Bidness ETC - Can Apple Watch Act As The Next Gaming Platform ?

Apple Watch has immense potential to act as a gaming platform.

Apple Inc. is captivating the market with its top notch products and now with the launch of Apple Watch their game is likely to get stronger. The company is likely to become the next big thing for advertisers and smartphone users since the device has immense gaming potential. Advertisers are also keen to bolster and adapt their apps. However, Mr. Maximo Cavazzani, the mastermind behind Trivia Crack believes that the adaptation for application on Apple watch is relatively complicated.

Many developers believed that the adaptation for this Apple product would resemble the iPad apps with the feasibility to cater to several advertisements. However, quite different to this perception, the watch has a small sized screen along with a compact processor that changes the dynamics of the application to a great extent.

Tim Cook, the chief executive officer of Apple is the man behind the removal of several features that dealt with in-app purchases on the watch considering the hardware constraints. However, the best way to start churning revenues on this device is via gaming applications. Considering the statistics obtained from App Annie, almost 10 percent of total 5,600 applications that are devised for Apple Watch is related to gaming. This shows that this platform is a great opportunity for developers for developing gaming application that can boost sales and downloads.

On the other and, certain developers are still skeptical regarding this product's future in gaming. These skeptics believe that they would be required to consider the broader implications regarding an app that holds onto users and ensures engagement along with road hazards and safety of consumers.

The fan of Watch apps have more good in store for them and a lot more to anticipate during the company’s annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), which is almost ready to happen. Apple is likely to come up with a Tool Kit that will help developers to come up with their own apps for this product.

Developers at this point are most likely to design such Watch apps that are perfect for a screen sized 38 by 42 millimeters. Likewise the Runeblade developers, a popular fantasy game have modified the features of the game so that they can easily move from actual gaming to that decision that impacts the game story line in the long run.

The developers start need to take the gaming aspect of this apple product seriously as this is the relatively great platform to ensure monetary developments. Once the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) is over, the developers will have more option to play around.

Bidness ETC - Google Acquiring Twitter Will Be A Safer Bet

Twoogle will benefit both the companies.

Since a while now, rumors about the acquisition of Twitter Inc. by Google Inc. have been in the air. The idea of Google acquiring Twitter has created immense disruption in the market where many social media enthusiast have been talking about the major disruption that awaits them. The concept behind Twoogle is not only enriching but extremely captivating too.

Mr. Chris Sacca, the investor at Twitter mentioned during an interview that the social media platform can readily benefit the search engine giant and is apparently an “instant fit”. Google’s portfolio is extremely dynamic and boasts of several great features, but it still lacks a potential social media platform which Twitter become.

Mr. Sacca who himself is a Twitter investor has been extremely critical about the company’s performance and considers it to be a disappointment that they have not been able to cope up with the expectation of Street analysts.

Twitter’s monthly user base in the fiscal year of 20015 during Q1 compounded to 302 million which is almost one-fifth of the total consumer base of Facebook. Moreover, Mr. Sacca also acknowledged that 1 billion of Twitter users stopped using the platform which indicates that the company has several shortcomings to deal with.

Mr. Sacca also understands that this market is currently dealing with a lot of competition. If Twitter does not come up with a better mechanism then other tech behemoths will soon take over the firm without leaving any room for redemption.

Apart from this Mr. Sacca also gave another interview to Bloomberg. Mr. Joshua Topolskt the digital editor at Bloomberg and Mr. Om Malik the web and tech writer considers Twoogle to be a massive breakthrough and are positive about this new rumored endeavor. According to Mr. Topolsky, the merger of Twitter and Google is extremely strategic and makes sense financially. Twitter at this point needs a safe haven along with financial cushioning which Google can provide. Simultaneously, Google can cash an active social media platform Mr. Malik expressed his opinion regarding the merger by stating, “The most viable option [for both companies] from an investor standpoint.”

BidnessEtc commented on the issue by stating Mr. Malik’s approach further, “The site needs more ways to create human interactions using better data-mining techniques and take on more risks. He maintained that Twitter’s product value has not gone down and just needs a little revival.”

On the other hand, Ms. Marrisa Mayers of Yahoo Inc. also believes that this endeavor will be a milestone for Google.

Bidness ETC - McDonald’s Hikes Up Rent On Franchisees Despite Plummeting Sales

Fast Food chain increases rate by at least three percentage points by as much as 16% of sales.

In a move that does not make absolute sense and is likely to simmer discontent, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) has stated that it has increased the rental rate, which it charges to its franchises, by at least an extra 3% for over the last seven years to as high as 16% of sales, based on the information provided by an accountant, who is responsible for the financial management of more than 150 McDonald’s franchise.

The said rate is far higher for the industry, in which fast food chains normally charge franchises a rent of somewhere between 6-10%. The fact that McDonald’s has bumped the already partially overcharged rate to one that looks unsustainable comes as franchises are struggling with falling sales. That move might have made sense during better times, but this is not one of them. The company has not responded to queries from the Wall Street Journal, which had reported about the price and the decision itself.

Part of the movement may be attributed to McDonald’s same-store operations in which sales have been falling down for the last six straight quarters in the US. With traffic on the downward trend, the company responded by executing the turnaround, which calls on operators to pay up for more undertaking costly upgrade.

Adding further woes, franchises are feeling the heat from civil rights activist to bump up minimum wages for employees, following McDonald’s decision to increase pay for its company-owned stores. Operators of the franchises say that whilst the decision to boost wages only affected 10% of the stores operated by McDonald’s, they vented their anger by not taking them into account of the potential impact.

It is no wonder that the relationship between the operators of McDonald’s corporate sector is at its lowest since the past decade, since Kalinowski, a research agency, was handed the task in survey industrial relations. Analysts say that for the company to work successfully, it has to repair its relationship with the franchises before giving the turnaround strategy a shot, since McDonald’s cannot do this alone.

McDonald’s is known for its brand recognition among other competitors in the market. It faced various issues and challenges. One former franchisee said that not all is too late to turn around, if McDonald’s CEO, Steve Easterbrook, is able to secure cooperation with the franchise, since according to him, "They don’t work for him, and he cannot order them around."

McDonald’s stock price ended the day at $96.52, a gain of 0.24% from the previous day.