1）美国玩具生产商Commonwealth Toys & Novelty日前预测2012年公司将售出价值4亿美元的愤怒小鸟周边产品。据ArctiStartUp统计，这一数据是去年的两倍，Rovio今年收益可能达到1.5亿欧元（1.86亿美元）。

angry birds toys(from pcmag.com)

周边产品在2011年为Rovio创收2260万欧元（2810万美元），在Rovio年收益中占比约30%。

2）据pocketgamer报道，Rovio最近通过Twitter发布了一张疑似《愤怒的小鸟》新角色的图片，从图片的睫毛造型中可以看出，该角色可能是雌性小鸟。

angry-birds-teaser(from pocketgamer)

观察者据此认为，Rovio可能很快就会在《愤怒的小鸟太空版》更新内容中推出一个全新的角色，这个新版游戏可能将解琐火星内容。

3）据The Verge报道，微软最近开始公布Windows Phone Dev Center相关消息，并指出Windows Phone 7.8操作系统将不支持应用内置微交易功能，只有之后推出的Windows Phone 8才会采用这一功能。

windows-phone-7-8(from rabeb.wordpress.com)

WinPho用户需通过Wallet Hub功能（游戏邦注：该功能还是NFC无触点付费、优惠卡、折扣、IAP、信用卡及借记卡系统的“控制中心”）进行微交易操作，这也意味着Wallet Hub功能不会登陆WinPho 7.8平台。

WinPho或许能支持10万款应用，但在免费增值模式当道的情况下，不支持IAP功能或将成为该平台的一大软肋。

ABI Research今年初报告预测，WinPho在今年360亿次应用下载量中将仅占比2%。

4）韩国发行商Com2uS日前宣布旗下棒球游戏《Homerun Battle》系列在线访问量超过4亿次，这两者在Android和iOS平台下载量约2000万次，也就是说平均每名玩家已同他人进行了20场比赛。

Homerun-Battle-3D(from gadgetrie.com)

除此之外，该公司还宣布Com2uS Hub社交游戏平台现在已有3000名注册用户，预计2012年底将达5000万。Com2uS另一款iOS和Android游戏《Tiny Farm》日活跃用户已超过100万。

5）comScore最近发布信息图表显示，每5名美国平板电脑用户中就有3人使用该设备看书。有三分之二用户通过平板电脑访问社交网络，70%用这一设备玩游戏，50%使用该设备听音乐。

Tablens_Infographic(from comScore)

6）据mobile-ent报道， Raymond James分析师Tavis McCourt最近指出，苹果在2012年第二季度智能手机出货量市场份额仅占比6%，但其收益在整个行业中占比高达43%。

Apple-Profits(from thevarguy.com)

值得注意的是，苹果还创造了智能手机行业77%的营业利润，而iPhone在该时期并不十分热销，因为有许多用户为等待iPhone 5而推迟了购买计划。

McCourt认为利润刺激创新，而创新又推动利润增长。三星智能手机出货量虽然超过苹果，但在利润上却远逊于后者。惠普和戴尔的PC设备销量也远胜于苹果Mac，但销量并不能说明问题。（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）Angry Birds plush toys sales to double to $400 million in 2012

by Keith Andrew

With a claim that Rovio has single handedly rejuvenated the plush toy industry, Commonwealth Toys & Novelty has claimed it will sell $400 million worth of Angry Birds merchandise in 2012.

That’s double what was sold last year and, according to calculations by ArcticStartUp, could help total Rovio revenues for the year top €150 million – equal to around $186 million.

A common wealth

“Plush was basically a dead category for the last few years,” said EVP of Commonwealth Toys & Novelty Lisa Shamus.

“We needed a home run,” added Shamus, claiming though it was hard work convincing the firm’s retail clients that Angry Birds had been a success, it was rhe “non-obvious” license the industry needed.

Merchandise made up around 30 percent of Rovio’s revenue in 2011 – equal to €22.6 million (around $28.1 million) – though that’s a figure that could double throughout the course of the current financial year.

Combined with the added income sourced from both Angry Birds Space and Amazing Alex, the site estimates Rovio could end the year on €150 million in revenue, equal to $186 million.（source:pocketgamer）

2）No in-app payments in WinPho 7.8

by Tim Green

Developers will have to wait for Windows Phone 8.

The Verge reports that Microsoft has started to put out info on the Windows Phone Dev Center, which gives developers guidelines on app submissions and monetisation options.

But it looks as if in-app micropayments will not be enabled on the interim version of the OS – WinPho 7.8. Instead, that option will arrive with the launch of Microsoft’s transformative WinPho 8 platform later this year.

