Exciting times lie ahead within the gaming industry and the buying options for new and used games have never been so wide. New game downloads are increasing at great speed and the used game market is strengthening, with Tesco, Asda and Argos all now offering a used game service. All this is great news for ‘gamers’ but the real opportunity is a platform which combines the two: trading online.

Electronic Arts CEO, John Riccitiello, recently claimed that 2011 will be the year revenues from downloadable games overtake the traditional out-of-box experience[i]. Being an avid gamer myself, a statement like this took me by surprise, especially coming from such a senior figure in the gaming industry. I have little doubt that this scenario will eventually happen, but this year?. There are two big reasons for my scepticism. First, the cost of new games – mixed with the widespread availability of cheap second hand games – and, second, limited storage space on consoles when used more widely in the ‘connected home’ rather than just for gaming.

The trend towards mobility and connectivity as outlined in Q2 continues to drive growth in the tech sector in Q3. Both consumers and businesses are investing in new hardware that enables them to be more productive and to access a diverse and exciting mix of services and software. This unquenchable thirst for advanced technology has resulted in 2.2% year-on-year growth (value of EUR 44.0 billion) for the Western Europe technology sector. The technology industry is showing great resilience to the recession as total revenue is expected to reach the same level of Q3 2008, just a year on after the economic crisis. Sales of notebooks and smartphones are all driving factors of growth in Q3 2010, which is highly likely to continue into 2011.

This week’s tech news has been dominated by Windows Phone 7, but the radar will soon switch to next month’s release of ‘Kinect’, Microsoft’s new motion sensing system for the Xbox 360. While Microsoft is playing catch-up in the smartphone business with Windows Phone 7, Kinect is definitely a leading edge (and potentially revolutionary) tool that could redefine the gaming industry…and technology in general.

The Xbox division at Microsoft has been very busy developing Kinect and the ‘Xbox Live Game Hub’ which is the key gaming feature for Windows Phone 7. The Xbox franchise has never been more important for Microsoft and it is a long time since industry commentators suggested that they should have never entered gaming. Last week Steve Ballmer was in London talking to students about both Windows Phone 7 and Kinect but indicated that he was more excited by the latter. “The device that I’m most keen on…is the next generation of the Xbox 360,” he said. At first this seems very strange, as an estimated $400 million will be spent marketing Windows Phone 7, but when considering the technology and potential behind Kinect it is clear to see why this is so exciting and why it will be shaping the way we interact with technology.

Google Chrome continues to muscle its way into the browser market as GfK data for January-June 2010 shows that it has a 7% share of the browser market. In June 2010 alone it accounted for a 9% share which is remarkable considering that it has only been in existence for 2 years.

To highlight the impact that Google Chrome is making we have compared Jan-Jun 2009 data against the same rolling months of 2010.

Compared to this time last year Internet Explorer has lost 12% market share while the Chrome and Firefox browsers have gained some ground. The bad publicity around Internet Explorer and its security flaws combined with the EU enforced cannot have done Internet Explorer any favours. Google Chrome is taking full advantage and eating its way into Internet Explorer at a rapid rate and there is no doubt that they want to do the same to Firefox

The FIFA World Cup is finally upon us and while football fans, vuvuzelas aside, have been enjoying the first week of games, employers have a difficult decision to make when it comes to England’s game against Slovenia on Wednesday 23 June at 3pm UK time. Passionate debates about football are all too common, but there is one debate that takes place every four years – namely whether employers should give their staff time off to watch their national team play in the World Cup.

GfK data shows that 5% of employees are going to be allowed time off or be granted flexible working hours to fit around England’s match against Slovenia (this includes GfK NOP). Although this seems fairly small it still shows that employers are willing to let their staff take time off because of a football fixture. Most companies will doubtless have already made their decision regarding their position on this matter, but for the few remaining who are yet to make an official announcement, we would urge that they give the go ahead to watch the match.

Users of Google Chrome are young and heavy users of the internet. By attracting this demographic they are best placed to topple Internet Explorer from top spot in the browser wars.

We recently showed that Internet Explorer’s UK market share is being eroded by the recent EU enforced . Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are the main beneficiaries as they continue to increase their share of the internet browser market, but where exactly is this growth coming from? We have used the GfK browser data to understand who exactly is using the different browsers and what this all means.