Research: The Challenges for New Mobile Gaming Platforms

From ResearchandMarkets: By 2008 the global mobile games market had stagnated. Growth in the operator distributed mobile games market, which peaked at over 50 per cent in 2004 and 2005, had fallen to 10 per cent, and is expected to drop to just 7 per cent in 2009. Device fragmentation, and the top publishers' dominance over operators' portals, had created an ecosystem in which it was difficult for all but the biggest players to generate significant income.

In July 2008 Apple launched its App Store, for which games quickly proved popular. With over 1bn applications downloaded in the first 10 months and 70 per cent of revenues going to publishers/ developers, the iPhone platform and the App Store business model and retail channel have proved that there is a significant market for mobile games outside of operators' portals.

As this business model challenges the relationship between operators and publishers, and smartphones, that can provide advanced gaming capabilities, grow in popularity, more players will try to emulate Apple's success. Two platforms that have the potential to boost the mobile games market outside operators' portals are Nokia's N-Gage, and Google's Android. Though neither of these has yet got the necessary combination of ingredients to be a true rival to the iPhone/App Store combination in the mobile games market.

Despite the growth of new platforms, it is the Java games market that will continue to provide the biggest revenues. As more small publishers, that have been unable to achieve significant revenues with network operators, leave this space, the top publishers will be presented with the chance to increase their dominance of this market.

Key Findings:

- Apple's App Store is already having a significant impact on the mobile games market. Games for the iPhone generated globally over $100m revenues in H2 2008 and it took 10% of the North American mobile games market.

- As device manufacturers, operators and platform providers launch their own stores, seeking to emulate the success of the App Store, Screen Digest expects more mobile games publishers to abandon or reduce development of Java games for operators' portals.

- Despite growth in revenues in 2008, the impact of new platforms meant that the top three mobile games publishers failed to increase their market share.

- While many players will try to mimic the success of Apple's App Store, as yet, none has the necessary ingredients to match Apple. Platform specific and on-device application stores have the greatest chance of success in the mobile games market.

- Although the application store business model and high-end platforms are attractive to publishers (better share of revenues, more receptive audience, control over pricing and ability to innovate), the operator distributed Java games market will, in the short-to-medium term, remain the largest market.

- Of the top three publishers, Gameloft has best positioned itself to take advantage of the boost new platforms have given the market, though EA Mobile, with its catalogue of popular licensed and parent company games, has the necessary titles to match this success. More

Social Gaming: Twitter's Moneymaking Potential with Super Rewards

Provided by Michael Liedtke from Mobile Gadgets;
Lolplaying, the maker of a new role-playing game on Twitter called 140 Mafia, is trying to explore Twitter's moneymaking potential with Super Rewards, a "virtual currency" service that already has been reaping revenue from various forms of online recreation. Super Rewards gives players of online and mobile games ways to gain the upper hand.

Twitter Inc.'s founders still haven't decided how to cash in on their popular Internet messaging service -- to the delight of a rapidly growing audience. But the deliberate approach may not prevent a gold rush among opportunistic outsiders. More

Motorola Offers Android Smart Phone End Of The Year

Verizon and T-Mobile USA plan to offer Motorola smartphones running Google's Android operating system by the end of the year, according to a report in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the Journal said the new phones stem from efforts by Motorola Co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha to revive the company's sluggish handset division. Motorola is hoping Android will help it win a greater slice of the cell phone market.

A Motorola representative declined to comment to the Journal. However, the report said a person familiar with the proposed T-Mobile smartphone described it as having a touch screen with a slide-out keyboard. The Android operating system will offer built-in social networking from providers such as Facebook and Twitter, the person added.

T-Mobile currently has two phones on the market running Android. The company debuted its G1 smartphone last year and recently announced a second phone, the myTouch, to hit stores in August.

Verizon has said it plans to support Android phones that would be available later this year but hasn't revealed further details.

