Candy Crush Saga is a fairly typical modern mobile success story. It’s free, but became the highest grossing game on the App Store, thanks to in-app purchases or “micro-transactions”.
That’s fast becoming the norm, and a new report from App Annie suggests that micro-transactions account for more than half of all mobile and portable gaming revenue (that's including Sony and Nintendo), punching advertising and prepayment right in the face.
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HTC Butterfly S snapped ahead of June 19 launch event
Looking back, I managed to mention no less than nine different phones in my article about the HTC Butterfly S earlier in the week. I’ll try to keep things simple here, promise! (EDIT: major fail)
In a nutshell, the HTC Butterfly S has been pictured posing ahead of its planned June 19 launch.
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'Mid-stride snapshot' of iOS 7 leaves Apple and Ive with plenty to do
The main headlines from Apple's WWDC keynote on Monday were about the arrival of iOS 7 and Mac OS X Mavericks, and the launch of new MacBook Airs and Mac Pros.
But the subtext featured one man's name in a way it hasn't for Apple since before Steve Jobs' death. That man is of course Sir Jonathan Ive, who had taken a controlling hand of the visual evolution of iOS 7.
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Vodafone Smart Mini: 3.5in, 4GB storage, Jelly Bean, £50
Mini versions of phones are all the rage at the moment. Samsung recently made the Galaxy S4 mini official, and the HTC One Mini is expected at some point soonish.
Not to be outdone by two of the world’s top mobile manufacturers, Big Red has announced the, er, Vodafone Smart Mini.
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Sony Xperia ZU: 2.2GHz quad-core CPU, 6.44in full HD display, stylus support and more
Sony's phablet ambitions were exposed last week when details emerged of the massive 6.44in Xperia ZU – previously known as the Togari – which apparently is set to be unveiled within the next couple of weeks.
And we can believe it too, as today another splurge of specs have emerged, repeating that June 25 launch date and revealing that the Xperia ZU will emulate the Galaxy Note series by supporting stylus stylings.
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Zoom reinvented: PureView Nokia EOS launching on July 11
Nokia has sent out press invites in the US for a New York launch event on July 11, with the “Zoom reinvented” tagline leaving no doubt at all what the star of the show will be.
That's right, the wait is almost over and Nokia's full PureView Windows Phone – or the Nokia EOS, if you prefer – is finally about to launch.
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DigiTimes' record when it comes to crystal ball gazing is far from perfect, but when it comes to fellow Taiwanese firm Asus its tips tend to be pretty reliable.
And today it claims to be privy to some hot Nexus 7-related news, namely that the second generation of the Asus-made tablet is launching next month, but won't be as cheap as some have predicted.
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Key Lime Pie in October, Jelly Bean Android 4.3 soon (probably)
Apple’s iDevices have it nice and simple. We’re currently on iOS 6.1.4, and iOS 7 is touching down in fall. Easy.
In the world of Android, things are significantly murkier, largely thanks to the multitude of devices and manufacturers. The latest picture suggests Key Lime Pie (Android 5.0) will arrive in October, while Jelly Bean Android 4.3 appears imminent (still).
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HTC One Mini poses for the camera… again
The HTC One Mini is easily one of the worst kept secrets in mobile right now, with its specs repeatedly leaked, and having been benchmarked and even pictured several times.
Hardly camera shy, the HTC One Mini has been snapped once again ahead of its presumed Q3 launch/release, side by side with the HTC One.
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Apple considering larger iPhones, $99 budget iPhone in 5-6 colours
“Can’t innovate my ass,” said Phil Schiller, introducing the Mac Pro at WWDC on Monday night. Defensive much?
Continuing the, er, innovation theme, Apple is said to be considering multiple larger iPhones, and as many as six different colours for the much-discussed budget iPhone, the latter costing just $99.
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Samsung's Galaxy S5 expected to come dressed in aluminium
Today's looking like one of those increasingly rare days when Samsung doesn't announce a new smartphone, but what we do have is some early speculation regarding next year's Galaxy S5.
It's very early days, obviously – the Galaxy S4 has only been on sale for a couple of months after all – but it seems Samsung has decided the fifth iteration of its Android flagship will ditch the plastic chassis in favour of some shiny aluminium instead.
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Its rapidly diminishing fortunes have relegated its last rites to a mere formality, but Nokia will nonetheless officially call time on the Symbian era this summer.
The Finns will officially bring to an end deliveries of its Symbian devices over the next few months, more than a year earlier than Nokia intended when announcing it would switch to Microsoft's Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform back in February 2011.
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HTC One X Jelly Bean Android 4.2 in July?
I’m sure I scribbled a few hundred words about the Jelly Bean Android 4.2.2 update for the HTC One, but I’ll be damned if I can find the article. Did I make it up? Quite possibly.
Anyway! The HTC One X is due a cheeky upgrade to Jelly Bean Android 4.2 at some as-yet-unspecified point, and there are hints that it might be coming in July.
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HTC One Mini rumours reaching fever pitch, tipped for August release
We were talking about the HTC M4 as far back as February this year, before even the HTC One (nee M7) became a reality.
More recently we’ve been calling it the HTC One Mini, and freshly squeezed rumour juice suggests an August release for the not-really-all-that-miniature chap.
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DigiTimes: big-name $99 tablets in Q3
The big-name $99 tablet remains elusive, despite months and months of promises, but we’re definitely creeping ever closer to a reality in which you can pick up a decent slate for less than a hundred “bucks”.
The Asus MeMo Pad HD 7 is touching down soon at $129, and other tablet manufacturers reportedly like the cut of the Taiwanese manufacturer’s wallet-friendly jib.
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Galaxy S4 Zoom completes the summer set for Samsung
Samsung has completed its Galaxy S4 spin-off business this morning with the announcement of the Galaxy S4 Zoom, making it four new handsets in two weeks for the Korean giant (following the Active, the Mini and the non-S4-related Galaxy Ace 3).
And the S4 Zoom looks exactly like the leaked pic suggested: it's one side Galaxy smartphone, other side compact camera.
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LG considering dropping Optimus name from its flagship phones?
Most of the top smartphone lines have their own specific name – Xperia, Galaxy, Lumia, that kind of thing. The idea is to add prestige and create a strong brand identity people can relate to.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. And if the latest rumours from the Far East are to be believed, LG believes the Optimus name falls into the second group.
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Let's face it – iOS just doesn't have the kind of fragmentation issues that are par for the course with Android, and never will.
But each new release of Apple's OS nonetheless only works on iPhones and iPads going back so far, and the newly announced iOS 7 is no exception.
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Nokia VP: Apple 'is playing catch-up' with iTunes Radio
The soldiers doing the dirty work on the front lines of the “smartphone wars” (i.e. mobile forums) are often labelled as fanboys.
But increasingly those self-same battles are being fought on official lines too. Think of the “next big thing” Samsung ads, or HTC's withering response to the Galaxy S4 launch. Or Nokia's take on Apple's big iTunes Radio epiphany last night.
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Sony Xperia M out in August, priced at £227.99
Just last week Sony unveiled its latest addition to the Xperia line, the low-end Xperia M.
At the time the only info we had on price or availability was that it'll be touching down sometime in Q3, but now we can shed a bit more light on this entry-level battler.
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