Friday, November 30, 2012

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DeNA and Square Enix Partner to Bring FINAL FANTASY AIRBORNE BRIGADE Mobile Game to Players in United States and Canada

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 01:40 PM PST

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade has had quite a bit of success in Japan, with over 3 million registered users. It’s a social game that’s advertised as being easy to play for players new to the Final Fantasy universe, as well as appealing to veterans of the franchise. On the heels of this success, DeNA and Square Enix have announced today that they will be bringing the game to North American shores in the near future. It’s also the first free-to-play Final Fantasy social game to be released in English.

Players cooperate and explore a world based on Final Fantasy in airships, and join with other players to form airborne brigades and fight bosses. Each player gains experience and levels up through these boss fights and quests. The enemies and items all come from the familiar Final Fantasy universe. Simple, but it’s bound to have quite a bit of depth with Final Fantasy behind it. Users can go ahead and preregister now to be alerted when the game becomes available to download. Hit the press release below to find out more.

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Following the game’s success with more than three million registered users in Japan, DeNA Co., Ltd. (TSE: 2432) and Square Enix Co., Ltd. announced today that the two companies are bringing FINAL FANTASY® AIRBORNE BRIGADE™ to mobile phone users in the US and Canada. This is the first FINAL FANTASY free-to-play social game to be released in English.

FINAL FANTASY AIRBORNE BRIGADE is an easy-to-play social game where players cooperate and adventure through a world inspired by the popular FINAL FANTASY series. Each player rides an airship, and forms groups called airborne brigades in order to fight powerful bosses. Each player gains experience, and levels up by adventuring through quest regions. They will encounter foes and obtain abilities and items straight from the FINAL FANTASY series.

"We’re very proud to offer FINAL FANTASY fans based in the US and Canada our own take on the themes and ideals of the series with the upcoming launch of the mobile game FINAL FANTASY AIRBORNE BRIGADE," said Kenji Kobayashi, executive games director at DeNA. "In celebration of the franchise’s 25th anniversary this year, we strived to create a unique gameplay experience where players can elevate each other through fun, cooperative play."

The game appeals to FINAL FANTASY fans as well as players new to the franchise. FINAL FANTASY AIRBORNE BRIGADE will be available soon as a free download on Android and iOS devices.

Players can pre-register for the game and be alerted via email as soon as the game is available for free download. Pre-registered players can obtain a free three-month exclusive in-game card featuring Cloud, one of the most popular FINAL FANTASY characters of all time, which will help them during boss battles.

To pre-register for FINAL FANTASY AIRBORNE BRIGADE, please visit: ffairbornebrigade.com.

To download assets for FINAL FANTASY AIRBORNE BRIGADE, please visit:https://www.yousendit.com/download/WUJaVWRrdkdVbSt5VmNUQw.

About DeNA

DeNA Co., Ltd. is a global Internet company focused on social game platform, social games, e-commerce and other Web services for mobile devices and PCs. DeNA’s current flagship business is its mobile social games platform Mobage, which offers first-, second- and third-party games on multiple localized user networks across nations. The original Mobage network in Japan currently serves over 45 million registered users with approximately 2,000 titles. Founded in 1999 as a small startup in Tokyo, DeNA currently has over 2,000 employees worldwide working at offices and development studios in 16 cities across 11 countries and regions. The company generated annual sales of more than 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year ended March 2012. DeNA is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (2432). For more information, visit: dena.jp/intl.

About Mobage

The Mobage social games network and platform hosts over 70 first-party and third-party games that are available on the Apple App Store™ and Google Play™. Mobage features chart-topping apps including Rage of Bahamut, Blood Brothers and Ninja Royale™, casual games such as Zombie Farm® and Tiny Tower, licensed intellectual properties such as Marvel: War of Heroes, and core games such as Quests & Sorcery™, Hellfire and Warriors of Odin. Mobage also hosts mobile social games in other languages via separate regional networks. Mobage offers developers access to a suite of features to enhance their development environment, including a payment API, production and marketing support and analytics tools. To learn more about Mobage, visit: http://mobage.com. For developers interested in publishing opportunities on Mobage, please visit: https://developer.mobage.com.

About Square Enix Co., Ltd.