Report delivered by Lance Whitney (Journalist, Web developer, and software trainer)

The Human Factor In Protecting Laptop Data

Organizations often are not able to prove data on lost or stolen computers was encrypted.
Encryption is one of the most important security tools in the defense of information assets. Ponemon Institute has conducted numerous studies on organizations’ use of encryption to prevent the loss of sensitive and confidential information. These studies have shown that encryption can be an effective deterrent. However, our studies also show that in order to be effective, encryption requires organizations and users to take appropriate steps to make sure sensitive and confidential information is protected as much as possible.

The Human Factor in Laptop Encryption to understand employees’ perceptions about ensuring that information assets entrusted to their care are effectively managed in encryption environments, especially the use of whole disk encryption on laptop computers. The study also was conducted in the United States and Canada. The results are published in separate reports.

What we learned is that a high percentage of employees we surveyed in business functions (referred to as business managers in this report) are not taking such precautionary steps as using complex passwords, not sharing passwords, using a privacy screen shield, keeping their laptop physically safe when traveling or locking their laptops to their desks to protect sensitive and confidential data. Further, many respondents believe that encrypted solutions make it unnecessary to take other security measures.

In contrast, their colleagues in IT and IT security functions (referred to as IT security practitioners in this report) are diligent in taking all or most precautionary steps to safeguard the sensitive and confidential information on their laptops. They believe encryption is an important security tool, but believe it is critical to follow certain procedures to ensure that data is protected if a laptop is lost or stolen. Info delivered by Dr. Larry Ponemon




The above chart also shows that 50% of business managers report that someone in their organization had their laptop lost or stolen and 26% say it resulted in a data breach. Only 18% report that the organization was able to prove that the contents of the laptop were encrypted.
There is more confidence among IT security practitioners in the ability of encryption to protect the sensitive and confidential information that resides on their laptops. Ponemon Institute conducted this study sponsored by Absolute Software.

Palm OS Wifi Smart Phone

More than 30 000 palm apps available, it should be nevertheless possible to find a handset maker to create a new handy wlan palm os smart phone. The purpose of this idea is to keep alive the fantastic operating system palm os with its fantastic software products, and bringing wlan connectivity for more wireless independence , which missed someone. It should be basically the same specs as we've seen in other phones, for example myTouch, and with feature for mobile gamers. Looking forward to find friends with the same thought.

60 New Apps for Palm webOS

Handcase presents the first 60 applications for webOS

The Handcase comes time to evaluating the migration of its extensive portfolio of software and games for other mobile platforms. Why webOS? WebOS because we can not ignore our passion for the Palm.
We can not ignore the need of mobile users in terms of software and games.

The software will be offered as a service and the web 2.0 style. The software will be offered as a subscription. Users will have the resources available as skins, encrypted security, option to mount their own mobile social networks and more. Carriers can offer unique customized versions. Users will have options to access wi-fi for free, or be signed by your carrier.
The options of signing will be: free for personal users with and without advertising, paid and free for professionals and pay for companies. One of the services yet to be free for businesses, will be Co2Global, the software for management of carbon credits, the first in the world, launched in 2008 by Handcase, which will have its version to service, offered soon.

The Handcase advance even began working with MotionApps to the compatibility of their products, with the classic, the PalmOS emulator for WebOS.

The Handcase time, will detail in the exclusive website, the beta versions of each of the first software 60, when then officially communicate the launch.

Very Stylish - New Cell Phones from Samsung

Samsung OmniaLITE B7300
a 3-megapixel stylish WM smartphone with a touchscreen display. Other features include A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, microSD slot for memory expansion and Organizer

Samsung OmniaPRO B7320
Has similar form-factor to the Samsung Jack. The OmniaPRO B7320 has a 2.4" landscape QVGA display and a full QWERTY keyboard on the front side. It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard and has an A-GPS, 3-megapixel camera and UMTS/HSDPA support

Samsung OmniaPRO B7610
This phone is a side slider, running Windows Mobile Professional. The device comes equipped with a 3.5” AMOLED touch sensitive display with a resolution of 480x800 pixels and 5-megapixel camera, as well as Wi-Fi and HSDPA connectivity

New Facebook app for Windows Mobile 6 phone

New from Windows Mobile: a Facebook application for your phone! Download the new Facebook application for Windows Mobile and:

• Send messages to any of the people in your Friends list.
  
