Mobile App Roundup: Mobage, App Launches, RIM, & More

AT&T & ngmoco Bring Mobage to Android -- Last week, ngmoco and DeNA brought the Mobage social gaming platform to Android Market. This week, AT&T and ngmoco announced a new agreement stating that Mobage will act as a hub for AT&T Android users to discover and play games as well as connect with other global users. [Launch] iSpeech Launches Speech Recognition SDK -- TechCrunch has reported the launch of a new iOS, BlackBerry, and Android SDK from iSpeech this week. Through the SDK, developers can integrate text to speech and and speech recognition into their apps for free. [Launch] eBay Brings Instant Sale App to iOS -- eBay has released its Instant Sale program for iPhone this week. Through the app, users can identify old electronics to sell or recycle. After being quoted a price based on the device and its condition, users mail the item and receive payment via PayPal. [Launch] FBI Launches Child ID App -- Highlighted by TechCrunch, the FBI has launched a new iOS app by the name of FBIChild ID. The new application allows parents to store photos and vital information, such as height and weight, to have on hand should the child ever go missing. [Update] Skype Brings Video Chat to 17 New Android Devices -- Skype launched its iPad version of Skype this week, and now the company is announcing version 2.1 for Android. The new iteration will support video chat for 17 more Android devices such as the HTC Desire HD, HTC Evo 3D, the Samsung Galaxy S, and the Sony Ecricsson Xperia PLAY. [Announcement] MyTown Expands to Japan -- Earlier this week, social and mobile apps developer Booyah and YUMEMI announced a partnership that will bring the location-based iOS title of MyTown to Japan as a new product for iOS, Android, and other feature phone platforms come this Fall. Klout Now Supports Foursquare Users -- Klout, the site that measures user influences based on their activity within social networks, has added Foursquare and YouTube to said activity measurements, reports VentureBeat. Activity on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and LinkedIn will now all help determine a user's Klout Score. PlayBook Won't Receive Android Apps Until Fall -- According to Engadget, the BlackBerry PlayBook will not be able to run Android applications until "late fall." The statement is noted to be from a "reliable source" and is later than RIM originally anticipated. RIM Introduces New BlackBerry 7 Devices -- On the lighter side of things, Research In Motion has announced five new BlackBerry 7 smartphones this week. It is slated to be RIM's largest global launch ever with over 225 carriers and distribution partners having already begun or completed over 500 certification programs for the new devices. T-Mobile Adds Carrier Billing Option -- A new form of payment is now available as T-Mobile has announced, this week, that it has opened its carrier billing option to online retailers. Users may now charge goods to their monthly bill. T-Mobile Loses 50,000 Subscribers -- On the downside for T-Mobile, the carrier reported its Q2 earnings this week as well. The company states a lose of 50,000 subscribers as well as a revenue drop to $5.1 billion, from last quarter's $5.1 billion. Instagram Reaches New Milestone -- Popular mobile app Instagram has released a new set of stats. Thus far, Instagram has noted 150 million photos uploaded with about 1.3 million a day, from over 7 million users. Moreover, 80 percent utilize the app's filters. Mobile Dating Apps Out Perform the Web -- Analytics firm Flurry has released another report noting that when it comes to online dating, the mobile space is doing better. As of June, 2011, users spent an average time of 8.4 minutes on mobile dating apps as opposed to 8.3 for online dating. Additionally, the former hosts 17 percent unique users with the latter holding 13 percent. Apple Ships 20.3M Units -- IDC has released a report noting that Apple has topped the smartphone market, in terms of unit shipments, in Q2 with 20.3 million units. (19.1 percent of market share). Year-over-year, this is a 141.7 percent growth. Samsung comes in at second with 17.3 million units. Android Dominates Smartphone Share -- Though Apple hosts the most units shipped, comScore has released mobile subscriber numbers noting that it is Android that walks away with 40 percent of that market share for June. Apple was second with 26.6 percent. Globant Acquires Nextive -- Argentina-based software developer Globant has announced a new acquisition in the form of Nextive. The San Francisco-based company specializes in both mobile and social applications, having worked with companies such as Zynga and CrowdStar. The amount for the acquisition was not disclosed. InMobi Acquires Sprout -- In more acquisition news, mobile ad network InMobi has announced the purchase of Sprout, for an undisclosed amount. Sprout hosts a platform for creating HTML-5 based advertisements. Dashwire Purchased by HTC -- Smartphone maker HTC has announced its own acquisition, having purchased mobile, web services group Dashwire. The price is noted at a maximum of $18.5 million and is intended to boost mobile cloud services for HTCSense.com. More Malware on Android Discovered -- Dinesh Venkatesan at security firm CA Technologies has come across the latest malware issue with Android. When an infected application is installed, it implements a configuration file that, in short, activates once an outgoing call is made, recording all conversations to one's SD card.

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Mobile App Roundup: Mobage, App Launches, RIM, & More

Christopher Mack

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