1）移动分析公司Flurry最近针对近5万款应用的开发者调查报告显示，今年选择Android平台开发新项目的开发者已经从第一季度的37%降至第四季度的27%，支持iOS平台的开发者比例仍超过70%。

此外，开发者还反映iOS平台盈利性约是Android平台的三四倍。Flurry根据iOS和Android排名前列的应用IAP销售数据，以及应用的DAU情况进行分析并发现，从平均情况来看，在iOS应用每创收1美元时，Android应用只能实现0.24美元。

2)据移动广告供应商Pontiflex委托Harris执行的在线调查显示，多数采用奖励安装途径的手机应用常在下载之后就被删除，或者根本从未启用，其中仅有3%的此类应用实现了较高的使用率。

在剩下的97%中，有62%的用户在下载之后从未再次启用这种奖励安装的应用（有37%下载获得奖励后就删除应用，有25%仅启用一次就抛弃该应用），还有17%表示他们几乎从不使用这类应用，有18%表示他们偶尔才会使用。

调查还发现， 仅有7%智能手机用户及15%平板电脑用户欢迎那些含有广告内容的免费应用，有35%的智能手机及34%平板电脑用户则担心移动视频广告会增加他们的移动网络费用。

从中可以看出，移动领域的市场营销及盈利方式仍存在较大改进空间，目前仍无法看出哪种模式最有效。

3）Javelin Strategy and Research最新报告表明，每五名用户中就有四人认为，假如在线支付的信用卡交易选项更为安全可靠，并且能够提供其他支付选项，那么他们就会更愿意在线消费（游戏邦注：该调查由支付服务公司PlaymentOne委托执行，在2011年秋季调查了2000多名美国成人用户所选择的支付方式）。

95%的受访者是手机用户，但仅有36%使用手机购买应用、游戏、音乐或Netflix或Spotify等流媒体服务，多数用户担心在网购时使用信用卡会导致个人信息流向广告商、营销人员或黑客手中。

调查还发现，交易或付款流程繁琐，会影响用户的网购体验，苹果和亚马逊正是因为流畅的付费体验而赢得了广大用户。

4）据pocketgamer报道，PopCap Games将向谷歌Android Market推出《植物大战僵尸》和《Peggle》这两款游戏。

这两款Android版游戏原先仅发售于亚马逊Appstore，目前尚未公布在Android Market的定价及发布日期等具体情况。假如其版本与亚马逊Appstore一致，那么《植物大战僵尸》的售价可能就是2.99美元，可运行于多数Android宽屏设备，《Peggle》价格也是2.99美元，在Android 1.5以后版本的手机上运行效果最佳。

5）微软最近发布了其体感游戏《Kinectimals》的iOS版本（售价2.99美元），这个手机版游戏使用触屏功能取代了原来的体感控制方式。

这是微软的首款iOS游戏，观察者称由此可以看出，微软选择的是如果不能打败苹果，就与之进行合作的策略。

6）Fiksu公司最近推出一项新服务FreeMyApps，帮助开发者提升产品曝光度。这个基于网页的平台支持用户试用其他开发者的产品，从而免费获得某款付费应用。

FreeMyApps.com现已提供包括Capcom工作室Beeline Interactive、Hotel Tonight和Sincerely等公司推出的热门免费应用，以及《愤怒的小鸟》、Camera+和EA新版《俄罗斯方块》等付费应用，如果用户下载了这些免费应用，在累积一定分值之后就可以获得特定的付费应用。

以Zeptolab游戏《Cut The Rope:Experiments》为例，用户需要下载三四款赞助版应用，并体验至少30秒的时间，才能积满获得该付费游戏的分值。达到一定分值后，Fiksu就会为用户提供一个兑换码，让用户通过iTunes免费下载该付费应用。

这个模式的实质就是让免费应用开发者资助付费应用的下载成本，按照用户安装情况支付相关费用，同时要与Fiksu进行应用下载的营收分成，但并未公布具体定价情况。

7）手机应用公司Outfit7公司最近与授权服务供应商Beanstalk签署了关于《Talking Friends》系列的十项主要授权合作协议，将推出以系列角色有关的服装、配饰、鞋类、睡衣（面向中国乐淘网）、家居装饰品、收藏品和毛绒玩具等周边产品，并将在2012年增加更多产品类型。

《Talking Friends》系列目前下载量超过2.5亿次。（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）App Developers Bet on iOS over Android this Holiday Season

by Peter Farago

At the recent Le Web conference in France, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt declared that “Android is ahead of the iPhone now.”  According to Schmidt, Android’s success is due to “unit volume, Ice Cream Sandwich,” because “the price is lower” and because “there are more vendors.”

