What better way to track and surveil smartphone users than to have them online all the time playing a game?

John Hanke, president and chief executive officer of Niantic, revealed at a tech conference in the United States that India or China are possible destinations to next launch Pokemon Go.

Due to the strict regulatory rules in China, India may beat China to get the game first. Though they live in a special administrative region that is part of China, players in Hong Kong can access the game already because they operate in a more laissez-faire regulatory environment.

Niantic is the independent gaming company that jointly developed Pokemon Go with Nintendo. Niantic previously announced that Pokemon Go would also be available on the Apple Watch, but it does not mean Apple Watch would be the exclusive platform, said Hanke. The company is also considering other devices such as Google's Android Wear.

Apart from the Apple Watch edition, Niantic developed a wearable device named Pokemon Go Plus with the help of Nintendo. This new product was officially launched on September 16, 2016, with the price of USD35.

Since its launch, Pokemon Go has achieved remarkable performance. By combining geographical locations, augmented reality technology, and Nintendo's popular Pokemon elements, this game has dominated players' smartphones during the summer and continues to set new download records. Official statistics released on September 8, 2016 showed that since its launch in July, Pokemon Go had been downloaded over 500 million times and it maintained the record of the most downloaded app during the first week of its launch at App Store.