1）谷歌近日的Google I/O大会上宣布Google Play应用数量已突破60万（去年该大会宣布的这一数据为20万），有4亿部Android移动设备每月下载应用达15亿次。自Google Play上线以来，其应用装载量共达200亿次。

谷歌表示，超过半数的Google Play应用收益来自IAP计费模式。Google Play将推出一项应用智能更新功能，支持用户仅下载更新过的应用程序包，而无需再次下载整款应用。

据Techcrunch报道，Google Play还添加另一个新模块“My Android Apps”，支持用户远程卸载Android设备上的多数应用程序（游戏邦注：该应用商店之前已支持用户通过其网页版本远程安装应用）。

2）谷歌Android产品管理总监Hugo Barra日前宣布，自Android操作系统发布以来，Android设备销量已达4亿部（2011年时这一数据为1亿），目前Android设备每日激活量为100万部，相当于每秒都有12部新Android设备被激活。

3）据gamasutra报道，微软本月初刚发布关于Surface平板电脑的消息，谷歌也于近日宣布将推出自己的平板电脑产品Nextus 7。

这款由华硕制造的Android平板电脑采用Nvidia的新Tegra 3处理器，8 GB版本售价为199美元，16 GB版本售价为249美元，与亚马逊Kindle Fire同走低价路线。

该设备运行Android 4.1操作系统（即Jelly Bean），屏幕分辨率为1280 X 800，四核Tegra 3 CPU，12核GPU，支持开发者针对该设备创建更高端的游戏。除此之外，该设备还将整合Google Play功能，以便将用户从亚马逊Appstore引向谷歌自己的应用商店。

4）Epic Games首席执行官Tim Sweeney日前称从投入与收益比例来看，iOS游戏《无尽之剑》已超过《战争机器》系列成为公司目前最具盈利性的游戏。

Sweeney还介绍称提升了图像质量和运行性能的虚幻引擎4有利于开发者创建从智能手机到高端PC设备的游戏，支持美工更高效地创建内容。

他表示智能手机和平板电脑发展速度十分惊人，预计DirectX技术在未来数年将被这些移动设备广泛运用。

5）Strategy Analytics最新数据指出，苹果iPhone自2007年6月29日问世以来，其所有设备（包括iPhone、iPhone 3G、iPhone 3GS、iPhone 4和iPhone 4S）总收益达到1500亿美元。

该设备面世5年以来，在市场上的出货量已超过2.5亿部，但由于移动运行商对iPhone高额补贴费用的担忧，以及来自三星的强势挑战，预计iPhone未来5年可能不会像过去5年那样繁荣发展。

6）《美女餐厅》开发商PlayFirst及调研机构Frank N. Magid最近报告显示，2011年平均每名智能手机用户下载10款游戏，而平板电脑用户则下载了20多款游戏，游戏成为用户在平板电脑上的第二大热门活动（仅次于上网）。

有23%平板电脑用户会在游戏中消费，平均每名用户消费额高达67美元，而iPhone用户的这一数据则是25美元。

无论是iOS还是Android平台，用户下载的80%游戏都是免费产品。有半数左右的非智能手机游戏玩家表示，有意在未来12个月中尝试玩游戏。

7）手机游戏公司Pocket Gems日前宣布将发布一款基于语音的新游戏《All Talk》，其玩法是让用户录下自己的说话声音让其他玩家猜测单词，例如屏幕图片显示的是“糖果”一词，用户就不能在录音中提到“甜的”或“甘蔗”这种相关字词。当对方收到用户的30秒录音信息时，就要根据语音提示猜测其所说内容。

《All Talk》将成为该公司首款同时登录iOS和Android的游戏，预计发布时间为7月中旬或7月末。

8）VoucherCodes.co.uk日前发布iPhone诞生5周年信息图表，回顾了该设备自2007年6月29日问世以来的发展历程。

该图表指出，自从iPhone发布后，苹果全球品牌价值便从原来的第44名攀升至首位；从下载量来看，史上最热门iPhone应用分别是Instagram、《愤怒的小鸟》、Facebook、《Words With Friends》以及Pandora。

（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）Google I/O 2012: Google Play hits 600,000 apps

by Keith Andrew

Google Play is going from strength to strength according to numbers detailed at the firm’s I/O conference in San Francisco.

There are now more than 600,000 apps available on Google Play – formally known as Android Market – up from 200,000 at Google I/O 2011.

Billions and billions

Of those apps, 1.5 billion are installed on the 400 million devices running Android every month.

In all, 20 billion apps have been installed on devices during Google Play’s lifetime.

Interestingly, Google claims that more than 50 percent of the app revenue generated on the marketplace comes from in-app billing – a figure that explains why Google is launching a subscription model to aid further monetisation.

Finally, Google is launching a new smart app updates feature.

