Mobile Gaming Roundup: Flurry Grows, Instapaper Founder Praises Apple's Review Process

Flurry's Cost-Per-Install Network Grows -- AppCircle, the app recomendation service from Flurry, is rapidly expanding its footprint. The company, which started out offering mobile analytics, says it serves 80 million users per month on both iOS and Android devices. It added that it made 160 million recommendations (that's recommendations, not installs) in January. The company said it can deliver as much as $10,000 per day for games with 100,000 DAU. Zynga Brings Words With Friends to Android -- Earlier this week, Zynga announced that the popular iOS title Words With Friends is coming to Android. Words With Friends is the popular word game developed by the Zynga-acquired Newtoy. Meez Launches Cross-Platform on Mobile -- Social entertainment and gaming platform Meez has announced that its virtual community is now available both Android and iOS devices (dubbed MeezNation for both clients). Meez has also stated that it has plans to expand to other platforms such as Xbox Live in the future. iAds Are More Effective than TV? -- According to Advertising Age, Campbell's is stating that its iAds were more than twice as effective as their TV counterparts with consumers remembering the brand five times more often than on television. Additionally, the ad campaign for an Apple device is set at a $1 million minimum, but Campbell's spent over $25 million on a similar TV campaign. [image via Advertising Age] Stick Sports Claims Trademark Infringement on App Store Games -- Flash and iPhone developer Stick Sports Ltd. has apparently sent a notice out to Apple requesting that iPhone sports games using "Stick" in the titles be removed or changed on the grounds of trademark infringement says PocketGamer. Thus far, a number of potentially infringing games have been removed from iTunes. Foursquare Prepares for Super Bowl & Goes to School -- According to TechCrunch, Foursquare will be having a "Promoted Trending Venue" in the form of "Super Bowl Sunday" in an attempt to get it to the top of the "Trending Now" area within the Places area in the companies mobile applications. Also, anyone who shouts the team they are rooting for will receive a badge. In other Foursquare related news, the company has also expanded its "Foursquare for Universities" program, says EngageDigital. The expansion is noted to make special university badges unlockable at every college campus worldwide. Tremor Acquires Mobile Ad Platform Transpera: Transpera said it got picked up by Tremor Media for an undisclosed amount today. The company's ad platform enables publishers to monetize with mobile video advertising and can serve targeted display banners, pre-roll videos, overlay ads and post-roll experiences. The company raised $17.3 million in funding from Flybridge Capital Partners, First Round Capital, Intel Capital, Labrador Ventures, JLA Ventures, Canaan Partners, RBC Venture Partners, and BlackBerry Partners Fund. Nokia Tests a New Way of Loading Apps with Bubbles: Nokia's Betalabs showed off a new shortcut for phone owners to reach their favorite apps. When you press the "Apps" key while your device is asleep, tiny, little bubbles representing different apps start floating about on the home screen. If you grab one and drag it into a drop point, it immediately opens the app. Instagram-maker Burbn and Path Both Pull in Rounds: Two big names in the mobile photo-sharing world both pulled in sizable Series A rounds this week. Burbn, which makes breakout-hit Instagram, raised $7 million in a round led by Benchmark Capital, with participation from Quora founder Adam D’Angelo, Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey, and angel investors Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital and Steve Anderson of Baseline Ventures. Meanwhile, Path, which reportedly turned down a $100 million offer from Google, raised $8.5 million in a round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Index Ventures. Google Latitude Finally Succumbs to the Check-In: The location-sharing service, which originally started as a way to persistently share your whereabouts, finally adopted the popular check-in paradigm. While users will still be able to constantly share their location, check-ins will let them captions or a photo. Google steals a few more features from Foursquare, with the ability to become a "Guru" or a "VIP" at various places. Instapaper Founder Gives Apple App Store's Much-Reviled Review Process Praise: Marco Arment says the review process, criticized by some for being too predictable and controlling, has made the iOS ecosystem "far bigger and healthier than anyone expected" because of consumer trust. He says this helps Apple cut down problems with fraud from the get-go and helps developers protect their brands from cheap ripoffs. Apple Touches Up the App Store Search Filters: An updated search interface will help users look for apps by release date, price, device and customer rating. AdMob Reveals Some New Stats, Ad Requests Quadruple to 2 Billion Per Day in the Last Year: AdMob is now supporting 50,000 publishers and its interstitial ads are taking off, with 500 percent growth from the year before. Samsung Galaxy Tab's Sales Fall Short: The company's first serious stab at slowing the iPad's momentum is a nice try. In early January, the company said it had sold 2 million devices. But during Samsung's earnings call on Friday, it appeared it pulled a Microsoft. That number actually refers to the number of devices the company has shipped to retailers and wireless companies. Motricity Buys Mobile Ad Firm Adenyo for $100 Million: The company wants to package Adenyo's ad offering into its mCore product, which helps big clients like AT&T optimize and personalize their mobile sites for customers. It will pay an additional $50 million in earnouts over the next 12 months. PopCap Games Looks for an IPO in 2011: The company, one of the top mobile developers with titles like Plants vs. Zombies, is starting to think about an initial public offering. It makes $100 million in annual revenues and has 400 employees from Seattle to Shanghai and Dublin. Verizon iPhone Pre-Orders Sell Out in Two Hours: RBC Capital's Mike Abramsky estimates the carriers sold less than 100,000 units. Susquehanna's Jeff Fidicaro estimates that Verizon will sell 2.9 million iPhones before the end of March and a total of 11.6 million iPhones in 2011.

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Mobile Gaming Roundup: Flurry Grows, Instapaper Founder Praises Apple's Review Process

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