• Bye Bye Typepad
  

  Over the past days (and the coming days), MGB is moving from Typepad (our host for over 5 years) to a private Wordpress installation. With this move, MGB can further expand it's services in the future.

  Over the past days, we moved over 5.000 posts and well over 1.000 comments.

  As a full migration is not possible, there will be some broken links now and in the near future. Also the RSS feed might have some problems over the next few days. We appologize for this, but it is the only way for us to keep going forward.

• Fishlabs Hints Toward Nokia Tablet
  German developer Fishlabs has fuelled rumors about Nokia working on an iPad competitor. The developer mentioned development for the device on their weblog.
  
• Palm Extends $1 Million Developer Competition
  In Palm’s Hot Apps Rewards, the company extended the deadline to June 30th. With a special leaderboard, developers are also updated on their performance in the competition.
  
• Ovi Stats Update
  

  Currently, Ovi is generating over 1.6 million downloads a day and the store is backed by developers from 80 countries. Nokia’s Ovi Store supports over 100 devices of which over 60 are Symbian based.

• Apple to Ban Flurry and Distimo?
  It seems Apple is kicking more third party service providers out the App Store with the release of iPhone OS 4.0. In the recent TOS change, developers are no longer allowed to device data.
  
• Vodafone Commits to the iPad
  Vodafone has announced it will be launching the iPad 3G in five countries. It is not clear if the deal is exclusive, but at least it shows there is love between Apple and Vodafone as well.
  
• iPad Faces International Delays
  Due to the massive success of the iPad in the US, Apple has decided to delay the international launch of the device even more. The delay should not be more than a month which means it will hit the shelves end of May.
  
• Huawei Also Eyeballing Palm
  Next to HTC, Reuters expects Huawei to already be talking with Palm about a takeover. Huawei is a competitor of HTC that is known for many operator branded phones in Europe and the US.
  
• Google Hires Mark DeLoura for Gaming Push
  Google has announced the appointment of Mark DeLoura as Developer Advocate for video games. With this appointment, Google further commits to the (mobile) gaming industry.
  
• Apple to Remove Rating Pop-Ups
  Since Apple started to allow apps on the iPhone, the company has been asking users to rate them upon deletion. This functionality will however be removed in iPhone OS 4.0.
  
• Unity CEO Promises ‘Uninterrupted Service’
  Unity 3D is one of the pre-compilers likely to be banned from the App Store due to the new TOS Apple introduced with the iPhone OS 4.0 beta version. Unity believes there will be a solution.
  
• First iPhone Reaches ‘End of Life’
  During the introduction of iPhone OS 4.0, Steve Jobs already announced that 4.0 would not be fully backward compatible. As so, the 3G models would not receive multitasking support.
  
• Digital Chocolate Generated 4 Mln Downloads on Ovi
  Digital Chocolate is celebrating four million downloads on Nokia’s Ovi store. It is unclear at the moment how many of them have been paid downloads since Nokia is running promotions on the games.
  
• HTC Eyeballing Palm
  According to a story from Bloomberg, HTC is playing around with the ideas of releasing their own mobile operating system or just to acquire Palm. HTC is currently ruling the Android and Windows Mobile markets.
  
• Ideaworks3D Appoints New CEO
  Ideaworks3D has announced the appointment of Niall Murphey as their new CEO. Alex Caccia will be stepping down from his position, but remains on the board as the president of the company.
  
• PopCap Hires New CTO
  PopCap Games has hired Frits Habermann as their new Chief Technology Officer. Following his career at Adobe, he will now be responsible for the technology strategy and vision of PopCap Games.
  
• T-Mobile Launches SoftwareLoad in the UK
  T-Mobile has announced the launch of Softwareload.co.uk. The UK is the second market for T-Mobile to launch the mobile offering as it first needed to prove itself in the German market.
  
• Glu Loses Two Execs, Introduces New Bonus Plan
  Yesterday, Glu lost two executives. VP of Global Human Resources Thomas Perrault and CTO Alessandro Galvagni have chosen to resign from the mobile games publisher.
  
• Game Over for LemonQuest?
  Recently, Lemonquest started selling of their J2me assets. Reason for this was a shift of focus to smartphone platforms and though the offering was big, the licenses where expensive and fragmented.
  