Square Enix Co., Ltd. develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX®, EIDOS® and TAITO® branded entertainment content around the world. The Square Enix Group operates a global network of leading development studios and boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property, including: FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 100 million units worldwide, and DRAGON QUEST® which has sold over 59 million units worldwide; TOMB RAIDER®, which has sold over 35 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix is a Japan-based, wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.

More information on Square Enix Co., Ltd. can be found at http://www.jp.square-enix.com/.

About FINAL FANTASY

Since the release of FINAL FANTASY in 1987, this unique RPG series continues to showcase the spectacular visuals, highly imaginative worlds and rich stories leading the industry and earning the highest accolades from users around the world. Titles of the series have so far achieved a cumulative shipment of over 100 million units worldwide.

FINAL FANTASY AIRBORNE BRIGADE © 2012. SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All rights reserved. FINAL FANTASY, AIRBORNE BRIGADE, DRAGON QUEST, EIDOS, SPACE INVADERS, SQUARE ENIX, the SQUARE ENIX logo, SPACE INVADERS, TAITO and TOMB RAIDER are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Square Enix Group. Mobage, Blood Brothers and Ninja Royale are the registered trademarks or trademarks of DeNA Co., Ltd. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. Quests & Sorcery and Hellfire are registered trademarks or trademarks of ngmoco, LLC in the United States and/or other jurisdictions.Rage of Bahamut is a registered trademark or trademark of Cygames, Inc. Apple and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc. IOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco in the U.S. and other countries and is used under license. Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google Inc. All other marks and names are trademarks of their respective companies.

Newbie’s Guide to Rooting

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 12:24 PM PST

 

Newbie's Guide to Rooting

If you're reading this article, chances are you're either already rooted or thinking about rooting your device. The thing with rooting is that instead of folks falling into two different camps, I believe there are three camps. In my opinion, we're either rooted, don't even want to think about rooting, or we're kind of intrigued by the idea but don't want to go through the hassle or risk of rooting our device. This guide is more for the latter. My intent is not to sway anyone one way or the other. This is simply to try to keep things simple, while providing resources and knowledge from first-hand experience, and enabling you to make your own informed decision. While I'm not going to walk you step-by-step on how to root your specific device (we'll be here forever going through each device); I will introduce you to the concept of rooting, reliable sources for reading, things to do before rooting, the benefits of rooting, and what to do after you're rooted. 

 

What is rooting? 

Rooting a device is simply the process of gaining full, privileged, or admin control of a device thus allowing 'root access' or 'superuser' permissions. The process itself basically exploits a security weakness on a device, and in simple terms, grants the user executable permissions that are not otherwise there with a non-rooted device. Once a device is rooted, the user has complete control of the device from files on the device to being able to perform additional tasks that will truly make your device your own.

 

 

What are the benefits of rooting? 

As mentioned above, rooting gives the user ultimate control over a device. Imagine for a second that you couldn’t access, alter, or delete a file or program on the PC/laptop that you own. That really doesn’t make much sense does it? Granted you could mess some things up if you're not careful, but you do have the right and are given that ability as the superuser or admin of your PC that you paid money for. You are the ‘root’ user of your PC or laptop. Now think, do you have complete control of the device that you’ve no doubt paid a lot of money for? If the manufacturer doesn’t limit what you can do on your laptop, why do phone manufacturers do it?

Beyond just the basic idea of knowing you have complete control of your device, rooting allows you to modify the phone to your liking. Do you hate all of that carrier 'bloat' that is preloaded on your device? Don’t just disable it, root it and get rid of it so you have more storage. Additionally, if you don't have a Google device, chances are you get updates later than when Google officially releases them – way later, since they then have to go through the carrier to be ‘massaged.’ When you're rooted, you can get those updates within a few days from developers that own your same device via a custom ROM. Speaking of custom ROMs, most ROMs include an option to tether. This is in fact a major reason why most go ahead and make the leap to root.

Other benefits include the ability to completely back up your system onto your SD card. This way if all else fails, you could boot into your recovery and load the backup that you have saved that is sitting on an external storage. Additionally, you can modify boot animations, fonts, and themes. No techie or coding experience is necessary. The beauty these days is that there are numerous apps that allow you to make these changes with a few selections of available options via the app(s).

