VR Pay, Facebook Workplace, Mobile Trends and more: mobile buzz of the week

The lines between digital, mobile, technology and apps are blurring in today’s world. We at Robosoft are keen followers of developments in this arena. Here’s a quick summary of what’s buzzing:

1. Alibaba strengthening its VR ecosystem

Earlier this year, the Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba had announced its plan to bring virtual reality into its e-commerce services. Taking that forward the company has now launched VR Pay using which the customers can pay just by nodding their head. This means the buyer can complete the entire buying process without taking off his goggles, thus increasing the chance of converting a browser into a buyer. With the introduction of Buy+ VR technology, a VR shopping experience, and now VR Pay, Alibaba is slowly strengthening its VR ecosystem before the technology goes mainstream.

2. Can Workplace be productive?

In an effort to lure companies to start using Facebook for work, the company recently launched its private social network called, Workplace. Built specifically for communications within an organisation, the social network is similar to other team collaboration apps like Slack and HipChat. As a majority of people are familiar with Facebook, a similar environment for work could make a lot of organisation start using Workplace. After a couple of weeks of its release, there have been many comments about whether Workplace would be useful or not.

3. Mobile trends across generations

To market your app well, it’s always important to know the latest mobile trend, which differs hugely from generation to generation. To make it easier for you to know more about your target audience, Ted Bauer has written an article for Localytics giving you a complete picture of ‘what appeals who’. For example, as per a research from Forrester, he deducts that Gen Y or the millennials are doing most of their shopping online and the Gen Z is not too far behind from picking up this trend. For retailers, this means it’s the right moment to invest in a mobile app. The article is full of many more insights like these for your perusal.

4. Instagram launches on Windows 10

Instagram, one of the most popular photo sharing network, is now also available on tablets and PCs running Windows 10. The app was first released on the mobile devices running Windows 10 in the month of April. For the app to function, it’s necessary to have a touchscreen device with Windows 10 on it. Interestingly, Instagram is still not available on iPad, even though it started with the iPhone. Only time can tell how popular the app would be with Windows users.