1）市场调研公司eMarketer最近预测，企业对2011年美国移动广告总投入将达12.3亿美元，同比去年增长66%（游戏邦注：去年总投入是7.43亿美元）。

目前为止，短信服务占移动广告总投入的36%，旗帜广告和富媒体广告所占份额为30%，移动搜索广告比例为28.5%。移动视频广告仅占4.7%份额，但eMarketer预测这一数据将在2014年增长至9%。

预计在今后4年，企业对移动广告总投入将增长至44亿美元，2008年的同一数据是3.2亿美元，2009年则是4.16亿美元。

eMarketer还指出，今年企业对在线广告总投入将达310亿美元，对Twitter和Facebook的广告投入分别将达1.4亿美元和40亿美元。

2）据venturebeat报道，手机游戏公司MocoSpace最近收购地理定位手机游戏平台Geocade，后者创始人及首席执行官Jim Caralis将加入MocoSpace团队，并担任该公司HTML5游戏平台副总裁。

MocoSpace最新游戏《Rise to Fame》将采用Geocade地理定位功能，并成为MocoSpace首款基于地理定位的HTML5游戏。MocoSpace目前注册用户已超过2200万，玩家每天在其20款HTML5游戏中的投入时间超过100万小时。

3）据gamasutra报道，Unity首席执行官David Helgason日前表示，尽管苹果发布了“功能微升级”的iPhone 4S而非iPhone 5让不少人大感失望，但这对开发者来说却是一个福音。

他认为iPhone 4S循序渐进地优化运行速度和处理能力而非大幅度添加新功能的做法，有利于开发者创建与原来相同的游戏类型，让产品覆盖更多用户，而无需根据设备全新功能，从头开发完全不同的游戏。

4）英国政府的行业技能委员会（Sector Skills Council）最近调查了80家英国游戏工作室，结果发现多数开发商认为手机、社交及休闲游戏市场需求的增长，将影响PC市场的发展。

42%接受调查的工作室认为，在未来12个月，PC游戏需求量将下降，仅有20%受访者的看法与此相反。有24%的工作室认为掌机游戏市场需求会下降，32%认为这类游戏需求会上升。

将近90%的工作室十分看好手机、在线及休闲游戏的发展前景，并认为这类游戏在今后12个月的市场需求只增不减。

尽管目前经济不景气，但有68%工作室仍表示打算在来年雇佣更多成员，其余工作室并无扩大团队规模的计划。

在这些打算增添人手的工作室中，有35%希望自己的员工承担更多工作量，有61%希望团队成员提高技能，或掌握更多技术。

该报告还针对国际游戏工作室进行了调查，并发现65%的法国工作室、68%加拿大工作室曾获得政府的资助。而尚未获得政府扶持的工作室很可能在来年外包工作，其盈利性及扩大团队规模的可能性相对更小。

5）据Windows团队博客消息所称，微软将支持Windows Phone 7用户通过一款免费的Xbox Companion应用搜索和管理Xbox 360/平台的内容。

该应用支持用户在手机上搜索和播放Xbox Live Marketplace的视频、音乐和游戏内容，还提供了一个“控制器模式”，方便用户启动和控制视频、音乐重放功能，或操纵Xbox用户界面，但并未说明该应用可作为游戏控制器。

观察者称，由此可以看出，微软有意将手机平台与Xbox 360的Kinect深度感应摄像功能相绑定，进一步推动WP7平台的发展。

6）澳大利亚开发商Halfbrick近日宣布与梦工厂即将上映的电影《穿靴子的猫》（Puss In Boots）合作，推出《水果忍者》新版游戏《水果忍者：穿靴子的猫》。

该游戏将植入电影中的小猫角色，以及该角色“神奇的豆子”等玩法元素。

据gamasutra报道，电影产业与手机游戏的结合大有增长的趋势，Rovio与20世纪福克斯合作推出的《愤怒的小鸟：里约》在10天内就收获1000多万次下载量，而Lima Sky与环球影城的合作产品《涂鸦跳跃：开运兔》在发布数周后也跻身苹果iPad免费应用榜单前10名。