That means only the parts of the APK that have changed will be downloaded, rather than the app in full. （source:pocketgamer）

2）Google I/O 2012: Android’s device total hits 400 million

by Keith Andrew

Google used the opening of its Google I/O press conference in San Francisco to dish some stats detailing the enormous growth the OS is currently enjoying.

According to director of Android product management Hugo Barra, 400 million Android devices have now been sold since the operating system was first launched.

The numbers game

That’s up from the 100 million devices that had hit the shop shelves at the same point in 2011.

Such acceleration is illustrated by Android’s daily activation rate, which Barra said now sits at 1 million new devices every day.

“To put that figure in some context, that means 12 new Android devices are activated every second of every day,” clarified Barra.

Google also used the press conference to lift the lid on Android 4.1, better known as Jelly Bean, with a new Android-branded tablet also expected to be unveiled later on. （source:pocketgamer）

3）Google’s new tablet promises high performance games at a low cost

by Tom Curtis

Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s Surface reveal earlier this month, Google has just announced its own entry in the competitive tablet market: The Nexus 7.

The new game-enabled Android tablet runs on Nvidia’s new Tegra 3 processor, and carries a price tag of $199 (8GB) to $249 (16GB), putting the device in the same price range as Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

Until now, the Kindle Fire has ruled over other low cost Android tablets, but Google hopes to change all that with the Nexus 7, as the device promises to offer high performance hardware at the same affordable cost.

The Asus-manufactured tablet runs on Android 4.1 (also known as “Jelly Bean”), and includes a 1280 x 800 display, a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU, and a 12 core GPU, allowing developers to create far more complex games for this segment of the Android market.

In addition, the Nexus 7 has been completely built around the Google Play marketplace, and with its new tablet, Google hopes to pull users away from the Kindle Fire’s Amazon Appstore and back toward its own service.

Alongside the new hardware, Google and Nvidia announced that a number of game companies, such as Phosphor Games and Vector Unit, have already begun work on mobile games optimized for the Nexus’ Tegra 3 CPU.

The Nexus 7 will be available soon, and the Google Play website says the device will ship within two to three weeks.（source:gamasutra）

4）Epic brands Infinity Blade the ‘most profitable game’ in company history

by James Nouch

Epic Games has named iOS hack-’em-up Infinity Blade as the studio’s most profitable title to date, beating out games in the Gears of War series in the process.

The claim was made by Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, who told attendees at GDC Taipei that Chair Entertainment’s release is now one of the most lucrative properties in the publisher’s portfolio.

“The most profitable game we’ve ever made, in terms of man years invested versus revenue, is actually Infinity Blade,” said Sweeney.

“It’s more profitable than Gears of War.”

It’s everywhere

Sweeney made the admission while discussing Epic’s startegy for Unreal Engine 4, which – as well as increasing the level of visual quality, performance and efficiency overall – will enable developers to build “games that can scale from a smartphone to a high end PC.”

“We expect an unprecedented amount of content portability for the future,” he added.

“The tools investment is paying off. Artists are able to build content more productively than before. And with the Unreal Engine as a whole, we found it’s much easier to scale down from high end to low end devices than in this generation.”

It’s all part of Epic’s ‘Unreal Everywhere’ strategy, which Sweeney describes as a plan to “put this one engine on all platforms worldwide”, so that developers don’t have to substantially rework their titles for new platforms.

Upwards and outwards

Furthermore, Sweeny revealed that he is “very very surprised to see how fast smartphone and tablet devices are improving”, claiming that these devices are advancing faster than the pace described in Moore’s law .

“We expect DirectX technology to be widely available on these mobile devices in the next few years,” he said.

“The lowest end device [the iPad 2] is still a DirectX 9 device!”

Finally, the Epic CEO also shed some light on the investment his company recently received from Chinese internet outfit Tencent.

The social network operator and web services provider purchased a minority stake in Epic, although the terms of the investment have not been disclosed.

Sweeney was coy on the details of this new partnership, but hinted that, “you might in the future see the Epic relationship span different publishers and different platforms across the world.”（source:pocketgamer）

5）iPhone revenues? $150 billion and climbing

by Zen Terrelonge

Eye-watering funds have been generated in five years.

Apple’s iPhone was launched on June 29th 2007, and new data from Strategy Analytics says that the family of five – iPhone, 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S – is responsible for revenues of $150 billion.

Meanwhile, more than 250 million iPhones have been shipped in the device’s five year existence on the market.

Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, said: “The iPhone portfolio has become a huge generator of cash and profit for Apple and it reaches its fifth birthday at the top of its game.

“However, there are emerging signs that the iPhone’s next five years could get tougher. Some mobile operators are becoming concerned about the high level of subsidies they spend on the iPhone, while Samsung is expanding its popular Galaxy portfolio and providing Apple with more credible competition.”

