ICON Platforms is a cross-platform technology company which distributes functionality and thirdparty content to any mobile, desktop and ITV device running on any platform and over any network. This is achieved through TALOS, a modular, scalable technology developed exclusively by ICON.
ICON Platforms TALOS Functionality TALOS Platform TALOS Libraries Contents ICON Platforms The 4-Step Process A Proven Solution A Unique Ability Team TALOS Functionality Connector FuntrionVerse Planet Casual Planet Social Planet Orchestra Planet V-economy TALOS Communication Architecture Security Extensibility TALOS Library Generator Library Generator Processes TALOS API Libraries Supported Platforms Application Development TALOS Content Application Testing Development Deployment & Scalability Contact Information Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 2/31
ICON Platforms ICON Platforms is a cross-platform technology company which distributes functionality and third-party content to any mobile, desktop and ITV device running on any platform and over any network. This is achieved through TALOS, a modular, scalable technology developed exclusively by ICON. In addition, ICON Platforms addresses the casual and social aspects of a wide range of markets by providing interactive applications, services and custom solutions. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 3/31
The 4-Step Process ICON s breakthrough technology and unique approach to functionality and content distribution can be summarized in the 4-Step Process it has developed: Step 1: Integrate the Functionality Any required functionality is implemented into TALOS Platform, the modular, scalable technology developed exclusively by ICON. There, it is combined with FunctionVerse, an ever-expanding Functionality Universe containing the latest universal social trends, features and characteristics. The combined features are then integrated as the primary functionality of TALOS Platform. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 4/31
The 4-Step Process Step 2: Create the Libraries The combined functionality is automatically extracted to an extensive collection of fully secure, supported and documented native API Libraries for any mobile platform. This is achieved through TALOS Library Generator, a sophisticated software procedure that ensures TALOS Platform can support any type of existing or future client device. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 5/31
The 4-Step Process Step 3: Produce the Applications Using standard development tools and TALOS API Libraries, any type of interactive applications, services and custom solutions for any device and platform can be developed. Step 4: Distribute the Content The applications, developed using the TALOS API, are enhanced with all TALOS functionalities and can operate on any device. Subsequently, TALOS Platform transparently distributes the third-party content and processes real-time transactions to, from and amongst an unlimited number of mobile, desktop and itv devices on any platform and over any network, ensuring maximum security and performance. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 6/31
A Proven Solution TALOS Platform is a 100% proven solution. After rigorous testing by ICON s proof-of-concept vehicle, Saicon Games, all of TALOS technical capabilities have been proven to be fully functional. Saicon Games is a casual and social gaming brand, which is owned by ICON and operates internationally. Countries in which Saicon Games has a presence include China, Korea, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Australia and United States. Since February 2011, Saicon Games has served as the testing ground for all aspects of the 4-Step Process. The casual and social gaming industry presented the ideal mix of a demanding multiplayer environment, concurrency of use, multimodality of distributed content and diversity of user-devices. TALOS capability to distribute functionality and thirdparty content to, from and amongst an unlimited number of mobile and desktop devices running on any platform and over any network has been tested and proven in live production conditions. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 7/31
A Unique Ability Other leading cross-platform technologies distribute content with the same functionality, regardless of the target device. TALOS Platform is unique in its ability to distribute content while adjusting the functionality per target device. TALOS adjusts content functionality by utilizing each device s unique characteristics for presenting and interacting with the distributed content, enabling the adaptation and provision of the same content to an unlimited number of devices. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 8/31
Team TALOS TALOS Platform has been developed exclusively by ICON since 2007. No third-party modules have been used in its development. Best practices for design, system architecture and programming were applied in all stages of the development process, from conceptual design to system implementation. All of TALOS Platform source code is stored in central repositories, accompanied by management tools and an exhaustive Wiki System. ICON Platforms holds all TALOS Platform intellectual and property rights. ICON employs over 20 senior developers, including all of the original development team. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 9/31
TALOS Functionality Functionality Connector TALOS Platform modular architecture provides the ability to extend by either developing new on-demand features or by integrating existing third-party functionalities. TALOS is built with Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) for seamless integration with any external system, channel or technology, while its modular architecture allows on-demand upgrades and add-ons. Any required functionality can be implemented into TALOS Platform, where it is combined with FunctionVerse, an ever-expanding social and casual Functionality Universe. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 10/31
TALOS Functionality FunctionVerse The latest universal social trends, features and characteristics are continuously implemented and integrated into ICON's FunctionVerse, an ever-expanding Functionality Universe. Due to its global scope and constant updating, FunctionVerse can address the casual and social aspects of practically any market and is comprised of four Functionality Planets: Planet Casual, Planet Social, Planet Orchestra & Planet V- economy. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 11/31
