1）前不久在iOS和Android应用开发商中掀起专利权风波的Lodsys公司，最近又将矛头指向Rovio、EA、雅达利、Square Enix和Take-Twon等知名游戏开发商及发行商，称这些公司推出的《愤怒的小鸟》、《模拟人生3》、《Greatest Hits》、《Big Hit Baseball》和《NHL 2K11》侵犯其应用内置付费功能等专利权。

Angry Birds(from recombu)

2）据Freelancer.com最新发布数据预测，到2012年底Android工作岗位将超过iPhone领域。从今年第一季度至第二季度，iPhone岗位增长9%，而Android同一时期则增加了20%；HTML5的岗位在同一时期也增长了34%。

截止今年第二季度的，iPhone工作岗位从原来的2739个增长至2985个，Android则从1419个增长至1702个。从总体上看，手机领域的工作岗位增长最为强势，增幅达12%。

工作岗位增长最快领域(from Freelancer)

HTML5工作岗位从第一季度的604个，增加至第二季度的807个；而Flash工作岗位在同一时期则呈现下滑趋势，降幅达10%，目前是3095个工作岗位。

黑莓工作岗位也呈走低情况，从原来的526个降至497个，降幅达6%；Windows CE下降42%，Windows desktop下滑30%，Windows Mobile下降16%，.NET下降7%。

3）Strategy Analytics最新报告显示，今年第二季度全球平板电脑出货量达1510万部，其中iPad占据61.3%的市场份额（出货量达930万部），Android占30.1%（出货量达460万部），采用Android 3.0操作系统的平板电脑出货量显示强势增长势头。

需要指出的是，这组数据反映的是平板电脑出货量而非实际销量，苹果称iPad已经供不应求，不过人们却很难判断究竟有多少Android平板电脑真正到达终端用户的手中。

iPad(from intomobile)

该报告还指出，运行微软操作系统的平板电脑在同一时期的出货量为70万部，而RIM运行QNX操作系统的平板电脑出货量则是50万部，前者占4.6%市场份额，后者所占比例为3.3%。

4）据知情者透露，之前从未接受任何风险投资的游戏工作室Storm8（其iOS、Android游戏DAU高达400万）最近正与EA接触，有可能成为后者的下一个收购对象。但有人认为，EA最近刚斥巨资收购休闲游戏巨头PopCap，他们可能无意推进这一谈判。

storm8(from businessinsider.com)

除此之外，Zynga也有可能是该公司的潜在买主之一，不过Sorm8拒绝对这一传闻作出回应。Storm8目前共有8款游戏跻身美国营收榜单前50名，目前下载量已超过2.1亿次。该公司由两个工作室组成，一是TeamLava，主要负责开发锁定女性用户的休闲游戏，例如《Fashion Story》和《Restaurant Story》，另一个就是Storm8，代表作包括《Zombies Live》和《iMobsters》等RPG游戏。

5）韩国游戏公司Nexon日前宣布其热门在线游戏《跑跑卡丁车》的iOS移植版本下载量达300万次。该版本游戏发布于3月份，在问世首周实现100万次下载量，但两个月后才实现200万次下载量。

跑跑卡丁车(from 91ophone.com)

6）美国手机游戏工作室Parsith Studios日前宣布推出与OpenFeint、Game Center、Plus+功能类似的手机游戏平台FriendSt@r，支持用户在iOS平台找到游戏好友。

FriendSt@r可自动找到用户在Game Center上的好友（但用户无需拥有Game Center帐号），并通过创建资料找到同趣玩伴；另外还支持用户通过Facebook、Twitter或电子邮件找到好友。

FriendSt@r关键特色之一是实时聊天功能，目前推出了一个免费版应用和一个99美分付费版本（付费版本提高了每月聊天信息量、好友数量的上限），并即将在苹果App Store发布。

EDGEBobby 2(from itunes.apple.com)

7）据pocketgamer报道，Mobigame公司首席执行官David Papazian日前向苹果发送邮件，要求App Store将Edge Games推出的《EDGEBobby2》这款游戏撤下，理由是该游戏侵犯公司持有的EDGE商标权，以及Robert Figgins的版权（Robert和Trevor Figgins在80年代开发了《Bobby Bearing》，至今仍持有这款游戏版权），并且挪用了发行公司Future Publishing的商标，并称将付诸法律行动，与Edge Games对簿公堂。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Angry Birds maker sued

By Hannah Bouckley

Rovio is being sued by a licensing company for infringing its patents with Angry Birds on iOS and Android

Rovio is among five games companies Lodsys is suing for violation of its patents, along with EA, Atari, Square Enix and Take Two Interactive.

According to the BBC Business: Rovio said it had not been contact directly regarding the claim. It’s spokesman said: “As soon as we receive more information we will take appropriate action.”

Lodsys doesn’t actually make games, instead it holds a selection of patents for inventions, which it licences to other companies, the patent in question is one for for in-app purchases.