《水果忍者：穿靴子的猫》将于10月20日登陆iOS平台，iPhone/iPod Touch版本售价为99美分，iPad版本售价为1.99美元。

7）数据分析公司comScore最新报告指出，Android操作系统在过去三个月（截止8月31日）中的美国智能手机市场份额已从原来的38.1%上升至43.7%，iOS操作系统在同一时期的份额则从26.6%增长至27.3%。

Symbian仍然仅占1.8%的市场份额，微软Windows Phone则从5.8%下滑至5.7%，RIM黑莓从24.7%骤降至19.7%.

comScore指出，从移动设备来看，苹果美国手机用户在同一时期增长了1.1%；三星增长0.5个百分点，达到25.3%，位于其次的是LG、摩托罗拉，而RIM排在第五名，这三者市场份额均有所下滑。

8）手机游戏开发商Future Games of London（简称FGOL）日前宣布在过去8周中，其游戏用户从2000万增加至2500万，增长率为25%。

该公司表示，用户增长主要得益于与Relativity Media电影《鲨鱼惊魂夜》同时发布的iPhone应用《Hungry Shark Night》，并指出公司的《Hungry Shark》系列自2010年4月以来下载量已超过2400万次。

FGOL总经理Ian Harper认为IAP和免费模式是公司成功的关键因素，但他们也即将推出一款付费iOS游戏《Grabatron》。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Advertisers will spend $1 billion on mobile ads in 2011

Jolie O’Dell

For the first time ever, the total spent on mobile advertising in the U.S. will top $1 billion in 2011.

According to projections from ad intelligence firm eMarketer, brands will spend around $1.23 billion on mobile advertising, up from $743 million just last year. That’s a 66 percent increase year over year.

Right now, text messaging makes up the bulk of mobile ad spending, composing around 36 percent of all mobile spending. Banners and rich media also make up a large chunk of the total at 30 percent, and mobile search advertising isn’t far behind at 28.5 percent.

Mobile video advertising is the ugly stepchild of the group, making up just 4.7 percent of mobile ad spend in 2011. However, eMarketer projects that number will increase to 9 percent by 2014.

Over the next four years, forecasts show the total for mobile ad spending increasing to $4.4 billion. Already, mobile ad spending has come a long way, up from $320 million in 2008 and $416 million in 2009.

By contrast, online ad spending is expected to reach $31 billion this year. Buzz-heavy social media properties such as Twitter and Facebook have been singled out for ad spend analysis, weighing in at $140 million and $4 billion, respectively.

eMarketer’s forecast comes from data gathered from research firms, major mobile ad networks and vendors. The company also considers smartphone and tablet usage trends as well as the input of mobile and advertising industry leaders in its analysis.（source:venturebeat）

2）MocoSpace acquires location-based mobile game platform Geocade

Dean Takahashi

Mobile game maker MocoSpace, has acquired Geocade, a location-based mobile game platform, the company announced today.

The deal shows that MocoSpace wants to take its web-based mobile apps to the next level by imbuing them with location-based elements. Geocade’s location-based social game platform is used in games that have been downloaded more than 30 million times.

As part of the deal, Geocade founder and chief executive Jim Caralis will join MocoSpace as vice president of MocoSpace’s HTML5 game platform.

MocoSpace makes games that can run on a variety of platforms because they run in web browsers. They are not native apps developed for specific platforms. They use HTML5, the new lingua franca web format, which can be used to create games that don’t require fast interaction.

Caralis will oversee the development of the game platform and its features. MocoSpace’s latest in-house game, Rise to Fame, which launches this week, will use Geocade’s location features and will be MocoSpace’s first-ever location-aware HTML5 game. In that game, players become actors vying for stardom and trying out different roles by visiting new locations.

