If you have been wondering what all this sudden rage about Pokemon is, here’s a snapshot: Nintendo’s stock has hit a high after the release of “Pokémon Go,” a newly-released mobile app that uses augmented reality to let people catch Pokemon in real life. The game has topped app download charts in the US, Australia, and New Zealand, and according to some market researchers, has already been installed on 5 percent of all Android smartphones in America. Some say that it has become so popular that it’s on the verge of overtaking Twitter in terms of daily active users on Android. Meanwhile, news about armed robbers misusing the mobile application to lure and kill vulnerable users is drawing more curious people to the app. And, people are going crazy over “Pokémon Go.”
It uses your phone’s GPS and clock to detect where and when you are in the game and make Pokémon “appear” around you (on your phone screen) so you can go and catch them. As you move around, different and more types of Pokémon will appear depending on where you are and what time it is. The idea is to encourage you to travel around the real world to catch Pokémon in the game. Such a combination of a game and the real world interaction is simply augmented reality.
But beware! Reports suggested that people were getting robbed and even found a dead body while playing the game. Armed robbers used the game to lure victims to an isolated trap in Missouri, a report revealed.
So far, the app has been released in America, Australia and New Zealand.