Android Momentum

Google announced last week that worldwide Android Market app downloads now exceed one billion per month.  Compared to iOS, which surpassed 18 billion total downloads in October, Google revealed that the Android Market recently surpassed 10 billion total downloads.  This comes on the heels of comScore’s latest MobiLens report, showing that, for the three months ending in October, Android devices now account for 46.3% of U.S. smartphone subscribers versus 28.1% for Apple.  By these accounts, Google Android has momentum.  Mr. Schmidt further predicted at Le Web that, within six months time, Android would become the first platform for which developers build.

At Flurry, we track developer support across the platforms that compete for their commitment.  When companies create new projects in Flurry Analytics, they download platform-specific SDKs for their apps. Since resources are limited, choices developers make to support a specific platform signal confidence, as they invest their R&D budget where they expect the greatest return.  Further, because developers set up analytics several weeks before shipping their final apps, Flurry has a glimpse into the bets developers are making ahead of the market.

In total, over 55,000 companies use Flurry Analytics across more than 135,000 applications. For this report, we study new project starts for 2011, during which developers set up analytics for approximately 50,000 apps.

The chart shows the number of applications integrated with Flurry Analytics during 2011, by quarter, starting with Q1 on the left, and finishing with Q4 on the right.  The percent of new projects created for iOS is represented in grey.  Google Android’s share of new projects is shown in green.  Note that we estimated the remainder of December based on the first third of the month’s data already collected.  We further estimate that Flurry Analytics powers approximately 25% of all apps downloaded from the App Store and Android Market combined.

Show Me the Money

Anecdotally, developers consistently tell us that they make more money on iOS, about three to four times as much.  To be sure, we pulled a sample of in-app purchase data from a set of top apps with versions on both iOS and Android, comprising of several million daily active users (DAUs). Running the numbers, we find that, on average, for every $1.00 generated on iOS, the same app will generate $0.24 on Android.（source:flurry）

2）Survey: Users abandon apps downloaded via incentives

By Ryan Kim

The practice of inducing users to download an app by offering them virtual goods or currency in a mobile game got knocked around earlier this year when Apple banned the practice for new and updated iOS apps because the campaigns apparently gamed the App Store rankings. But the practice continues to live on other platforms including Android, which is becoming a force for developers.

But a new study suggests that apps downloaded through incentives are largely abandoned or uninstalled, providing little long-term benefit to the app developers who use these app distribution campaigns. According to a Harris online survey on behalf of mobile ad provider Pontiflex, only 3 percent of apps downloaded through incentivized install campaigns are used frequently.

Of the remaining 97 percent, 62 percent of users never use an incentivized app again after downloading it including 37 percent who uninstalled an app after receiving a reward and 25 percent, who only used an app once to redeem the incentive. Another 17 percent also said they hardly ever use an app after downloading via an incentive while 18 percent said they occasionally use the app.

The survey also found that only 7 percent of smartphone users and 15 percent of tablet users who download free apps said that they prefer video ads that take over your screen and force you to watch a video. And about one third of users — 35 percent of smartphone and 34 percent of tablet owners — expressed concerns that mobile video ads will increase their data costs. This might be troubling for rich media ads, which have fetched higher impression rates but may not be as attractive to end users.

Again, this is helpful for Pontiflex, which offers simple sign-up ads that let people choose which companies they want to communicate with. But it raises questions about what consumers want in their mobile ads. Obviously, most people would like to avoid ads. But they may not be as enamored with big videos and animation after they get used to the novelty, at least if you believe Pontiflex. There’s still room for many ideas in mobile monetization and marketing but it’s still early and it’s unclear what model will work best longterm with mobile users.（source:gigaom）

3）Survey: 80% of Consumers Want Alternative Payment Methods to Credit Cards Online

By Dan Rowinski

When it comes to mobile payments, how much do you really trust a credit card attached to your smartphone? Is it secure? Are merchants going to sell your personal information or start sending you piles of junk mail? These are some of the concerns that a new report from Javelin Strategy and Research surfaced this fall during a survey of consumers’ fears of mobile payments and online transactions.

