1）移动广告公司ImMobi最新调查数据显示，尽管iPad 3可能在3月7日才会问世（游戏邦注：有人认为苹果将发布的新产品名称未必是iPad 3），但已有29%的美国用户已迫不及待地宣布有意购买这款苹果新产品。

此外，这些有意购买iPad 3的用户中还有三分之二表示，如果iPad或iPad 2价格下降，他们会考虑改变购买iPad 3的计划。

但价格并非决定用户消费意愿的最大因素，有50%受访者表示愿意购买500美元以上的iPad 3，但也有57%受访者称如果iPad 3价格超过599美元，他们宁愿去买iPad或iPad 2。

55%用户只认同iPad而非其他品牌的平板电脑，但也有27%用户表示会考虑购买三星Galaxy，14%会考虑购买Kindle Fire。

51%受访者表示买iPad 3主要是出于娱乐消遣的目的而非学习等正式用途。

57%用户希望iPad 3采用更快速的处理器，47%希望该设备拥有更长的电池寿命，46%更看重高清屏幕，还有43%用户比较关注4G网络技术。

2）尽管苹果在本周宣布将在3月7日发布新产品，多数人认为这就是iPad 3，但gizmodo根据配件制造商Griffin和Belkin泄露的资料指出，这个所谓的新产品可能并非iPad 3，而是iPad HD。

资料显示，苹果新一代平板电脑可能采用2048 X 1536 HD屏幕，以及LTE技术和四核处理器，性能明显优于iPad 2。

观察者称，联想到之前万众期待的“iPhone 5”却变成“iPhone 4S”，这一幕也很可能在新一代苹果平板电脑上重演。

3）据pocketgamer报道，知情者透露亚马逊日前邀请开发者参与测试一个SDK程序，可能将在3月份开放亚马逊Appstore的IAP服务，支持开发者通过免费增值游戏的微交易模式创收。

4）世嘉近日宣布将使用Unity引擎针对“移动平台”重新开发PC策略游戏《全面战争》，这款新游戏将由世嘉旗下的Creative Assembly工作室新团队Total War Digital开发，并重命名为《Total War Battles》。

该公司称该项目已投入12个月的开发时间，但并未透露游戏的具体目标平台（例如iPhone、iPad或Android）。

5）独立开发商Mojang日前宣布《Minercraft:Pocket Edition》目前在手机平台销量已超过100万份（数周前实现了70万次下载量）。

该游戏原先独家发布于索尼Xperia Play设备，后来才登陆Android和iOS平台，目前售价为6.99美元。

6）手机游戏公司Pocket Gems日前宣布将于下周发布新游戏《Tap Paradise Cove》，玩家在游戏中会到达一个荒岛，并面临重建文明的任务。

玩家可以选择建设城市，也可以选择将自己的精力用于探索世界，找到地图中隐藏的宝藏。游戏中还植入了日本社交游戏中极常见的gacha机制，允许玩家投入一小部分资源换取随机性的回报。例如，玩家可向陌生小岛派遣船只，过后小船就会载回一些随机性奖励（例如用于升级玩家建筑的道具）。

由于这款游戏采用的是较新颖的机制，因此尚无法确定它是否将成为与《Tap Pet Hotel》和《Tap Zoo》一样的热门作品，目前该公司在营收榜单排名最靠前的游戏是《Tap Pet Hotel》（第50名）。

7）据Fusible报道，谷歌在2月29日注册了数个包含“Google Play”及其变体的域名，这一迹象或许印证了谷歌正在开发7英寸、谷歌品牌平板电脑的传闻。据称所谓的谷歌平板电脑就是Google Play，主打功能是游戏。谷歌所注册的一些域名甚至直接提到了游戏，例如“gamesonplay.com”以及“googleplaygames.com”。

虽然谷歌仍未确认这一消息，但Fusible指出谷歌是通过品牌保护公司MarkMonitor找到这些域名，CNET报道称谷歌平板电脑可能在4月份问世。

8）Distimo最近数据显示，苹果App Store在2月20日至28日的每小时总下载量增长基本上呈线性发展状态。

2月25至26日（周六和周日）这两天是下载高峰。

在2月21日当天，美国东部时间（EST）早上11点出现第一个下载峰值，而当时欧洲已经是下午时间（亚太地区仍是睡眠时间）。在EST下午4点左右，下载量开始走低。而在EST傍晚6点、亚太地区早晨上班时间又会出现一个峰值；当美国地区始入眠、亚太地区进入下午时，每小时下载量开始下降，下载量最低点出现于美国睡眠时间、东南亚及澳洲夜幕降临之时。

从这种趋势来看，苹果App Store可能将在3月3日（EST时间）迎来第250亿次下载量。（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）InMobi: Almost one-third of mobile web users to buy an iPad 3

by Zen Terrelonge

While nearly half wouldn’t consider any tablet that isn’t made by Apple.

