1）据pocketgamer报道，独立开发商NimbleBit日前透露即将发布的新游戏《Pocket Planes》原先是一款列车游戏《Pocket Trains》，但后来觉得火车需依赖铁路，其玩法比飞机更具极限性，这不符合他们所追求的探索开放世界的目标，因此后来将其更改成了一款机场管理游戏。

pocket-trains-ios-1(from pocketgamer)

pocket-trains-ios-2(from pocketgamer)

pocket-trains-ios-3(from pocketgamer)

2）ABI最近调查数据显示，2012年第一季度苹果和三星在整个智能手机产业中的利润占比90%，并占据了50%的智能手机市场份额。

苹果在第一季度智能手机出货量为3500万部，而三星则是4300万部，三星是唯一实现盈利的Android设备制造商，这种情况表明未居首位的Android设备制造商基本上难以盈利。

apple-and-samsung(from installornot.com)

而诺基亚在该时期的出货量则是1190万部，比去年下降40%，ABI指出诺基亚在2012年需促使Windows Phone业务增长5000%方有望补足Symbian设备出货量缺口。

ABI称欧美市场智能手机覆盖率已超过50%，设备制造商需从中国等新兴市场挖掘商机，但在中国仍需面临中兴与华为等本土制造商的挑战。

3）广告平台Chitika最近报告指出，今年6月份iPad网络流量在Chitika平台占比91%以上，而仅次于iPad的三星Galaxy Tab网络流量也只占比2%，这种情况表明其他平板电脑市场份额根本难与iPad相抗衡。

iPad_Tablet(from Chitika)

iPad每获100次广告印象，Galaxy Tab仅获1.94次广告印象。

另外值得注意的是，Barnes & Noble Nook网络流量超过了Kindle Fire，在该平台所有平板电脑网络流量中占比0.85%，而Kindle Fire则占比0.71%。

4）据Gizmodo报道，微软将于6月18日宣布一个“重要消息”，有传闻称该消息可能与平板电脑有关。据知情者所称，该设备由微软内部开发（游戏邦注：类似于Xbox），将采用Windows RT操作系统（该系统是Windows 8的平板电脑版本）。

Microsoft-Windows-RT-Tablet(from androsym.com)

5）EA PopCap日前发布的英美游戏玩家调查报告显示，英美两国的成人手机游戏玩家已达1.25亿，比去年增长29%。

玩家在移动设备上投入的游戏时间占比46%，手机和电脑是最为普遍的游戏设备（分别占比33%和32%），而掌机设备仅占18%。

免费游戏的兴起及手机功能提升是玩家更频繁体验手机游戏的主要原因，这两个因素分别占比70%和47%。

51%的手机游戏玩家在过去一年中曾为游戏相关产品付费，这些付费手机游戏玩家多集中于35岁以下群体（占比48%），每周会玩多次游戏（占比86%），并且其平板电脑用户比例更高（45%）。平板电脑用户在游戏中的消费额比手机用户高1.5倍，两者平均消费额分别是25.47美元和16.68美元。

6）据The Verge报道，诺基亚首席执行官Stephen Elop最近重申低端设备的重要性，并称“低价战术”是对抗Android市场份额的重要策略，诺基亚计划与微软深入合作推出比Lumia 610设备更低价位的手机。

Nokia-Lumia-610-Live(from unwiredview.com)

Lumia 610是诺基亚目前售价最低的Windows Phone设备，售价低至150英磅。但该设备性能并不理想，据称其256 MB的内存并不支持运行某些应用（游戏邦注：例如《愤怒的小鸟》）。观察者称这种为低价而牺牲硬件配置的做法，将对操作系统的优化提出更高要求，否则将进一步扩大Windows Phone市场的分裂现象。（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）New free-to-play iOS game Pocket Planes was almost Pocket Trains

by Anthony Usher

As you’ll probably already know, developer NimbleBit has just released Pocket Planes. What you may not know, though, is that Pocket Planes was almost Pocket Trains.

“[T]he reason we switched to planes was because having to travel along the rail routes felt really limiting, kind of went against the feeling of open exploration and travel we were going for.” David Marsh, one of the game’s designers, said.

If the three screenshots below this article are to be believed, NimbleBit was pretty far ahead in the development process when it decided to switch transport.

