![\"PlayPhone\"](\"http:\/\/mobilemoo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/PlayPhone.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThere is an inherent struggle between phone manufacturers and carriers. Each wants to control the end user experience. Verizon has been hugely aggressive in this. When you buy a new Android smartphone, you’ll notice a number of pre-installed Verizon-braneded apps, such as VZNavigator and Verizon Tones. They recently nixed its MP3 music sales channel thanks to competition from Google Play and iTunes. But it appears they’re fighting back on at least one front: gaming.<\/p>\n
Today Verizon announced a new gaming portal, powered by PlayPhone. It will in many ways resemble Apple’s Gaming Center, in that it allows people to hook up over their internet connections and play games together. It is, in other words, something of a social network for mobile gaming. At the same time, it will utilize other social networks for sharing, which should increase the service’s visibility.<\/p>\n
Verizon will launch the service by preinstalling it on a number of new Android devices. That’s certainly an annoyance for some, but given the number of apps Verizon already installs on Android devices it shouldn’t cause too much customer dissatisfaction. It’s really the best way for Verizon to push the service. For current Android customers, a software update should be coming soon enough. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While the preinstall breaks down one barrier, Verizon’s account billing breaks down a perhaps more important one. How many users, for instance, forego purchasing an app or game through Google Play, because they don’t want to enter their credit card information (or don’t have a credit card)? Carrier billing can increase sales by reducing friction. The challenge will come with secondary lines on family accounts. The primary account needs to not only have control over purchases, but needs to be made aware of the potential in the first place. The last thing Verizon needs is a group of parents complaining after the fact that they didn’t know they had to limit such activity. <\/p>\n
The specific focus on games could lead to a greater level of social engagement than those games found in Google Play. When you browse Google Play there is a a huge selection of content, from apps to games to MP3s to videos. By picking its battles and sticking with just games, the Verizon\/PlayPhone experience could become a positive for many casual smartphone gamers. <\/p>\n
Android is certainly a good place to start, but in order to realize success Verizon needs to get this on iOS devices as well. Preinstallation is likely not an option here, but the availability of the PlayPhone app will make a big difference. Apple will likely push back, seeing as it competes with Apple’s own social gaming platform. And there we have the struggle. Will Verizon prevail and horn in on the mobile gaming market, or will Apple hinder their efforts?<\/p>\n
Via Phone Scoop<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Verizon Makes Social Gaming Play With PlayPhone<\/a> appeared first on MobileMoo<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is an inherent struggle between phone manufacturers and carriers. Each wants to control the end user experience. Verizon has been hugely aggressive in this. When you buy a new Android smartphone, you’ll notice a number of pre-installed Verizon-braneded apps, such as VZNavigator and Verizon Tones. They recently nixed its MP3 music sales channel thanks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7435,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7435"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649063\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}