  
• Take pictures and videos on your phone, then upload them right to Facebook.
  
  
• Send messages or call people in your Friends list.
  
  
• Manage your profile and post anytime, anywhere.
  

Keep up with the latest news and posts with Facebook on your phone. Now your status updates can be up-to-the moment accounts of what you’re doing. Photos and videos are about as close to live-action as you can get. Show your friends what you’re up to, while you’re out and about.

Who Wins the Battle (Not War)? Palm Pre or. Apple iPhone

Monica Alleven from WirelessWeek reports;
The first full week of Palm Pre vs. Apple iPhone news is nearly over. What’s the verdict?

It depends on what you’re talking about. In the buzz department, the Pre seemed to hold its own, even after Apple’s big $99 3G iPhone announcement on Monday and the upcoming iPhone 3GS. Maybe it didn’t hurt that Palm on Wednesday kept the banter going with the departure of CEO Ed Colligan, to be replaced by former Apple exec Jon Rubenstein, who at one point was head of development for the iPod. Strike while the fire’s hot.

In the product review department, it looks pretty mixed, at least based on those comparing the current iPhone to the Pre – and by “mixed,” I mean some love the iPhone and some the Pre, but neither is getting horrific reviews. The Palm has a physical keyboard, and its touch interface is easier for some people than the iPhone’s. The Pre also has MMS and copy and paste functions, which are coming to the Apple devices. Of course, the iPhone has its slew of applications, and at $99, the old iPhone is hard to resist.

In fact, on Monday I was ready to say the $99 price point knocked the wind right out of Sprint’s Pre sails/sales, and that’s not even taking into consideration the June 19 release of the iPhone 3GS (16 GB) for $199, the same price as the Pre. But now I’m not so sure.

It all boils down to what someone is looking for in a device. Sprint boasts a higher installed base of Palm users than other carriers, so it’s not surprising that Palm fans will flock to that carrier and get in line for a Pre if they like the experience of a Treo or Centro. Same goes for Apple fans (and converts) clamoring for the 3GS. But let’s not forget the segment of folks who don’t even want a smartphone but a basic phone that still makes voice calls. (Yes, there’s an app – er, phone – for that.)

One additional take-away from all of this. Sprint says the Pre shattered its own records in terms of first-weekend sales of a new device. We don’t know how many actually have been sold. But Sprint rightly points out the one thing that is much less heralded in all of this: its 3G network.

Sprint has gotten blasted and blasphemed for years about its network. In the early days, it was lack of coverage, but then the Nextel Communications acquisition came along. They say that’s straightened out. Prepaid division Boost Mobile uses iDEN, and although it did have problems getting messages through with the $50 plan introduction, those issues presumably are being or have been addressed.

I know, Sprint has lately hammered on this theme numerous times in quarterly calls with investment analysts and what-not. But you gotta give credit where due. Better network performance has been a major priority at Sprint – and it was about time. I haven’t seen an onslaught of critics blasting the network since the Pre went on sale June 6. That’s got to say something. I’m not (right now) going to nit-pick every claim each of the major carriers makes about their networks. I’m just saying maybe there’s a chance No. 3 will make itself proud. Well, according to Sprint, it already did.

Windows Mobile SMS Backup Transfer to Computer

iMobielTool Inc. has been released a new software tool to transfer sms and contacts from windows smartphone to computer and save it on the hard drive.



iMobileTool SMS Backup can provide you: Backup SMS from Windows Mobile Phone to computer and keep them safe; View and Manage old Windows Mobile SMS on your computer; View SMS in Text file format (.txt file) or SMS file format (.sms file) on PC; Restore SMS from the backup SMS file (.sms file);

Many Windows Mobile Phone users could not backup their SMS to txt file or view on computer. Now iMobileTool SMS Backup offers a full SMS Messages backup solution to Backup all SMS messages for Windows Mobile Phones.

