Wednesday Mobile Roundup: Smurfs' Village, HTML5 & More

Chillingo Partners with Lab Rats Studios -- In mobile gaming news, publisher Chillingo has partnered with Lab Rats Studios in order to develop an iOS and Android third-person shooter dubbed "M.U.S.E." that will feature "console quality gameplay and graphics," reports Pocket Gamer. Smurfs' Village Caps In-App Purchases -- Smurfs' Village is attempting to further prevent users from unknowingly spending exorbitant amounts of real money on its virtual currency, Smurfberries. In its recent update, noted yesterday, the developer, Beeline Interactive, has imposed a limit of five in-app purchases every 15 minutes. Google Ventures-Backed Mobile Payments Startup Corduro Launches Android Payments Processor: The company says it can be up to 30 percent cheaper than Square with transaction fees set at 2.65 percent (versus 2.75 percent for Square) and hand-keyed transactions (those used without a card) at 3.25 percent versus Square's 3.50 percent plus 15 cents. Game Closure Displays Cross-Platform HTML5 Technology -- At yesterday's Google I/O event, Game Closure displayed its new HTML5, cross-platform, multiplayer games technology. Using their game, Popstar Defense, ran on web browsers, iOS devices, and Android devices, says VentureBeat. Google Updates Android Market -- Google has updated the Android Market to aid in app discovery. Now the storefront will make suggestions for apps based on the downloads of others. Currently, this only works on the web-based Market. Apple & Google Meet With Congressional Panel -- As noted Monday, Apple and Google executives have met with a congressional panel regarding the tracking smartphones. Though the two companies noted, once again, that this tracking does not track individual users' locations and is completely anonymous, the general consensus for the panel was that users needed to be more informed about what they consent to and that there is a greater need for new privacy rules that do not stunt the growth of innovation in the space, reports Guardian. Ngmoco Halts Social-Mobile Game Development -- According to PocketGamer.biz, social-mobile developer ngmoco has halted its game development for the time being. Instead, the company will be "concentrating its resources on preparations for the start-up of Mobage Global." Basically, ngmoco will be integrating its Plus+ network with DeNA's Mobage platform. Groupon Launches Groupon Now -- Groupon is known for giving daily deals to its users, but it has just launched a new service called Groupon Now. The service will provide real-time offers based on a users' location and works through both the web and its existing iPhone and Android apps. Unfortunately, it is currently only active in Chicago. Pageonce Raiss $15 Million -- Pageonce is a company who's application -- dubbed the "wallet of the future" -- helps users manage all their bills and financial accounts through their smartphone. The company has just announced the raising of $15 million in a new round of funding. GetJar Acquires Infrinity -- Third-party app store, GetJar has acquired startup technology company Infrinity. Infrinity has been developed of a more sophisticated recommendation platform in order to improve discovery for apps, a technology that GetJar intends to utilize for its own app store. 58% of Mobile Users Acquire Content via Browsers -- According to mobile advertising company Jumptap's Simple Targeting & Audience Trends (STAT) report, 58% of mobile Internet users are using web browsers to find and consume content. 42% make user of mobile apps. Pomplamoose Covers Angry Birds -- Further seating Angry Birds into popular culture, the band of Pomplamoose has created its own music video centered around the Angry Birds theme. iPhone Tracking Captures Car Thief -- GPS tracking isn't bad, as Colorado Springs police were able to apprehend a truck thief via an iPhone. According to USA Today, the suspect, Joshua Mitzelfelt, stole the truck while it was running in a driveway Tuesday morning, with the owner's iPhone in the front seat. The owner used the GPS within the device to track the car, allowing police to find the truck seven miles from the owner's residence.

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Wednesday Mobile Roundup: Smurfs' Village, HTML5 & More

Christopher Mack

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