Pocket Planes flew its way to a Pocket Gamer Gold Award at review, though, so it was probably a good move on the developer’s part.（source:pocketgamer）

2）Apple and Samsung account for 90% of smartphone industry profits, says ABI

Devindra Hardawar

Apple and Samsung account for 90% of smartphone industry profits, says ABIThe 5 traits of radically successful peopleIs there any hope for a Microsoft-branded tablet?
1 Comment TweetShare on printShare on emailShare on diggShare on stumbleuponShare on redditMore Sharing Services It’s hard out there for a smartphone manufacturer — especially when you’re up against mobile titans like Apple and Samsung.

The two companies made up 90 percent of the entire smartphone industry’s profits in the first quarter of 2012, and also hold 50 percent of the smartphone market, according to the latest research from ABI.

Apple shipped 35 million smartphones last quarter, as it announced in its last earnings report, while Samsung shipped 43 million, according to ABI. Samsung has been the only truly profitable Android manufacturer for some time, and its continued success seems to indicate that Android is a bad money-maker for anyone not at the top.

While Apple and Samsung rule the top end of the smartphone market, there’s still a chance for a strong third-place competitor to emerge. Who that could be is anyone’s guess at this point.

Nokia, meanwhile, saw its shipments decline 40 percent from last year to 11.9 million units. “At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5000% in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments,” said ABI analyst Michael Morgan in a statement today.

The research firm notes that, with the smartphone marketing now surpassing 50 percent of mobile in North America and Europe, manufacturers should target emerging markets like China.

Targeting untapped markets makes sense, although in China they’ll have to contend with homegrown competitors like ZTE and Huawei.（source:venturebeat）

3）Apple’s iPad accounts for 9 out of 10 tablets, reports Chitika

by Keith Andrew

There’s little doubt Apple’s iPad dominates the tablet market, though recent research had suggested Android tablets were beginning to make significant inroads into its share.

A report by ad platform Chitika, however, suggests Apple’s rivals still have a long way to go, with iPad accounting for more than 91 percent of all traffic monitored by the firm during a week long period in June.

On another level

Such a mammoth share means iPad’s rivals are almost nowhere to be see.

Its nearest challenger is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, but Chitika claims the Android tablet made up less than 2 percent of all traffic.

Indeed, for every 100 impressions made by iPad, Galaxy Tab accounts for just 1.94.

“Aside from iPad share, a significant finding from this study is that the Barnes & Noble Nook has overtaken the Kindle Fire in web traffic impressions,” said Chitika of the results.

“Compared to our previous study of tablets per 100 iPads, the Kindle has maintained its share while the Nook has gained. Barnes & Nobles’ e-reader with tablet capabilities now accounts for 0.85 percent of all tablet web traffic versus Kindle Fire’s 0.71 percent.

“As future tablets are released onto the market, we may expect to see the iPad’s share drop to levels more comparable to its overall mobile device share. With Windows 8 tablets expected in the fourth quarter, the future of tablet web traffic will certainly be interesting to observe.”（source:pocketgamer）

4）Rumour: Microsoft to announce own-branded tablet powered by Windows RT this Monday

by Anthony Usher

According to website Gizmodo, Microsoft will make an “important announcement” at an “unconfirmed location” somewhere in Hollywood this coming Monday.

This information doesn’t really mean much on its own, but Mashable is reporting on a rumour from Hollywood blog The Wrap, which purports that the Redmond-based software giant will soon be “making a foray into a new hardware category that would put the company in direct competition with rival Apple”.

So, tablets, in other words.

Winpad

This rumour, by the way, is cited as coming form “an individual with knowledge of the company”. The purported tablet, should it not simply be the figment of somebody’s imagination, will be made in-house, much like Microsoft’s extremely popular Xbox. It’ll be powered by Windows RT – the tablet version of Windows 8.

Attempts to release a Microsoft-branded tablet haven’t fared too well in the past, with the most recent, Courier, seeing the chop before it saw the light of day.

We guess we’ll find out on Monday whether or not Microsoft really has an iPad killer in the works.（source:pocketgamer）

5）PopCap Mobile Games Survey: Tablets are Bringing New Players

By Gary Merrett

PopCap Games, has announced the results of its third survey of mobile games consumption which found an overall increase in the mobile games market, a broadening audience, new opportunities unlocked through tablets and new developments in play and spending habits.