 

Fact is, once you’ve made that leap to go ahead and root and you do a few things that aren’t normally 'allowed,' it can get addicting and you begin finding out what else you can do. It’s truly what Android is all about. For example, due to my phone being rooted, I'm able to run Android 4.2 with a phone that was released almost 2 ½ years ago. It was essentially abandoned by my carrier and Google regarding updates, but being rooted keeps it ‘alive.’ I don't get the newest features like Photo Sphere since my phone lacks a proper gyroscope, but I can run 4.2 while enjoying most of the other benefits. You shouldn’t feel like you need a new phone to enjoy new software. It's downright amazing what developers can pull off on older devices, and when you have root access, you can enjoy those benefits such as custom ROMs and kernels which make your device even better.

 

 

What are the risks of rooting? 

Okay, honestly this is what most of you want to know, right? I mean, if it were easy and there were no risks then everyone would be rooted. Aside from completely voiding your factory warranty, to be blunt, you can seriously mess up your phone – like to the point where you’ve made it into a glorified paperweight. That's the big risk. I know, it's a massive risk, but it's kind of along those lines of a risk that has to be pointed out like all the risks that go along with taking medicine. I mean it's a risk for me to drive to work each morning. It's a risk to fly. I could go on and on. However, it's more of a disclaimer than anything. These days, most devices are very easy to root. Also, keep in mind that the method(s) you run across to root your device has been done numerous times by countless others.

No technical knowledge is required for the most part – just basic computer knowledge if anything. I'm far from a 'techie type' but recently I sold a rooted device I had been using for the past year and began using my old device that wasn’t rooted (I hadn’t gotten the rooting bug when I used my previous device). In a matter of 15 minutes I was rooted without any prior knowledge of how to root that device. It's literally that easy, for the most part.  Rooting has come a long way since the first Android smartphone, and rooting a device usually only takes a few minutes once a little bit of homework on the user’s part is done.

 

Things to consider and/or to do before rooting 

So you know what rooting is, the benefits of it, and are aware of the risks. Now what? I'm not going to lie, there's going to be some work involved if you're new to this.

  • I can't stress it enough: Google is going to be your friend. Search rooting your device. Do you have an older device? Maybe start with that one first. Then read, read, and read some more. Reading and doing your homework on your device prevents the risks we discussed earlier. The more you read, the more you'll know going in and what to expect.
  • Stick to reputable websites that come up on your searches – ones you’ve probably already come in contact with before and visit frequently. When you run across terminology that you don't understand, read up on that also. You're essentially teaching yourself here.
  • XDA is an excellent source and usually has everything you need in one place that's dedicated just for your phone. All of your questions have been asked and answered in there before, trust me. All you need to do is search. Granted it can be a little intimidating at first, but most forums for devices have a General section with a “Newb” thread, or two.
  • Did I mention reading? I’ve found that if you read enough, most sites you visit about rooting your device will become repetitive. It's at that point that you should feel comfortable with what to expect in rooting your device.
  • Have a 'backup' plan. What happens if you're not successful rooting your device? What if it 'hangs' in the process? If you don't know what to do, you didn’t read enough in the beginning. At the very least you should already have a backup saved of your stock ROM/OS. Additionally, you should know exactly how to recover that backup and/or your factory settings should something go wrong. Most phones have a fail-safe that you can enter to go back to stock, access a backup, etc. At the very least, you should have a backup created before you begin and you should know how to access your recovery mode as well as the steps to get you back up and running. Whenever I create a backup, I test that backup to see if it'll load properly.  After all, what good is a backup if it can't load? Yes, it's time consuming but you can't be too careful, and honestly, if you're not prepared to invest a little time, then rooting is probably not for you.
  • Make sure you're looking at the most recent process to root your device.  When you search, filter by date and at least pull a set of instructions from the past few months, or the most recent you can find. Methods change over time, and often times those newer methods make it easier on the user to root. Make it easy on yourself and pull those latest instructions.
  • Read all instructions carefully – very carefully. Do not assume anything if you're halfway knowledgeable in rooting. Read each step, and make sure it makes sense to you before you begin. Read the instructions multiple times and do each step one-at-a-time – slowly.
  • Speaking of slowly – don't be in a hurry! It's not a race. I know the adrenaline can get going, but take your time and be thorough. Again, do each step slowly and read each step carefully. Also, finding a guide that includes pictures will help tremendously.
  • Do your homework and read user comments. Most of the time, the steps you find to root your device will come in the form of a blog or forum. Read the posts under it. You'll be surprised at how much additional you'll learn from other users that are in the same situation as you – and reading those that are successful will give you confidence.
  • Ask questions. The good thing about the Android Community is that most of us are willing to help each other out since we were once newbies. In those forums and blogs, ask questions. Most of the time you'll get a quick answer.