• T-Mobile NL Launches TopApps
  During a press conference in Den Hague (NL), T-Mobile announced their TopApps Android app which we announced before. With TopApps, T-Mobile will help their Android clients find their way on the market.
  
• 4.0: Apple Bans External Compilers
  Bad news for web services and Adobe as Apple has updated the terms and conditions for iPhone developers yet again. Through article 3.3.1 the use of external compilers has been prohibited.
  
• Aurora Feint Responds to Game Center
  While nobody expected this to happen, Apple announced a social gaming network of their own last night called Game Center. Aurora Feint is a long time player in this field and responded directly.
  
• 4.0: More Bits
  iPhone OS 4.0 will be available to the iPad this fall while the iPhone will have it along the summer already. iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G and below will not have multitasking.
  
• 4.0 iAd Takes on Greystripe and Friends
  Apple is not only taking on social gaming networks but as expected, they also launch iAds mobile advertising. This will be Apple’s own advertising platform that offers native advertising API’s.
  
• 4.0 Game Center Takes on OpenFeint and Friends
  Apple takes on all social gaming networks by releasing their own. With 50.700 games on the iPhone, Apple outruns the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP by far and recons it is time to take this business in their own hands.
  
• 4.0: Business Improvements
  The business users will certainly benefit from the new iPhone OS. There will be data encryption, Mobile Device Management, Wireless App Distribution, Multiple Exchange Accounts…
  
• 4.0: Stuffing Your Games in Folders
  Though consumers love to downloads huge amounts of apps, there has always been a limit of 148 apps in total. Apple will now be lifting the limit with the use of folders.
  
• 4.0: Multitasking is a Go
  The first new feature for the iPhone OS is the biggest. Multitasking will come to the iPhone though Apple will put some limitations in place to guarantee performance of the device.
  
• 4.0: Sales Update
  The iPhone 4.0 unveiling started off with some sales details (as usual). At the moment, the iPad sales are soaring. 450.000 units are out on the streets and Best Buy is out of stock.
  
• MC10: Distimo: 1.600 Developers Publish on Multiple Channels
  During their keynote at the Mobile Convention in Amsterdam, Vincent Hoogsteder took the stage to give the public some statistics and information on his company.
  
• MC10: Admob on the Future of Mobile Advertising
  

  AdMob’s Russel Buckley visited the Mobile Convention in Amsterdam last week and he spoke about how the mobile advertising market started to move for AdMob and where it might move next.

• Greystripe Advertisers Prefer iFlash
  Just before Apple will start to make announcements on ther iAds platform (or at least, so we still believe they will), Greystripe announced survey results that back their iFlash advertising format.
  
• Plus+Problems for ngmoco
  

  We Rule is one of the most talked about iPhone titles from ngmoco, but it seems the game is so popular, it is leading to capacity problems for their Plus+ social gaming network.

• Scrabble for iPad Requires iPhones
  Scrabble for the iPad has a pretty unique feature that will make every geek want to have it. That feature is that iPhones are utilized as tile racks. While in multiplayer, it actually feels like a boardgame.
  
• App Store Workaround for Foreign iPad Owners
  The obligation to use iTunes on any computer connected to an iPhone OS driven device is not that new. What is strange however is the difference between the accessibility between the App Store on the iPad and that on iTunes.
  
• Distimo: Games More Popular on iPhone than on iPad
  Distimo has sent out a special report in relation to the launch of the iPad late last week. The report shows that most iPad apps are games, but they are not as popular as on the iPhone.
  
• Hands-On Licenses Fieldrunners
  Hands-On has licensed the very successful Fieldrunners brand from Subatomic. Fieldrunners is one of a few very successful iPhone titles that now find their way back into the classic mobile games industry.
  
• Microsoft Reconsidering Multitasking on Phone 7
  In an interview with Charlie Kindle from Microsoft, the exec announced to Dutch tech site tweakers.net that the strategy for multitasking isn’t fully set. There might be exceptions.
  
• Vodafone to Launch Android App Shop
  According to developer BlueMedialab, Vodafone is about to launch their own version of the Android Market. It will be called Android App Shop and it will launch in 8 European markets.
  