MocoSpace already has more than 22 million registered users playing more than 1 million hours of game play per day in MocoSpace’s 20 HTML5 games. Geocade will eventually be merged with MocoSpace’s platform.

Justin Siegel, CEO of MocoSpace, said the acquisition furthers the company’s aggressive push into mobile social gaming.

MocoSpace was founded in 2005 and is backed by General Catalyst and Softbank Capital.（source:venturebeat）

3）Unity CEO: iPhone 4S’ Minor Iteration Is Good For Developers

by Leigh Alexander

Although consumers might have been disappointed in the paucity of new features in Apple’s recently-unveiled iPhone 4S, Unity CEO David Helgason says that iterating on hardware in half-steps instead of in leaps is the best for developers.

This new model is a boon for mobile developers, Helgason tells Gamasutra. The obvious benefit is the increased speed and power — “you can throw more content at it, high-polygon meshes, more advanced shader effects, more beautiful stuff.”

“The less obvious one is that Apple decided to keep the phone the same… it’s just faster. The response to the announcement was a bit negative, because people hoped there would be something new in the phone. For developers, though, it’s actually a good thing, because they can build the same type of game and sell it to an audience that is much bigger.”

Developers don’t need to worry about fragmenting their audience when the hardware upgrades are subtle, he adds. “You can put some extra effort into making sure it looks prettier and has some extra coolness running on a 4S, but you don’t end up in a situation where you have to build something completely different.”

“Consumer journalists will criticize it, but it’s perfect for developers,’ he adds. “Nobody doubts that the 5G, a mythical beast at this point, will be awesome too, but I think it’s smart for Apple to pace themselves.”

From Unity’s standpoint it takes no effort to extend support to the new device. “It just works, and that’s good for us; it allows us to spend energy making Unity better, which we’re doing all the time.”（source:gamasutra）

4）UK Studios Expect PC Declines, Increased Hiring

by Kyle Orland

An extensive survey of British game studios finds that developers expect the PC market to contract in the coming year, as demand for mobile, social and casual games increases.

The British government’s Sector Skills Council questioned more than 80 British game studios to compile its Technology Insights 2011 report on the games development sector, which focused on the industry’s labor market needs.

A full 42 percent of studios surveyed predicted demand for PC games would decrease in the next 12 months, compared to only 20 percent that said it would increase. Regarding the console market, 24 percent of surveyed studios said demand would decrease, while 32 percent said it would increase.

Both results stand in sharp contrast to the expectations for online, mobile and casual games which nearly 90 percent of surveyed studios said would be in higher demand in the coming 12 months.

Despite the tough economic times, a 68 percent majority of surveyed studios said they were expecting to hire additional staff in the coming year, with the remainder mainly predicting no change in staffing size.

Even with the additional hiring, though, 35 percent of studios expected their employees to have an increased workload in the coming year, with 61 percent expecting that employees would need to increase their range of skills to keep up.

The report also looked at public financial support for game studios internationally, finding that 65 percent of French studios and 68 percent of Canadian studios received some form of government financing.

Studios without such government support were much more likely to expect to outsource work in the coming year, and less likely to predict profitability and staffing increases in the coming year. （source:gamasutra）

5）Windows Phone App To Let Users Search For, Control Xbox 360 Media

by Kyle Orland

Microsoft has announced that Windows Phone 7 users will be able to search for and control certain content on the Xbox 360 using an upcoming, free Xbox Companion App.

As detailed on the Windows Team Blog, the Xbox Companion App will be able to search and display information about video, music and game content on the Xbox Live Marketplace right on the phone.

The app will also support a “controller mode” that can be used to launch and control video and music playback or navigate the Xbox user interface. The announcement makes no mention of using the app as a game controller.

The app is shown briefly in a video demonstration of the New Xbox TV Experience, Microsoft’s recently detailed partnership to bring video content from dozens of providers to the Xbox 360.