 

Yay! I'm rooted.  Now what? 

Let me just say this: If you don't know why you want to root, then you probably don't need to root. Read the section again about the benefits of rooting above, and do some research to make sure you know why you want to root.

  • First thing's first – create a backup. You're rooted and up and running with no issues so create that backup. Most devices, upon root, will have a modified recovery system.  Know exactly how to access that system (you may have to search the exact way to access it) and get familiar with it. Once familiar, create a backup. Test that backup, and if it loads properly you can now proceed with having fun. Also keep in mind that when you change recoveries (usually going from stock to rooted), your backup you made on the previous recovery will not work on the new one.
  • Know exactly how to access your recovery should you need to do so at any given time. This includes if the phone is off, or on. Also, some phones allow you to access what's called a 'Download Mode' which requires you to have your device plugged into a laptop or PC. This mode is then used to push an OS onto your device via your PC or laptop. Believe me, one day you'll have to use one of these types of recoveries. Scary, yes. But valuable that you'll be prepared.
  • Read some more. Each phone is different, so read what's available to you now that your device is rooted. As mentioned, this could include custom ROMS and/or kernels that allow you to get better battery life and other nice features. Also check out the apps that will work for all rooted devices that allow you to make tweaks to your device mentioned earlier.
  • Remember to not be in hurry with whatever you do with your phone once rooted. You have complete control and rights to everything on your phone, and one slip-up and it may not work properly.
  • Spread the knowledge. Once you’ve learned the ropes, help others.

 

Summary 

Hopefully this guide has helped you become more comfortable with the process of rooting. Again, it's not meant to sway anyone in any matter. It should simply be used as a resource so you can make your own decision. There are many benefits of rooting, but if it's not worth the risk then you obviously shouldn’t do it. Good luck, and happy rooting.

 

Disclaimer: Talk Android cannot be held responsible if any damage is done to your device.

 

Glossary of Terms

 

Root – Admin access gained for a device or the process of gaining admin access for a device.

XDA (XDA-developers.com) – A website with very valuable information specific for your device in blog and forum format.

ROM – Essentially an operating system, including the kernel.

Kernel – Heart of the operating system. It keeps everything running.

How to unlock and root the Nexus 10

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:22 AM PST

Although there is a  simple root toolkit for the Nexus 10, we always stress the importance of unlocking and rooting your device the manual way. It gives you a better understanding of how things work, but we do understand why you might want to go the easy route. If you want to give it a go the old fashioned way, we’ve got you covered with all the necessary steps to unlock and root your Nexus 10. It’s actually pretty simple and in less then the time it takes to watch a sitcom you will be well on your way. Hit the break to get started.

**These instructions are straight forward and easy, but things can go wrong so we don’t take any responsibility.

Requirements

  1. You must have the sdk installed and be able to access and use adb and fastboot.
  2. You must have USB debugging enabled on your Nexus 10. If this is the first time going into developer options on your Nexus 10, just go into “About Phone” from your settings and tap the build number seven times. You will now see all developer options from now on.

Unlocking the bootloader

**By unlocking the bootloader you will completely reset your device so make sure to back up anything you want to keep.

  1. Connect your Nexus 10 to your PC via the USB cable that came with it
  2. Launch Terminal / Command Prompt
  3. Navigate to the fastboot/adb folder which will be inside the location where the Android SDK is installed (On Windows, it should be in C:\program files (x86)\android\android-sdk\platform-tools)
  4. Enter the following command: fastboot devices (You should see your device ID. If you don’t, you don’t have the proper driver installed and you can’t move forward unless you get this resolved. See below for help. If you see the device ID move on to step 5)
  5. Enter the following command: fastboot oem unlock  (If you didn’t get a device ID from step 4 and you moved to this step by mistake, it will be stuck on “Waiting for Device.” If this is the case, just hit CONTROL-C to stop it and see the below driver information)
  6. It should say Start in the top right. Hit the power button to reboot.

