In January, Google bought Nest for $3.2 billion, demonstrating that the tech giant was keen on colonizing smart homes, much like how it colonized smartphones with the much-cheaper Android acquisition in 2005. In its World Wide Developer's Conference in June, Apple showed off its HomeKit concept, which envisioned a Siri-controlled home — and the race was on.
The intentions for this experiment are probably to help increase engagement. One could even argue that for content Twitter deems to be "breaking news," putting important tweets from the accounts a person's Twitter friends follow into that person's main timeline could be valuable.
The developers for BombGaza and Gaza Assault: Code Red could not immediately be reached for comment. Other games that simulate Israel's Iron Dome and Hamas rockets remain in the Play Store. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
The problem, of course, is that this experiment is a big change to the way Twitter has always worked. Part of what makes Twitter great is that the timeline is relatively unobstructed. You see tweets from individuals you choose to follow and the tweets they choose to retweet. It's not like Facebook, where you also get information about every like, comment or recent game activity.