• Mobile Distillery: Testing Helps
  Mobile Distillery turns five and so, the testing house is using the momentum to tell developers that testing helps to discover bugs and other errors in games and apps that can ruin the consumer experience.
  
• PocketGamer Readers’ Choice 2010 Winners
  Following the announcement of the PocketGamer Awards during the CTIA, the site has now announced the winners of the Readers Choice Awards 2010 for iPhone, Mobile and Handheld.
  
• Q1 Stats: Big Blue Bubble Best Publisher
  In cooperation with iGameStats, MGB will be releasing a quarterly quality report for the App Store. In this edition, Big Blue Bubble turns out to be the best publisher and Plants vs. Zombies is the best game.
  
• Chitika: Over 0.5 Million iPads Sold
  Chitika Labs has launched a counter on their website that shows the number of iPads sold. Around 15:45 (GMT+1), the counter passed 500.000 units and it is at 501.000 at the time of writing.
  
• More Rumors on Thursday’s Apple Event
  As the iPhone 4.0 unveiling draws closer, more rumors start dripping into our mailbox. Though we will be doing a liveblog tomorrow at 19:00 GMT+1, here’s some of the stuff we deem probable;
  
• Opera Signs Browser Distribution Deal with Vodafone
  Vodafone and Opera have announced a collaboration in which Opera Mini 5 will be installed on all low-end, signature handsets. Vodafone will also offer the browser as a download to existing customers.
  
• Nokia to Take on the iPad
  According to analyst Rodman Renshaw, Nokia is ready to start competing for the tablet market. According to an article in ‘The Street’, Nokia is working on a MeeGo based tablet.
  
• Nintendo: iPad & iPhone not Even a Gaming Snack
  While most developers celebrate the launch of the iPad last week, Nintendo has given their opinion on Apple’s ‘gaming’ devices. According to Nintendo, ‘Apple simply can't match the gameplay experiences’.
  
• BlackBerry App World Turns One
  Last week, BlackBerry App World turned one. Since the start, BlackBerry App World has grown from 3 supported countries to 46. The catalogue now supports 6.000 apps and games.
  
• Media Markt to Sell iPhone 3GS
  European Electronics firm Media Markt has acquired the rights to sell the iPhone 3GS without subscriptions. The deal is approved for the Netherlands, but it is not clear if the same is happening in other countries.
  
• Apple Spotlights iPad Apps
  Apple has spotlighted several iPad applications on its website. The spotlight provides consumers a quick overview of what the apps do through a video recorded by Apple itself.
  
• JIL Open for Business
  JIL, the publishing platform behind Vodafone 360 and several other operator initiatives is open for business. Developers can start uploading their apps based on Javascript, CSS and Xhtml.
  
• Burstly Beta Supports iPad
  Burstly has announced support for the iPad. With Burstly, developers can sell their ad inventory on an open marketplace where advertisers can purchase it. Burstly takes 10% in exchange.
  
• iPad vs. Letterman
  David Letterman had the honors of having an iPad on the show even before the device was launched on the US market. He presented the device in his own style and we wonder if that did the device any good.
• Windows Phone 7 Series Name Change
  When even Microsoft’s own employees start making jokes about a product name, you know it was a bad choice. In this case, the company decided to shorten Windows Phone 7 Series.
  
• Mplayit Launches iPad Support
  Mplayit, known for their Facebook portals that support app discovery on iPhone, BlackBerry and Android, has now announced to start supporting iPad Applications.
  
• Blizzard’s 2010 Mobile Preview
  It has already been confirmed to be an April Fool’s joke, but still we love to raise some attention to the effort Blizzard put into promoting their 2010 mobile games portfolio.
  
• iPhone Trademark Issues in Switzerland
  Apple seems to have lost their legal fight to trademark the iPhone in Switzerland. Apple tried to file if for categories 9 (phones) and 28 but the local trademark authority said the name was too generic.
  
• Layar’s Easter Egg Hunt
  Past weekend, Dutch gamers where able to download a new Layar called ‘ei 2010’. With the layar, Dutch gamers could start hunting down Easter eggs in thirteen Dutch cities.
  
• Changewave: iPhone Most Popular OS in the US
  Changewave has sent out a survey to over 4.000 consumers to ask them which phone they own and which smartphone platform they like to own next. Though Android support is growing fast, iPhone is still first.
  