**If you ever want to lock the bootloader you can simply enter fastboot oem lock instead for step 5.

Gain Root Access

  1. Turn on USB debugging again
  2. Download the latest CWM recovery file for the Nexus 10 (either non touch or touch) and place it in the fastboot folder (again this location should be C:\program files (x86)\android\android-sdk\platform-tools in Windows)
  3. Download and place CWM-SuperSU-v0.98.zip directly under /sdcard on your device
  4. Enter the following command: adb reboot bootloader
  5. Enter the following command: fastboot flash recovery-clockwork-6.0.1.8-mako.img
  6. Tap the volume down so it shows Recovery Mode in the top right, then hit the power button.
  7. At this point you can perform a backup from the “backup and restore” option in case anything goes wrong. If you need to restore this backup ever, just use the restore option.
  8. From the main menu, navigate to install zip from sdcard > choose zip from sdcard > CWM-SuperSU-vo.98.zip
  9. From main menu, select reboot system now
  10. After reboot you should see SuperSU in your apps drawer, open it and tap on continue to make sure your installation is successful. 

If you followed these instructions correctly, your Nexus 10 bootloader is now unlocked and you should have permanent root. Congratulations!!!

**Driver Issues

You might find that even though you can access your Nexus 4 via Windows, you might have a problem with the driver not installed correctly from terminal mode. You will know you have this problem because the device ID didn’t appear in Step 4 or for Step 5. it’s stuck on “Waiting for Device.” You can’t unlock the bootloader until you get this resolved. The following may help…

Make sure the Google USB drivers are installed from the SDK.

Go to your Control Panel then Device Manager. You should see Android Phone with a Yellow ! mark on it. Right click on it and choose update driver, choose browse my computer, then Let me pick from a list. Select Android ADB Interface. You should be good to go. Return to Step 5 under Unlocking the bootloader.

 

Apple’s App Store generates four times more revenue than Google’s Play Store, but Google is gaining ground

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:54 AM PST

App Annie just unveiled the App Annie Index, which will be a monthly report that provides revenue and download analysis of the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. They have some pretty interesting things to report in their first month. The first of which is that Apple’s App Store generates four times more revenue than Google’s Play Store. That is so interesting when you consider that close to 75% of the smartphones are Android and it’s inline with the Android Engagement Paradox we wrote about earlier in the week. It’s not all doom and gloom though because Google Play revenue grew 311 percent for the year-to-date as compared to iOS revenue, which only grew 12.9 percent.

"The gap between global revenue on iOS and Google Play is still there," said Schmitt, "but the gap is shrinking every month, creating more opportunities for publishers to generate significant revenue growth in several countries on Google Play."

Another interesting tidbit is that the U.S. is no longer the top country when it comes to revenue for the Play Store. Japan is the now the number one country as of October, and this is the first time the U.S. wasn’t number one since January 2012.

"Japan has seen tremendous revenue growth in the last few months, thanks to the average revenue per user being significantly higher than in other countries, considering that download volume in Japan is a only a quarter that of the U.S.," said Schmitt. "This represents a major tectonic shift in the international app store economy, and one that I'm sure publishers will be looking to take advantage of."

Not far behind is China and Samsung’s home, Korea. In fact Korea is now the second most country behind the U.S. for free downloads. Let’s also not count out India, which is getting blitzed with low cost Android handsets.

"The flood of low-cost Android phones into the Indian market is starting to turn the country into a download superpower," said Schmitt. "Monetizing those downloads, however, is still a challenge that app publishers have yet to realize."

As far as developers go, it seems as though several developers are making more money from only one or two apps as opposed to the larger developers making more than 50 apps. The top 10 developers in the Google Play Store were:

  1. DeNA (Japan)
  2. COLOPL (Japan)
  3. GungHo Online (Japan)
  4. WeMade Entertainment (South Korea)
  5. Zynga (US)
  6. GAMEVIL (South Korea)
  7. GREE (Japan)
  8. NAVER (Japan)
  9. Gameloft (France)
  10. NextFloor (South Korea)

We already had an idea that Apple was kicking major butt in the revenue department, but you have to think that this is going to change soon with all the Android phones available. I think the biggest problem is that many of the buyers of the lower cost handsets were likely to buy another feature phone, but opted to go the “smart” route since the cost wasn’t much higher. The result is that they really aren’t into the “smartphone thing”100%, therefore they are unlikely to purchase apps. One developer yelled at me when I suggested he make a free and paid version of his app when he said, “Android users don’t buy a thing!!” Hopefully this time next year we will be able to report that things have changed.

