1）在线及手机游戏公司WildTangent将于今年底推出游戏租赁服务，支持Android用户支付25美分租金体验付费游戏。该公司将与移动运营商T-Mobile合作，为用户提供24小时租赁服务，以及一些广告赞助版的免费游戏，帮助游戏开发商创造收益。假如用户在支付租金后决定购买某款游戏，系统就会在游戏售价中自动扣除已支付租金，以免给用户造成不便。

wildtangent_android(from androidear.com)

2）Jumbuck Entertainment公司日前推出了新款社交游戏《MyLevel》，旨在创新当前重复性的社交游戏机制，让玩家自主创造复古电子游戏关卡，并与Facebook好友共同分享。

该游戏开发者Clinton Shepherd表示，与传统社交游戏不同，《MyLevel》并不要求玩家重复执行某项任务，而是鼓励玩家发挥自己的创意，通过创建具有挑战性的关卡赢取积分。他还计划将该游戏引进手机平台，让iPhone、iPad和Android用户也能享受其中乐趣。

3）鉴于七家iOS应用开发商被Lodsys公司告上法庭一事，苹果最近再次出面声援其生态圈开发商的利益，并向法庭提出几个观点：a）苹果拥有Lodsys的应用内置付费功能（IAP）专利的授权，苹果开发商也有权使用该服务；b）苹果与开发商生态圈的良好关系正受到威胁；c）这些小型开发商的律师无法有效保证苹果权益，所以苹果要亲自介入此事。（游戏邦注：Lodsys自称其掌握了IAP、应用内置广告、应用升级版销售等多项专利，并于上月向多家Andorid、iOS发出通知，要求对方支付在美国收益的0.575%作为授权使用费。）

Apple_v_Lodsys(from todaysiphone.com)

有人指出，无论Lodsys公司是否在法院判决中大获全胜，还是成功让开发商自行向其支付授权使用费，这两种结果都会对苹果生态圈造成重大冲击，导致开发商因顾虑在iOS平台做生意的法律成本而止步不前，苹果为捍卫其生态圈利益，必须出面为开发商主持公道。目前尚无法得知苹果是否与这些被起诉开发商签订保密协议，承担后者的法律诉讼费用。

4）在今年的E3展会上，英国发行商Chillingo展出了最强阵容的手机游戏，其中有四款最为瞩目，有人称这四者虽然未必会成为下一个《愤怒的小鸟》，但至少会是下一个《Feed Me Oil》。这四款游戏分别是《Roll in the Hole》、《Blobster》、《DrawRace 2》和《Contre Jour》。

contre-jour(from pocketgamer)

5）据知情者透露，继苹果宣布将推出与黑莓BBM功能类似的iOS 5信息平台之后，谷歌最近也正针对Android平台打造此类服务，但目前尚不知其发布时间和具体功能。

这个消息已经引起一些运营商的不安，因为一个直接植入手机操作系统的大众型信息系统，或者一个可自由访问的类似Android应用程序的问世，无疑将蚕食运营商的短信收费项目的利润。黑莓BBM出台时已经在运营商中引起了不小的震动，而如果Android和iPhone生态圈中的类似平台也相继出炉，那么运营商的信息服务收益则必将再度受到冲击。

iOS--Android-BBM(from addicted-2-retail.com)

目前已有不少克隆版的BBM出现在各种Android移动设备上，甚至还有传闻称RIM也有意针对Android和iOS用户推出有限的BBM服务。

6）Zynga新作《Empires & Allies》发布仅九天其用户数量就已逼近1000万，创造了Facebook游戏的新纪录。据AppData数据显示，Zynga目前的MAU超过了2.49亿，而《Empires & Allies》的MAU就突破了850万，仅在上周五当天就新增500多万用户，成为史上用户增长最快的Facebook游戏。

Empires & Allies(from venturebeat.com)

《Empires & Allies》是由Zynga洛杉矶工作室推出的首款游戏，其开发团队包括许多前EA成员，他们曾参与制作《红色警戒》等著名的PC策略游戏。据该工作室主管Amer Ajami所称，这款硬核风格的游戏在设计上也兼顾了其他Zynga休闲游戏玩家的需求，多数Zynga游戏的用户每次体验时间在10分钟左右，《Empires & Allies》这款游戏也同样不例外。

7）BluVia和Vision Mobile两家公司发布的2011年应用开发者报告显示，目前有67%的开发者选择了Android平台，有59%的开发者则支持iOS平台（游戏邦注：出现这种结果并不令人意外，因为该报告的调查覆盖了75个国家或地区，其中有些地区并不流行iPhone）；Java和Symbian已为多数开发者所忽视；55%的开发者使用HTML或JavaScript创建应用。

Developer Mindshare Index(from visionmobile)