• Microsoft to Present Pink Phones next Week
  Not too long after Apple will release the details about iPhone OS 4.0, Microsoft will be announcing their first Project Pink phones. These phones will be aimed at young consumers.
  
• Reliance Acquires part of Codemasters
  Indian entertainment investment group Reliance ANA Group has acquired 50% of the shares in Codemasters. Codemasters (with studios in the UK and NL) needs the investment to continue.
  
• iPad Launch, The Content Stats
  Selling 300.000 iPad’s on day one is certainly impressive, but what about the download behavior of the new iPad consumer base? These are a few statistics announced by Apple.
  
• People of Lava Develops Android TV
  Swedish TV vendor People of Lava has shown a new TV that is running on Android 1.5. According to the company, they are the first to release a TV based on the operating sytem.

• Android Market Reaches 40.000 Apps Milestone
  Android seems to be growing in popularity amongst app developers. Though only 5.532 apps where launched in the first month of this year, 9.346 where launched in the second.
  
• Apple to Announce iPhoneOS 4.0 coming Thursday
  Apple has planned a new event coming Thursday on which they are expected to announce iPhone OS 4.0. Analysts expect a lot of improvements to the homescreen as well as other functionality.
  
• iPad Creativity
  The launch of the iPad inspired many to find a good solution to use their iPad in as many ways as possible. Some of the video’s we found on the net are posted below.
• iPad Outsells WebOS
  Apple has all reasons to celebrate the launch of the iPad. While being on sale only a few days, the device already sold more units then Palm sold WebOS based smartphones in the last quarter.
  
• Glownight Pushes 16-in-1 Gamespack Onto iTunes
   Glownight has started to offer consumers a 16-in-1 gamespack containing a wide collection of games from their Glow Night collection. This should be the biggest package on the App Store so far.
  
• Device Anywhere Launches Vivo Package
  Users of Device Anywhere can now make use of the Vivo package. Vivo is a Brazilian operator who’s package now features 29 different mobile phones for testing purposes ranging from iPhone to HTC Touch.
  
• ShiVa 3D Gains iPad Support
  Stonetrip has announced that ShiVa 3D, it’s 3D gaming and application development environment, will now support Apple’s iPad. The platform already supported the iPhone as well as Android and PC’s.
  
• Barry O’Neill Leaves Namco Mobile
  He had great ambitions for Namco’s mobile department in Europe, but after Namco outsourced the mobile business for Europe to EA, Barry O’Neill has now left to pursuit his dreams with his own venture.
  
• Greystripe to Allow Flash Ads on iPad
  Greystripe is bringing Flash advertising to the iPad with theit iFlash ad units. Greystripe supported this technology on iPhone already meaning the innovation is mostly in the bigger sizes.
  
• Gameloft’s Dutch Twitter Account Not Working
  Several weeks ago, Gameloft announced to start Tweeting their news in the Dutch language. We started following the company and noticed it is nothing like a smooth ride for them.
  
• Google to Split Android
  According to rumors, Google has plans to split Android up. That way, consumers can get access to API’s of future Android versions without having to wait for vendors and operators to make new firmware available.
  
• iPhone HD Rumors Surface
  With the summer ahead, the first reumors about a new iPhone model are surfacing. According to the information we received this morning, the new model will be called the iPhone HD.
  
• FreeAppADay.com Changes Business Model Again
  The popular free games website FreeAppADay.com has announced yet another new business model and in all honesty, this one is actually looking very interesting for developers small and big.
  
• iPhone OS 3.2 SDK Ready
  Following the release of several Release Clients, Apple has now made the final version of the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK available to developers. This version of 3.2 is called the Gold Master version.
  
• Orange UK to Release iPhone Games
  Orange has taken iPhone game development in their own hands as the company has announced to launch their first batch of iPhone games during the second half of April 2010.
  
• Orange Announces Game Zone
  On the 31st of March, Orange UK will be launching their Game Zone service. With the Game Zone game subscription service, Orange hopes to increase the sales on its own channels.
  
• Nickelodeon Enters the App Store
  MTV has been active on the App Store for over a year already and now kids brand Nickelodeon is joining their big Music brother. This week, Nick announced to release 7 apps of which 6 are games.
  