Planet Casual Planet Casual is responsible for the design and implementation of casual games, while offering unique features that promote in-play user involvement. Key methodologies integrated in Functionality Planet Casual include: Multiplayer Gameplay: player vs player gaming, real time and asynchronous game play, challenges to friends and other players. Player vs Bot Gameplay: player vs bot real time gaming, player vs ghost player gameplay. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 12/31
Planet Casual Rewarding System: competitions and tournaments, scoring and rankings, achievements and prizes. Live News and Events: real time information, XML and RSS feeds, content filtering, event filtering, content localization and personalization. Notification System: scheduled campaigns, auto-generated targeted messages. Assets and Resources: game assets and resources stored on the central system in order to enable seamless localization. User Localization: geographical content filtering allows a customized user experience. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 13/31
Planet Social Planet Social offers the framework to support social processes, increase user engagement and expand to new players/customers. It includes intelligent inferencing from the tracking of user activities in order to support marketing conclusions. Key methodologies integrated in Functionality Planet Social include: Social Networks Integration: users can challenge friends from preferred social networks and win prizes/rewards by inviting other friends. Messenger System: real time chatting among users coming from different networks. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 14/31
Planet Social Facebook Application Shell: TALOS applications can be integrated as Facebook applications containing a series of customizable pages (home, game pages, virtual economy, friend selector, send/request gifts, add bookmark, like, email share) and viral activities (friend invitation, post to wall, notifications). BI Module: based on user demographics and user behaviour tracking analysis, key performance indicators (KPIs) can be followed and monitored. Social API: integration with external user databases, web and mobile social networks. Location Based Services (LBS): ability to locate user s geographical position and associate it with game and/or other marketing processes. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 15/31
Planet Orchestra Planet Orchestra consists of a series of subsystems that orchestrate, administrate, manage and control all TALOS Platform infrastructure, ranging from content management to operational monitoring. Key subsystems of Functionality Planet Orchestra include: Content Management System: the basic application to manage all data of hosted games and applications. Content Distribution System: a server-based management system that supports integration with content aggregators and application stores. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 16/31
Planet Orchestra Auto-testing System: a server-based testing system that ensures that all new and updated TALOS modules are integrated smoothly on the production system. Cloud Hosting Scaling System: TALOS Platform can be operated on cloud systems, in a distributed way that ensures on-demand scalability. Activity Monitoring System: Bot agents monitor system performance and inform administrators of any system delays or sudden increases in transaction volume. Reporting System: custom and predefined reports regarding the end users transactions with TALOS Platform. Affiliation System: a «record level» authentication system that is used by third parties to monitor their revenues generated by TALOS transactions. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 17/31
Planet V-economy Planet V-economy offers an abundance of pre-play and in-play monetization methods catered to customer and market characteristics. V-economy provides the ability to change monetization strategy on-thefly by adopting new market trends and analysing customer in-play behaviour. Key features of Functionality Planet V-economy include: Virtual Currencies: virtual cash and tournament tickets can be bought in-play, with both customizable and localized packages being offered. Virtual Items: bought by end users, virtual items can be added at any time. They can be downloaded by TALOS Platform applications and presented on the various devices, without the need for any additional development. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 18/31
Planet V-economy Digital Goods: customers can buy digital goods using virtual or real currencies. eshop Coupons: an integrated functionality that imports, assigns and synchronizes eshop coupons with predefined revenue margins. eshop coupons enable the transition from virtual to real economy, thus increasing user engagement and revenues. Tournaments and Lotteries: entry fees paid by users to compete for real or virtual prizes. Advertisement and branding: content can be branded and used for advertising or promotional purposes. Content localization, branding and skinning are simplified due to the Integrated Assets and Resources management functionality. Payment Gateway: transparent integration with external solutionproviders systems. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 19/31
TALOS Platform TALOS is a server-based, modular, scalable, cross-platform technology developed exclusively by ICON. TALOS Platform delivers functionality through its ability to distribute content and process real-time transactions to, from and amongst an unlimited number of mobile, desktop and ITV devices running on any platform and over any network. These devices are continuously updated and include: Tablet and mobile devices running on ios, Android, Blackberry, Brew, Bada, Windows Mobile, Mediatek, JavaME and Symbian platforms (over 1.000 low-end JavaME and Symbian devices). Desktop and laptop devices running on Windows, Linux and Mac platforms. ITV devices running on the IPTV platform. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 20/31
