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传社交游戏开发商Zynga或收购Whereoscope公司

发布时间:2011-01-28 09:22:52 Tags:,,,

据techcrunch报道,社交游戏开发商Zynga最近有可能收购地理定位应用服务公司Whereoscope,目前二者已签订相关条款,但尚未最终敲定这桩交易。两家公司都拒绝发表评论。

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据游戏邦了解,Whereoscope公司的主打产品是智能手机儿童地理定位应用,支持家长追踪孩子所在地点,该应用刚发布6个月左右。如果两家公司最终达成协议,Whereoscope的收购价应该在500万美元以下。

游戏邦还获知,用户通过该地理定位应用设置一些孩子经常访问的关键地点——比如说学校、家、好友的家等,可以接收到该应用发送的信息,获知孩子已离开或者到达某地点。该应用会自动向家长发送信息,所以孩子不需要执行任何操作。假如孩子偶然让应用程序罢工了,Whereoscope就会向家长发送紧急信息,让你提高警惕。

从这一举动可以看出,Zynga有意在手机游戏中植入地理定位功能,Whereoscope的资源和专长恰好符合这个要求。不难想象Zynga可能采取这种做法,即在游戏中植入这种功能,玩家就有可能通过访问现实世界的某一地点而获得游戏中的奖励。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

Zynga Close To Acquiring Whereoscope, The App That Lets You Track Your Kids

Back in August we wrote about a Y Combinator-funded company called Whereoscope that helps parents keep tabs on their kids using a location-aware smartphone application. Now we’re hearing that the startup is about to be acquired by a company that’s in an entirely different space: Zynga.

Our understanding is that a term sheet has been signed but the deal has not yet closed, so it’s not a sure thing yet. Both Whereoscope and Zynga declined to comment.

If it does close, we believe it will be for sub-$5 million, likely in valuable Zynga equity. Given the fact that Zynga isn’t exactly focused on child location monitoring, this is probably a talent acquisition. But it’s a quick and positive outcome for the founders, especially given that the app launched less than six months ago.

Whereoscope’s application provides a straightforward way for parents to keep tabs on their kids using a concept called geofencing. Here’s a description from our launch coverage:

During an initial setup process, you designate a handful of key locations, or geofences, that your children often visit — their school, home, a best friend’s house, etc. You can elect to receive a push notification whenever your child leaves or arrives at one of these areas. Your child doesn’t have to actually do anything to check in, so there’s nothing for them to forget.

And, if your child were to “accidentally” disable the application, Whereoscope can send you a warning giving you a heads up.

It seems obvious that  Zynga will eventually want to launch mobile games with location components, which the Whereoscope team would be well-suited for. And it isn’t hard to imagine a game that includes geofencing, where users are rewarded in-game for visiting certain venues in the real world.(source:techcrunch)


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