The virtual economy is exploding on Facebook as more and more consumers play social games like Farmville and Mafia Wars. Game developers make money largely by selling things that help people play the game like a bullet proof vest or a hand grenade for Mafia...
June 23, 2011 Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required. yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today. By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications...
In our first installment of Payments Around the World, industry expert David S. Evans chats with Upendra Namburi for a first hand look at payments in India. Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all...
PYMNTS.com asked industry expert and author of Paying with Plastic, David S. Evans to profile industry thought leaders and executives to find out what’s next in the world of payments. Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free...
Mobile applications have become hugely popular with downloads predicted to reach 4 billion this year alone, rising to 21 billion by 2013. This isn’t surprising when you look at the number of smartphones on the market and worldwide shipments reported to surpass 390 million by...
Two features of the technology we described in the last chapter shape the economics of software platforms. Software platforms are a written product of the mind. They are in effect documents, usually written in a high-level computer language. The code involved is malleable. It can...
Software platforms come in several varieties, depending on what the code does and where among the various computing devices it resides. Some have a single block of code that does everything from controlling the switches in the microprocessors to helping applications show three-dimensional objects. When...
Many modern products run on software platforms. Car engines and navigation systems have one, as do jumbo jets and the handheld devices we use for emailing and organizing ourselves. Video game consoles from Atari to Xbox are based on them. French debit cards have included...
The use of software platforms to drive innovation and transform industries has exploded in the four years since the publication of the English-language edition of Invisible Engines in 2006. Around the globe, invisible engines are ushering in a new era of software-based technological change. The...