1）Toluna QuickSurvery最近针对2000名iPad用户的调查结果显示，苹果仅隔7个月又推出iPad 4的举措令50%的iPad 3用户颇为不满，还有45%的iPad 2用户的40%的iPad用户对苹果发布iPad 4的消息无动于衷。

ipad-4th-gen(from blogs.independent.co.uk)

还有25%的受访者认为苹果移除了iOS设备上的Google Maps是一个错误之举。不过用户对7.9英寸的iPad Mini意见不大，有15%受访者打算购买iPad Mini，还有三分之一称自己有可能购买该设备，有五分之一受访者计划购买iPad Mini作为圣诞礼物。

2）据insidemobileapps报道，苹果日前宣布其2012财年第四季度iPhone销量为2690万部，iPad销量为140万部，iPod Touch销量为530万部。从总体上看，苹果该时期收益为360亿美元，净利润为82亿美元。

Apple sales(from Apple)

总收益同比上季度增长2.8%（上季度销售额为350亿美元），比去年同期增长76.9%（去年第四季度收益为203.4亿美元）；净利润比去年同期的66.2亿美元增长23.8%。

总体上看，iPhone销量比去年同期增长57.5%（去年第四季度发布iPhone 4S时，iPhone总销量是1707万部），iPad销量同比上季度下滑17.6%，但比去年同期增长25.9%；iPod销量持续下滑，比去年同期下降19%。

苹果预计2013财年第一季度收益将达520亿美元，比2012第一季度收益增长12.2%左右。

3）苹果首席执行官Tim Cook在第四季度财报会议上宣布，中国市场在苹果总销售额中占比15%，该时期苹果在中国销售额为57亿美元，同比去年增长26%。有趣的是，亚太地区该时期的销售额却同比上一季度下滑3.4%，从第三季度的78亿美元降至75.2亿美元。

operating segments(from Apple)

据其所称，中国市场的iPad销量增长45%，iPhone销量增长38%。在整个2012财年，苹果在中国销售额达238亿美元，同比去年增长100亿美元。

4）据gamezebo报道，在日前于乌克兰基辅举办的Casual Connect大会上，日本发行商Square Enix欧洲移动总经理Antony Douglas针对公司手机游戏高价策略的话题，指出日本公司致力于创造高质量的游戏（无论是掌机还是手机游戏），他们认为这些游戏物有所值，所以在iOS平台推出的游戏售价也相对较高。不过售价20美元，但可提供三四十个小时娱乐体验的iOS游戏，实际上仍然比掌机游戏更为实惠。

square enix–iOS game(from kotaku.com.au)

但他也表示Square Enix有可能调整未来的手机游戏定价策略，现在是免费增值模式当道的时代，而将来情况如何则仍是一个未知数。

5）AdaptiveMobile最近报告指出，大量Android节能应用含有付费短信等垃圾信息，并且它们实际上并没有节能作用。

杀毒服务供应商Bitdefender数据也显示，Android平台上的“Battery Doctor”是英国最具攻击性的智能手机恶意软件，从过去9个月的观察来看，该应用含有Android.Trojan.FakeDoc病毒，它会拦截Gmail信息和地理位置信息。

battery_doctor_android(from androidfreeware.net)

该病毒在今年4、5月份期间最为活跃，在所有已发现的恶意软件中覆盖率达到76%。此外，Google Play平台上的“Slot Machine”游戏也同样含有恶意广告插件，它会频繁弹出广告窗口，并在用户主界面显示一些推广消息，值得注意的是，该应用至今下载量已超过50万次。

Bitdefender指出，24小时连网的智能手机最易成为第三方盗取用户银行信息、信用卡帐号和其他个人信息的目标。（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）Half of iPad 3 owners are fuming about iPad 4 release

by Zen Terrelonge

Fourth-gen model arrives just seven months after its predecessor.

Apple seems determined to achieve world domination this year, releasing the iPhone 5 last month and following it down with the iPad mini on Tuesday night.

