1）VisionMobile和Plum Consulting最近报告预测，欧盟28个国家2013年在全球应用市场规模中占比22%（全球应用产值为112亿欧元，约147亿美元）。欧盟之外的其他欧洲国家占比5%，整个欧洲大陆在全球应用市场规模中占比27%，但仍然落后于占比42%的北美地区。

预计到2016年全球应用市场规模将达149亿欧元；报告指出，在欧盟国家目前有52.9万人从事与应用经济直接相关的工作，其中开发者占比62%。此外还有18万人属于兼职开发人员或应用开发业余爱好者。

app economy (from VisionMobile)

developer roles(from VisionMobile)

在欧洲最为领先的当属英国、德国和法国，这三国每天出产的应用下载量超过166亿次，在全球应用下载量中占比14%。

英国在全球应用下载量中占比7%，但在全球智能手机持有量中占比却不足3%。这表明英国用户的手机应用下载量比全球平均下载量多2倍，这部分要归功于英语版应用的盛行。

2）Millennial Media最近报告显示，2013年第二季度诺基亚是位居其广告印象榜单第8名的移动制造商，占比为1.44%，而苹果占比将近40%，三星占比超过26%，黑莓占比略低于7%。值得注意的是，该时期诺基亚没有任何一部设备进入Millennial前20名热门设备榜单。

top 15 OEM(from millennial)

观察者分析称，微软之所以收购诺基亚原因在于，诺基亚推出的Windows Phone手机在海外市场销量可观，Lumia手机甚至让Windows Phone在俄罗斯、波兰、乌克兰、南非和阿根庭打败了iPhone。

3）据insidemobileapps报道，手机游戏开发商Scopely向iOS和Android平台推出的填字游戏《Wordly》上线仅24小时就跻身iOS免费应用榜单第一名。

wordly(from insidemobileapps)

据App Data数据显示，这款回合制填字游戏位居iPhone免费应用榜单第二名，在iPad榜单则名列第三。

4）据《华尔街日报》报道，有知情者透露亚马逊正在研发将免费提供给用户的自主品牌智能手机，据称该手机的定会是预付款产品，使用自主无线网络服务（游戏邦注：此前有消息称亚马逊正在测试来自卫星公司Globalstar的无线服务），但亚马逊至今未对此作出回应。

Amazon_Smartphone(from talkandroid)

5）据insidemobileapps报道，休闲游戏公司PlayFirst日前宣布收购手机应用开发商Big Head Mode公司（代表作包括《ZombieFace》和《PuppetFace》）的IP和游戏资产，这意味着将有大批Big Head Mode成员加入PlayFirst团队。

playfirst-logo(from insidemobileapps)

前Big Head Mode首席执行官Tipatat Chennavasin将加入PlayFirst担任产品管理总监，而联合创始人Richard Au则将担任工程高级总监。

6）YouGov最新调查结果指出，15%家长表示自己的子女（不超过18岁）在假期每天使用电子设备的时间超过三小时，22%表示自己的子女使用平板电脑，27%使用游戏主机，35%使用智能手机。

kids-phone(from theepochtimes.com)

有些家长甚至表示，允许子女在外出旅游时玩这些设备，63%家长表示他们就是拿这些设备供子女娱乐。（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）Europe accounts for more than a quarter of the global app economy

by Keith Andrew

Businesses across Europe account for more than a quarter of the global app economy and have the “opportunity to lead” the industry in the years ahead.

That’s according to a report published by VisionMobile and Plum Consulting on the state of the app industry, with the 28 countries across the European Union contributing 22 percent of the €11.2 billion (around $14.7 billion) global app economy in 2013.

A further 5 percent emanates from European nations outside of the EU, bringing the continent’s total to 27 percent – still somewhat behind North America’s 42 percent share.

Global wars

“In Europe the growth of the app economy to date has been remarkable especially considering that it started from zero in mid-2008 and was achieved during a period when real GDP growth has been flat overall,” details the report.

“Europe, with its strong adoption of smartphones, is behind only North America in terms of production and consumption of app-related products and services.”