Click here for an iPhone infographic, which observes, the good, the bad and the funny events that have unfolded since the device’s release.（source:mobile-ent）

6）iPaid: The average tablet game purchaser buys $62 of virtual goods, and more facts!

By Eli Cymet

When people talk about the mobile industry, a lot of the buzz tends to surround the iPhone revolution. The changing of the guard and explosion of the idea that people use the same device to text as they do to fill their video game fix. If a new survey conducted by Diner Dash creator PlayFirst and research firm Frank N. Magid has anything to say about it, however? Move over phones, and say hello to the real money makers: tablets!

In this year’s version of an annual study entitled “Magid Media Futures: Mobile 2012,” the pair compiled data on the mobile trends, paying close attention to the impact of the tablet market on the industry’s bottom line. Sufficed to say, the impact was huge. Where the average smartphone owner added about 10 games to their library during the course of the last year, tablet owners ring in at double that amount. 20+ games downloaded, making gaming the second most popular activities on tablets… behind only using the internet.

And once the games are there? They don’t lie dormant, either. 23% of tablet owners monetize, at a whopping average of $67 per user. Compare this to the 14% of iPhone owners who pay an average of $25, and you’ve got a nearly unbeatable argument for targeting development towards the iPad crowd. Another unbeatable argument? Free-to-play.

Whether you’re looking at iOS or Android, around 80% of all a user’s yearly downloads come from games with no fee at the gate, so to speak. This doesn’t mean premium experiences have no room to exist anymore, as some would prognosticate, but rather that you have to create an incredibly polished experience to be admitted to that 20%. It’s been said before, but free-to-play is not only an underdog no more, but an option developers need to at least consider when they start design.

Regardless of your preference, however, designing games is a good place to be it would seem. Half of all non-current gamers on smartphones plan playing a game in the next 12 months. You can argue till’ your blue in the face, but the home audience seems to agree: phones and tablets are most decidedly the gaming device of their future… and the future. And tablets in particular? They’re just getting warmed up.（source:gamezebo）

7）Pocket Gems launches All Talk voice-based mobile game

Dean Takahashi

With hundreds of thousands of mobile games available on smartphones, innovating isn’t that easy. But Pocket Gems hopes to stand out from the crowd with a unique voice-based game that it is unveiling today.

The new game, All Talk, is different from the cute simulations (like Tap Zoo) that the San Francisco company has done before. With this title, you record your own voice to give a clue to the other player. You try to get the other player to guess a word, like “sugar” in the picture at right, without saying a bunch of related words such as “sweet” or “cane.”

The other player receives your 30-second voice recording, listens to it, and then tries to guess the word. Ben Liu, chief operating officer of Pocket Gems, said in an interview with GamesBeat that the idea for the title came from the company’s effort to make games that take advantage of the unique characteristics of mobile devices.

The game is a lot like the board game Taboo, and Liu cited that as one of the inspirations for the title. It features varying levels of difficulty in different content packs. You can send the message as a challenge to a friend or a stranger. Once they get the message, they can play it back and accept the challenge.

“We think there is an opportunity to take the specific inputs of a mobile device, such as voice, and create new gameplay and social interactions,” Liu said.

Pocket Gems tries to be a market leader by creating original titles based on its “mobile first” game strategy. That strategy has served it well since it had the No. 1 and No. 4 top-grossing apps in Apple’s iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) App Store in 2011. Pocket Gems now has 15 iOS apps and seven on Android. All told, the company has had more than 80 million downloads in its history. Liu believes that these numbers are impressive, but they still reflect that the mobile game market is in its early days.

“We believe the smartphone is the greatest gaming platform ever made,” he said.

The All Talk game will be the first one that the company releases that will come out on both iOS and Android at the same time. That reflects the growing importance of Android in the larger mobile market, Liu said. He expects the game to launch in mid to late July.

Rivals include Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Zynga, TinyCo, DeNA-Ngmoco, Digital Chocolate, Glu Mobile, Backflip Studios, and others. Pocket Gems has 12o employees, but Liu said that the company hopes to double the size of its engineering team by fall, largely by recruiting new college graduates. In December 2010, the company raised $5 million from Sequoia Capital and others.

Separately, Pocket Gems is also releasing Tap Pet Hotel on the Android platform. The game was the No. 4 top-grossing game on iOS.（source:venturebeat）

8）INFOGRAPHIC: Five years in the life of the iPhone

by Zen Terrelonge

“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.”

Love it or loathe it, Apple’s iPhone has had a masive influence on the mobile market and it’s often regarded as the device that made apps so ubiquitous.

The first model was launched on June 29th 2007, and VoucherCodes.co.uk has released an infographic to mark the phone’s 5th birthday.

In the time since it’s launch, four more models have followed, more than 25 billion apps have been launched, and iPhone creator Steve Jobs died.

Check out milestones, cash, and quirky stats below.（source:mobile-ent）