1）Flurry最近发布报告显示，亚马逊平板电脑Kindle Fire在Android应用市场中已拥有一定影响力，其终端用户的Android Market应用访问次数高于三星平板电脑Galaxy Tab。

Kindle Fire已占据全球35.7%的Android应用访问（游戏邦注：这里指用户开启应用至退出程序的周期）次数，而Galaxy Tab所占比例为35.6%，低于去年11月份的63%。

从总体上看，Android应用访问次数在2011年11月份至2012年1月份之间增加了三倍，Kindle Fire用户对应用内容的消费能力比其他Android用户更强。

从Amazon Store和Android Market前10名付费应用榜单来看，Kindle Fire的付费应用下载量比Galaxy Tab多2.5倍，而后者的应用安装量却比Kindle Fire多2倍左右。

Flurry在12月份的报告曾指出，尽管Android Market市场普及率正持续增长，但跨平台应用开发者每款Android应用所创造收益仅相当于iOS应用的四分之一左右。

2）移动分析公司Distimo最近报告显示了在2011年10月至12月期间，促销和应用商店推荐对应用程序下载量的影响：

*在苹果App Store前100名应用营收榜单中，iPhone应用发行商首天促销活动的收益平均增长41%，整个促销期间的收益平均增长22%；而App Store的iPad平台发行商的这两项促销收益分别增长52%和19%；在谷歌Android Market平台，发行商首天促销收益增长7%，整体促销收益增长29%。

*尽管上述三个应用商店中的促销应用总体收益呈增长趋势，但有30%-50%促销应用收益出现下滑。不过Distimo认为，折扣促销活动有助于开发商和发行商创造更多收益。从总体上看，第一梯队应用（0.99美元）和第二梯队应用（1.99美元）推出半价折扣能够最大化应用销量。

*从前100名热门应用来看，应用程序在Android Market获得推荐的头三天排名最高可晋升42位左右，在App Store的iPad平台最高可晋升27位以上，在iPhone平台至少可晋升15位。从获得推荐的一整周来看，iPhone和iPad应用晋升名次与头三天相差无几，但在Android Market的应用则平均可晋升65名左右。

3）据gamasutra报道，Valve Software（《传送门》发行商）最近进军iOS和Android移动领域，推出Steam Mobile平台（正进行内部测试），将支持用户从中下载iOS和Android数字内容（游戏邦注：Xbox Live和PlayStation Network等数字发布平台已经推出此类服务，支持用户下载智能手机应用内容）。

尽管Steam Mobile尚不支持用户体验其已购买的PC游戏手机版本，但提供了聊天、社区、用户资料、视频截图、用户创造内容、目录等服务。

用户现可通过苹果App Store和谷歌Android Market下载该应用，但用户需要测试密钥方可访问该应用，Valve并未透露该服务何时正式上线。

4）休闲游戏公司近日宣布任命移动市场营销元老Wibe Wagemans为公司移动业务总经理，后者之前曾是芬兰开发商Rovio全球品牌广告副总裁，在加入Rovio之前曾在微软担任Bing搜索引擎在移动平台的全球营销主管。

5）据雅虎报道，苹果最近宣布其应用商店至今已助开发者创收40亿美元（2011年第四季度为7亿美元）。

苹果Mac和iTunes App Store的应用内容收益为57.1亿美元，按照苹果30%的收益抽成来算，苹果已从中创收17.1亿美元。据苹果所称，Mac和iOS平台的应用数量已超过55万款。

6）据insidemobileapps报道，国际手机游戏大奖（简称IMGA）组委会近日宣布本届大奖入围获名单，其中Halfbrick游戏《Jetpack Joyride》、Capy Games游戏《Superbrothers:Sword & Sworcery EP》、Mokus Games游戏《Contre Jour HD》和Chair Entertainment游戏《无尽之剑2》均已获得游戏开发者精选奖（Game Developer’s Choice Awards）和互动成就奖（Interactive Achievement Awards）的提名。

本届IMGA还增设了最佳手机社交游戏奖项，EA旗下有三款游戏入围（《CreaVures》、《Contre Jour HD》和《Poker Pals》），IMGA将在3月1日的颁奖典礼上公布最终获奖名单。

