1）据《新科学家》杂志报道，美国印第安纳州普渡大学计算机科学家Abhinav Pathak最近调查研究发现，植入广告的免费手机游戏极易消耗手机电池（Pathak的团队开发了一款软件分析应用能量使用率之后得出了这个结论）。

iphone-battery-life(from bindapple.com)

报道指出，《愤怒的小鸟》和《Free Chess》等免费游戏会消耗用户手机45%的应用能量，以便确定玩家3G网络连接位置，并下载基于地理定位的广告内容。即使广告下载完毕，这种网络连接也会持续10秒左右，并耗损28%的应用能量。

研究发现，仅有10%-30%的免费应用能量是用于运行和展示内容（游戏邦注：Pathak特别指出《愤怒的小鸟免费版》的这一能量使用比例仅为20%）。研究人员指出，开发者用于生成应用内置广告的第三方代码效能偏低，面对这种情况，用户只有两种选择，一是通过Wi-Fi网络玩免费游戏，二是花钱解决问题。

2）苹果首席执行官Tim Cook近日宣布第三代iPad发售3天销量已达300万部，这意味着该设备一天内的销量高达75万部左右（第一代iPad在2010年历时28天才实现100万部销量）。

Apple-sells-3-million-new-iPads-in-3-days(from usatoday.com)

苹果新iPad目前在包括美国、英国、澳大利亚、加拿大、日本、德国和法国在内的12个地区销售，计划在3月23日再登陆24个国家或地区的市场。

3）据techcrunch报道，最近有传闻称Zynga将以1.5亿至2.5亿美元收购《Drawing Something》开发商OMGPOP（OMGPOP至今已集资1700万美元）。

Zynga acquires OMGPOP(from machash.com)

OMGPOP在此之前一直是默默无闻的普通开发商，直到《Drawing Something》五周之内在iOS和Android平台突破3000万下载量之后才开始转运（据GigaOM报道，该应用目前每天收益达6位数）。

4）Zynga首席执行官Mark Pincus在最近媒体采访中透露，他希望Zynga能够说服所有人去玩社交游戏，让这种游戏像Facebook一样成为一种普遍现象。

farmville-express(from examiner.com)

在他看来，智能手机和平板电脑是一种可将玩游戏转变成和发短信、发微博一样常见的活动，并总结了团队开发《FarmVille Express》所收获的经验和教训，指出针对网页和针对iOS平台开发《FarmVille》完全是两回事，这也正是他们推出《FarmVille Express》的原因，这两个平台的区别在于，手机游戏的机制一般是2分钟一个回合，而电脑网页游戏则是45分一个回合。

5）据gamezebo报道，澳大利亚开发商Halfbrick Studios最近收购西班牙工作室Onan Games，后者的主打产品是将智能手机内容转换成HTML5和Flash内容的移植技术。据Halfbrick所称，他们将使用Onan团队及其Mandreel工具针对网页和Facebook平台优化《水果忍者》和《Jetpack Joyride》等游戏，并将把Mandreel授权延伸到自己的客户群。

Mandreel支持开发者将iOS和Android应用移植到Facebook、Chrome浏览器的内置应用商店Chrome Web Store、电子游戏门户网站（例如Kongregate）以及其他源自C++代码基的网站。如果开发者更新了手机应用版本，该产品的网页版本也会同步更新。

jetpack-joyride(from halfbrick.com)

《Fruit Ninja Frenzy》已使用Mandreel登陆Facebook，目前在该平台有820万MAU；《Jetpack Joyride》尚未移植到其他平台，自去年8月发布以来，其iOS版本下载量已超过1400万次，该游戏转向免费增值模式之前已收获100万美元的付费下载销售额，据该公司统计，有5-10%玩家至少在游戏中消费1美元。

6）据MCV报道，《上古卷轴5：天际》发行商Bethesda最近在其母公司ZeniMax网站挂出寻求一名iOS程序员的招聘广告，以开发工作室“尚未公开的游戏项目”。

观察者指出，已有传闻称Bethesda计划于5月份推出《上古卷轴》的MMO版本，这则招聘广告也同样令人联想到该工作室是否有意将这个游戏系列推向iOS平台。

7）据mocoNews报道，有两名加州Android用户近日向法院起诉谷歌，指责该公司对Google Play监管不力，导致他们下载了存在明显问题的应用（这两款问题应用分别是4.83美元的《Learn Chinese Mandarin Pro》以及4.99美元的BitTorrent客户端aBTC）

由于谷歌平台退款时限已经从原来的48小时缩短为15分钟，这两名用户发现问题后的退款要求均被驳回，因此二人起诉称谷歌目前的15分钟退款政策并不公平，并要求Google Play对该平台出售的应用产品质量负起责任。