That wasn’t all the firm released though and surprisingly announced a ‘fourth generation iPad’, which comes just seven months after the (new) iPad 3 release.

The differences between the two are internal, with the iPad 4 sporting an A6X processor as opposed to the A5X found in the iPad 3 – a device consumers complained had overheating issues.

Toluna QuickSurveys quizzed 2,000 iPad to determine their thoughts on the new devices and found that 50 per cent of iPad 3 owners are unhappy with the iPad 4′s arrival, which has consequently made their devices outdated in under a year.

Meanwhile, 45 per cent of iPad 2 owners and 40 per cent of original iPad owners are unimpressed with the news.

It seems Apple  can’t get away from complaints about its Apple Maps app, with 25 per cent of respondents believing the removal of Google Maps from iOS was a schoolboy error.

Opinions are slightly brighter about the 7.9-inch mini though, as 15 per cent are certain they’ll buy one, with a third saying they’ll probably buy one.

The Q4 launch also looks to work in favour for the mini, as one-fifth plan to buy a device as a Christmas gift.（source：mobile-ent）

2）Apple profits jump 23.8% year-over-year to $8.2 billion in Q4 2012

Kathleen De Vere

In a fourth quarter that was right in line with Wall Street’s expectations, Apple announced today it sold 26.9 million iPhones, 14.0 million iPads and 5.3 million iPods. Overall, the company reported $36.0 billion in revenue, good for net profits of  $8.2 billion during Q4 2012. Although the results may disappoint some industry watchers, it was yet another record quarter for Apple, which reported its best ever September revenues and profit.

Overall revenues were up slightly quarter-over-quarter, rising just 2.8 percent over the previous quarter’s sales of $35 billion. Year-over-year, revenues increased much more substantially, rising 76.9 percent year-over-year over Q4 2011‘s $20.34 billion. Net profit was up 23.8 percent year-over-year from Q4 2011’s $6.62 billion.

Earnings were $7.05 per diluted share. Apple has announced it will pay a dividend of $2.65 per share, payable on Nov. 15. The company’s gross margin for the quarter was 40 percent, almost on-par with Q4 2011’s 40.3 percent, but down over Q3 2012’s 42.8 percent.

Apple sold 46.2 million iOS devices during the quarter, a decrease from Q3 2012 when the company sold 49.8 million iOS devices. Interestingly, iPhone sales were up only slightly Q3’s numbers, when apple sold 26 million iPhones, even though iPhone 5 sold a record 5 million units at launch.

Overall however, iPhone sales were also up 57.5 percent over the same time a year ago — by comparison, the company sold 17.07 million iPhones when it launched the iPhone 4S in Q4 2011.

iPad sales declined 17.6 percent quarter-over-quarter, but were up and 25.9 percent year over year. iPod sales continued to decline, falling 19 percent from the same time a year ago.

During the call several analysts questioned Apple about its margins after Apple revealed the margin on the iPad Mini was “significantly below” its corporate average. According to CEO Tim Cook, one reason for the reduced margin is the iPad Mini’s “aggressive pricing” strategy. Chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer also detailed the device’s construction and high-end components as a reason for its high cost before adding that the company was working on bringing down its cost curves and lowering manufacturing costs.

Apple’s retail stores also recorded a best-ever September result, but were steady quarter-over-quarter, with $4.2 billion in sales. They were up 18 percent year-over-year. During the call, chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer revealed Apple’s retail stores recorded 94 million visitors for the quarter. Apple finished the quarter with $9.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents on hand.

Apple is predicting record sales for its upcoming holiday quarter. The company expects to see Q1 2013 revenues of $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of approximately $11.75. If Apple’s predictions hold true, revenues will be up 12.2 percent over Q1 2012′s numbers.（source：insidemobileapps）

3）Apple reports Chinese Q4 2012 revenues of $5.7 billion — China now 15 percent of Apple’s sales

During today’s Q4 2012 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the Cupertino, Calif.-based corporation continues to see strong growth in China, reporting the country now accounts for 15 percent of Apple’s total sales.