The global app economy will be worth €14.9 billion by 2016, though the real challenge rests with developers across Europe to help power the continent to global supremacy.

The big three

VisionMobile estimates that, across the EU, there are 529,000 people currently in full time employment directly working within the app economy, with developers making up 62 percent of that workforce.

“Beyond this, we estimate there are a further 180,000 people involved on a part-time basis or as hobbyists or enthusiasts,” adds the report.

“This segment is an important part of the app economy, not least because it is already contributing to the App Economy in terms of revenue generation.

“Indeed, many app success stories involve hobbyists who saw their idea grow into a sustainable business, which has since become their full time occupation. Hobbyists and part-timers are therefore a key element of the job creation process in the app economy.”

Leading the way in Europe is the UK, Germany and France, which – altogether – generate more than 16.6 billion app downloads a year, equal to 14 percent of the global total.Future focus

“The UK is characterised by high smartphone ownership, with 64 percent of mobile users having smartphones and very high demand for apps,” adds the report.

“The UK accounted for 7 percent of global app downloads, although it accounts for less than 3 percent of global smartphones.

“This suggests that consumers in the UK consume mobile apps at over twice the average global rate, showing very high familiarity with apps. This is partly due to the prominence of the English language in mobile apps.”

But if the UK and the EU as a whole is to challenge North America at the top of the app economy, what needs to change?

VisionMobile thinks there are three areas where improvements need to be made, with “more labour market flexibility to allow transformation of the economy” top of the list.（source：pocketgamer）

2）Chart of the Week: Microsoft has just bought the 8th largest mobile manufacturer in the US

by Keith Andrew

Microsoft’s move for Finnish giant Nokia has split industry commentators right down the middle. Never have the differences between the smartphone market in the US and Europe been so stark.

A quick look at Millennial Media’s US-focused Mobile Mix report helps explain why.

Monitoring use across the ad platform throughout Q2 2013, Millennial claims Nokia is the 8th largest mobile manufacturer in the region when ranked by impressions, with a 1.44 percent share.

That puts Nokia some distance behind Apple on a near 40 percent share, Samsung on over 26 percent, and even BlackBerry on just under 7 percent.

A game of two halves

Even more alarming for analysts is the fact that Nokia has not one handset in Millennial’s rundown of the top 20 devices, again ranked by impressions.

To those in North America, this makes Microsoft’s decision to pay out €5.44 billion for the device & services division of a company that barely has a presence in the Redmond giant’s home territory somewhat puzzling.

Why would Microsoft want the 8th largest mobile manufacturer in the US?

Well, news that the Nokia-led Windows Phone is now enjoying record sales in overseas territories – the OS accounting for around one in 10 smartphone sales in Britain, France, Germany and Mexico – certainly helps put the acquisition in a more favourable context.

The suggestion that Lumia sales are helping Windows Phone outperform iPhone in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, South Africa and Argentina also helps balance the debate further.（source：pocketgamer）

3）Competitive word game Wordly climbs to the top of free iOS charts

Brandy Shaul

Mobile game developer Scopely has already found great success with its newest game on iOS and Android, Wordly, which hit No. 1 on the Top Free Apps charts within 24 hours of launching on iOS.

The turn-based word game presents two players with a Boggle-style game board of randomized letter tiles. It then asks those players to claim as many of those tiles for themselves as they can, by making words that include each one. The same word can’t be used more than once in the same game, and tiles will become locked if matching tiles of the same color surround them.

Wordly becomes more challenging in the lack of other restrictions for letter use. Letter tiles don’t have to be touching to be used in the same word, for instance, and players can use their own tiles time and time again to claim others in the process.

Each turn sees players creating words of any length, turning those letters either red or blue, depending on the player. When the last letter on the board has been claimed, the game ends and the player with the most colored tiles on the board is declared the winner.

In addition to the standard social features in Wordly, which allow for competition between both Facebook friends and strangers via random matchmaking, Wordly also offers a single-player campaign mode against the “greats,” including Shakespeare and Albert Einstein. This mode uses “brain power” for every turn, which can either be purchased with real money, or earned by completing games against other living players.

