1）芬兰开发商Rovio宣布与配件制造厂商Gear4合作，授权后者制造《愤怒的小鸟》扬声器。这一系列产品目前共有三个造型——红色小鸟、黑色小鸟和戴头盔的绿猪，其设计适用于iPhone、iPad和iPod touch，带有3.5mm的插口，以及iOS扩展坞。但目前双方都还没有宣布具体的合作零售商，仅表示该系列产品将于9月发布，售价为50至70欧元。

2）黑莓制造商RIM日前宣布收购德国手机社交游戏平台Scoreloop，但并未透露具体成交金额。RIM在黑莓开发者博客中表示，Scoreloop将为黑莓平台的开发者创建更具社交和协作性的游戏开发工具包。

因为黑莓游戏和应用至今仍远落后于苹果iOS、谷歌Android和微软Windows Phone 7，所以有人认为RIM很有可能将Scoreloop的SDK用于增强BBM社交平台的竞争力。Scoreloop首席执行官Marc Gumpinger则通过公司网站表示，Scoreloop仍将继续推行跨平台发展战略，为多个平台开发者提供创建手机社交游戏的技术支持。

3）手机社交游戏开发商Stom8日前称其iPhone和Android手机游戏下载量已突破2亿次。该公司表示，他们通过一场推广活动，成功地在“一天内收入百万美元”，并使旗下10款游戏跻身苹果App Store综合应用前25名之列，其中《iMobsters》更是高居榜首；在Android Market也有七款游戏进入前10名；Storm8游戏的DAU是400万。

4）英国发行商Chillingo宣布其在App Store发行的游戏（包括iPhone、iPad和iPod Touch平台）下载量已超1.4亿次。这个数据意味着该公司每月下载量约410万次。

5）Bolt Creative工作室称《口袋上帝》iOS版本下载量已达450万次（游戏邦注：去年8月份实现300万次下载量），玩家在该游戏中的内置付费功能交易超过100万次。据该公司所称，这款游戏的iPad版本《Pocket God: Journey To Uranus》发行头两个月的收益就突破了20万美元，他们计划将这个版本推向iPhone和iPod Touch平台。

6）据In-Stat最新报告预测，触摸屏设备将占2011年智能手机出货量的90%，并将在未来几年中达到100%；

智能手机出货量将从2010年的23%增长至2015年的45%；

苹果和Android用户所下载的应用程序远超黑莓用户；

半数以上的受访者自称主要通过Wi-Fi下载应用程序。

In-Stat高级分析师Amy Cravens称，触摸屏设备高速增长的普及率及其存储量的扩大，有助于增强用户体验，从而推动应用程序下载量的增长。

7）Epic Games公司称《无尽之剑》发布头6个月的净收益已超过1000万美元，虽然该付费游戏已售价5.99美元，但也采用了内置付费功能，而且后者所创造收益比例高达43.7%。

8）手机社交游戏平台OpenFeint最近推出了一项新型社交功能GameFeed，支持用户与好友保持联系，获知对方的游戏行为，开发者只需通过一个小部件，输入一行代码就可在游戏中植入这一功能。

该公司首席执行官Fason Citron表示，GameFeed支持用户将完成一个关卡，或者发布一个高分这类简单的小动作，转变为一种极富意义的共享体验。除此之外，GameFeed还具有向用户推荐新朋友的功能，为他们创造发现新游戏的机会。

9）澳大利亚开发商Halfbrick日前正式宣布《水果忍者》（游戏邦注：该游戏下载量至今已超2500万次）将推出掌机版本《Fruit Ninja Kinect》，该版本将成为微软今年夏天的主打推广游戏之一，支持用户通过Xbox Live Arcade下载该游戏。

据称这个版本将由微软Xbox 360电子游戏和娱乐系统独家发布，它支持三种单人模式：一是经典模式（玩家灵活躲过炸弹并获得高分）；二是禅宗模式（玩家在90秒内较为平静地切水果）；三是街机模式（玩家在激烈紧张的氛围中体验游戏）。除此之外，该游戏还将添加一个本地多人模式。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Rovio sounds out new deal with Gear4 for Angry Birds speakers

by Keith Andrew

Plush toys and t-shirts already on the shop shelves, Rovio has decided to take its 200 million selling series into entirely new territory.

The developer has announced it is to roll out a fresh line of Angry Birds branded produce, this time in the form of speakers.

Gear4 you

The new range, produced by accessory specialist Gear4, has been officially licensed by the Finnish firm, and suggest the company believes the franchise is suitable for almost any form of merchandise thinkable.