IMGA相关入围游戏名单如下：

最佳休闲游戏

•CreaVures（Muse Games）

•Hector Episodes 1-3（Telltale Games）

•Jetpack Joyride（Halfbrick Studios）

•Sprinkle（Mediocre AB）

•The Blocks Cometh（Halfbot）

最佳现实世界游戏

•CityRace（Cityrace.me）

•Flatmates（Flaregames）

•Meatspace Invasion（C4MProd）

•NBA: King of the Court（Ogmento）

•Shadow Cities（Grey Area）

最佳运动类游戏

•Bike Baron（Mountain Sheep Inc/Qwiboo）

•Flick Tennis: College Wars（Rolocule Games）

•Sports Car Challenge（Fish Labs）

•Touchgrind BMX（llusion Labs AB）

•Trial Xtreme 2（Deemedya M.S. Ltd.）

最佳手机社交游戏

•Charadium II（On5）

•Funpark Friends（Tagplay）

•Poker Pals（Aspyr Media, Inc.）

•SpellCraft School of Magic（Appy Entertainment）

•The Pirate King（Bulkypix）

最佳游戏玩法：

•Battleheart（Mika Mobile）

•Contre Jour HD（Mokus Games LLP）

•Death Rally（Remedy Entertainment）

•DrawRace 2 HD（RedLynx）

•Infinity Blade II（Chair Entertainment）

最佳互动游戏

•Forever Drive（Tak Fung）

•Kodo（Fabrication Games Europe AB）

•KuraKuraMaze（Yoshimi Kurihara）

•Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP（Capybara Games）

•WildChords（Ovelin）

7）据Apple Insider报道， Consumer Intelligence Research Partners（简称CIRP）最近调查发现有36%的iPhone 4S用户原先是Android或黑莓等其他手机用户（该调查执行于2011年10月至12月，共有365名分析样本）。

8）视频编码和URL服务Vid.ly最新数据显示（该数据取自Vid.ly对Android和iOS平台每月分别达100多万次的视频观看记录），2011年12月份，Android用户观看移动视频内容的比例已达32%，而苹果则下降至52%，在2011年1月份，苹果iOS所占比例高达87%，而Android仅占5%。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Survey shows Kindle Fire leading in total Android app sessions

by Tom Curtis

Since its launch in November, Amazon’s Kindle Fire has made some major gains in the Android Market, and now hosts more end user app sessions than Samsung’s popular Galaxy Tab devices.

According to recently published research by Flurry Analytics, the Kindle Fire hosts 35.7 percent of all global Android app sessions (which are defined by the launch and exit of a given app), while the Galaxy Tab hosts 35.6 percent of these sessions, down from 63 percent in November.

These figures sell good news for Kindle Fire app developers, as it indicates that the games and apps available on the Amazon App Store are seeing regular and frequent use by consumers.

In addition, Flurry reported that total Android app sessions tripled between November and January, with Galaxy Tab sessions increasing by more than 50 percent. In all, the data suggests healthy growth for the app market across a number of Android devices.

Despite the fact that app sessions have increased across the Android market at large, however, Flurry said that Amazon has done a better job promoting its content than Google and other Android manufacturers, and as a result Kindle Fire users have been more receptive to consuming and purchasing app content on that platform.

To help demonstrate how Amazon’s emphasis on content affects developers, Flurry compared the number of paid downloads on the Kindle Fire versus those on the Galaxy Tab.

Drawing data from five of the top 10 paid apps on the Amazon Store and the Android Market, Flurry found that the Kindle Fire saw 2.5 times more paid downloads than the Galaxy Tab — a figure made even more impressive by the fact that Flurry estimates the Galaxy Tab has twice as many installed users as the Kindle Fire.

In December, Flurry reported that while the Android market was increasing in terms of market penetration, multiplatform developers were only bringing in $0.24 in revenue on Android for every $1 made on iOS.（source:gamasutra）

2）The Impact Of App Discounts And The Impact Of Being A Featured App

by Gert Jan Spriensma

It is our pleasure to release our latest Distimo Publication.

This report gives an overview of the effects when an application is featured in the Apple App Store for iPhone, Apple App Store for iPad and Google Android Market. Moreover, this report shows the effects that occur when applications are put on sale.  We conclude with data about the average prices of the highest grossing applications, and an overview of the types of applications that generate the most revenue. All data covers the Apple App Store for iPhone, Apple App Store for iPad and Google Android Market during the period October – December 2011 in the United States, unless otherwise noted.

