Which global tech companies could partner with skignz?

At skignz we always think of how we can assist others and how we can create new developments through skignz. Well by having a think we decided that we could work with a lot of technology partners.  

Creating a joint venture between two firms can have a lot of benefits to both sides. It can double the amount of engagement with customers and audience and create more attention to the new joint business venture created.

A few benefits of creating a joint venture are: 

- It can allow your business to grow further and faster
- It can increase productivity whilst generating greater profits for each
- It allows open access to new markets
- It allows greater access to resources such as staff, technology and finance.

There are a lot more benefits to creating joint ventures however let us now give you a few examples of companies we have been considering who skignz could create a joint venture with and show the benefits as to how it could benefit them through partnering with skignz. 

1. Google – skignz has had some great ideas about how we could work with Google Maps. Every pin on a Google map could be turned into a skign. It wouldn't just be something more attractive to look at it would mean that there is more for people to interact with through augmented reality. We could augment the planet overnight.

2. Apple – The past 10 – 15 years Apple under Steve Jobs have revolutionised many different markets with new ideas they have always brought about. However what could their next big idea be? We think that the next one could be ‘navigation without maps’. Brought to every Apple device people could navigate through skignz via Apple. 
Have you also read out blog post article on Apple post Steve Jobs?

3. Facebook – Think of your Facebook profile but in a skign above your head … like the sound of that? However only your friends can still see it who you allow just as your profile is online. You can interact in a different way no matter where you are. You can use it to find your friends at a concert or festival, allow you to let them know where a party is at and help them find where you are. 

4. Twitter – How great would it be to pull your tweets into a skignz above your head that only your followers can see? You can use the skign to interact with all live conversations going on around you. 


5. LinkedIn – Similar to Facebook you could pull your LinkedIn profile into a skign above your head. However this could be used using your professional/work based networking profile that only your own personal network could see – just as they see your profile online. You can use it to engage with different people at business networking events or even so companies could use it to help guests attending corporate events. 


6. Match.com – Do you find online dating a task or a bit of a long process? Well skignz could make it that little bit easier for you. Have you ever tried talking to someone but you can tell that they clearly are not a match for you? If skignz were to partner with Match.com it could allow users to pull their dating profile into a skign above their heads. Now how would this help you … well when you are close to others who are a match – say around 85% or above then skignz will provide you with an alert. This way you cannot only know there is a potential match close by to you, you can know who it is exactly and if they press accept then you can go straight over and introduce yourself. Speed up the long wait of online dating and get to know that person sooner rather than later. 

7. Microsoft – Through working on their cloud platform and Founder Bill Gates having a big passion for helping those less fortunate, skignz could team up with big data and charities to help manage and monitor all of their assets across their world countries or those that require disaster relief. As skignz is Carbon neutral and does not affect the environment, it can be used to help many good causes.

8. Military & Governments - Again as it is Microsoft, this is a secure way to track assets, reduces chances of friendly fire, monitor targets and more but all in a visual way. Take existing data and visually tag what you want to see, when and anywhere you wish on the planet.

9. Cisco – skignz creating a joint venture with Cisco would open up a lot of opportunities to themselves. skignz could help to visually tag their equipment when installed into large infrastructure projects. It would allow a platform to be created allowing technology to provide a pre hand viewing process before any agreed projects. 

10. Garmin/TOM TOM – skignz would take TOM TOM into the new age through using augmented reality. What better way to update the navigation system than through skignz allowing users to view a more attractive and easier straight head on mapping system through their satellite navigation systems and mobile devices (if integrated). Through using the skignz platform satellite navigation would be overlaid on real landscape rather than a computer generated one. It would bring real life navigation to you through your satellite navigation system.  

11. Amazon – Through joining together Amazon and skignz, we could bring a whole new tracking system to amazon themselves. skignz would be able to track Amazon’s drones and keep track of their customer orders, knowing where they are and when to then being able to keep the customer updated accurately. Its beneficial for Amazon themselves to be able to track their drones through an easier augmented reality system and beneficial to the customers themselves proving improved customer service to Amazon’s loyal people! 

12. Zoopla/Rightmove – Working with Zoopla/Rightmove skignz could help them to create a new way of promoting and advertising their available properties in a more easy, fun and convenient way. Through augmented reality, people in search of a house can go onto the skignz/Zoopla/Rightmove app and scan across houses in an area to see easily through their mobile device which are available and how much for. It allows a simpler and quicker form of contact between the company and the customer and speeds up the process of house hunting.

There are a lot more technology partners that skignz could create a joint venture with however we did want to give you just a few examples of how good the technology could become for skignz and other companies to work together to help create the next generation of technology!

What do you think of our ideas? Please feel free to leave you comments below. 

If you would like to know more about skignz then please visit our website at http://www.skignz.com and don't forget to check us out on any or all of our Social Media Channels.

Apple: Post Steve Jobs...

It's now been just 3 short years since the enigmatic Steve Jobs sadly passed away aged 56. With Apple launching a range of new products and their next operating system. We came across a couple of documentaries on Netflix focussing on different parts of his life. 