8）手机游戏《星际坦克》近日正式登陆App Store中国区，该游戏由Starinno,Inc.（星创）研发，韩国Nexon签约代理，由触控科技在大陆进行全球首发。游戏包括单机闯关玩法，最多支持六人同时对战，有危机四伏的生存战、协同作战的竞技战，以及基地对攻战三种模式。

星际坦克

（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）Study: Free iPhone, Android games can gobble up your phone’s battery

by Joe Osborne

It looks like you pay for your free mobile games whether you like it or not. A study led by Abhinav Pathak, a computer scientist at Indiana’s Purdue University, found that free-to-play (F2P) mobile apps can drain your phone’s battery, thanks to ads. Pathak and his team of researchers made the discovery after developing software that analyzes an app’s energy usage.

According to New Scientist, free versions of games like Angry Birds and Free Chess use a whopping 45 percent of the app’s energy to determine a player’s location over the phone’s 3G connection and download location-appropriate ads. Even after the ads are downloaded, that connection stays open for about 10 seconds, draining another 28 percent of the app’s energy.

The study, according to New Scientist, found that only 10 to 30 percent of a free app’s energy is used to actually run and display content. (Pathak specifically points out that Angry Birds Free uses a mere 20 percent for this task.) Ultimately, the researcher points to inefficiencies in the third-party code that developers use to generate in-app advertising. Unfortunately, here’s the only protip we can offer: Either play F2P games over Wi-Fi, or just cough up the buck.（source:games）

2）New iPad enjoys ‘strongest launch yet’ as sales top 3 million

by Keith Andrew

Adding to CEO Tim Cook’s claims iPad had enjoyed a “record” opening weekend, Apple has revealed current sales of the third generation iPad have hit 3 million.

That means the new device is shifting at a rate of around 750,000 units a day.

As a comparison, it took the original iPad 28 days to hit sales of 1 million back in 2010.

A matter of millions

“The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold – the strongest iPad launch yet,” said senior VP of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller.

“Customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday.”

Early accounts had suggested launch queues were down at Apple’s flagship stores in the US and UK, while other high street retailers reportedly still had stock hours after launch.

Nevertheless, it appears Apple’s revised online pre-order system – which, for the first time, allowed customers to take delivery of an iPad in time for launch day – more than made up for any deficit.

Apple’s latest iPad is currently available in 12 territories – including the US, UK, Australia, Canada Japan, Germany and France – with launches in a further 24 countries planned for 23 March.（source:pocketgamer）

3）Buy something: Zynga to acquire OMGPOP?

by Tim Green

Rumours grow of a swoop for the developer of app-of-the-moment Draw Something.

TechCrunch reckons talks are underway right now, although it’s possible others are in for the company too.

OMGPOP has raised around $17 million to date, and TechCrunch estimates it will cost Zynga $150m to $250m to snaggle the firm for itself.

If only Zynga had made its move before Draw Something came out.

Prior to that OMGPOP was an unremarkable developer of decent apps, but then Draw Something went and scored 30 million downloads on iOS and Android in about five weeks.

The app is a little like Pictionary, challenging players to identify the scribbles of their friends. Interestingly there’s no competitive dimension to it, no leaderboards or points.

Instead, the game keeps track of the sequences of correct guesses.

It’s all very collaborative, which is reckoned to be a key reason for its success.

According to GigaOM, the app has generated about two billion drawings and is still being played daily by more than half of its users. It is pulling in low six figures in revenue a day.

Zynga has previously bought Words With Friends-maker Newtoy for $53.3 million in cash and stock and also acquired Wonderland, the UK firm behind Godfinger.（source:mobile-ent）

4）Zynga’s Mark Pincus wants mobile gaming to be ‘a poke with a purpose’

by Joe Osborne

Leave it to Zynga to think up a way to make mobile gaming even more casual. During an interview with GigaOM, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus revealed his vision for the developer’s future in mobile games. Simply put, Pincus isn’t satisfied with over 200 million players–he wants Zynga to convince everyone to play social games, that games are just as ubiquitous as Facebook itself.

“What I want us to do next is be a ‘poke with a purpose,’” Pincus told GigaOM, speaking to mobile gaming. “You are essentially SMS-ing people and that is carrying a more snack-y game experience. Even more casual games and an even more engaged experience. This is more of a different experience that we have now and an experience that is more vertical and more engaged and served up in a tiny container. I think that is the big story here.”

In essence, Pincus seems to think that smartphones and tablets are capable of transforming gaming in something as innocuous and natural as texting or tweeting. That’s quite the tall order, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Just look at how Words With Friends has been used as a communication tool on top of being a game.