Wordly now sits at No. 2 on the Top Free Apps chart on iPhone, and No. 3 on iPad, according to our app tracking service AppData. You can now download the game for free on iOS or Android.

The game is supported via ads, which can be removed via a one-time purchase of $4.99.（source：insidemobileapps）

4）Amazon planning to launch a free (Kindle?) smartphone, report claims

Tom Cheredar

Amazon is apparently working on a plan that would see the company build its own smartphone that it would offer to customers for free.

The information comes from a report by former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin, who spoke with anonymous sources familiar with the plans. However, speculation about Amazon developing a low-cost, branded smartphone has been around for a while, as VentureBeat’s Devindra Hardwar pointed out previously.

Amazon also doesn’t want customers to be required to sign up for a wireless service plan when they purchase the smartphone, according to Lessin’s sources. That could mean that the phone will be positioned as a prepaid product that potentially uses its own wireless network. Amazon was previously rumored to be testing a wireless service using spectrum from satellite company Globalstar.

At this point, none of the information has been confirmed by Amazon. We’re reaching out to the company and other sources for more information and will update the post with any new info.（source：venturebeat）

5）PlayFirst announces acquisition of Big Head Mode IP

Brandy Shaul

Diner Dash developer PlayFirst has announced its acquisition of the game portfolio and IP of mobile app developer Big Head Mode. This move will see multiple Big Head Mode employees joining PlayFirst in leadership positions.

Former CEO of Big Head Mode Tipatat Chennavasin will join PlayFirst as Director of Product Management, while Big Head Mode Co-founder Richard Au will become Senior Director of Engineering.

Big Head Mode is responsible for several mobile advancements in the world of game personalization. The company’s games, including ZombieFace and PuppetFace, allow players to insert their own faces into apps, becoming celebrities, princesses, or even deadly creatures like zombies. In the case of PuppetFace, players’ voices can also be recorded and added to the app.

“Tipatat and Richard, with their other co-founders at Big Head Mode, have created outstanding technology that helps meld together social graph attributes with mobile apps. As we move forward together, we will work on integrating these approaches across the mobile game portfolio at PlayFirst,” said Marco DeMiroz, president and CEO of PlayFirst, in a company statement.

“Additionally, both Tipatat and Richard bring leadership and skills to PlayFirst that will help us continue to build leadership and momentum in mobile gaming.”

The terms of the acquisition haven’t been revealed, but it’s expected that Big Head Mode’s personalization features will make their way to PlayFirst’s most popular franchises in the future.（source：insidemobileapps）

6）Tech kills the family holiday as the smartphone replaces the beachball

by Phil Tottman

13 per cent of parents are happy to let their kids use a device on holiday as much as they want.

15 per cent of parents said that their children – aged 18 and under – used a device for three or more hours every day whilst on holiday, reveals a YouGov survey from Villa Plus.

22 per cent say their kids use a tablet, 27 per cent a games console and 35 per cent admit that their kids are glued to their smartphones.

Some parents were even happy to allow their kids unlimited use of a device during a family excursion – and not even for Facebooking and chatting to friends, as 63 per cent said that the devices are used to keep them entertained!

We can hear the grunts and moans of ‘back in my day, we appreciated culture, we weren’t such philistines’ – but put a device in our hands and more often than not, we find ourselves missing that fantastic view to get the high score on Candy Crush.

90 per cent of Brits as a whole use a phone around four hours a day whilst on holiday. So who can blame the kids?

Simon Lifford, head of sales and UK operations at Villa Plus, said: “For some families, discouraging children from using games consoles, smartphones and the like too often is an important concern while on holiday, and I can see why families who have spent any amount on getting away may be disappointed that their children wish to do so.”

A device is used for many things during everyday life, whether on holiday or not. So possibly a little encouragement to either use a device sparingly or even better, for beneficial purposes while away such as taking pictures, or even – god forbid – going down an educational route?

Failing that, turn the damn thing off!（source：mobile-ent）