1）独立开发商Mojang最近发布数据显示，《Minecraft》PC、Mac、Xbox Live Arcade版本，以及iOS和Android版本《Pocket Edition》（售价6.99美元）在圣诞期间下载量十分可观。其中《Pocket Edition》在圣诞节当天下载量达28万3939次，在整个圣诞周下载量为70万6419次。该版本在2012年总下载量为589万9727次。

在圣诞节当天，《Pocket Edition》在该游戏所有版本中所占下载量达62%，在其全年下载量中也同样占据最大比例（39%）。

Minecraft-pocket edition(from toucharcade.com)

从圣诞节总收益来看，《Pocket Edition》创收198万4734美元，在2012全年收益为4123万9092美元（假设该游戏全年售价均为6.99美元）。值得注意的是，这笔收益已经扣除苹果和Android平台30%的抽成。

据AppData数据显示，该游戏目前在iOS平台位居iPhone付费应用第三名，在iPad付费应用榜单排名第二，在iPhone收益榜单位居第三，在iPad收益榜单排名第八；在Android付费应用榜单位第第五，在收益榜单位居第十。

2）ChangeWave最新用户调查结果显示，三星智能手机在2013年初的市场需求将会极大增长，而苹果iPhone则有所下降（游戏邦注：该调查执行于2012年12月份，有4000名受访者）。

Apple-and-Samsung(from gsmnation.com)

该调查结果指出，有两分之一的北美用户仍打算在2013年初购买iPhone，而上一季度这一比例则高达71%。尽管如此，苹果设备的用户需求仍然超过三星，后者的市场需求从上一季度的13%增长至21%。其中最受欢迎的是三星Galaxy S III，有69%用户有意购买这一设备，有23%用户表示对Galaxy Note 2较有兴趣。有27%受访者称自己想要至少5英寸的移动设备，但仍有52%用户对4-4.9英寸的设备很感兴趣。

令人意外的是，有54%受访者表示对Windows Phone 8“非常满意”，而Android用户满意度则是48%，iOS的满意度为71%。

从移动设备制造商来看，苹果用户满意度为70%，三星和诺基亚以56%打成平手。

3）据路透社报道，Facebook股票在6个月以来首次突破32美元，比今年初上张了17%。

facebook-smartphone(from smartmoviemaking)

最近有传闻称Facebook正在研发自己的智能手机，也有人认为Facebook打算推出与iOS、Android和Windows Phone同台竞争的移动操作系统，但Facebook团队至今未确认这些消息。

4）据insidemobileapps报道，由前Funzio成员Jamil Moledina和James Kelm成立的新工作室Wormhole Games日前宣布将推出其首款移动游戏。

Wormhole-Games-Founders(from insidesocialgames.com)

该工作室主要通过这两者的亲友集资，目前有6名全职员工，计划进行一轮天使投资，专注于针对平板电脑开发硬核游戏，首款游戏预计于2013年初登陆iOS平台。

Moledina表示工作室不会制作从Facebook移植过来的Flash游戏，而是致力于开发有趣、出色的多人模式游戏。（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）Minecraft: Pocket Edition downloaded more than 280,000 times on Christmas Day, more than 5.8 million times in 2012

Scott Reyburn

Minecraft developer and publisher Mojang recently released download figures for their sandbox building game on PC and Mac, Xbox Live Arcade and mobile version — Pocket Edition — on iOS and Android.

Mojang saw a massive spike in downloads on all platforms during Christmas week, with 283,939 downloads for Minecraft: Pocket Edition on Christmas Day and 706,419 downloads during Christmas week. The mobile version of Minecraft, which is priced at $6.99, saw 5,899,727 total downloads in 2012.

Volume-wise for downloads on Christmas Day, Pocket Edition led all platforms (PC and Mac, Xbox and mobile), with a 62 percent share. For 2012 as a whole, the mobile version of Minecraft also had the largest share at 39 percent.

As for gross revenue on Christmas Day, Minecraft on mobile pulled in $1,984,734 and $41,239,092 million for all of 2012, assuming the title sold at $6.99 for the entire year. Keep in mind that these gross revenue figures for mobile don’t include Apple and Android’s standard 30 percent cut of mobile sales.

Markus “Notch” Persson, the creator of Minecraft, has a lot to be happy about right now. According to our traffic tracking service AppData, on iOS Minecraft is the No. 3 ranked top paid iPhone app, the No. 2 ranked top paid iPad app, the No. 3 top grossing iPhone app and the No. 8 ranked top grossing iPad app. On Google’s platform, Pocket Edition landed at the No. 5 spot on the top paid Android apps chart and No. 10 on the top grossing chart.（source：insidemobileapps）

2）Demand For Samsung Smartphones Jumps To 23% For Early 2013, iPhone Interest Down 21 Points From Last Quarter

Darrell Etherington

ChangeWave has released its quarterly consumer smartphone report, which tracks North American demand for devices and satisfaction with handsets. The survey covers planned purchases during the next 90 days, and indicates that Samsung sales could see strong early gains in 2013, while interest in Apple’s iPhone takes a hit. Samsung’s Galaxy Note II in particular made a promising showing, meaning consumers are eager to wrap their hands around gigantic devices.

