest assured that their business operations will not suddenly collapse due to limited space for storage expansion.
Digital Malaysia Initiative is centered on the promise that cloud computing will play a significant role in making the Initiative efficient and successful. This dream is achievable if Malaysian business owners pay serious attention to the gains of adopting cloud technology in all areas of their operations. Apart from leading to dramatic cut in the cost of running businesses, cloud computing will also necessitate business continuity and safeguard or protect some sensitive data that will be generated during these business activities.
DMI also provides opportunities for Western IT firm that wants to actively participate in Asian IT market. One of the reasons the Malaysian Government supports Digital Malaysia Initiative is to provide a level-playing field for foreign investors that will like to be a part of the Initiative with the hope of meeting the goals of job creation and economic expansion. This is the best time for foreign investors to check out the benefits of DMI for business expansion, if such investors are deeply interested in entering the Asian IT market. Malaysia has long been regarded as a vibrant home to many foreign companies which include IBM, Shell, Nestle, Sony, PricewaterCoopers etc.
Cloud computing will continue to make in-road into Asian economies as Malaysia appears to lead the campaign for others to emulate. The good news is that the 21st century has been generally agreed to be an Asian period of rapid development. China, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia are now leading the pack in IT sector development; a trend that will seemingly not abate in the coming years!
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About the Guest Author:
Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/