The iPad 3 – if that is its real name – isn’t due for unveiling until March 7th, but 29 per cent of US consumers have already declared their plans to buy one of the next-generation Apple tablets, according to mobile ad firm InMobi.

Additionally, two-thirds that intend to buy an iPad 3 would also consider buying an iPad or iPad 2 at a reduced price instead.

Price isn’t much of a deterrent either with 50 per cent willing to pay over $500, however 57 per cent would choose on older model if the device costs over $599.

44 per cent of users wouldn’t choose any other brand tablet instead of the iPad, although 27 per cent would consider the Samsung Galaxy and 14 per cent would consider the Kindle.

Meanwhile, 51 per cent would choose iPad 3 for entertainment use instead of business of education.

57 per cent are looking forward to a faster processor, while 47 per cent seek better battery life, with a higher-quality screen and 4G connectivity following with 46 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.

Anne Frisbie, VP and MD, North America, InMobi, says: “In terms of the impact of the iPad 3 on the mobile industry as a whole, we definitely see consumer adoption of tablets contributing to increased mobile media consumption, as our recent Mobile Media Consumption Study shows that North American mobile consumers are already spending more time on mobile devices versus TVs or PCs.”（source:mobile-ent）

2）Forget iPad 3, is Apple’s next tablet going to be called iPad HD?

by Zen Terrelonge

Leaked part listings reveals alternative identity.

Earlier this week, Apple announced it has something to show off at a special event on March 7th and the general consensus is that it will be the iPad 3.

However, the ‘iPad 3′ will actually be christened the iPad HD, according to a report from gizmodo, which reveals leaked part listings from accessory manufacturer Griffin and Belkin.

The name could make sense as Apple’s next-gen tablet is expected to come with a 2048 x 1536 HD display, LTE and a quad-core processor, which would offer a significant overhaul on the iPad 2.

If the document is genuine, it wouldn’t be the first time the industry has been corrected, the ‘iPhone 5′ turned out to be the iPhone 4S.（source:mobile-ent）

3）Amazon will switch on in-app purchases for Appstore for Android ‘soon’

by Jon Jordan

Amazon’s assault on Android has been sustained but also stately.

Apart from one glorious day, the Amazon Appstore for Android is still only available for North America users.

Similarly, the multi-million selling $199 Android-powered Kindle Fire is only available to buy for customers with Amazon.com accounts and North American postal addresses.

Every little counts

But even Americans don’t yet have the option of using micro transactions on the appstore yet.

Amazon has been running an invitation-only beta SDK program for developers for some time, but now we’re hearing from sources that the company is expected to flick the switch sometime soon – we’re expecting March.

Obviously, this will be a big boost for the mobile gaming ecosystem, which is quickly moving to an in-app purchase model, especially on Android.

Indeed, with Kindle Fire the most successful Android tablet by far, some publishers are already seeing strong activity on the device. For example, G5 Entertainment recently announced 1 million downloads, although it not clear how many of these were paid.

Enabling IAP will ensure companies can start monetising their free downloads.（source:pocketgamer）

4）PC strategy series Total War to be recreated for ‘mobile platforms’ and released as Total War Battles

by Anthony Usher

Sega has announced that PC strategy series Total War will be recreated using the Unity engine and released for “mobile platforms” under the name Total War Battles.

The forthcoming title will be created by the Total War Digital team, a new team within Sega’s Creative Assembly studio. This studio, in case you aren’t aware, is responsible for numerous Total War titles, including Shogun: Total War and Medieval: Total War.

According to Sega, the team behind the forthcoming project has been hard at work prototyping ideas for the last 12 months.

“This isn’t the traditional Total War you might expect,” Renaud Charpentier, the game’s lead designer, said.

“We are working on a title that is specifically tailored to the play styles and control methods of mobile platforms. We want to deliver a game that plays to the strengths of handheld RTS mechanics, and perfectly adapts to a host of different platforms.”

Get your gear

Unfortunately, Sega didn’t mention any specific game details or platforms. Still, it’s probably safe to assume that the iPhone, iPad, and Android-powered devices will get a share of the action.

Naturally, we’ll let you know as soon as we have any concrete details.（source:pocketgamer）

5）Minecraft: Pocket Edition passes 1 million sales

by Tom Curtis

Newsbrief: Mojang’s Minecraft: Pocket Edition, has continued to see impressive sales on mobile platforms, and has since reached more than 1 million units sold.

The company’s Daniel Kaplan broke the news on Friday, just several weeks after announcing the game had sold 700,000 units.

The game originally launched as a timed exclusive for Sony’s Xperia Play, and has since debuted on other Android devices and iOS platforms.

Currently, the title costs quite a bit more than many other popular mobile games, bearing a comparatively hefty price tag of $6.99.（source:gamasutra）

6）Pocket Gems breaks new ground with Tap Paradise Cove

Kathleen De Vere

Pocket Gems is following through on its earlier promises to push the creative envelope. It’s unveiling Tap Paradise Cove today and the game will be available worldwide next week.