After watching these it made us think. How is Apple doing post Steve Jobs and will they have the same success without him involved?

The two documentaries - one by BBC - Steve Jobs: The Millionaire Hippy and  Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview (from 1995). 

The latter was especially fascinating and certainly took the skignz founders Gary and Si back to different parts of their lives. 

Gary was involved in software at the same time as the Apple v Microsoft battle was being established and the use of Punch cards.

Si however (being 20 years younger than Gary) remembers the early years for whole different reasons, using personal computers at home, being introduced to them at school then finally beginning or using a Mac at Art College. 

So both have very different memories of this time however back to our focus on Apple.

Both documentaries showcase Jobs's influence on Apple, before he was ousted and when he returned, but now he is no longer with us and without a 'figure head' the public at large can identify with, have Apple become another faceless corporation like IBM, Coca Cola, etc. ? 

We wondered how much influence Jobs had on peoples decision to buy Apple's products, there was a mystery and certain amount of magic around the guy that endeared him to millions across the globe.

Maybe like Pop/Rockstars who have died young, will his legacy and reputation actually increase - probably! But how do the people at Apple who are left post Steve Jobs deal with this?

During his tenure not only was he one of the pioneers of home computing, changing the user interface and the quality of design and product in the computer world. 

They also revolutionised the music industry with iTunes, with iPods, then the communications world with the iPhone even moving partly back into the computer with the introduction of the iPad.

Which now seems to have taken over from Laptops. Now we have the 'Phablet' iPhone 6+ Niche products in niches that didn't exist prior to Apple exploiting them. We are not saying they were first to market with iTunes - remember Napster, or the iPhone, remember Nokia? Or the iPod, remember other brands had MP3 players.

Apple simply took them to another level completely in quality, design & functionality. But as you can see with all of these innovations they realigned different industries and markets through their innovation. 

But and there is a but ... can Apple do this again? And if so in what sector, industry or market place.

They recently purchased Beats, much has already been written about this acquisition and it remains to be seen how this will affect how beats and apple come together for the benefit of the customer. Both awesome brands with quality products but will the Beats brand remain? But this does not obviously show an intent to transform a certain market place or existing industry, nor does it point to creating a new niche or market place.

So where will Apple go from here? Will they simply just keep evolving their existing range of products, tweaking enhance the design, functionality, shape size and form? Will iPads disappear and the phablet become the device of choice or will phablets not catch on due to their size and revert back to Phones & iPads? 

Will iPods continue? If so, in what format? This begs the question how will mobile devices evolve? Wearables, wrist or glasses based or a combination of both? Certainly with the expansion of Augmented Reality this could be a clear indication of where the market is heading in the near future. But how long will this take?

It's been 13 years since Apple launched the iPod, look at what has come since and how that has evolved? But all of that was with Jobs at the helm. What now for Apple, without him? Who is the visionary now at Apple? 

Surely if they just evolve with what they have others WILL come into the marketplace. Some of these companies won't even exist yet their future owners may still be in nappies or not even born. However there will be some still in their college/uni dorm who although are not planning to be bigger and better than apple, could end up that way.

But there begs another question. Would Apple let them get that big? Is it not easier for them just to acquire them at a very early stage and either use the technology themselves or shelve it so others can't. Certainly this is a possibility due to the ever increasing cash balance that Apple has. 

But not only Apple, what about FaceBook, Google, Microsoft etc. All of these big players can buy just about any start up or established business by throwing the right amount of money at it! Make them an offer they can't refuse so they can either use that hardware/software for their own gain or simply to stop one of the other big players mentioned above from having it.

You may think we have digressed quite a bit from the original question, but all the above leads us back to how will Apple proceed in the post Steve Jobs era? Even a big personality who comes in, from either internally or from the outside will ALWAYS be compared to Jobs, they cannot escape from that!

So surely therefore that would mean that Apple become seen more as a huge corporation eventually leading them to becoming the villain at some point in the future, rather than a uber cool 'tech movement or religion' as most of their customers perceive them at the moment.

You may think why we are writing this or how it may relate to skignz? When we started writing this blogpost we were not sure where it would end up? That may sound strange but we wanted it to develop through normal organic thought processes based upon what we know so far. 

We hope that it's actually provided more questions than answers as you will have your own interpretation on this! 

How do you think Apple will progress? Evolve what they have? Or Introduce disruptive innovation?

What we have done during our discussion whilst writing this post is understand how it can be related to skignz and we see the following key areas for where it does:

 - could skignz become the new way to navigate by replacing Apples Maps on their devices?

 - skignz is a tech company with next generation technology that could certainly improve Apples offering especially with potentially 8 patents pending.

 - skignz's technology would also be attractive to the other key players in the market, Facebook, Google, Microsoft etc.

 - due to the nature of the skignz technology, it has the ability to revolutionise a range of different markets, navigation being a massive one but also as a browser, even a whole new marketing channel for brands through to being an extension or new way for people using social networks to communicate.

One further question we have thought of is at what point of skignz development does it become of interest, exciting or even a threat to the above companies, depending on how they see skignz its benefit to themselves or to their competitors surely would vary between them.