Apple made $5.7 billion worth of sales in China during Q4 2012, up 26 percent year-over-year. Interestingly, as a whole, the Asia Pacific region saw its sales decline by 3.4 percent quarter-over-quarter, falling from $7.8 billion in Q3 to $7.52 billion in Q4.

Cook called the country “an extremely exciting market with more and more people wanting Apple products,” reporting iPad sales had increased by 45 percent while iPhone sales had risen by 38 percent.

Cook also revealed that over the 2012 fiscal year, China has been responsible for $23.8 billion in sales, a bump of $10 billion in revenue year-over-year.

Cook also added Apple is expecting to launch the iPhone 5 should launch China during the December quarter, a factor that will likely contribute to the $52 billion the company expects to generate during the period.（source：insidemobileapps）

4）Square Enix’s crazy high mobile prices might be coming down (Casual Connect Kiev)

By Jim Squires

When it comes to mobile games pricing, the highest most developers would dare to go is $5.99 – and really, even that’s a crazy extreme.  99 cent and free-to-play apps make up the majority of the App Store, so it seems pretty unlikely that anyone would dare charge between $15 and $30 for an iOS download, right?  Well Square Enix doesn’t think so.

In their defense, I don’t necessarily think so either.  Sure it bucks the trend, but hey – the games they offer up could easily net a higher price on traditional handheld devices, so who’s to say the idea of low pricing on the App Store is set in stone?

At Casual Connect in Kiev today, Square Enix’s General Manager of Mobile for Europe Antony Douglas answered some questions on this very topic, and not only did he provide some insight on why this is, but he teased the crowd with a statement suggesting that Square Enix’s pricing policies might be changing;

“I think that the Japanese view of this is that we have built quality games, whether they’re for handheld or for mobile… the business model is not set in this world.  Everything is free-to-play right now, tomorrow it could be different, [and] it’ll change the day after that.  I think Japan wanted to try things – bear in mind that game sells incredibly well at that price, [and] I think there’s something honest about it, because it tells you how much the game is going to be.”

“$20 for something you can play for 30 or 40 hours is still cheaper than what you can get on a handheld.  [Square Enix] Japan are trying that and seeing how it works, and it works very well in Japan.  It has been commented on quite a lot in Europe in the West, [and] they’re responding to it.  They’re seeing the feedback, and there will probably be changes in the way that it’s structured.”

Does this mean we’ll see premium games at lower prices from Square Enix in the future?  One can only hope.  But until there, there are still plenty of us willing to pay $15.99 for another Chaos Rings.（source：gamezebo）

5）Android battery apps are highest source of mobile malware in the UK

by Zen Terrelonge

Info discovered in a nine month study.

AdaptiveMobile recently warned that a large number of battery-saving apps have actually been designed to scam users with premium texts and not conserve power.

Antivirus provider Bitdefender now supports the news with data that shows Android ‘Battery Doctor’ has come out on top as the most aggressive smartphone malware threat in the UK.

The firm conducted the research over a nine month period to find the battery optimisation app contains the Android.Trojan.FakeDoc virus, which intercepts Gmail messages and location info before broadcasting them to a server.

The virus was at its peak between April and May when it accounted for 76 per cent of all discovered malware.

It’s not just battery apps to worry about though, as the ‘Slot Machine’ game on Google Play has been found to store malicious adware which can display a high level of pop ups and manipulate home screen shortcuts with unwanted promos.

Despite this, the app has achieved more than half a million downloads.

Alexandru Balan, chief security researcher at Bitdefender, said: “The mobile apps industry is facing a period of rapid evolution towards radically more aggressive and commercially-oriented attacks.

“Smartphones, our 24 hour connection to the internet, will become the first target for those looking to steal our banking credentials, credit card numbers and other personal information.”（source：mobile-ent）