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Amazon Launches Game Center Competitor for Kindle Fire, Testing 4-5 Inch Smartphone Displays
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Remember when Amazon just sold stuff online, Google just handled search, Apple and Microsoft handled hardware and OS, and nobody really got into anyone's business (except, of course, MS and Apple)?
Why does everyone and their grandmother feel the need to make a tablet and smartphone? I mean, just making the damn thing doesn't mean it will sell - take a look at those poor Android tablets and how sales of Kindle Fire dropped off a cliff after the initial buzz wore off. It seems like Google, Amazon and Samsung are throwing darts all over the place, hoping something sticks. I'm glad these corporations have so much money to throw around on experiments that will eventually fail.
Isn't it funny how there would be no Kindle Fire or Android if there was no iOS, iPhone and iPad to precede those products? Google and Amazon would never have had the creativity and balls to do what Apple did, yet now they think they can compete simply by making a product that looks and acts similar, but without anything compelling about the rest of their ecosystems?
Why does everyone and their grandmother feel the need to make a tablet and smartphone? I mean, just making the damn thing doesn't mean it will sell - take a look at those poor Android tablets and how sales of Kindle Fire dropped off a cliff after the initial buzz wore off. It seems like Google, Amazon and Samsung are throwing darts all over the place, hoping something sticks. I'm glad these corporations have so much money to throw around on experiments that will eventually fail.
Isn't it funny how there would be no Kindle Fire or Android if there was no iOS, iPhone and iPad to precede those products? Google and Amazon would never have had the creativity and balls to do what Apple did, yet now they think they can compete simply by making a product that looks and acts similar, but without anything compelling about the rest of their ecosystems?
All you have to do is look at Apple's financial statements over the past four years to know why everyone and their dog wants to get into the smartphone and tablet market, and why such devices are so similar to Apple's. Apple has found the goose that lays the golden eggs, and everyone else wants their own golden egg-layer.
guess well just have to quote the things we don't like and just write down vote until we get out button back?? wth did they get rid of that for??we gotta make it so messy they bring it back... REBEL!!!
+1 (old school)
amazon is a cloud company. most of the internet runs from amazon. if you're going to control the backend might as well control the device as well.
chances are most iOS apps that need da cloud use amazon for their cloud service
Yet Jobs, during the original iPad keynote, said they are standing on the shoulders of Amazon's Kindle. It's almost as if companies made products before Apple... interesting. I wonder where reading on the iPad and iBooks would be if Amazon had not apparently convinced Jobs that, yes, people still like to read.
What?
Isn't the entire point of putting scores and achievements online so that it's "social?"
If it wasn't then why not just keep it all inside the game? There's no reason to build a system that puts it all online if no one else is going to see it.
GameCenter comes from Xbox Live. As do PSN and Steam.
Tying together games with social competition and additional rewards is one of the few things Microsoft has done that's been legitimately inspired. I'm surprised they didn't patent it. Apple would have.
You mean back when Apple made computers? Before it decided that it wanted a piece of the MP3 player pie? The music retailer pie? The cell phone pie? The social networking pie?
Apple have thrown darts around and stuck it's fingers in just as many pies as any other company and not all of them have been successful either. And you can Ping me on that as I'm watching my Apple Performa television and waiting for Apple to print my novel.
Yup, centralising achievements and making the whole thing social was one of the best thing MS did for games.
I imagine same reason Google, HTC, Samsung, Apple, Microsoft want to be in the phone industry. TO MAKE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!
It can. I use it in my game iStackUp to sync the high score between multiple devices or restore it if the game is deleted and redownloaded.
Also, if a developer wanted to sync an entire high score table, they could use iCloud. It really isn't up to Apple to implement this into GameCenter because it is already possible, and any solution would require effort on part of the developers to support it.
The only problem I have is the name. Amazon is a repeat offender. They want/use App Store. No body but Apple used that and everyone stayed away from that name. Now you've got them using GameCircle. You can't tell me it's deceivingly close to GameCenter. Every other competitor has a distinctive name to their similar services, yet Amazon chooses to use ones (exactly or very very close) to what apple is using. That is my problem.
I think Amazon should work with the new Firefox OS or dig up the old WebOS or what good is left of it.
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If they don't call it the Facebook Phone, I bet it goes the way of the Kin. If it's "meant for social networking", then say it in the name.
If anything Amazon are copying Samsung.
Samsung has GameHub, Amazon has GameCircle.
Apple didn't exactly break out the creativity with the GameCenter name. Even WalMart uses it. Not to mention the NHL has used the name for a long, long time.
Its better than use Android as there are more developers and applications for it.
I don't know the excuse or reason for it, but I can tell you the advantage: I can say you all stink, Apple products are overpriced copies of others' ideas (well-made, albeit), and that Steve Jobs was SO overrated as a tech-guru or genius or as an innovator, and my ego won't be affected by those downvotes...