I don't suppose we will know until the first of them engages with skignz in some way? This may have already happened but without us knowing, either way we will update you if or when any progress is made on this!

But back to our original question! In summary we believe that the way Apple will progress post Jobs is by aquiring new technology that is disruptive and delivering it through its channels or add to its own tech.

For further information on Apple please visit their website at http://www.apple.com

If you would like to know more about Steve Jobs then a good place to start would the wikipedia entry for him at: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

If you would like to know more about skignz then please visit our website at http://www.skignz.com and don't forget to check us out on a range of the popular Social Media Channels.

Why wouldn't you sell? What's your price?

Many things have been happening lately that seem strange to us and we cannot understand. One of them being the founders of Snapchat turning down the $3bn offer they got which resulted in a lot of people talking about it.

Then comes the new game Flappy Birds, which has become so popular with everyone and addictive, that the founder of Flappy Birds then decided to shut the game down and refuse to sell it. Why would they want to do this? We struggle to know but let’s see if we can find out why. Do they an ulterior motive?

Flappy Birds became the number one top app. Everyone was playing it, no matter how tired they were or sick of it, they still played it, simply because it was addictive. 

Just look at how much people are talking about it. So many people on twitter were showing just how addicted they were to that game and how much it was affecting their lives. Whether they hated it and were sick of playing the game, they would still want to play it. 

With it being such a simple game yet so hard to play, they needed to accomplish themselves of beating their own score or beating other peoples score. It would go on and on, until someone got a higher score then it comes around again where they need to go higher and so on to keep being the best.

So I guess what we all want to know is why did he shut the game down and refuse to sell it when it was doing so well. Dong Nguyen was making $55k a day in revenues from the game. He could have easily become one of the richest men around and nothing was stopping him. 

Although there was a dispute that Nintendo were giving a lawsuit to Flappy Birds for copying off the design of Super Mario Bros pipes used in his games. However Dong Nguyen denied that this was why he had taken the game down, he simply stated that he just wanted a simple lifestyle and did not like how complicated his life had become since he had designed the game and it became so popular.

Since taking the game down, people have seen this as a way to make themselves some money. The game is that popular that people have been selling their phones with the game on for certain amounts of money, starting from small amounts leading to around £75,000!

Knowing how popular the game was, we think that there must have been a better reason that Dong Nguyen took the game down and decided not to sell just to have a simple lifestyle. Look at other companies that have been in similar positions and decided not to sell to others. Snapchat turned down $3bn for their app because they probably most likely think that it is worth more and they will be able to do more with it. 

This thought must have entered Dong Nguyen’s thoughts at the time. Maybe he will take the game down and see how much havoc it causes, then realising how popular it is he will bring the game back up again or think about selling it to people who believe the game could make more in the future.

To not sell an app that is so obviously popular within the market they must have a very good reason behind it. We, however, are struggling to see what these reasons are? It doesn't seem logical to us not to sell something you don’t wish to have anymore and just close it down or turn down an lucrative offer. We can't help but think there is an ulterior motive behind it. (But hey, that's just our opinion!). We don’t know what this is yet but let's hope this will be revealed.

What would stop you taking $3bn or stop you making $55k a day revenues?

What do you think the reason behind Flappy Birds not selling and just shutting the game down is? Feel free to leave your comments below and have a discussion on this!

However it shows that a few weeks is a long time in the tech world, or no time at all, no soon as we have been amazed by the turning down of an offer by Snapchat and the closing down of the Flappy Birds game ... it's all well and truly gazumped by Facebook again making (and succeeding this time) a multi-billion dollar offer on another company, but this time they not only went a few billion dollars over what they offered for Snapchat, but they have bought 'WhatsApp' for the astounding amount of $19 billion (yes spelt correctly, your eyes are not failing you).

Now it's been a week or so since this was announced and it's certainly put the 'cat among the pigeons', where company valuations are concerned! The guys who owned WhatsApp are now multi billionaires, but according to reports just over five years ago they were looking for jobs at Facebook now they are senior directors with huge amounts of stock! 

Something that may have gone a little under the radar is that their investment partner Sequoia Capital has probably closed out the biggest investment return in history, also in record time! All of this should level the score with Facebook as they were the ones that got away nearly 10 years ago from Sequoia Capital when Mark Zuckerberg turned them down. It's estimated that Sequoia Capital will see a return of between $3-$7billion from their reported $60m investment in WhatsApp!

Below is an infographic from 'We Are Social' outlining some of the reasons why WhatsApp became so attractive to Facebook, however the pricetag remains to be seen whether it's a bargain or ridiculously over priced - only time will tell, it was not so long ago (2013) that everyone was borking at the $1billion paid for Instagram!

Sources: We are Social / WhatsApp. / Deloite

Never mind WhatsApp, Whats next? What will be the next technology company snapped up by the likes of Facebook, Apple, Google etc ... and for how much? How far away are we from the first $50billion or even a $100billion purchase by one of the giants? 

What do you think? Please share your thoughts with us?

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