Full Press Release

App Annie Index™: Japan Overtakes U.S. for Google Play Revenue

New monthly index provides insight into revenue and download trends across app stores globally

iOS revenue four times greater than Google Play, but Google Play revenue growing much faster

SAN FRANCISCO AND BEIJING, Nov. 29, 2012 – App Annie today unveiled the App Annie IndexTM, a monthly report that charts and analyzes major revenue and download trends within the iOS and Google Play stores worldwide. Leveraging data from the company's premium service, App Annie Intelligence, the Index will be freely available on the App Annie blog every month. "Our mission as a company is to help drive better business decisions in the app industry through analytics and market data," said Bertrand Schmitt, CEO, App Annie. "With the launch of the App Annie Index, we want to inform a broader audience and educate the public on key trends breaking every month."

"What has become clear from App Annie's first Index is that while iOS took home most of the global revenue pie in October, the rising adoption of Google Play in Asian markets, including South Korea and Japan, is already driving major revenue growth opportunities on the platform," said Schmitt. "We can also see from the data that app publishers have two options when it comes to becoming a global app store success—distributing a large quantity of apps or marketing one or two high quality apps. Both business models are working—from large publishers including EA and Zynga, which have been able to scale, to smaller publishers such as Supercell, which had runaway success last month with Clash of Clans."

Japan Overtakes U.S. for Google Play Revenue, Catches Up on iOS

According to App Annie Intelligence estimates, Japan overtook the U.S. in Google Play revenue in October, marking the first time the U.S. did not rank number one for revenue on Google Play. Since January 2012, Japanese app revenue on Google Play has multiplied by more than 10 times while U.S. revenue has doubled.

"Japan has seen tremendous revenue growth in the last few months, thanks to the average revenue per user being significantly higher than in other countries, considering that download volume in Japan is a only a quarter that of the U.S.," said Schmitt. "This represents a major tectonic shift in the international app store economy, and one that I'm sure publishers will be looking to take advantage of."

On iOS, revenue in Japan is still well behind the U.S.—14.4 percent compared to 32.7 percent respectively. However, Japan is catching up month-by-month, with the country taking an increasingly larger share of global revenue and the U.S. taking an increasingly smaller share.

iOS Revenue Still Four Times Greater than Google Play, but Google Play Gaining Ground

In October 2012, iOS global app store revenue was four times larger than that on Google Play. However, Google Play revenue grew an astonishing 311 percent for the year-to-date, compared to iOS revenue, which grew a modest 12.9 percent. It's a different story when looking at free downloads, where Google Play slightly lagged behind iOS in download volume, but grew an impressive 48 percent for the year-to-date compared to just 3.3 percent growth for iOS.

"The gap between global revenue on iOS and Google Play is still there," said Schmitt, "but the gap is shrinking every month, creating more opportunities for publishers to generate significant revenue growth in several countries on Google Play."

China Closes on U.S. in iOS Downloads

At the beginning of the year, the U.S. accounted for 33 percent of all global iOS downloads. Nine months later, in October, the U.S. accounted for just 25.3 percent, with China not far behind at 15.3 percent. On Google Play, it's a very different set of countries that are vying for worldwide downloads. Korea, home country to the Samsung Galaxy, now stands as the nation driving the most free downloads behind the U.S., eclipsing download volumes in Japan by nearly two times. India is also starting to show its distribution muscle, coming in at third place, ahead of Japan, and accounting for 6.2 percent of global free downloads.

"The flood of low-cost Android phones into the Indian market is starting to turn the country into a download superpower," said Schmitt. "Monetizing those downloads, however, is still a challenge that app publishers have yet to realize."

Less Proves to be More for App Publishers such as Supercell

App Annie also found that several app publishers are making more money from only one or two apps than large and established publishers are making from more than 50 apps. For example, publishers including Supercell, NextFloor, Kabam, WeMade Entertainment and Applibot are monetizing users from a small handful of apps at an astounding rate.

"On iOS, Supercell is the most impressive, second only to EA in generating revenue on the back of two apps," said Schmitt. "Applibot and Kabam also make it into the top 10 with just a few apps each to their names. On Google Play, it's the Korean game publishers WeMade Entertainment and NextFloor who make more money than many of the large multinationals."