The key findings from this report are:

•One of the ways publishers try to attract attention to an application is to put the app on sale. The average revenue rose by 41% in the Apple App Store for iPhone when looking at those applications that were already among the 100 highest grossing applications in any category, on the first day of the sale. Moreover, the revenue during the whole sale increased by 22%. In the Apple App Store for iPad those figures were +52% and +19%, respectively. In the Google Android Market on the first day the revenue increased by 7%, and during the whole sale increased by 29%.

•30% to 50% of the applications on sale experienced a decrease in revenue even though on average the revenue increased in all three stores for the total group of applications on sale.  Our research found that it is important to offer a significant price reduction to actually earn more revenue when putting an application on sale. In general, we noticed that the optimum sales occurred when the price was cut in half or the application was offered in tier 1 ($0.99) or tier 2 ($1.99).

•Another way to attract attention is by getting featured in one of the app stores. When looking at those applications that were already ranked among the top 100 most popular applications, the average gain in the first three days after getting featured was highest in Google Android Market (+42 ranks), followed by Apple App Store for iPad (+27 ranks), and Apple App Store for iPhone (+15). Looking at the whole period these applications were featured (seven days), the rank gains were more or less equal to the three days average in both Apple stores, but were even higher in the Google Android Market (+65 ranks).（source:distimo）

3）Valve extends Steam service to mobile iOS, Android app

by Eric Caoili

Valve Software has rolled out a closed beta for Steam Mobile, an upcoming free application for iOS and Android devices allowing users to access services from its digital distribution platform.

The Left 4 Dead and Portal publisher says the app, which it created after receiving direct requests from customers, is part of its commitment to “expand the service functionality of Steam to make it richer and more accessible for everyone.”

Several other digital distribution platform holders have pursued a similar strategy, taking advantage of mobile devices’ portability and ubiquity by releasing complementary apps for them.

Both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network have smartphone apps allowing users to view their accounts on the go.

While Steam Mobile won’t allow users to play games they’ve purchased on the PC versions of the client, it will let them chat with friends, browse communities and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content, browse Steam’s catalog, and purchase games.

The private beta rollout follows several weeks after Valve announced that Steam has surpassed 40 million registered users, and saw its annual revenues double for the seventh straight year in 2011 — despite facing increased competition from rival digital distribution platforms.

Steam Mobile is available to download now through Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market, though users will need a beta key before they can access it. Valve hasn’t announced when it will open the app to the general public. （source:gamasutra）

4）Big Fish appoints Rovio, Microsoft vet to lead mobile business

by Tom Curtis

Newsbrief: Seattle-based casual games publisher Big Fish Games announced Thursday that it has appointed mobile and marketing veteran Wibe Wagemans as the general manager of its mobile business.

Prior to joining Big Fish, Wagemans served as Rovio’s senior vice president of global brand advertising, where he helped manage the extremely popular Angry Birds franchise. Before joining Rovio, he worked for Microsoft as its former global head of marketing for the Bing search engine on mobile.

In the months leading up to Wagemans’ appointment, Big Fish took some risks in the mobile space by launching the first subscription-based gaming portal for iOS. Just after its debut, however, Apple removed the app without providing an official explanation. （source:gamasutra）

5）Apple has paid $4B to app developers so far

by Tom Curtis

Newsbrief: Alongside Apple’s record-breaking earnings for its first fiscal quarter, the company revealed that app developers across its products have collectively earned $4 billion so far, $700 million of which came from its most recent quarter, reports Yahoo.

Given Apple’s 30 percent cut from revenues on the Mac or iTunes App Store, this means that total revenues from app content have hit $5.71 billion, with Apple taking home $1.71 billion.

In addition, Apple added that more than 550,000 apps exist across its Mac and iOS devices, and Inside Mobile Apps reports that Apple sold 67.87 million iOS devices in its first fiscal quarter.（source:gamasutra）

6）International Mobile Gaming Awards nominees announced, category for Best Mobile-Social Game added

Kathleen De Vere

The nominees for the eighth annual International Mobile Gaming Awards have been announced, heaping further praise on Halfbrick’s Jetpack Joyride, Capy Games’ Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Mokus Games’ Contre Jour HD and Chair Entertainment’s Infinity Blade II, all of which had already notched up nominations from the Game Developer’s Choice Awards and the Interactive Achievement Awards.