“Mobile games continue to vie with social games as the hottest sector of the video game industry and that trend shows no sign of waning,” stated Dennis Ryan, VP of Worldwide Publishing at PopCap, which derives more than a third of its overall revenues from sales of mobile hits like Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies. “Smartphone adoption continues apace and tablet adoption has added considerable fuel to the fire. Even more important, consumers are embracing the shift toward freemium games and other add-on game content purchases, driving the dramatic and rapid shift in the forms of monetization being used by developers and publishers.”

The survey, conducted by Information Solutions Group, found increases in overall usage and frequency of mobile game playing among U.S. and U.K. adults. Projections from the data indicate that there is now an addressable market of more than 125 million people playing mobile games in the U.S. and U.K.

Following are highlights from the survey data; full survey results can be found here: http://www.infosolutionsgroup.com/popcapmobile2012.pdf

Mobile Games Market Expands

More people are playing mobile games: more than 4 in 10 (44%) of adults surveyed had played at least one mobile game in the past month – an increase of 29% compared to just a year ago. The ratio of new gamers doubled in the last three years: In 2009, 22% were new players and this year new players represented 44%.

Tablet devices are bringing new players: Nearly one in ten (9%) became a new mobile gamer in the past year by playing one or more games on a recently acquired tablet, indicating that the iPad, Kindle and other such devices have brought approximately 11 million new mobile gamers into the fold in the past 12 months.

Almost half (46%) of all video game time is spent on a mobile device: Phones and computers are the most common game devices (33% and 32% respectively), with dedicated consoles trailing behind at 18%. Frequency and play time have increased since last year: The number of people who play daily is up by 29% in the last year, from 35% to 45%. In addition, 22% play more than 3 hours a week, compared to 14% in 2011.

Tablets are opening up the audience, opportunities for the industry

Tablets are the new frontier in mobile games: Smartphone adoption among mobile gamers increased 16% from 61% in 2011 to 71% in 2012. Tablets showcase massive added potential for the industry: 36% of mobile gamers now own a tablet and 74% of the tablet gamers did not play mobile games previously.

Tablet gets a lot of play: 12% of all mobile gamers play only on a tablet; respondents that play games only on the tablet spend 31% of their device time on games, where phone-only players dedicate 24% of their device time to games. People who play on both devices log more game time on a tablet (40%) than a phone (31%).

Dual mobile device owners play more often than single device owners: 57% of dual device owners play daily compared to 41% of single device owners. Dual device players are more likely to be male (56% vs. 44%).

Spending and Gameplay Patterns Shift with the Rise of Tablet and Freemium

Free games and better phones are growing the market: Among the most popular reasons cited for the increase in mobile gameplay are the availability of more free games (70%), acquisition of a new phone with better gaming capabilities (47%) and purchase of a tablet (25%).

Monetization patterns: general spending data shows half (51%) of mobile gamers made mobile game-related purchases in the past year. 62% of these expenditures were for games, while four out of every ten dollars spent was for additional content and/or in-game currency. Players who spend money on mobile games are largely younger than 35 (48%), tend to play multiple times a week (86%) and are likely to own a tablet (45%). Also, mobile gamers who only play on a tablet spent 1.5 times more on games and game content than those who only play mobile games on a phone ($25.47 versus $16.68).

In May 2009 and 2011, ISG conducted similar studies of mobile gamers on behalf of PopCap; where applicable, historical data from those earlier surveys is presented below along with data from the newly completed survey.（source:socialgamesobserver）

6）Nokia preparing to combat Android by releasing ultra-budget Windows Phones

by Will Wilson

Nokia doesn’t appear to be slowing up when it comes to releasing budget Windows Phone handsets if today’s conference call with investors is anything to go by.

As reported by The Verge, the company’s CEO, Stephen Elop, reinstated the importance of releasing low-cost mobiles, saying that “the low-end price point war is an important part” of combating Android’s huge market share.

“We had plans already to go lower than the 610”, Elop said, and revealed that the firm had been working closely with Microsoft to find out “ways to go even further”.

600?

The Lumia 610 is curently the company’s cheapest Windows Phone handset on the market, costing a mere £150 for an unlocked model.

This price has come at some cost to functionality, however, with certain apps reported to not play well with the phone’s 256MB of RAM.

Any further stripping out of costly parts will likely require a fair amount of optimisation of the OS, or it could introduce further fragmentation to Windows Phone.（source:pocketgamer）