8）少儿社交网站Everloop日前通过vFormation、Band of Angels、Envoi Ventures、Richard Chino、Wayne Goodrich、Deena Burnett-Bailey等投资者融资310万美元。Everloop的宗旨是成为13岁以下儿童的Facebook平台，为家长提供了可监视子女在网站日常活动的服务。Everloop网站结合了音乐、社交游戏、视频、照片、动画、用户自创内容等功能。

该公司首席营销官是迪士尼高管Sandy Barger，业务发展高级副总裁是AOL旗下的Tobin Trevarthen，创意顾问则是Alan Goodman。其竞争对手则是最近刚被迪士尼收购的Togetherville。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）WildTangent, a Redmond company that aggregates online and mobile games into its Games App, will launch a rental service later this year that allows Android users to rent games for 25 cents. In partnership with T-Mobile, the company will offer 24-hour game rentals, as well as some free games with advertisements to give players a chance to test-drive games (and help developers monetize and distribute their apps). If a player decides to purchase the game, the service will discount the rental cost from the price of the game.（source:techflash） 

2）Jumbuck Entertainment and MyLevel Takes Social Gaming to a Whole New Level

Jumbuck Entertainment has challenged existing social games to focus less on repetition and more on creativity and competition with MyLevel, its first venture in social gaming. MyLevel is a Facebook game which allows users to create their own retro video game level and share it with their Facebook friends.

MyLevel Game Creator and Developer, Clinton Shepherd said:

“The idea for MyLevel came from me trying to come up with a way to make social gaming less about mindless repetitive tasks and more about actual game-play and creativity.”

Players are encouraged to create challenging levels and to earn points which can be used to make even more challenging levels. The game takes a new approach to social gaming, emphasising a players’ creativity and competitiveness and letting them share this through Facebook.

The future for MyLevel is bright with plans to take the game mobile and to make it available on iPhone, iPad and Android devices.（source:digitaljournal） 

3）Apple Moves to Intervene, Assist iOS Developers in Lodsys Patent Case

By Kim-Mai Cutler

It isn’t terribly surprising to see this. But Apple has filed a motion to intervene in the Lodsys lawsuit, where a Texas-based patent holder is suing seven iOS developers for alleged intellectual property infringement.

Like in an earlier memo senior vice president and general counsel Bruce Sewell sent to Lodsys, Apple argues that because a) it holds licenses to Lodsys’ patents which should cover third-party developers b) its relationship with and the value of its developer ecosystem is threatened and c) its rights won’t be adequately covered by lawyers for these tiny developer studios,it needs to intervene.

For background, Lodsys says it is the holder of four patents that cover actions like selling upgrades and displaying ads to users in apps. It sent letters to Android and iOS developers last month asking them to pay 0.575 percent of their U.S. revenue in order to license the company’s technology. After Apple asked the company to back down from its threat, the company sued seven developers in East Texas on May 31.

Given that Apple is known as one of the most litigious technology companies in Silicon Valley, this move is not at all unexpected. The legal costs for some of the developers involved like Icon Factory, which has six employees, and Combay Inc., which has two, would be exorbitant relative to the income they earn from their apps. If Lodsys were to prevail either by winning the suit or scaring developers into paying licensing fees, the entire ecosystem would suffer as developers would have to consider legal risks in the costs of doing business on the platform.

Apple also wants to set a precedent so that Lodsys or other similarly minded patent holders aren’t tempted to shake down independent developers again. Apple is licensed to Lodsys’ technology, likely as part of a bulk licensing deal to thousands of patents which “allegedly” cover Apple inventions.

“While the developers will likely be interested in resolving this case as quickly and inexpensively as possible, Apple’s interest is in protecting its broader license rights with respect to thousands of App developers for Apple products who may be the subject of future Lodsys lawsuits or threats,” the company said in its motion to intervene.

Florian Mueller, who has been following the case closely, says that it’s unclear whether Apple is covering the legal expenses of the case on behalf of developers as they are bound by non-disclosure agreements. We’ve embedded some of the statements he published to Scribd below. （source:insidemobileapps）   

4）E3 2011: Chillingo Hands-On – ‘Roll in the Hole’, ‘Blobster’, ‘DrawRace 2′, and ‘Contre Jour’

by Eli Hodapp

Of all the outfits at E3 showing iOS related stuff, Chillingo by far had the best overall lineup. All four of these games look great, and I really can’t wait to give ‘em all a try. They really know how to pick the games they’re going to promote now, and while I’m not entirely sure any of these will be the next Angry Birds, they might be the next Feed Me Oil.

Roll in the Hole – The title of the game basically tells it all, and the rest is explained by watching the video. It’s a super casual puzzle game that customers on the App Store have basically voted with their wallets in telling Chillingo “We want more of this, please.”