To that end, Pincus revealed the motivation for creating FarmVille Express: “One of the lessons we learned from the FarmVille for iPhone was that web and iOS are entirely different and have different mechanics. That is why we did FarmVille Express. The difference is that on mobile it is a 2-minute session versus a 45-minute session on the computer.”（source:games）

5）Halfbrick buys mobile-to-web tech dev, will bring Jetpack Joyride to browsers

by Eric Caoili

Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride maker Halfbrick Studios has acquired Spanish firm Onan Games, which develops technology for porting smartphone titles to HTML5 and Flash for the web.

The Australian company says that absorbing Onan and its Mandreel tools will help maximize the reach of its titles. Halfbrick intends to use the tech to improve the development and distribution of titles like Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride on the web and on Facebook, and will eventually license Mandreel to its extended client base.

Mandreel enables companies to port their iOS and Android titles to online platforms like Facebook, the Chrome browser’s built-in app/game shop Chrome Web Store, video game portals (e.g. Kongregate), and other sites from one C++ code base. Updates made to the mobile editions are automatically applied to the web versions.

Shipped titles that have used Mandreel include Gameloft’s GT Racing Motor Academy (iOS, Chrome Web Store), Glu Mobile’s Big Time Gangsta (iOS, Facebook), and Rubicon Development’s Great Little War Game (iOS, Chrome Web Store). Onan has also ported several games, including several Neo Geo titles for the Zeebo console, since opening in 2011.

After developing games for consoles and mobile devices for more than a decade, Halfbrick began releasing online games last year, first with Monster Dash on the Chrome Web Store (using Mandreel), and then with Fruit Ninja Frenzy on Facebook — the latter of which currently has 8.2 million monthly active users on Facebook.

Its Jetpack Joyride title has not yet been ported to any platforms outside of iOS, but the game has already seen over 14 million downloads since releasing last August — Halfbrick saw $1 million in paid sales before making Jetpack Joyride free-to-play. The developer estimates that 5-10 percent of players spent at least a dollar in its in-app store. （source:gamasutra）

6）Skyrim developer Bethesda recruiting iOS programmer for upcoming iPhone/iPad games

by James Gilmour

Skyrim publisher Bethesda has posted an ad on ZeniMax’s (Bethesda’s parent company) job listings page for a dragon new iOS programmer to work on an undisclosed number of “unannounced games”.

As well as possessing the obligatory coding smarts, the ideal candidate will have experience in the iOS development field, and will follow “live blogs of every Apple event” (to obviously stay up to date on all things Apple related).

Given the rumours circulating about Bethesda’s plans to reveal an Elder Scrolls MMO in May, our minds immediately leapt to thoughts of a Mass Effect 3 Datapad-style companion app for such a venture.

Detect life

Indeed, with a portfolio that includes console hits such as Oblivion, Fallout, and Skyrim, Bethesda’s not short of potential tie-in properties.

This isn’t the first time Bethesda has had a crack at the iOS market, with rumblings of an unnamed iPhone project dating back as far as 2009. Furthermore, the official Prima Skyrim map pack arrived on the App Store last month.

Until Bethesda reveals its future iOS agenda to the world, however, we’ll have to make do with wild speculation.（source:pocketgamer）

7）Android users file lawsuit against Google over faulty apps

by James Nouch

Two Android users have filed a lawsuit against Google after they download Android apps that were apparently defective.

Then California residents Dodd Harris and Stephen Sabatino downloaded the releases from Android Market – recently rebranded Google Play – and attempted to secure a refund once they discovered the apps were faulty.

However, given Google only allows users to ‘return’ apps within 15 minutes of purchase, their attempts were blocked.

A matter of time

Google’s currently policy hasn’t always been in place, however. Before changes made in 2010, Android users had a 48 hour window in which to return apps for a refund.

Harris and Sabatino’s suit asserts that the marketplace’s current time-limit is unfair, with both customers demanding Google take responsibility for ensuring that the applications it sells on Google Play – of which there are now more than 450,000 – work as described.

In contrast, Apple’s App Store doesn’t allow app refunds full stop, though the company claims its walled garden approach is designed to ensure full functionality of all its library across iPhone, iPad and iPod touch – OS versions withstanding.

Suit up

The suit seeks damages not only for Harris and Sabatino, but all other ‘similarly situated’ residents of California, which – as mocoNews notes – has some of the strongest consumer-protection laws in the US.

The apps in question were not games – Learn Chinese Mandarin Pro ($4.83) and a BitTorrent client aBTC ($4.99) the faulty titles – but any ruling could have a profound impact on developers across the Android ecosystem should it go against Google.（source:pocketgamer）