Number 7222078 refers to: Methods and systems for gathering information from units of a commodity across a network.

EA is being sued for Sims 3, Atari for Greatest Hits, Square Enix for Big Hit Baseball and Take-Two for NHL 2K11.

Lodsys originally filed against seven other game developers earlier this year, which provoked Apple to defend developers; its chief lawyer Bruce Sewell wrote to the CEO of Lodsys pointing out that although technology based on Lodsys patents is used by developers, they are making apps following Apple’s API and Apple has already licenced the technology: ‘Because Apple is licensed under Lodsys’ patents to offer such technology to its App Makers, the App Makers are entitled to use this technology free from any infringement claims by Lodsys.’（source:recombu）

2）Android Jobs to Surpass iPhone Jobs by Year-End, Report Finds

By Sarah Perez

According to data recently released by online job board Freelancer.com, Android jobs are on pace to eclipse iPhone jobs by the end of 2012. Despite what the company describes as “solid

growth” in iPhone jobs – they’re up 9% from Q1 to Q2 this year – Android jobs have increased by 20%. If this same growth rate continues, there will be more Android work available by the end of the year, says Freelancer.

Another area also seeing massive growth is HTML5, which saw a 34% increase during the same time period.

The data for this report comes from Freelancer.com, which serves as an outsourcing marketplace for small business, so these trends are more narrowly targeted than those that come from a wide variety of sources. That said, the data involves thousands of job postings, so it is a notable window into one area of mobile development.

Android, HTML5 Big Gainers

According to the current figures, iPhone jobs increased from 2739 to 2985 by Q2 and Android jobs increased by 1419 to 1702. This places Android in the top 5 “absolute movers” on the company’s “Fast 50″ list. Overall, the mobile phone category has also seen strong growth, and is up 12%.

HTML5 was another area that saw major growth, going from 604 jobs in Q1 to 807 in Q2. The 34% increase puts it at the top of the company’s “Fast 50″ list. A related trend appears to be the decrease in Flash jobs, with work in that area dropping 10% to 3095 jobs.

Also seeing downturns were BlackBerry (down 6% from 526 to 497), Windows CE (down 42%), Windows desktop (down 30%), Windows Mobile (down 16%) and .NET (down 7%), all of which do seem to reflect ongoing industry trends.（source:readwriteweb）

3）Android took 30% share of tablet sales in Q2 claims Strategy Analytics

by Stuart Dredge

But iPad remains top dog with a 61% share of the market, as BlackBerry PlayBook fails to beat Windows tabs.

Android tablets are on the march, according to the latest estimated sales figures published by Strategy Analytics, which thinks 15.1 million tablets shipped globally in Q2 this year.

The research firm thinks that Android captured a 30.1% share of those shipments, with 4.6 million units. That’s still some way behind Apple’s iPad, which sold 9.3 million units in Q2 for a 61.3% share, but represents growing momentum for the Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS.

Well, sort of. The figures refer to shipments rather than sales, so Strategy Analytics is not estimating how many of those devices ended up in the hands of consumers. Apple claims it is making iPads as fast as it can sell them, but with Android it’s less clear how many are still on the shelves.

The report claims that 0.7 million tablets shipped in Q2 running a Microsoft OS, ahead of 0.5 million tablets running QNX – i.e. the BlackBerry PlayBook. That means a 4.6% share for Microsoft and a 3.3% share for RIM. The latter is still ramping up the global rollout of the PlayBook, so Q3′s figures will be more useful in gauging how successful it is.（source:mobile-ent）

4）As Mobile Gaming Acquisitions Heat Up, Is Storm8 Next?

By Kim-Mai Cutler

Founded by a few Facebook alums, RPG and casual game-maker Storm8 has long kept itself out of the spotlight. It didn’t raise any venture funding and quietly amassed a reach of 4 million daily active users on iOS and Android through last month with titles like iMobsters, World War, Fashion Story and Bakery Story.

But the company is open to, if not aggressively pursuing, a sale, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company approached EA recently. But the gaming giant, which just agreed to swallow PopCap Games for up to $1.3 billion, didn’t move the discussion forward.

Zynga is another leading possibility for the Redwood Shores-based company, which is said to be on track to make between $40 and $50 million this year from its suite of iOS and Android games. Zynga has been stepping up its marketing spend on mobile gaming in recent months and even listed Storm8 as a competitor on its IPO filing three weeks ago. One of the risks Zynga outlined to potential investors is that its growth prospects will suffer it doesn’t establish strong mobile franchises.

If Zynga were to purchase the company, it would gain a distribution network and know-how about monetization and user acquisition on iOS and Android. But it wouldn’t pick up the same caliber of unique brands that a company like PopCap has. Storm8 is split into two studios: one side, TeamLava, handles casual, female-focused games like Fashion Story and Restaurant Story. The Storm8 brand is for RPGs like Zombies Live or iMobsters.

