Mobile App News Roundup: DeNA, Rovio and RIM

DeNA news roundup -- It’s been a busy week for Japanese gaming giant DeNA. The company has announced a new deal with Disney Japan to launch three Disney-branded games. The games are scheduled to come to North America sometime this summer. The games, which are based on Disney’s original characters and the Marvel superheroes brand, will be the first titles jointly developed by DeNA to be released outside of North America. In other DeNA news, it also announced this week it has signed deals with all three of China’s major mobile carriers: China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. China Mobile subscribers will now see Mobage transactions showing up on their monthly phone bill. China Unicom and China Telecom will be rolling out carrier billing for Mobage by the summer. All three carriers (with a combined customer base of 976 million customers) now offer Mobage games in their Android app stores. Apple products in 51% of US homes -- According to a survey conducted by CNBC, 51 percent of American households have at least one Apple product. The average US home holds 1.6 Apple devices, with nine percent of home reporting more than five apple products. RIM announces major restructuring -- Following a disappointing earnings report, Canadian smartphone maker RIM has announced it is refocusing on enterprise. As part of the effort, several senior executives are on the way out. Former co-CEO Jim Balsillie has left the company and Mashable is reporting the company’s COO and CTO have also departed. Angry Birds Space hits 10 million downloads in three days -- Angry Birds Space has been a big hit, racking up 10 million downloads worldwide in its first three days, reports Develop. Level-5 Signs Deal with GREE - Professor Layton publisher Level-5 has signed a deal with GREE that will see three games from the company come to the GREE platform in the second quarter of this year. Rovio buys Futuremark Games, hiring for Swedish office -- Rovio has purchased game developer Futuremark Games for an undisclosed sum, reports TechCrunch. The company is also opening a studio in Sweden, according to a job posting on the company’s website for a general manger. Rovio is aiming to hire between 20 and 30 employees in Sweden. The company established a Shanghai studio last year. Bump gets into mobile payments -- Contact and photo-sharing app Bump has released a new app called Bump Pay. Powered by PayPal, the standalone app allows users to transfer funds between smartphones. Outfit7 partners with Autism Speaks -- Outfit7 has partnered with Autism advocacy organization Autism Speaks to promote Autism Awareness Month through the Light It Up Blue Campaign. For a limited time, users of Outfit7’s Talking Tom app on iOS and Android will be able to download a virtual Light It Up Blue shirt for Tom. Aeria Games launches mobile division -- Santa-Clara based Aeria Games has launched a mobile spin division called Aeria Mobile. The company’s first three games will be Tuff Tanks, Eden Eternal Monster Hunter and Armygeddon. Tuff Tanks is being developed by Swedish developer Junebud. The Dark Meadow gets a free-to-play version -- Phosphor Games has released a free-to-play version of its critically acclaimed iPad game Dark Meadow called Dark Meadow: The Pact. The free version of the game will launch on Android next month. [Launch] Fitocracy comes out of beta with iOS app -- Social Fitness startup Fitocracy has come out of beta. To celebrate, the company has released an iPhone app, one of the features most requested by the service’s users.

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Mobile App News Roundup: DeNA, Rovio and RIM

Kathleen De Vere

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Kathleen De Vere