Mobile app news roundup: Gamevil, EA and PayPal

Pew: Almost half of Americans now own smartphones -- According to new research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 46 percent of American adults now own smartphones and only 41 percent own feature phones. In May 2011 35 percent of American adults owned a smartphone. Adobe unveils AIR 3.2 -- Adobe has announced the latest updates to Adobe AIR. Version 3.2 of the tool includes both 2D and 3D hardware acceleration, which will allow games to run at 60 frames per second. Gamevil hits 100 million mobile downloads -- South Korean publisher Gamevil has now seen 100 million cumulative downloads on iOS and Android. In August, the company announced it had reached 50 million cumulative downloads. There are now 1 billion mobile subscribers in China -- According to new government statistics from China, the country has become the first in the world to have more than 1 billion mobile subscribers. 74 percent of of the company’s total population owns a mobile phone, reports TechWireAsia. Millennial Media rolls out self service advertising -- Mobile ad network Millennial Media now offers self-service advertising under as new product called mMedia. DeNA signs deal with Qihoo 360 -- DeNA has signed yet another deal to help the company establish its Mobage network in China, reports Penn Olsen. The Japanese mobile-social game company has inked a deal with Chinese company Qihoo 360 to add a Mobage app to the company’s Android market. EA puts Battlefield 3: Aftershock out of its misery -- A week after yanking its poorly reviewed mobile game Battlefield 3: Aftershock from the App Store to to poor reviews, EA has decided to permanently shelve the game according to a report from Vox Games. PayPal now in almost all U.S. Home Depot stores -- As of Feb. 28 shoppers in almost every one of the 2,000 U.S. home depot stores can now pay for purchases using a PayPal card, or a mobile phone number and PIN combination, according to the official PayPal blog. Official Angry Birds theme park on the way -- The Särkänniemi Adventure Park is adding an expansion based on Rovio’s hit franchise, Angry Birds called Angry Birds Land. The extension will be open to the public this summer. Last year, Rovio famously shut down a fake Angry Birds themed amusement park in China. Playspan: virtual goods consumption up 28 percent since 2009 -- According to a study conducted by digital monetization company Playspan, U.S. consumers bought $2.3 billion dollars worth of virtual goods in 2011, spending an average of $64 dollars per person. Playspan included purchases within a game or app, purchases from a console like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, prepaid cards and purchases from online stores and publisher’s websites in its study. Dungeon Overlord expanding, going mobile -- Night Owl Games has added the first expansion to its Facebook game Dungeon Overlord, titled The Succubus Stories. The developer will also be unveiling a companion mobile app for iPhone and Android at PAX East in April. Aeria Games Pivots to mobile -- MMO publisher Aeria Games has opened a new mobile office in Santa Clara to focus on developing mobile games, reports Gamasutra. The company plans to release at least one or two titles per month. [Funding] Charles River Ventures closes $375 million in new funding -- Venture capital firm Charles River Ventures has closed its fifteenth round of funding, adding a further $375 million to the company’s funds. Charles River Ventures has invested in Millennial Media, Fiksu and Affirmed. [Funding] Tello raises $2.7 million -- Mobile customer service app developer Tello has raised $2.7 million in Series A funding. The round was lead by True Ventures and Bullpen Capital. [Release] OnLive Desktop app comes to Android -- OnLive’s streaming desktop app is now available for Android tablets. The service costs $4.99 a month an allows users to run virtual versions of the Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

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Mobile app news roundup: Gamevil, EA and PayPal

Kathleen De Vere

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