Aside from their obvious physical appeal, however, the speakers do come with practical benefits.

Each one of the three on offer – Red bird, black bird and helmet pig on board – is designed to fit iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, with both 3.5mm jack sockets and iOS docking stations on offer.

Specific retailers set to carry the range haven’t been confirmed, but the line will officially launch this September, with prices ranging between £50 and £70.（source:pocketgamer）  

2）RIM acquires Scoreloop, a social gaming startup

Sean Ludwig

ScoreloopRIM on Tuesday announced it had acquired social gaming company Scoreloop. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Scoreloop’s focus is to help mobile game developers with adding social elements and in-app billing to their apps. Now the company will expand its focus to help BlackBerry’s application platform with incorporating those features and with the difficult task of catching up BlackBerry’s app abilities to that of its peers.

“We’re excited that the Scoreloop team is joining the BlackBerry Developer team and bringing their expertise in creating social and collaborative gaming toolkits for mobile developers to the BlackBerry platform,” RIM wrote on the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog. “We look forward to working with the team at Scoreloop to provide tools that will further enable our developer community to take gaming to a new level of social integration on the BlackBerry platform.”

Scoreloop did not offer a BlackBerry version of its SDK before the announcement, but Marc Gumpinger, Scoreloop’s CEO, said on its homepage that the company’s future BlackBerry solution “will be unparalleled.” It also surprisingly noted that the company will still offer a “cross platform approach” to assist developers from many platforms to make gaming more social.

The move is important if RIM intends to stimulate app development and it’s likely RIM will use Scoreloop’s SDK to improve its BBM social platform. At this point, RIM’s BlackBerry game and app offerings appear dramatically behind those of Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.

Even with the BlackBerry Playbook tablet selling surprisingly well, every move RIM makes looks like it’s playing catch up instead of moving mobile technology forward.（source:venturebeat） 

3）Social mobile Storm8 hits 200 million downloads across iPhone and Android

by Keith Andrew

Today is clearly the day for announcing company-wide download in the hundreds of millions.

Not to be outdone by Chillingo, social mobile developer Storm8 has revealed total downloads across both iPhone and Android have now surpassed 200 million.

It’s a level of success it claims is “unparalleled in mobile gaming”, with the company also reporting that it’s enjoyed its first ‘million dollar day’ as a result of a promo push.

Chart busters

“The entire team is very excited about achieving 200 million downloads and our first million dollar day,” said CEO and co-founder Perry Tam.

“Our players love our games – we are serving more than four million daily active users. Mobile is the next frontier of social games.

“People want to play games with friends anywhere and anytime. Storm8 is committed to bringing the best social gaming experience to the billions of mobile users across the world.”

Storm8, which also owns TeamLava, claims said promo splash resulted in 10 games hitting the top 25 grossing apps on the App Store, with iMobsters surging to the top spot.

Over on Android Market, the developer also boasted a total of seven games within the top 10 grossing apps.（source:pocketgamer）  

4）Chillingo surpasses 140 million downloads across iOS

by Keith Andrew

Anyone who has kept tabs on the sales of both Angry Birds and Cut the Rope won’t be surprised to hear total downloads on the App Store for publisher Chillingo have now surpassed 140 million.

The company, which was purchased by EA in October 2010, claims said downloads have been spread across iPhone, iPod touch and iPad since Apple’s marketplace launched in June 2008.

Three cheers for Chillingo

That means average monthly downloads for the publisher come in at around 4.1 million.

“Partnering with the industry’s most talented developers and having the revolutionary App Store to help distribute their work to the world, has made all of the difference in helping us achieve this staggering milestone,” said co-general manager Joe Wee.

“We’ve been able to publish phenomenal games for iOS that millions of players have loved and enjoyed, and we look forward to strengthening our ties with the growing indie developer community as they evolve and bring even more exciting titles to the App Store,” added co-general manager Chris Byatte. （source: pocketgamer）

5）Pocket God hits 4.5 million downloads on iOS as IAPs top 1 million

by Keith Andrew

Over two and a half years since it first hit the App Store, and Bolt Creative’s Pocket God is still selling.

The latest numbers published by the studio peg total iOS downloads at 4.5 million – 1.5 million up on the 3 million milestone it passed last August.

What’s more, the studio claims players are also engaging with the game, totting up more than 1 million in-app purchases to date.

Pocket power

“From its humble beginning, Pocket God has turned into a dream come true for us, and its success and notoriety are largely attributed to the popularity of iOS and the App Store,” said CEO

Dave Castelnuovo.