The survey concludes that four out of five consumers would spend more money online if they considered credit cards safer and had payment alternatives. Javelin predicts that an additional $109.8 billion would be spent by offering a “no credit card required” way to pay online and at merchants.

It is important to note that Javelin’s survey was commissioned by PaymentOne, a direct-to-carrier payments company. (PaymentOne would benefit directly from getting consumers’ off credit cards and seeing them start paying through their cellphone or cable bills.) The survey was conducted in the fall of 2011 and polled more than 2,000 U.S. adults concerning payments preferences.

95% of respondents had mobile phones while only 36% had used that phone to pay for an item, be it an app, game, music or media streaming such as Netflix or Spotify. The top concerns around using credit cards online were privacy related concerning personal data falling into the hands of advertisers, marketers or malicious hackers.

There is a tenant in the payments industry that the more clicks that a user has to make, the less likely they are to make a purchase. These are often referred to as “pain point” or “friction.” Think about why Apple or Amazon do so well. Consumers enter their credit card numbers once and after that it is one-click processing with a password. Both companies have done masterful jobs of taking the friction out of payments.（source:readwriteweb）

4）PopCap’s Peggle and Plants vs Zombies coming to Android Marketplace this week

by Mark Brown

Two of PopCap’s most beloved titles — tower defence epic Plants vs Zombies and the dangerously addictive Peggle — are no longer exclusive to the US-only Amazon Appstore.

Later this week they will see wide and global release on Google’s own Android Marketplace.

Braaains…

Plants vs Zombies has you creating a garden of defensive units to stop the recently resurrected from marching in your house and munching on your grey matter.

You’ll need to call on pea-shooting plants and explosive corn cobs to fend off the undead attack, while stocking up on happy little sunflowers who produce the game’s currency: drops of golden sunlight.

This clever strategy game – which we gave a Gold Award on iPhone, and praised its “deep tactical roots” – has appeared on every platform under the sun, including Nintendo DS, iPhone and Windows Phone 7. There’s even a PlayStation Vita edition planned for the device’s launch.

Baaaalls…

Peggle, on the other hand, isn’t so tactical. You’ve got to clear a field of pegs by firing a metallic ball out of a cannon, and hoping that it hits a few orange and purple pegs on the way to the ground. This one’s more about gravity, rather than strategy.

But it’s no less compulsive, turning players into obsessed automatons until the adventure mode is finished, all the cartoony Peggle masters have been unlocked and the rock-hard missions in challenge mode have been beaten. We gave it a Gold.

Complete global saturation

Both games were once exclusively found on Amazon’s digital boutique, but they will soon be available in the main Android shop. “Fans will now have access to these games on multiple devices and from several marketplaces,” said PvZ wrangler Tony Leamer.

Prices, exact release date and device compatibility are up in the air right now (we’ve put out a call to PopCap, and will update the story when we hear back), but if the games are anything like the Amazon Appstore versions we know the following:

Plants vs Zombies is $2.99 (£1.99), is not tablet optimised but works on larger-screened devices, and runs on most Android handsets. Peggle is also $2.99, and works on pretty much all phones running Android 1.5 or higher.（source:pocketgamer）

5）Microsoft’s first game for iOS is… Kinectimals?

Sebastian Haley

When even Microsoft and Google start turning to the iTunes Store in hopes of finding success, you know Apple has done something right. Microsoft has released its first-ever iOS game, Kinectimals, available now for $2.99.

Replacing the titular motion controller functionality, the mobile version of Kinectimals presumably uses the touch-screen to interact with whichever feline cub you choose as your own. I can’t confirm, however, as I’m not 10-years-old and Infinity Blade II used up the last of my iPhone’s memory.

Kinectimals joins other Microsoft game-related apps such as Halo Waypoint and a Crafting Guide for Age of Empires Online, as well as Windows Live Messenger and Xbox Live companion app. The Xbox app for iOS allows users to log into their Xbox Live accounts and see their avatars, gamerscores, and communicate with friends even if they’re away from their Xbox 360 game consoles.

