This week’s headlines from across Inside Network
A roundup of all the news Inside Network brought you from Feb. 27 to Mar. 3.
Inside Mobile Apps
Tracking the convergence of mobile apps, social platforms and virtual goods.
Monday, Feb. 27
- Android crosses 850,000 activations per day with 450,000 apps in the store, Andy Rubin says
- Apple makes a stealth appearance at Mobile World Congress with iAd party
- Facebook puts its weight behind industry-wide initiative to push HTML5 forward
- Facebook partners with world’s largest carriers to bolster mobile web-based payments
- Emerging top paid iOS apps: Photoshop Touch, Draw Something and Munch Time
Tuesday, Feb. 28
- Soundcloud’s savvy way of mixing HTML5 and native apps for growth on mobile
- Game Insight made $50M last year, aims for $150M this year
- Google to share Android app templates tomorrow to bump up design quality
- SiXiTS hopes $100,000 Kickstarter drive will be the key to its passion project, Robota: Vengeance
- Facebook is probably paying an arm and a leg for its new carrier-enabled, mobile web payments system
Wednesday, Feb. 29
- User acquisition costs fell 59% in January as developers backed off holiday spending, Fiksu says
- CodeRunner turns players into virtual spies in the real world
- New this week on the Inside Network Job Board: Index Middle East, Atari, Addmired and more
- Emerging top grossing iOS Apps: Draw Something, Final Fantasy Tactics and Zombies, Run!
- Instant opinion app Thumb is seeing user engagement of almost 3.5 hours a month
Thursday, Mar. 1
- Viral channels for Android apps on Facebook are coming in a few weeks
- Viximo enters mobile-social platform fray with Social Zone
- New hires in mobile: Crowdstar, GREE and Storm8
- Draw Something shoots to success with simple draw-and-guess gameplay
Friday, Mar. 2
- Supercell goes ‘tablet-first,’ hires former iWin president Greg Harper as general manager for North America
- Former Outfit7 CEO goes for a Groupon-for-apps model with new startup Iddiction
- Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North brings Kabam’s signature “hardcore” gameplay to iOS
- Pocket Gems breaks new ground with Tap Paradise Cove
- Emerging popular Android apps: Airport City, Grow and Draw Something
- International Mobile Gaming Awards winners unveiled
- Stay tuned for Inside Network’s GDC Coverage
- Mobile app news roundup: Gamevil, EA and PayPal
Saturday, Mar. 3
Inside Social Games
Covering all the latest developments at the intersection of games and social platforms.
Monday, Feb. 27
- Hidden Haunts brings photorealism to the hidden object genre
- Game Insight sees revenues hit $50 million in 2011
- Familiar Ville: a lushly-presented take on the pet care genre
Tuesday, Feb. 28
- Crowdpark announces new social betting games Pet Vegas and AnteUp for Facebook
- Please welcome Mike Thompson — Inside Social Games’ new Lead Writer
Wednesday, Feb. 29
- PapayaMobile looks to bring social game developers to Android with Social Splash
- Zynga Japan launches Pokémon-like RPG, Montopia, for iOS
- New this week on the Inside Network Job Board: Atari, Addmired, TinyCo, King.com and more
- Time World challenges players to conquer the stars
- Game discovery on Facebook is still no easy task
Thursday, Mar. 1
- Zynga and Frito-Lay partner for virtual good rewards in Walmart snacks
- Funzio rolls for fantasy RPG initiative with Kingdom Age
- Meet Zynga.com, also known as Zynga Direct, Z-Live and Zynga’s declaration of independence
- Why Zynga? How developers are overcoming their fear of being cloned through Zynga’s partner publishing
- Top 25 Facebook Games of March 2012
- New hires in social gaming: Fiveonenine Games, Digital Chocolate and Plumbee
- Zynga’s new platform causes stock to jump
Friday, Mar. 2
- Lotto Ayeneh tops this week’s list of emerging Facebook games
- Puzzle Treasure offers brain-teasing tangram fun
- Sport SKL lets players show off their sports stats knowledge
- Stay tuned for Inside Network’s GDC Coverage
- Social gaming news roundup: SGN, Kabam and virtual goods
Saturday, Mar. 3
Inside Facebook
Tracking Facebook and the Facebook platform for developers and marketers.
Monday, Feb. 27
- Facebook puts weight behind industry-wide initiative to push HTML5 forward
- Facebook partners with carriers to bolster mobile web-based payments
- Oscars, WashPo, Pinterest, BranchOut, Angry Birds, more on this week’s top 20 growing Facebook apps by MAU
- Facebook Questions appear in mobile News Feed
- Buddy Media acquires Brighter Option to bring ad management to software suite
- Real-time insights coming to pages, sources say
Tuesday, Feb. 28
- Jesus, Adele, Angry Birds, McDonald’s, Disney, Jeremy Lin, more on this week’s top 20 growing Facebook pages
- Yahoo goes after Facebook with patent claims
- Facebook likely paying carriers big cuts for mobile web payments system
- New Facebook platform industry hires: Kontagent, BLiNQ Media, PageLever, more
- Wildfire, GraphEffect now provide page management, Facebook ad software in one
- Facebook Studio gives awards to Amex, Wrigley, Nike, others for social campaigns
Wednesday, Feb. 29
- Timeline for Facebook pages: a complete overview of new features
- Blogging the Facebook Marketing Conference: Keynote
- Facebook introduces Reach Generator packaged advertising solution to boost page posts
- Facebook launches mobile ads: Sponsored Stories and Premium page post ads within News Feed
- New this week on the Inside Network Job Board: GREE, Nickelodeon, SponsorPay and more
- Facebook monetizes users logging out with premium ad placement on logout page
- Facebook page insights go real time
- Facebook to give pages new ‘Offers’ posts, scrap check-in deals
Thursday, Mar. 1
- Facebook adds new public data to page Timelines, lets businesses assess competitors
- Viral channels for Android apps to launch ‘in coming weeks’
- Facebook ‘Interest Lists’ feature could be another challenge to Twitter
- Meet Zynga.com, also known as Zynga Direct, Z-Live and Zynga’s declaration of independence
- Facebook hires and departures: engineering, Washington D.C., communication, more
- Facebook career postings: California policy manager, engineering, data centers, more
- New Wildfire templates optimize Facebook content, promotions for any device
Friday, Mar. 2
- Viddy, tabs, horoscopes, calendars, greetings, Zynga, more on this week’s top 15 emerging Facebook apps by MAU
- Vevo to require users to have Facebook account to register
- Romney back on top this week on Inside Facebook’s Election Tracker
- Facebook to create different levels of access for page admins
- Fact Check: News Feed ads, Reach Generator, private messages, offers
- Facebook roundup: IPO, Caffeinated Mind, hackathon, politicians
Saturday, Mar. 3
