Tech news from around the web:
Downloads of Android’s apps overtook those of Apple’s iOS apps in the second quarter of 2001, Business Insider reports. According to figures from ABI Research, the market shares of Android and iOS were 44% and 31% respectively. However, Apple still gets more downloads per user than Android.
iOS5 turns Apple TV into a games console… almost
Amid all the Apple hoopla of the last fortnight, there has been surprisingly little mention of the potential impact of the new iOS5 on the games console industry.
Combining Apple TV with any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad running the latest software allows whatever is on the screen of the handheld to appear simultaneously on the big screen, through Airplay Mirroring – including games. The result is something which looks pretty similar to Nintendo’s planned Wii U console, combining a touchscreen wireless controller with traditional console-style gaming.
Zynga says games have staying power
Zynga has updated its IPO filing with a breakdown of the sales contributions from its most popular games – FarmVille, FrontierVille, CityVille, Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker – as it faces questions on whether its games cannibalise one another and on how it will maintain its record of success.
The leading social gaming company also announced it would list on the Nasdaq rather than the New York Stock Exchange, with a ticker symbol of ZNGA, although the timing is still unknown.
Glitch is game Flickr was meant to be
Stewart Butterfield’s move – from co-founder of photo-hosting site Flickr to co-creator of a new game called Glitch – suddenly makes sense when he reveals Flickr itself, in its earliest incarnation, was made up of spare parts from an abandoned game.
Glitch, which launched officially on Tuesday, is the kind of creation the entrepreneur could only dream of making back in 2002, when his Vancouver-based startup Ludicorp was formed to develop an online game.
Tech news from around the web:
Amazon is to unveil its new tablet computer, to be called the Kindle Fire, on Wednesday morning in New York, according to TechCrunch. The computer, which will be sold along side the existing range of e-ink Kindles, will not be ready to ship until the second week of November, TechCrunch claims.
Tech news from around the web:
Online games group PopCap could be getting ready to launch a series of casino-style games on Facebook according to GeekWire. New domain purchases, changes to a Facebook page and a recent trademark application for ‘Lucky GemCasino’ by PopCap have been cited by GeekWire as a shift to a casino offering.
Sony’s Home improvement
Sony has been giving the media a sneak peek of the biggest makeover in the short history of Home – the games platform and online virtual world accessible through the PlayStation 3.
Games are being placed front and centre in the redesign, which was announced last month and will be introduced in the autumn, and the Home environment itself will become a game with the introduction of quests.
Zynga IPO odds lengthen as profits fall
Zynga reduced the odds of its IPO on Wednesday as it revealed worsening financial numbers and complained of market volatility.
The social gaming company is earning less but is still worth more, according to an amended IPO filing .
Adobe launches high-performance Flash 11
Adobe has announced a new high-performance version of its Flash software, which it says will differentiate it further from the capabilities of HTML5 – the name for web technologies that are increasingly being used in its stead by developers.
Apple has notably rejected Flash for its iPhone and iPad, citing performance issues, but Adobe said the new Flash Player 11 would render games a thousand times faster than the current 10.3 release.
Tech news from around the web:
Facebook is expected to unveil a revamp of its ‘Like’ button at next week’s developers’ conference, according to TechCrunch. Sources have told the blog that the social network will add ‘Read’, ‘Listened’, ‘Watched’, and ‘Want’ buttons. These buttons are designed to fine-tune profile information and could replace or augment the ‘Like’ button.
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