MWC: Air Hockey goes mobile

At this year’s Mobile World Congress, Jibe Mobile will host a mobile air hockey tournament. The game will run on the Vodafone IMS network and is designed to showcase the network’s speeds and handset capabilities.
Jibe Mobile will host a mobile air hockeyntournament, to be played out at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, to demonstratenthe capabilities of the Jibe platform. nnnnThe tournament, open to all attendees at the conference, is a cooperativeneffort involving Jibe, game creator MTI and network operator Vodafone. nnnnThe game, Air Hockey developed by MTI, will run on the Vodafone IMS network andnshowcase both the network’s speed and handset capabilities. Players willncompete for medals and a grand prize with daily shootouts on February 27, 28nand 29 at noon, 2 and 4 pm at Hall 1, Stand A50.nnnnWhile consumer adoption of mobile games is growing rapidly, real-time social,nmobile gaming capabilities have lagged in comparison to console and PC-basedngaming. This is a missed revenue opportunity for mobile operators andndevelopers alike, since multi-player gaming is inherently viral. Jibe’snApp-to-App Platform changes this. With just a few lines of code, developers cannincorporate powerful in-app features for mobile network-based gaming,nincluding:nnnnDiscoverability: Using the address book built-in to their mobile,nusers can find friends who have the same game installed, and send invitationsnfor instant app-to-app play.
In-App Communications: Developers can enhance the social experiencenfor multiple users by adding features such as voice, video and chat.
Rapid App-to-App Reply: Mobile can match console and PC-basednmultiplayer experiences by adding rapid app-to-app reply (no lag in gameplay)nfor hard-core games. nnnn“Jibe’s Mobile Platform helped us to enter the fast-growing mobile real-timengaming market,” said Toshihiro Maeta, CEO of Tokyo-based MTI. “By partneringnwith Jibe, it was simple to deliver real-time features and in-applicationncommunication making multi-player gaming come alive for end users. WithoutnJibe, we wouldn’t have been able to introduce real-time features.” nnnnThe Air Hockey game that will be showcased at Mobile World Congress was builtnby MTI, using the Jibe software developer’s kit, which streamlines creation ofnpremium applications. Air Hockey features head-to-head play and fast actionnthat highlights both the speed of the mobile network and newest devices. One ofnthe latest devices will be offered as a prize to the winning contestant: a SonynEricsson Xperia, which is the first PlayStation Certified Android smartphone. nnnnAt the Jibe stand, developers will demonstrate the following RCS-e applicationsnbuilt with the Jibe SDK:nn• Jibe ON: Consumer messaging application featuring group chat, file transfer,nVoIP and video calling nn• Kodo: Multi-player arcade game with instant play and real-time fast action nn• Reversi: Board game with embedded voice and video features plus mobilenaddress book friend discovery and instant play invitations nn• Car Racing: Real-time multi-player auto racing game with mobile address booknfriend discovery and instant play invitations nn• View Together: Tablet-based audio and video collaboration suite includingnlive document co-editing nn• Mobile Advertising: In-app advertising using context aware placement and adsnvia the inMobi mobile advertising network nn• Remote Device Customer Care: Enables live over-the-air device troubleshootingnand remote device control

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