The December survey found that while one in two North Americans still plan on buying an iPhone in early 2013, that’s down from 71 percent during the previous quarter. ChangeWave notes that this is still historically a good amount of interest for Apple, and it’s to be expected that demand would simply taper off to normal levels after a buying frenzy following the release of the new iPhone 5. Typically, Apple demand spikes immediately following an iPhone release and then returns to a lower mark, but it’s worth noting that it remained higher following the iPhone 4S launch than it has for the iPhone 5. Apple still far exceeds Samsung overall in terms of stated consumer demand, but Samsung made big gains in this survey.

Here’s what happened for the Korean company: an 8 percentage point game, bringing anticipated demand from 13 to 21 percent overall. ChangeWave says that much of a climb is “unprecedented” in their survey history. The Galaxy S III was the most desirable of Samsung handsets, with 69 percent of overall demand, but the Galaxy Note 2 was a surprise dark horse emerging in the race, with 23 percent of all Samsung consumer interest. Overall, consumers reported considerable interest in “phablet” devices, with 27 percent reporting they wanted a screen that’s at least 5-inches. The 4 to 4.9-inch category still rules with 52 percent of interest, but clearly, consumers are warming to the idea of big-screen mobile devices.

The phablet is the “new normal,” in many ways as Natasha Lomas put it in a Sunday opinion piece, and consumer research seems to agree. I still find the things incredibly unwieldy, even with my massive hands, but there are clear benefits to larger displays, and more and more, users seem willing to put up with the trade-offs those screen sizes entail.

As for mobile OS satisfaction, ChangeWave reports a surprise win for Microsoft – Windows Phone 8 now ranks higher among the over 4,000 survey respondents than Android, with 54 percent of users describing themselves as “Very Satisfied,” vs. 48 percent on Google’s mobile OS. The iPhone still reigns supreme in this arena, however, with a 71 percent high satisfaction rate for iOS. Broken down by OEM, Apple rules with 70 percent, with Samsung and Nokia tied for second with 56 percent approval ratings apiece.（source：techcrunch）

3）Facebook rumour mill: Smartphone, OS, or search engine?

by Zen Terrelonge

Either way, the hype has pushed the firm’s shares up.

Today’s mysterious Facebook mobile event has left many analysts and journalists scratching their heads, as the social network’s enigmatic message to ‘come see what we’re building’ gave nothing away.

Regardless of that, Reuters says that Facebook’s stock has blown past $32 for the first time in six months – up 17 per cent since the start of the year.

Nobody – except CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his most trusted cohorts – really knows what’s going to be revealed, though it’s long been thought that the firm is working on a smartphone.

Zuckerberg recently said a mobile wouldn’t move the rev needle for the company, which while true could be deception, with the miscellaneous mobile startup acquisitions made over the past year offering the company sufficient firepower to deliver controlled content to a branded device.

Other conjecture, meanwhile, suggests that the firm is cooking up an operating system to do battle with iOS, Android and Windows Phone, while another thought is that a search engine could be unveiled.

The 2004-born platform only started monetising its mobile division with ads last summer, which are already accounting for 14 per cent of total ad revs. It’s perhaps this that prompted Jefferies & Co analyst Brian Pitz to say: “If I were to bet, I’d think it was something that was ad-platform related. I’m not convinced on the phone.”

60 per cent of Facebook’s billion active users access the network through their mobiles. It’s also worth noting Facebook has been rumoured to be taking over Waze and WhatsApp.（source：mobile-ent）

4）Former Funzio executives return at the helm of Wormhole Games

Mike Thompson

Wormhole Games today came out of stealth and revealed it’s already nearing completion of its first mobile title. The company is co-founded by Jamil Moledina and James Kelm, both previously of Funzio. If that name sounds familiar to you, it should: Funzio was acquired by GREE last year for $210 million.

For Moledina and Kelm, Wormhole represents a return to the indie game world after becoming a part of GREE’s larger company last Spring, where Moledina only stayed for a month before striking out on his own. Moledina tells us Wormhole Games’ was being staffed by October.

Currently, the studio funded via seed money raised from friends and family, and we’re told the company is staffed with a “handful of folks” that includes six full-time employees.

Moledina also tells us his studio is planning to do a round of angel funding.

“I love being indie,” Kelm says. Before I was in the game world, I was in the tech world and loved the big places I worked for but it’s tremendous fun getting to call your own shots.

Being in this situation means we’re building from scratch so we can take risks with design and how we build things.”

Wormhole games is focused on developing core titles for tablets, much like Funzio was doing before it was acquired, and the first of these games is expected to arrive on iOS in early 2013 with an Android version to follow later on. When asked about possibly developing for Microsoft’s Surface tablets, we’re told the company views the device as having a lot of potential but won’t commit to anything right now.

The specifics of the game aren’t revealed, but Moledina explains what Wormhole won’t be doing. He tells us the company won’t be making games that look like Flash ports of other games on Facebook, nor will they implement the mechanics that many mobile versions of existing games (he’s particularly vehement about not using virtual joysticks. However, Moledina says it will stay true to the company’s philosophy.

“The incumbents of social mobile games were frequently releasing games that were very similar to what got them success in the first place,” he tells us. “For us, we began to sense that a startup is a structure that enables people to take the kind of risks necessary  to make a great kind of game. At the same time, we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. But we’ve seen there are ways to take fun elements from traditional games things and adapt them over into what we learned and operated into the social games industries. For us, it’s all about creating fun, gorgeous and badass multiplayer games.”（source：insidesocialgames）