Mobile app news roundup: Gumi, Android malware and big revenues for TinyCo

Gumi opens South Korean office -- Japanese mobile social game company Gumi has opened its first overseas office in South Korea. According to Gumi, the South Korean smartphone gaming market is expected to grow by 60 percent in 2012. More malware in Google Play -- McAffee Labs is reporting a new Trojan has been discovered in the Google’s official Android app store. The security company has found the Android/DougaLeaker.A Trojan in 15 anime-themed apps. They have been downloaded more than 70,000 times so far. Apple patents iTunes store user interface -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has awarded Apple patent No. 8,161,411 for “graphical user interface for browsing, searching and presenting media items” in its iTunes store. Nokia sales down 29% year-on-year to €7.4 billion -- According to Nokia’s Q1 2012 earnings, the company’s net sales declined 29 percent year-on-year and 26 percent quarter-on-quarter, dropping to €7.4 billion (approximately $9.7 billion USD). Overall the company reported a loss of €1.3 billion ($1.7 billion USD). TinyCo’s Tiny Village sees big revenues on Kindle Fire -- TinyCo has revealed its free-to-play game Tiny Village generates higher average revenue per user on the Kindle Fire than on iPad. According to a TinyCo blog post, Amazon’s Appstore generates 180% of the ARPU the game sees on the iTunes App Store. Google Play ARPU is 65 percent that of the iTunes app store. Digi-Capital predicts consolidation in social gaming industry, Berkery Noyes reports mobile and online transactions decline -- Investment bank Digi-Capital is predicting 2012 will be a busy year for mergers and acquisitions in the social gaming industry. According to Digi-Capital Q1 2012 saw 30 social gaming mergers and acquisitions, with a total value of $1.7 billion. Meanwhile Berkery Noyes is reporting the merger and acquisition transaction volume in the mobile and online industry on the decline, down four percent in Q1 2012 to $12.8 billion. Google Oracle trial over use of Java in Android begins -- The trial between Google and Oracle over the use of Java in Android has begun. According to Oracle’s arguments, Google knew in 2005 that the use of Java in the Android OS would require a licensing agreement, but declined to pursue one to avoid profit sharing. Oracle is suing Google for $1 billion in damages. O2 UK customers get free EA games for three months -- EA has signed a deal with mobile communications company Telefonica that gives Android phone users on the UK’s O2 network free access to EA Mobile games for three months, reports Pocket Gamer. Toca Boca sets up U.S. office -- Swedish developer Toca Boca, known for its line of child-friendly mobile apps that avoid in-app purchases and advertising, has set up a U.S. office in San Francisco. The developer's apps have been downloaded more than 9 million times. Read it Later goes free, become Pocket -- Content bookmarking app Read it Later has reinvented itself as Pocket, a free app for iOS, Android and Google Chrome. The service has 4.5 million registered users. [Funding] GREE invests in Vancouver’s IUGO Mobile -- GREE has acquired a minority stake in Vancouver BC based IUGO Mobile. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will co-develop a series of free-to-play mobile games. The terms of the investment were not disclosed. [Funding] MoMinis nets $4.5 in funding -- Israel’s MoMinis has secured a second round of funding from existing investors BRM Group and Mitsui Ventures. The company has raised a total of $9.2 in funding since 2008. [Launch] LoveThis launches friend-based recommendation service -- U.K. based LoveThis has launched its self titled social recommendation app, LoveThis on iOS. The service allows users to share and save product recommendations with their friends through email and Facebook. [Launch] Time to Enjoy aggregates local events -- Time to Enjoy has launched its self titled iOS app. The service aggregates local event information and allows users to save the information directly to their smartphone calendars.

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Mobile app news roundup: Gumi, Android malware and big revenues for TinyCo

Kathleen De Vere

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Kathleen De Vere