Blobster – This is a really interesting game that I’m not sure if I’d totally describe as a platformer, but it does have some definite platforming sort of elements to it. You control your dude with a slick little slingshot mechanic, which really seems like a much better control solution than the typical array of virtual controls and buttons.

DrawRace 2 – I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for this game. I liked the original a lot, and the sequel adds cool 3D traffics, more tracks, and tons more goodies.

Contre Jour – Similar to Blobster, I’m not really sure the best genre to categorize this game, but the art style if sick. I’m totally loving the look and feel of this one.（source:toucharcade） 

5）Google working on its own BBM clone for Android

by Andrew Kameka

Following Apple’s promise to deliver an iOS 5 messaging platform that mirrors the functionality of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), The Wall Street Journal reports that Google has been hard at work doing the same. Before you say, “Duh, Android already has GTalk,” that is not the same. BBM is more advanced because it has file and location sharing, groups, and other features that are all optimized for the mobile experience.

“A person familiar with the matter” claims that Google is making its own BBM-like communication service for Android, but there’s no word on when that would arrive. Carriers are a little uneasy about this development because a popular messaging system built directly into the OS or a freely-available Android app would eat into their profits from SMS text messages. It was bad enough when BBM exploded in popularity among BlackBerry users, but similar features among Android and iPhone would lead to a long-term drop in revenue. The only reason to text someone would be if that person didn’t have the same platform as you, so carriers couldn’t collect fees or push users into inflated data plans that include SMS.

There’s already a large number of BBM for Android clones available that also work across platforms. Heck, even RIM is rumored to be working on adding limited BBM support for Android and iOS users. But while users may see cross-platform support as a more desirable way to message friends, Google may make its own BBM clone to keep up with the Jones’s and make sure that Android remains in-line with the competition.（source:androinica） 

6）Zynga’s Empires & Allies rockets to nearly 10M users in nine days

Dean Takahashi

Zynga‘s Empires & Allies game has rocketed to nearly 10 million users in nine days. That’s a remarkable start for any Facebook game, but for Zynga that is becoming a predictable result.

Zynga has more than 249 million monthly active users on Facebook, according to AppData. Empires & Allies, a combat social strategy game which is akin to “CityVille meets Risk,” has more than 9.5 million monthly active users as of Friday. And it gained more than 5 million users on Friday alone. That makes the game one of the fastest growing in Facebook history.

This combat strategy game has the Zynga style, which is light-hearted, cartoonish, and casual. It is the first game made by Zynga’s Los Angeles game studio, which has a number of former Electronic Arts employees who made war strategy games such as Command & Conquer for the PC.

Amer Ajami, head of the Los Angeles studio for Zynga, said his team built the game as a fun combat strategy game, but also tailored it for Zynga’s broad market of mass market casual players on Facebook. This is his team’s first launch. The game isn’t a huge time sink like many combat games, since you don’t have to micro-manage your resources and combat units. Most Zynga games are played for 10 minutes at a time, and Empires & Allies is no different.（source:venturebeat）  

7）Developer Economics 2011: 67% of developers currently using Android and 59% using iOS0

By Dusan Belic

Two companies, BlueVia and Vision Mobile, teamed-up to launch Developer Economics 2011, calling it the “quintessential mobile developer research report.” This is the second such annual report which explores issues like which platforms gained and lost developer mindshare, what are the most popular revenue models, which go-to-market channels are the fastest and quicker to pay, how will the apps in smartphones vs. tablets vs. TVs play a role in the future and more.

Some of the key findings from the report include:

67% of developers currently using Android and 59% using iOS. This isn’t surprising considering that report covers 75 countries and in some places iPhone is either not available or too expensive for majority of the population.

In contrast, Java and Symbian are leaking developer mindshare.

55% of developers building apps written in HTML or JavaScript.（source:intomobile）  

8）Social Network For Kids Everloop Lands $3.1 Million In New Funding

Leena Rao

Everloop, a social network for children under 13 years of age, has raised $3.1 million in funding from vFormation, Band of Angels, Envoi Ventures, Richard Chino, Wayne Goodrich, Deena Burnett-Bailey and additional investors.

Everloop wants to be the Facebook for kids under the age of 13. The site offers a private social network where parents can actually monitor the day to day activities of their children on the network. Everloop combines music, social games, videos, photos, animation, user-generated content and other experiences.

The startup prides itself on a high-level of security within the network, so parents can constantly monitor their child’s interactions on the site for foul language, bullying, inappropriate pictures and more.

The company is also adding Disney exec Sandy Barger as Chief Marketing Officer, AOL’s Tobin Trevarthen as EVP of Business Development and Alan Goodman as Creative Advisor.

Everloop faces competition from Togetherville, which was recently acquired by Disney. （source:techcrunch）