Microsoft has been making efforts to integrate its sluggish Windows Phone 7 platform with the successful Xbox 360, building Xbox Live features into the mobile phone and allowing for connections between Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Live Arcade games.

The company has also shown off potential integration between the phone platform and the Xbox 360′s Kinect depth-sensing camera.

Last year, Microsoft briefly offered a free Xbox 360 game with purchase of a Windows phone. （source:gamasutra）

6）New Fruit Ninja To Feature ‘Puss In Boots’ Tie-In

by Kyle Orland

An enhanced version of Halfbrick’s best-selling mobile hit Fruit Ninja will be coming to iOS platforms later this month, the company has announced, including branding from Dreamworks’ upcoming movie ‘Puss In Boots.’

Fruit Ninja: Puss In Boots will feature the popular swashbuckling cat from the Shrek films, who stars in his own film opening October 28, and even integrate the character’s “magic beans” as a gameplay element.

But the new title is more than just a re-skinned version of the original Fruit Ninja, which has already seen over 70 million downloads since its April 2010 release.

As shown in a video trailer and described in an accompanying announcement, the new title will introduce discrete waves of fruit, unique precision and timing challenges, and new features like giant fruit and scpring based on efficiency and reflexes.

The movie industry has shown increasing willingness to market upcoming features with mobile gaming tie-ins. Rovio/20th Century Fox’s Angry Birds Rio attracted over 10 million downloads in 10 days, while Lima Sky/Universal’s Doodle Jump: Hop The Movie placed in Apple’s top 10 free iPad downloads for weeks after release.

Fruit Ninja has already expanded outside the mobile market with a Kinect-powered Xbox Live Arcade title and even a large-screen arcade version.

Fruit Ninja: Puss In Boots will be available October 20 for 99 cents on iPhone/iPod Touch and $1.99 on iPad. （source:gamasutra）

7）Two out of three smartphones sold in the US are Android or iOS

by Zen Terrelonge

Google’s OS dominates holding a 43.7 per cent share of the market.

Digital analyst comScore conducted the research showing the Android and iOS stronghold over the US smartphone market.

The firm claims its latest figures show that Android’s dominance has grown from 38.1 per cent to 43.7 per cent in the three months ending August 2011.

The iOS market share has also increased from 26.6 per cent to 27.3 per cent across the same time period.

While the pair have seen a growth, it has left RIM’s BlackBerry, Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Symbian to lose favour with consumers.

Symbian is now holding only 1.8 per cent of the market and Microsoft made a minor dip from 5.8 per cent to 5.7 per cent.

RIM however, whilst holding a larger share has seen a significant drop from 24.7 per cent to 19.7 per cent, according to the report.

comScore also claims Apple has received the largest growth for US mobile subscribers with a 1.1 per cent increase, while Samsung has increased by 0.5 per cent to 25.3 per cent, holding onto first place.

LG is in second, Motorola in third while RIM is in fifth, as they all experienced a drop in market share.（source:mobile-ent）

8）Movie Game Tie-In Helps Future Games Of London To 25M User Base

by Mike Rose

Mobile developer Future Games of London revealed today that it userbase has increased by 25 percent in the last eight weeks, up from 20 million to 25 million users.

The company said the surge of users was down to the freemium launch last month of Hungry Shark Night, an iPhone app released to coinside with the launch of Relativity Media’s ‘Shark Night 3D’ movie.

The company noted that over its entire Hungry Shark series, it has now seen over 24 million downloads in total since April 2010.

Ian Harper, managing director of FGOL, explained, “The continuing growth of our network and success of In-App Purchasing is further proof that the freemium model is working well for us and for our users.”

Harper noted that Grabatron, the company’s latest paid iOS title, will most likely be FGoL’s last non-freemium title. “After that we expect all of our games to be freemium.”

Back in July, the company launched a new distribution service for mobile gaming, with 8linQ’s Say What?! music title the first game to be made available via the service. （source:gamasutra）