U.S., Japanese and Korean Game Publishers Dominate Top Revenue Charts

In line with the macro trends App Annie has seen at a country level, publishers from the U.S., Japan and Korea are dominating publisher revenue charts. On iOS, Japanese and U.S. publishers account for eight of the top 10, while on Google Play, a staggering eight of the top 10 publishers by revenue are from Japan or Korea.

For October, the top 10 iOS publishers by revenue were:

  1. Electronic Arts (US)
  2. Supercell  (Finland)
  3. Zynga (US)
  4. Gameloft (France)
  5. Apple (US)
  6. Applibot Inc. (Japan)
  7. SQUARE ENIX (Japan)
  8. GungHo Online (Japan)
  9. Kabam (US)
  10. GREE (Japan)

On Google Play, they were:

  1. DeNA (Japan)
  2. COLOPL (Japan)
  3. GungHo Online (Japan)
  4. WeMade Entertainment (South Korea)
  5. Zynga (US)
  6. GAMEVIL (South Korea)
  7. GREE (Japan)
  8. NAVER (Japan)
  9. Gameloft (France)
  10. NextFloor (South Korea)

 

Clay Jam Officially Makes Its Way To Play Store, Gives Gamers The Chance Express Their Inner Clay Imaginations

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:28 AM PST

 

Those of you who appreciate a good action game are about to be all smiles because Clay Jam is officially live, finally giving gamers the chance to have a unique action gaming experience. In case you’re not familiar with the game, players will play as Fat Pebble as he races to save Clay Jam from the fearsome Bully Beasts— all in clay form. The game comes jam-packed with features including more than 20 hand-made monsters to search for, 5 strange hills to rebuild and 5  Bully Beasts to defeat. Best of all— all of the awesome features found in the game are available for an astounding price of $0.00, though there are additional in-app options available for a nominal fee.

The game is available in the now in the Play Store, so be sure to grab it once you hit past the break. We do ask that you don’t blame us in case you know— have a sudden lack of productivity at the office because of the game’s addictiveness.

 

 

Play Store Download Link

How to disable unwanted system apps and bloatware from your Android phone (Android 4.0 and up)

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:52 AM PST

A very handy but underrated feature in Google’s Android 4.x operating system is the ability to disable apps. Disabling apps is a way to basically freeze and hide any unused, unwanted, or unruly system apps that came on your phone (ie: ones that you can’t uninstall). This feature might come in handy if your phone came stocked with a bunch of unwanted bloatware that you never use. If you’re sick of looking at those unused icons cluttering up your app drawer, you can simply disable them and they’ll disappear for good.   Another reason you might want to disable an app is if it is causing problems for your system, whether it be battery drain or lag. A perfect example was Google’s Currents app that was causing lag for Nexus 7 users after the Android 4.2 update. Users simply disabled the app, and the lag immediately disappeared. Whatever the reason is that you might want to disable an app, it’s a pretty straightforward procedure. Read on after the break for instructions. To disable an app, you must be on Android 4.0 and up. If you are, then follow these steps:

  1. Open your main Settings menu
  2. Tap on Apps
  3. Swipe to “All”
  4. Find the app you want to disable and click on it
  5. In the top right you will see a disable button (if it says Uninstall instead of Disable, then it is not a system app, and you can just uninstall it like normal)
  6. Tap Disable
  7. Confirm by clicking OK on the pop-up dialogue
  8. Exit settings
  9. A reboot may be necessary, but more than likely won’t be

If you ever want to enable the app again, just follow the steps above and tap Enable at step 6.

A couple of disclaimers: 1) The steps might be slightly different depending on if your phone has a custom manufacturer skin (ie: Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, or HTC’s Sense), but should generally be close to this order. 2) Some system apps cannot be disabled. For example, an app called ConfigUpdater cannot be disabled, because it is a vital part of your phone functioning properly. 3) Some bloatware might not show the disable button. If that’s the case, tap uninstall updates. If it still doesn’t give you an option to disable, than either the app is vital or the carrier forced the manufacturer to block it. Still, this method should work for most apps.

Let us know how this guide worked for you and if you have any questions, just ask in the comments section! Good luck!

Only three companies profitable at selling mobile phones during third quarter

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:45 AM PST

In a Twitter post a couple weeks ago, Horace Dediu claims only three companies were profitable in selling mobile phones during the third quarter. According to his claim, Apple’s share of the global mobile phone profit pie fell to 60% from 66% during the second quarter. Samsung laid claim to 39% and HTC managed to grab 1% of operating profits.