Micropayments will be made possible through the forthcoming Wallet Hub feature, which stores payment information that can be accessed through a PIN entered during in-app transactions.

The implication therefore is that Wallet Hub will not feature in 7.8 either.

Of course, Wallet Hub is about far more than micropayments. The feature, unveiled by Microsoft in June, is a ‘control centre’ for NFC contactless payments, deals, loyalty cards, in-app purchases, and credit and debit cards.

Users can pre-load pretty much any bank card, PayPal account, loyalty card etc on there, and use them to pay for things via NFC. They can also access a list of suggested location-aware local discounts, which are redeemed in multiple ways including QR code.

WinPho 8 can’t come quick enough for Microsoft, one assumes. WinPho may support 100,000 apps, but in a freemium-dominated space, the lack of an in-app option is holding it back.

Earlier this year ABI Research estimated that WinPho represented just two per cent of the 36 billion apps that will be downloaded this year.（source:mobile-ent）

3）Rovio teases new female Angry Birds character on Twitter

by Anthony Usher

Rovio sure does love to tease its millions of worldwide fans and adorers. The Finnish developer has just posted the below image on Twitter along with the caption “Who turned out the lights?”

Now, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that those eyes belong to a female (just check out the eyelashes). What we don’t know, though, is whether these peepers belong to a miffed avian or a unscrupulous piggy.

Either way, we presume Rovio will soon introduce an all-new character into its feather-flinging franchise.

If it is a new character, it’s possible that she’ll be introduced in the next Angry Birds Space update, which Rovio has revealed will unlock a new planet: Mars.

To be honest, who knows. What do you think?（source:pocketgamer）

4）Com2uS highlights its social muscle with 400 million head-to-heads in Homerun Battle series

by Jon Jordan

Demonstrating the value of social and online play, Korean publisher Com2uS has announced its Homerun Battle baseball games have clocked up over 400 million online game sessions.

It’s a pretty impressive number given that the two games so far released have received around 20 million downloads on iOS and Android.

Obviously, simple maths suggests that on average each player has accumulated 20 sessions against another player.

Outta the park

The news follows the announcement 14 months ago that the series had hit the 200 million online game sessions.

It took 22 months to reach this first total, however.

In addition to this mode, 100 million single player sessions have been played in the Homerun Battle games.

Me versus you

Homerun Battle’s main mode is the head-to-head network battle where you have a fixed period of time to hit more homeruns than your matched opponent.

In this manner, it was one of the first synchronous multiplayer games on mobile, although players don’t directly interact with each other.

Each can see the other’s progress during the session, though, with the winner being the one who’s hit the most balls the furthest.

Down on the farm

And more generally, Com2uS is extended this online focus to all of its games.

Its Com2uS Hub social gaming network now has 30 million subscribers, with the company expecting to hit the 50 million by the end of 2012.

Aside from Homerun Battle, much of the growth has come from its Tiny Farm iOS and Android title, which has over 1 million daily active users.（source:pocketgamer）

5）INFOGRAPHIC: What do Americans really use their tablets for?

by Zen Terrelonge

Social media, shopping, gaming, and playing music – confirmation the device is an entertainment station.

comScore has launched the TabLens initiative, a monthly report that will delve into trends American tablet owners have adopted.

The analyst’s infographic shows the devices have become a fourth screen, joining TVs, PCs, and smartphones, as three in five read books on their tablets.

Meanwhile, two-thirds access social networks via tablet, 70 per cent use the gadgets to play games, and 50 per cent listen to music.（source:mobile-ent）

6）77 cents of every dollar in mobile went to Apple in Q2

by Mike Shaw

The company only shipped six per cent of devices, yet still came out on top.

Yes, Samsung is shipping more phones than Apple and HTC are picking up market share across the globe, but when it comes to profit, Apple is still king.

Tavis McCourt, an analyst for Raymond James, says that  although the Cupertino company only shipped about six per cent of the industry’s smartphones and tablets in Q2 2012, Apple captured about 43 per cent of the industry’s revenue.

Even more impressive, it generated 77 per cent of the industry’s operating profits. Bearing in mind that iPhones are not shifting the way they used to as people wait for the iPhone 5, and this figure it becomes apparent that the higher gross margins of the iPhone and iPad are the difference makers here.

McCourt said: “Ultimately, profits are the feedstock of innovation; and, innovation drives profits.

“Until Samsung starts generating more profits than Apple, we would not be overly concerned with who has the unit share lead. Remember, HP and Dell still sell a lot more PCs than Apple sells Macs, but does it matter?”（source:mobile-ent）