Communication TALOS transactions can be communicated in real-time to, from and amongst an unlimited number of devices over any network (Web, 3G, GPRS). All transactions are processed through TALOS Platform and not on a peer-to-peer basis. Low bandwidth, push/pull technology and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) are utilized, while there are no device limitations on transaction volume. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 21/31
Architecture At the center of TALOS architecture is the Cross Platform Communication Server (CPCS), which processes all of TALOS transactions. The CPCS contains three key architectural modules that ensure performance and speed: CPCS Transaction Engine: the heart of TALOS Platform that provides both push and pull of transactions using minimum bandwidth. CPCS Caching System: an integrated data caching system that ensures maximum access-speed to data. CPCS Cloud Clustering: a subsystem that secures on-demand transaction scalability utilizing the latest cloud computing technology. TALOS Platform is built with Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) for seamless integration with any external system, channel or technology, while its modular architecture allows on-demand upgrades and add-ons. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 22/31
Security TALOS Platform provides completely secure server-based transactions, maintaining data integrity and information confidentiality. Key security features offer comprehensive protection against any threat and include the auto-generation of a unique security key per transaction, a server-side outcome and storing no data on the communicating devices. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 23/31
Extensibility TALOS modular architecture provides the ability to extend by either developing new on-demand features or by integrating existing thirdparty functionalities. SOA architecture enables the usage of any external subsystem on any of TALOS Platform existing or new functionalities. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 24/31
TALOS Libraries TALOS Library Generator TALOS Library Generator is a sophisticated software procedure that, based on per platform standardized templates, automatically produces native source code as API Libraries for all major platforms and their devices. Through the Library Generator any type of existing or future client device can be supported by TALOS Platform. Library Generator Processes TALOS Library Generator executes the following 2 processes: Kernel Conversion Process: a process that converts the functionality of TALOS Platform to an abstract object-oriented domain model, which in turn serves as the API definition that will produce per platform API Libraries. Platform Specific Process: a metadata-based dynamically configurable software mechanism that leads to the production of customized code and controls which modules of TALOS functionality are to be converted to target platforms. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 25/31
TALOS Libraries TALOS API Libraries The output of TALOS Library Generator is a set of platform-specific TALOS API Libraries that utilizes a common methodology in order to expose all available functionality, independently of the target platform. The whole application development process (content distribution) is standardized in a homogeneous way, platform-independently. Developers can leverage TALOS API know-how among target devices and platforms and benefit from a more productive and easy-to-follow development process. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 26/31
TALOS Libraries Supported Platforms TALOS API Libraries are available for all major platforms, including: Mobile Devices: Apple ios for ipad, iphone, ipod Touch devices Google Android Java ME for Nokia, BlackBerry and more devices C#.NET for Windows Phone 7+ C++ and its dialects based environments (Symbian, Bada) C for Mediatek and Brew Desktop PCs: Adobe Flash for Windows, Mac and Linux Java for Windows, Mac and Linux Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 27/31
TALOS Content Development Application Development The application development for all client devices is made with standard development tools, where TALOS API appears as a code extension. Since there are no restrictions for the developer, unlimited types of applications, services and custom solutions can been produced. TALOS API provides out-of-the-box transparent solutions for all its functionalities, thus allowing the developer to focus on the user interface experience. Application developers and licensed parties are supported on the complete software development lifecycle by a number of services and tools, including: Extensive Reference Documentation and Wiki: a fully documented API and platform description. Tracking System: tracking and management of any issue related to the software development. Development Environment: a complete TALOS Sandbox environment where developers can configure and test applications that use TALOS API. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 28/31
TALOS Content Development Application Testing TALOS Sandbox environment supports extensive testing processes prior to launching any new application or service. The embedded subsystems are composed of: Live Data Tracking: provides access on data exchanged between the devices and TALOS CPCS transaction engine. Test Cases Execution: predefined or random generated actions are performed to test the system behavior. Load UI Performance Analysis: extensive stress tests are performed and detail monitoring results for the performance on any system-level are produced. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 29/31
TALOS Content Development Deployment and Scalability TALOS Platform deployment is enhanced with clustering and load balancing capabilities and can also operate on a cloud environment. Overall system architecture ensures that the developed application will operate without upper barriers. TALOS Clustering System: embedded clustering and load balancing techniques are applied in all system layers. Scalability: based on application performance conclusions, the appropriate system setup is deployed. On-demand and auto-scaling methodologies ensure TALOS Platform continuity with maximum performance. Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 30/31
Contact ICON Platforms 40,2 km Attiki Odos Rest Area 1, Mesogeia GR-19002 Peania, Attica, Greece Telephone no.: +30 212 212 3970 Telefax no.: +30 212 212 3971 e-mail: info@iconplatforms.com Copyright 2011 ICON PLATFORMS 31/31