With iMobileTool SMS Backup, you can easily backup the SMS to computer as a txt file or a SMS file whenever you want. You can choose whether to backup the SMS into a TXT file or a SMS file. By choosing SMS file format, you can use our pc sms manager to view and edit your SMS on computer. Moreover, you can import the backup sms file (including your edited file) from pc sms manager back to your mobile phone. Now you can get this SMS Messages Backup for Windows Mobile Phone at a very competitive price!

Running the application is as easy as it was on the Palm OS handheld

Proregi Award - Xilisoft Media Toolkit Ultimate

I'm very glad to deliver the good news that one of our products at www.appCraft.org received Proregi Award for the best software. On February 13th 2009, Vector, the largest software downloading site in Japan, awarded Xilisoft Media Toolkit Ultimate the 12th Proregi Award for the best software of the second half of 2008. The Award is given twice yearly for the best software selected by customers. More than 1 Million people participate in this online-election.

Click here for downloading: http://www.appcraft.org/

Flash Becomes Mobile

The Open Source Project is founded by Adobe to develop flash web browsing and standalone applications — taking advantage of Adobe® Flash® Player and, in the future, Adobe® AIR®. Flash Player for smartphones is expected to be available to handset manufacturers at the end of 2009. At the moment flash videos (youtube) can viewed for example with video software programs from CorePlayer.com.

appCraft.org now on Twitter

appCraft.org offers software solutions for windows computer user, also for palm pda and pocket pc, as well as free demos and support.

To find out more about Twitter, visit the link below:
http://twitter.com/appCraftorg

About Twitter

Twitter is a unique approach to communication and networking based on the simple concept of status. What are you doing? What are your friends doing—right now? With Twitter, you may answer this question over SMS or the Web and the responses are shared between contacts.

PSP maker reports loss, rival Nintendo makes profit

Sony fell into a quarterly loss and saw a record year in the red, while rival Nintendo revised its outlook lower but still eyed record profit.

iPhone Ringtones

The iPhone Ringtone Maker, developed by Xilisoft Inc., can even convert music purchased from iTunes store to iPhone ringtone, and help you clip any music segment from video/audio file and turn it into iPhone ringtone. Create iPhone ringtone with iPhone Ringtone Maker now, assign an unique iPhone ringtone for every acquaintance, and recognize who is calling effortlessly!

Following features are included in this software application:

Convert audio files like WMA, WAV, RA, M4A, MP3 to iPhone ringtone in M4R format

Make iPhone ringtone from videos like AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, MP4, H.264/AVC, AVCHD, MKV, etc.

Transfer converted ringtone to iPhone directly after making iPhone ringtone

Demo download and purchase possibility available at this link:
http://www.appcraft.org/shop_xilisoft-iphone-ringtone-maker_1548_46_45.html

Invitation to my XING network

I'd like to invite you to be part of my XING network.

I use XING to manage my professional contacts and get in touch with other people in my industry. Take a look--it has paid off for me.

Kind regards,

Wolfgang

It's free to join XING and it only takes a minute to sign up.

Accept invitation to join my network!

Handhelds with WebOS, Why Not?

The Handheld Computer (PDA) is not dead, and the operating system Palm OS just as not, but Palm OS I think it becomes a classic note. The internet connection capability for mobile devices is a must have for modern users and sometimes necessarily as a phone connection, additional the public wireless service works better and better, from there the WebOS platform should be a interesting OS application. For example, DataViz are well-known to PalmOS users (Word, Excel Documents..), the software programmer company announced to develop apps for WebOS, so thats another argument to put WebOS on Handheld's.

Palm Roots are not Dead

I mean that Palm, the Smartphone and PDA producer, is a creative company since his fantastic first handheld computer with touch screen, the customer requirements changes in the following years immense quickly. Now it appears the smartphone it is the right device for mobile computing, and Palm has had again the right solution, idea and to keep one's nerve in this tough economics times. Now the Pre is here, with great hardware and with the new operating system, called Web OS. If Palm handle this operating system like a family treasure, I think the future for the company is bright successfully.

Palm revealed the new Pre Smartphone

Part 1


Part 2