Dubbed an “exploration simulation” by Pocket Gems’ chief operating officer Ben Liu, the game draws inspiration from the open-ended exploration found in games like Minecraft.

In Tap Paradise Cove, players arrive on a deserted island and are tasked with establishing a new civilization from scratch. This brings in familiar citybuilding mechanics and clear goals — if the player wants them.

During our demo of the game, Pocket Gems’ creative director Rich Cooluris proudly pointed out that there are several different ways to play Tap Paradise Cove. Players can choose to develop their cities, or they can expend their energy exploring the game’s vast, fog-shrouded world. This allows them to uncover secrets and treasures hidden in the world map.

The game also incorporates elements of gacha — the raffle-esque mechanic popular in Japanese social games that allows players to invest a small amount of resources to get a random return. In Tap Paradise Cove the element is tightly incorporated into the gameplay through sea voyages. Players send ships off to foreign lands and they will return with later with some sort of random prize, typically an item needed to upgrade a one of the player’s buildings.

Although the game won’t be launching with a lot of social features, the Pocket Gems team will be integrating more social elements into Tap Paradise Cove in future releases. Its a tactic the company has used before in its earlier game Zombie Takeover.

For Pocket Gems, there is a lot riding on Tap Paradise Cove. The game is an unproven format, which means it isn’t guaranteed to be runaway hit like Pocket Gems’ early titles Tap Pet Hotel and Tap Zoo. Mounting competition in the App Store from companies like Zynga and TinyCo has also increased pressure on Pocket Gems’ games on the charts. At the time of writing, the company’s highest title on the top grossing charts was the No. 50 ranked Tap Pet Hotel.（source:insidemobileapps）

7）Google’s next big gaming push could be its very own tablet [Report]

by Joe Osborne

With games on Google+ in full swing, it’s clear that the search giant is bullish on online gaming. In fact, yesterday saw the social network’s fifth exclusive game launch in Kingdom Age. Now, Fusible reports that Google could have registered several domain names on Feb. 29, all of which contain a variation of the words “Google Play.” (And what do people play? Games.)

This could be the name of the rumored 7-inch, Google-branded tablet that the company is supposedly working on. If this Google tablet is, in fact, known as the Google Play, it simply screams gaming. (And we all know how huge games are for Apple’s iPad.) But to point even more arrows to a game-focused tablet, some of the domains mention games directly, like “gamesonplay.com” and “googleplaygames.com”.

Of course, this is all speculation at this point, as Google has not been confirmed as the registrant of the domains. However, according to Fusible, Google frequently uses MarkMonitor, the brand protection company through which these domain names were found. CNET reports that the rumored Google tablet will hit this April, and based on Google’s recent moves toward gaming with Google+ Games and projects like Play Your World, the Google Play could be big on games.（source:games）

8）Apple App Store Will Hit 25th Billon Download Within Next Three Days!

by Hendrik Koekkoek

About two weeks ago, Apple announced that the 25th billion download from the Apple App Store will soon be hit. Since this announcement, Apple has put a counter online, which shows the total downloads from the App Store up to the moment the 25th billion download will be hit.

Right now, a little over 100 million downloads remain for the milestone to be hit. We have been tracking this counter every hour and found several interesting figures in the data. When the total downloads are plotted for every hour we have collected the data, the download volumes appear be almost perfectly linear.

Total Downloads From Hour To Hour

Hence, a prediction of when the 25th billion download would be hit would be seemingly be easy. However, when looking at the data more closely, we see some interesting patterns. The graph below, which plots the hourly increase in downloads illustrates these patterns.

Increase In Downloads Per Hour

From this graph, the two weekend days, February 25 and 26, can be clearly distinguished from the other days. Another interesting pattern are the three spikes in the downloads each day.

The spikes can be explained by the number of people awake, especially in the countries from which many downloads originate (US, UK, Germany, Australia, Japan, China and South Korea for example). The graph below shows the downloads generated on February 21 (and the morning of February 22) in EST to illustrate this.

Increase In Downloads Per Hour February 21

The first spike occurs when the whole of the US is awake, around 11AM EST and it is afternoon in Europe (Asian Pacific region is still sleeping at that time). The downloads dip when the night falls in Europe at 4PM EST. Then another spike is visible when it’s afternoon in most of America and people in the Asian Pacific region start their business day around 6PM EST. Hourly downloads decrease again when people in the US go to sleep and increase when in the afternoon in the Asian Pacific region. The lowest point in the daily downloads occur when the whole of the US is asleep and the night starts in Southeast Asia and Australia.

Based on the historical data above, we have tried to estimate when the 25th billion app will be downloaded. Taking into account the trends and patterns lined out above, we estimate that this app will be downloaded on March 3, early morning EST.（source:distimo）