“Developing for iOS remains our primary focus and, without a doubt, continues to provide us with a platform for success.”

Pocket God’s iPad chapter, Journey to Uranus, is also performing strongly the company claims, with revenues having passed $200,000 in its first two months on sale.

As a result of its success, the game also just hit iPhone and iPod touch.

“Bringing Pocket God: Journey to Uranus to iPhone and iPod touch has been something we’ve wanted to do for a while,” added Castelnuovo.

“We’ve taken extra care to ensure that it runs and plays just as smoothly on the small screen as it does for iPad, and plan on continuing our tradition of offering unparalleled support for the new title by consistently providing the quality updates our franchise is known for.”（source:pocketgamer） 

6）48m app downloads by 2015?

by Tim Green

No end is sight for the apps boom, argues In-Stat.

The analyst believes increased smartphone penetration and more on-board memory will maintain the hype around apps.

Other key data from the report includes:

* Touchscreens will account for nearly 90 per cent of smartphones shipped in 2011, and will increase to nearly 100 per cent in the next few years.

* Smartphones are expected to increase from 23 per cent of shipments in 2010 to 45 per cent in 2015.

* Apple and Android users are significantly more likely than BlackBerry users to have downloaded mobile applications.

* Half of survey respondents report downloading applications over Wi-Fi.

Amy Cravens, senior analyst at In-Stat, said: “The projected rapid penetration of touchscreen-enabled devices will allow more users to easily interact with mobile applications, thereby driving growth. Increased on-board memory capacity will also lead to a better user experience.”（source:.mobile-ent） 

7）Epic announces Infinity Blade has generated $10 million in earnings in 6 months

by Jon Jordan

Having spent time trying to guess the sales and revenue figures for Infinity Blade, it’s good to get the official line.

According to Epic Games, which owns the game’s developer Chair Entertainment, the title has generated more the $10 million in the first six months of release.

Significantly, it detailed this was ‘earnings’, so net income to Epic, rather than a gross figure that includes Apple’s 30 percent cut.

As well as the price of purchasing the game, originally $5.99, Infinity Blade also includes IAP, which the company revealed has generated 43.7 percent of total revenues since it was introduced two weeks post-launch.（source:pocketgamer） 

8）OpenFeint looks to stir up user connectivity with launch of GameFeed

by Keith Andrew

Do mobile games networks ever stand still? If the activities of Scoreloop – now in the hands of RIM – and OpenFeint are anything to go by, the answer is a resounding ‘no’.

Indeed, it’s telling that this is the sixth time in little over a month that OpenFeint has made the front page on PocketGamer.biz, this time due to the introduction of yet a new social feature: GameFeed.

The news stream is designed to keep members in touch with the actions of their friends, encouraging them to take them on and beat their rivals’ scores.

Feeding the habit

Developers can add such functionality to their titles via a drop in widget, delivered in one line of code.

It’s an addition OpenFeint CEO and founder Jason Citron believes will encourage players to devote more time to the games in their collection.

“We believe mobile games should connect people, whether they’re living in distant corners of the planet or using completely different mobile operating systems,” said Citron.

“GameFeed connects people by taking a simple act, like finishing a level or posting a high score, and turning it into a meaningful, cross platform shared experience.”

GameFeed will also suggest new friends to users who opt in, which in turn will have the potential of opening them up to new titles on the network.

Citron concluded: “GameFeed will help form and strengthen relationships on the network – connecting Android and iOS gamers in ways that make playing games far more engaging.”（source:pocketgamer）  

9）Mobile Social Game Fruit Ninja soon available on Xbox 360

By Gary Merrett

Australian game developer Halfbrick today announced Fruit Ninja Kinect, an all-new console iteration of its hit mobile game Fruit Ninja. Fruit Ninja Kinect will be featured as part of Microsoft’s fan favorite Summer of Arcade promotion, and available via download from Xbox LIVE Arcade. The game is scheduled to be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft later this summer. Fruit Ninja is a highly popular mobile game where players have to slice flying around fruiton the touch screen while avoiding bombs. Kinect transfers the fruit slicing action into a full body exercise.

There new version for Kinect offers three single player modes: slice for the highest score while avoiding bombs in Classic Mode, serenely slice through 90 seconds of Zen Mode, or throw intense power-ups into the mayhem with Arcade Mode. Fruit Ninja Kinect also adds local multiplayer – a feature that was also possible on the iPad version. In total the game was downloaded more than 25 million times.（source:socialgamesobserver）