• Orange UK Launches Playtomo & iPhone Games
  As the first operator, Orange will be launching a free games portal for mobile gamers. To stimulate usage of the portal, gamers can share challenges and scores over social networks like Facebook.
• iPlay Starts Selling Game Packs
  Following Gameloft’s 3-in-1 sports pack, iPlay has now announced their Love and Murder Pack. The pack combines Dream Day Wedding; Married in Manhattan and James Patterson Women’s Murder Club.
  
• Doodle Jumps on Finger Physics
  PressOK Entertainment and Lima Sky have created a cross over between their popular titles Doodle Jump and Finger Physics. Players can check the results of the cooperation in the latest update for Finger Physics.
  
• Bulkypix Ads PSP & PS3 Development
  Bulkypix has announced that it will be releasing its first game on the PSP Minis platform. Their Hysteria Project will be made compatible with both the PSP and Playstation 3 consoles.
  
• iGameStats Launches Quick Top Chart for iPhone
  Want to do a quick check on your top grossing app store rating? iGameStats has launched a new portal where developers can quickly browse through the international app store charts.
  
• Third Annual eLBeS Event Announced
  Those into LBS or Location Based Services should head over to Malmö (SE) this summer as the European Location Based Summit returns with several interesting speakers.
  
• Collection Touch Screen Artwork
  This weekend we have been pointed to a few resources with free artwork for application developers. The graphics can be used for both Android and iPhone environments. Check the links below.
  
• Sybase: Most iPad Usage Work Related
  According to research from Sybase, most iPad consumers plan to use the device mainly for work, suggesting the iPad could be on a way to replace the popular netbooks.
  
• Apple Cancels Foreign iPad Pre-Orders
  Various consumers and companies that have pre-ordered US iPads from outside the US are receiving e-mails from Apple canceling their orders in order to facilitate demand of real US consumers.
  
• iPad App Pricing Above iPhone Standards
  Based on the screenshots and video’s of the iPad app store which are floating around the web, it seems like the prices of iPad apps will be well above those of their iPhone counterparts.
  
• RIM Acquires Viigo
  RIM has acquired Viigo. Viigo is the developer of a BlackBerry app with the same name. The Viigo app is able to deliver real-time information from a variety of sources, something important to the business market.
  
• Samsung Galaxy S Claims Strongest GPU Ever
  Samsung’s Galaxy S is probably the mobile phone with the most powerful GPU to date. The PowerVR SGX540-gpu can calculate up to 90 million triangles per second.
  
• The iTunes Nudity Soap Continues
  While the world is still in shock over the loss of nudity on iTunes (except for that from well established publishers like Playboy), new apps with nudity seem to arrive on the App Store.
  
• Nokia and China Mobile Agree on Ovi Store
  Nokia and China Mobile have agreed to have Nokia’s Ovi Store pre-installed China Mobile’s Nokia devices. Consumers can browse and download from the store without data charges from the operator.
  
• NPD: Apple Owners Most Interested in iPad
  According to NPD’s latest research, Apple owners are 40% more interested in buying an iPad then non-Apple owners. Much like when the company introduced the iPhone a few years back.
  
• Google Search Removed from Chinese Androids
  With the battle for free/uncensored search between Google and China continuing, the first mobile companies have started to prepare for a Google Ban in the Chinese market.
  
• iPad App Store, First Impression
  Those who are interested in what the App Store for the iPad will be looking like can enjoy the video below. It shows all features we already know from iTunes and a coverflow mechanism for spotlight apps.
  
• First Batch of iPads Sold Out
  Apple has been taking on pre-orders for about two weeks now and it seems the company is hitting the end of their current supplies. Any new pre-orders will not ship before April 12th.
  
• GetJar Launches on Rogers
  GetJar signed a new deal with Rogers, the Canadian carrier, to facilitate their App Store. This latest deal will certainly grow the userbase of GetJar and will be a welcome addition to developers on it.
  
• Google and Carriers Share Android Search Revenues
  To persuade operators to continue taking up Android devices in their phone offerings, Google is offering operators a part of the revenues originating from search results on the devices.
  

Copyright 2008 Signal Media