Storm8 declined to comment. “It’s our vision to grow a profitable and independent company and we have a policy on not commenting on industry rumors,” said chief executive Perry Tam.

The bootstrapped company has curiously been more vocal in recent months. It touted a day where it pulled in more than $1 million in revenue in early June because of a sale on virtual currency. It did another 40 percent-off sale at the end of June.

And today, it’s having yet another 40 percent off sale, which has pushed eight of its games into the top grossing 50 in the U.S. Both of its top-performing RPGs World War and iMobsters popped to the #1 and #2 spots. Yesterday, they were ranked #44 and #47 respectively where they’ve hovered for weeks. Vampires Live, which was ranked #245 yesterday, is now at #25 on the top-grossing charts in the U.S.（source:insidemobileapps）

5）Nexon’s KartRider Rush celebrates 3 million downloads with cut price content package

by Jon Jordan

It took a week to hit one million downloads, while the second million was spread over two months.

Keeping up its momentum however, KartRider Rush Nexon Mobile’s iOS port of KartRider, its massively popular online PC game, has now breached the three million barrier.

Released in March, the company is continuing to push the free-to-play game with support for the Korean language, plus new content, including new track Saharan Sands, Chinese-themed character ChenChen, and the Chiwoo kart.

More of everything

In addition, Nexon Mobile is offering its first six content bundles in a single 99c package, from July 21 to July 31. This features 12 tracks, eight characters and six karts.

“We are excited about the tremendous reaction we’ve received from players all over the world,” said JeongMin Han, Nexon Mobile’s team leader.

“We will continue to work and develop new  content for our players, giving them more challenges and fun.”（source:pocketgamer）

6）Unknown US developer Parsith Studios announces iOS gaming network FriendSt@r

by Jon Jordan

There are plenty of people who think Apple could do a lot more with its official iOS social gaming network Game Center.

Of course, there are plenty of thirdparty cross platform networks too, ranging from OpenFeint to Plus+ (aka Mobage West) and the RIM-owned Scoreloop.

And now it looks like there’s going to be another option.

Previously unknown US outfit Parsith Studios has announced its FriendSt@r utility, which is designed to help people find friends to play with on iOS devices.

Spreading the net

A standalone app, it will automatically populate itself with your existing Game Center friends, (although a Game Center account isn’t required), as well as letting you create a profile with interests that will help you find likeminds. Interestingly, the developer suggests people use the same username as Game Center to make searching for friends easier.

Search filters include gender, dating fields such as single or married, similar interests in terms of games, as well as what days of the week you normally play. Other ways of finding friends are via Facebook, Twitter or email via Game Center.

Chatty players

A key feature Parsith stresses is FriendSt@r’s real time chat, which will eventually include private rooms and direct linking to games on your device.

There will be a free version of the app, and a 99c Pro version, which removes ads and raises the limit on chat message size, the number of chat message per month, and number of friends.

In order to try to get the network viable, there will also be an API for developers to integrate into their games so they can take advantage of the chat and friend finding features. It’s planned FriendSt@r will eventually support all mobile and desktop platforms to provide a universal solution.

Certainly an ambitious undertaking, FriendSt@r is due to available on the App Store soon, assuming Apple doesn’t have a problem with it. （source:pocketgamer）

7）Mobigame: Edge Games’s EDGEBobby2 infringes multiple trademarks, Langdell ‘will probably be put in jail’

by Anthony Usher

In what some would call an amusing turn-around, it appears that developer Mobigame has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Apple in the hope of having Edge Games’s EDGEBobby2 removed from the App Store.

That’s according to to an email I’ve just received from Mobigame CEO David Papazian.

Papazian also shares his thoughts on the recent lengthy character defence – in which Langdell denies ‘trademark troll’ allegations – and states that Timmy will probably end up doing bird.

Don’t take my word for it, though, read it for yourself below.

The email

“Hi Anthony,

I just saw the new article on the Langdell-gate at PG. A journalist at the Escapist told me yesterday that Timmy sent a PR with a pretty large document dump, I guess you received it too.

I would like to let you know my thoughts on this.

We have no connection to Edge Games (and we don’t want one). We believe this is a cynical attempt by Tim Langdell to generate sympathy for his court case. He will try to use the argument “Future made me do it” for his appeal against the Future lawsuit. We are certain that he will lose again, and he will probably be put in jail.

Futhermore, we sent a DMCA notice to the company hosting his website, because he has no right to use our company name or our games names, which are protected by the trademark law.

We also sent a cease & desist letter to Apple to have his game “EDGEBobby2″ removed from the App Store. This game infringes Robert Figgins’s copyright (Robert & Trevor Figgins created Bobby Bearing back in the 1980s and they own the copyright on this game since Langdell’s UK company was closed into liquidation in 1990).

This game also infringes Future Publishing logo, our trademark EDGE, and confuses our fans.”（source:pocketgamer）