At least one follower took Dediu to task by pointing out that LG was profitable by the slimmest of margins. Dediu tries to shrug it off by claiming LG “effectively” broke even. Readers may recognize Dediu as the author of the study on the Android Engagement Paradox that we reported on earlier this week.

source: Twitter

Verizon First Overall, AT&T Last in This Year’s Consumer Reports Survey

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:38 AM PST

You know what they say: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the case regarding AT&T and this year’s Consumer Reports survey based on mobile carriers. Like last year, AT&T finished dead last in Consumer Reports’ mobile carrier satisfaction survey which focuses on data service quality, staff knowledge, and issue resolution. Similarly, like last year, Verizon finished atop the list. Ironically, even though AT&T finished dead last in overall scoring, they finished first with its LTE network satisfaction. The poll itself polled 63,253 subscribers and the the results will be published in the January 2013 issue which should hit stores within the next week or so.

source:  All Things

Turns out pairing wine with your smartphone is just as important as pairing wine with what you’re eating

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:01 AM PST

Did you ever go to the wine store and ask the salesman which wine you should buy based on what’s for dinner? I bet you never asked him what you should buy based on the phone you have in your pocket. Turns out that you might want to consider that for you next purchase. Stuff.tv gave Tim Morgan, from the Summer Chimney Wine Club, six smartphones and asked him to match wines to the typical user for each. Hit the break to find out the results

 

Samsung Galaxy S III – Shrinking Violet Syrah/Viognier 2011, Pays d’Oc France

This full bodied Syrah is from Southern France and is softened by the addition of Viognier. They recommend splashing some into stewing beef and mushrooms and drinking the rest while waiting for it to cook.

 

Samsung Galaxy Note II – Carmen Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Colchagua, Chile

This Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile sports dark fruits overlaid with cassis, eucalyptus, and allspice. It goes perfectly with a big rib-eye steak (or a big phone).

 

HTC One X + – El Bon Homme 2011, Valencia, Spain

This seductive wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Monastrell (Mourverde) and comes from the hills of Valencia. It’s considered eccentric since each case comes with four different bottles, each with a stick man and a red button. It’s ripe but balanced with sweet blackberry and plum fruits with a touch of black cherry.

 

Apple iPhone 5 – Manawa Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Marlborough, New Zealand

This Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and zesty with grapefruit citrus notes. The grapes are farmed bio-dynamically and made at the Seresin Estate, which is owned by cinematographer Michael Seresin. He’s known for Harry Potter, Angela’s Ashes, and Midnight Express.

 

Nokia Lumia 920 – Sola Fred 2010, Montsant, Spain

This wine hails from super-cool Monstant in the hills behind Tarragona in Catalonia. It sports delicious blackcurrent, black cherry, and earth aromas. It goes great with pasta, tomato, chorizo, and peppers.

 

Blackberry Bold 9900 – Chateau Deville 2006, Premieres Cotes de Bordeax, France

This medium-bodied Merlot sports aromas of berries, cherries, and earthy spice notes. It’s soft on the palate and has a satisfying finish thanks to the juicy red fruits and the classic claret cedar note.

source: stuff.tv

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Google Rumored To Be Working On Improved Mobile Search Functions, Wants To Answer Questions Before You Ask

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:42 AM PST

 

It’s no surprise that Google has taken the preliminary steps to get to know you a little better, but now it is taking things to another level by potentially answering a question before you ask. That’s right folks— Google is potentially working on something that pre-guesses what users are likely to be looking for and pings an update before users will ask the question. According to Technology Review, Google is trying to get an understanding of the needs of its users as they go about their normal lives. Essentially, this new technology would be even more dependent of a user’s GPS and would assist in making all the little things just a wee bit easier— like telling users how many people are lining up to buy their sandwiches at the local supermarket. So in essence, as users go about their normal day, Google will begin to pick up on the habits and give you answers before you ask. Cool? Definitely. Scary? Absolutely.

The fact that Google is possibly working on this enhanced technology all but points to one thing: Google clearly has its vision of the future for Google Now… one with an enhanced search experience. The scary thing is it’s going to be here— whether we like it or not.

source: Technology Review
via: Gizmodo
Posted by at 7:05 AM

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