Microsoft also took the time today to release its very own SkyDrive cloud solution for iOS. SkyDrive for iOS is available in 32 languages and gives users access to files from their SkyDrive virtual folder. Photos from your iPhone and iPod touch can also be uploaded to SkyDrive at full resolution.

Most of Microsoft’s support continues to be focused on the somewhat troubled Windows 7 platform, but it’s obvious the company has chosen the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” path when it comes to their immortal rivalry with Apple. Perhaps soon we’ll see bite-sized versions of Microsoft’s other key franchises gracing our iPad screens. I’m still holding out for that Kameo: Elements of Power sequel, personally.（source:venturebeat）

6）Fiksu Finds a Way to Cheaply Acquire Users For Paid Apps

Kim-Mai Cutler

One of the reasons we’ve seen developers shift to the freemium model this year is that paid apps generally get about one-tenth the number of downloads that free ones do. That prevents users who might eventually want to pay for something inside an app from trying it out in the first place.

Now Boston-based Fiksu is trying to find a way that developers of paid apps can avoid this problem and cheaply get users too.

The company has launched FreeMyApps, a web-based portal where users can get paid apps for free if they try out apps from other developers. This may sound familiar, as a popular way to drive downloads on iOS at the beginning of the year was to give users virtual currency rewards if consumers tried new apps out. But Apple cracked down on this practice, saying that it unfairly influenced chart rankings.

Fiksu has found a smart way around this restriction by building a mobile web destination outside of Apple’s influence. (Tapjoy also did this in launching consumer-facing web-based portal for discovering games earlier this fall.)

Consumers can visit FreeMyApps.com and see a range of free apps from well-known developers like Capcom’s Beeline Interactive Studios, Hotel Tonight and Sincerely plus popular paid ones like Rovio’s Angry Birds, Camera+ and EA’s new version of Tetris. If they download free apps, they’ll accumulate credits to get paid ones.

We played with the site, and downloaded a couple of free apps to get a copy of Zeptolab’s Cut The Rope: Experiments. Generally, it seems like you need to download three to four sponsor apps and play with them for at least 30 seconds to get enough credit to download a paid one. Once a user gets enough credits, Fiksu will give them a redemption or gift code to download the paid app for free from iTunes.

With this model, developers of the free apps are essentially subsidizing the cost of downloading the paid apps. Every time a user downloads a free app, the developer pays a price-per-install. Likewise, developers of paid apps get their 70 percent revenue share of the price from Apple, but they might also share some revenue with Fiksu for driving up their download numbers. (Fiksu’s chief executive Micah Adler isn’t publicizing pricing options for developers on both the publishing and advertising sides.)（source:insidemobileapps）

7）Talking Friends to become footwear, toys etc

by Tim Green

Outfit7 hoping to do an Angry Birds with its voice-activated hit franchise.

The firm has teamed up with licensing specialist Beanstalk to sign ten key licensing deals for the Talking Friends collection of mobile apps, which includes Talking Tom Cat, Talking Ben the Dog and Talking Gina the Giraffe.

This deal turns them into apparel, accessories, footwear, sleepwear, home décor, collectibles and plush toys. And there’ll be more in 2012 including back-to-school, social expression, gift and novelty products.

The Talking Friends franchise is based on the novelty of an animated character who repeats everything a user says. It has generated over 250 million downloads to date.

“Talking Tom and the entire Talking Friends cast of characters’ transcendence beyond app stores to brick-and-mortar retailers is a testament to the Talking Friends brand’s rapidly expanding global fan base and the deep emotional connections with consumers that have been created,” said Paul Baldwin, CMO of Outfit7 Inc.

Products include:

Worldwide

* Dragon-I: Animated plush toys that allow consumers to record a sound, which can be played back at different speeds and/or pitches

* Sound N Light: Interactive plush toys with motion and sound technology

* Zagwear: Management of the characters’ e-commerce presence

North America

* C-Life: Apparel

* Berkshire Fashions: Cold weather accessories

* JAT Creative: Gift and novelty items

Europe

* Belltex: Bedding and home décor

* Fine Makers: Plush toys, gifts, novelty items and collectibles for the U.K.

* Smith & Brooks: Children’s apparel and sleepwear for the U.K.

Asia

*Letao: Footwear in China（source:mobile-ent）