The IMGA awards also added a new category for Best Social Mobile Game, with the nominees selected based on how they implemented cross-platform features and social networking functionalities.

While most of the nominees were from smaller or independent studios, EA’s owned publishing company Chillingo scored three nominations for CreaVures, Contre Jour HD and Poker Pals and Finland’s Remedy Entertainment, best known for console hits like Max Payne and Alan Wake, made the list with its racing game Death Rally.

The full list of nominees is as follows:

Best Casual Game

•CreaVures from Muse Games

•Hector Episodes 1-3 from Telltale Games

•Jetpack Joyride from Halfbrick Studios

•Sprinkle from Mediocre AB

•The Blocks Cometh from Halfbot

Best Real World Game

•CityRace from Cityrace.me

•Flatmates from Flaregames

•Meatspace Invasion from C4MProd

•NBA: King of the Court from Ogmento

•Shadow Cities from Grey Area

Best Sports Game

•Bike Baron from Mountain Sheep Inc/Qwiboo

•Flick Tennis: College Wars from Rolocule Games

•Sports Car Challenge from Fish Labs

•Touchgrind BMX from llusion Labs AB

•Trial Xtreme 2 from Deemedya M.S. Ltd.

Best Mobile Social Game

•Charadium II from On5

•Funpark Friends from Tagplay

•Poker Pals from Aspyr Media, Inc.

•SpellCraft School of Magic from Appy Entertainment

•The Pirate King from Bulkypix

Excellence in Gameplay

•Battleheart from Mika Mobile

•Contre Jour HD from Mokus Games LLP

•Death Rally from Remedy Entertainment

•DrawRace 2 HD from RedLynx

•Infinity Blade II from Chair Entertainment

Most Innovative Game

•Forever Drive from Tak Fung

•Kodo from Fabrication Games Europe AB

•KuraKuraMaze from Yoshimi Kurihara

•Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP from Capybara Games

•WildChords from Ovelin

The IMGA awards were created honor mobile games that demonstrate both exceptional quality and innovation. While games on all mobile phone platforms are considered, games developed specifically for tablets, netbooks and handheld consoles are not eligible. The winners will be announced at the IMGA Summit and Awards Ceremony on Mar. 1.（source:insidemobileapps）

7）A new survey of recent iPhone customers found that 21 percent of iPhone 4S buyers chose Apple’s highest capacity 64-gigabyte model, while 36 percent of users migrated from another platform like Android, BlackBerry or Palm.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners released a report on Monday, revealing new details about users who bought an iPhone following the launch of the new iPhone 4S last October. Among those surveyed, 21 percent of iPhone 4S buyers opted for the high-end 64GB model, Apple’s highest-ever capacity for a smartphone model.

The latest figures are slightly higher than a different poll conducted by investment firm Piper Jaffray last October on the first day of iPhone 4S availability. That poll of customers waiting in line found that 19 percent chose the 64GB model.

CIRP previously found that 18 percent of iPhone buyers at the iPhone 4S launch were switching from other platforms, like Android, BlackBerry or Palm. But that number only grew as 2011 drew to a close, with 36 percent of buyers coming from competing platforms.

The data comes from a survey of customers that purchased an iPhone in October, November and December of 2011. From an initial response of 6,316 subjects, CIRP surveyed 365 qualified people for its analysis.（source:appleinsider）

8）Chart: Android Is Catching Up To iOS In Mobile Video Views

Erick Schonfeld

With 250 million Android devices out there, growing by more than 700,000 activations a day, a lot of mobile video is watched on Android cell phones and tablets. It is not quite as much yet as on Apple iOS devices but it is catching up fast.

A year ago in January, 2011, Apple dominated mobile video views, with iOS devices accounting for 87 percent of all mobile views, according to data from video encoding and short-url service Vid.ly. Android had a scant 5 percent. By December, 2011, Android’s share of mobile video watching grew to 32 percent, while Apple’s shrank to 52 percent.

Vid.ly is a service run by Encoding.com, which launched a year ago. The data is only from its service, but is from a large enough sample (more than 1 million video views a month for each platform) that it should be representative.（source:techcrunch）