We’ve been so busy since returning from Helsinki that we’ve only just managed to create a blog post on this incredible event! The B2B networking event took place from 5th to the 6th of September in the capital of Finland.
Pocket Gamer, owned by Steel Media, is the biggest mobile gaming site in the word and is a valued client of Dimoso. Pocket Gamer Connects is the company’s flagship series of events. Regular events take place in London, Helsinki, Bangalore and Vancouver with more being added to the roster as the global popularity grows.

The Helsinki event takes place over a few days, with a party on the first night. It’s a chance to network and get informed. Participants attend presentations and take part in tracks specialising in areas of mobile gaming of interest.
The event layout is intuitive with presentation rooms split into ‘tracks’ that cover all things in mobile games. There’s also a central hall, where attendees can find all the sponsors and event partners, including Dimoso.
The star of this particular show was Helsinki itself. What an incredible place! The architecture, the people, the landscape and the way of life. It is so clean and picturesque: From the cobbled streets to the trams, churches and cathedrals. Helsinki is home to some wonderful sights.

The event is a great opportunity for anyone in games to do business. But particularly for those looking to work with the Nordics; Nitro Games, Rovio and many more, were in attendance to provide their insight into games and games marketing in the region and globally.
The Pocket Gamer team make the event an absolute treat. Run by Chris James and his team, the event really is a highlight on the gaming calendar. We enjoyed hanging out with AppSpy camera crews, journalists from Steel Media’s host of publications and the events team who brought the whole thing together.

Rovio was a headline sponsor this year and we were lucky enough to be invited to visit its office. We also had some great conversations with other event attendees: OneSky, Pushwoosh, AppNext, Appodeal and many, many others.
We had a number of clients in attendance: Gram Games, TreasureHunt and The Specialist Works. Who took part in presentations, press and networking opportunities.

The legendary PG party was held in a local nightclub. Patrons were given Pocket Gamer dollars to cash in for free drinks and there were rumours of after-parties continuing until the early hours but we wouldn’t know anything about that….
It was also great fun and worthwhile having all these gamers in one place, showing off their games and great products to the industry. We ended it all with a Sauna, the perfect close to a wonderful Nordic experience. (That’s not us in the picture!)

By Doug Hunter

Unsurprisingly, I have been proven wrong. Anyone who had the patience for me pre- Brexit will know that my predictions have not gone well this year.
Having spent the last couple of weeks (actually several months) being scathing about the multitude of rumours around the Apple keynote I have come out the other side mildly pleased.
The iPhone 7 is here, after all the speculation, leaks and discussion points (mostly about the lack of headphone jack) it seems ok. The sad bit is that I am using the word ‘ok’ in my opening statement when summing up the launch of what may well be the best selling phone for the next 12 months.
Before we get going, let’s look at the biggest upset: Just before the official launch, Apple further cemented its reputation of failing with social media by accidentally leaking its own devices using the @Apple twitter account which had been dormant for half a decade, waiting for this moment… Hats off Apple. 

There is plenty of good news to glean from the event though, firstly, there will be no 16GB storage option for the iPhone 7. Anyone that has previously owned a small capacity iPhone will relate to the trauma of having to delete apps or photos on a night out to shoot videos, or having to carry around their previous phone for music purposes. It also comes at no extra cost to early adopters as the price points are staying the same. Simply put it is just the storage capacity which is shifting the price brackets along. Spot on Apple!
The iPhone 7 has a much improved camera, and the 7 Plus gains an extra lens, DSLR-style depth of-field and 2X optical zoom. I have to admit this excites and disappoints at the same time: I have always been one to say that the ‘Plus’ size iPhone editions are way too big, giving such separation might well be the most annoying thing because simply put, I do want the 7 Plus dual-lens camera, but on the standard 7 model. I am now going to have to purchase a sling to carry that behemoth of a phone around when I no doubt pre-order it tomorrow after one too many this evening somewhere in the depths of Shoreditch.
Seriously though, the 7 Plus camera really might be the hook Apple has been waiting for.
Next up, the lack of headphone jack.

When Apple first released the Macbook Air, the world went bonkers because Apple dispensed with optical disk drives. At the time, most people couldn’t understand but, be honest, when was the last time you used one?
This is also a little different and I am behind the choice to get rid of the jack. I just believe that the execution could have been better – this has been another extension of the walled gardens of the tech world. Apple has gone yet again with its own lightning port whilst the rest of the world will go for another option adding confusion and chaos when buying little Johnny his new headphones at Christmas. How many people will open up their presents to find that they have technology that hasn’t really changed all that much since Nathaniel Baldwin’s first ‘cans’ in 1910 or any number of miniature USB derivants.

You can read more about the history of headphones here
There is good news, however. Apple is including a 3.5mm to Lightning port if people don’t fancy switching to third party bluetooth headphones – including lightning ready EarPods or….
…AirPods

In possibly the most cringeworthy product launch since Steve Ballmer went mental.
Apple’s Phil Chiller managed to explain the lack of the 3.5mm headphone jack pretty well: He mentioned that they’d need more room for the stereo speakers, the internals have been reconfigured to accommodate great optics… brilliant! The battery life is improving…whoop, and the headphone jack has gone because of “courage”, wait, what was that?!?
Had he only told everyone all the good reasons why it was happening, I might have let it slide, even with the lack of agreement to make a world standard replacement, but “courage”?! It seems he is trying to put words into the mouths of the journalists. As any politician or public figure knows, Elon Musk excluded, as soon as you do this, it will get turned around straight away and thrown courageously back at you!
As our friends over at TechCrunch rightly reported, “Fighting the FBI in favour of encryption is courage. Coming out in favour or civil rights is courage. Nixing the audio jack is leverage.”
The new AirPods though, seem competent when lined-up next to competition, although I haven’t tried them yet, if reports ring true, they should sound ok and the price is competitive. I can’t tolerate however the barrage of Twitter users that think losing the wire makes them easier to lose… It’s late 2016 folks – if you want a wire, don’t buy them, use the free ones that come with the iPhone 7.

I could now jump to the Apple Watch, but meh, here are some highlights, it has GPS and there is a ceramic case option. Yes, the Nike partnership for runners is pretty cool.
However, I’d like to conclude on two points:
Firstly, despite there being some issues, I might well get an iPhone 7 and, (I can’t believe I am saying this) if I do it will be the monster 7 Plus. The slightly improved outer-casing looks good but I simply don’t think that it is worth the upgrade without the dual lens camera…
And finally;
I want to dish out a huge round of applause to an old friend Hannah, watching the Apple Keynote as I do every year and seeing her wander on stage as the head of design at ViewRanger was the biggest shock of the day. I couldn’t be happier and more proud to see someone I know absolutely nailing it!

Hannah, if your next project needs any PR, you know where to come to first!