MapText, Inc. has announced the release of a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for iPad and iPhone app developers. The SDK will enable iPhone developers to build rich and completely customizable mapping apps.

The new SDK will allow app developers to render any kind of GIS data into customized maps, including street maps, emergency maps and the sophisticated aeronautical or nautical charts.

The SDK will address the needs of iPad and iPhone developers interested in building GIS application using their own data and offer aesthetic vector maps with fluid zoom/pan capabilities on iOS devices. The SDK will also include high performance dynamic labeling functionality.

The SDK will provide following capabilities to iOS developers:

• map image rendered on the fly from vector data
• ability to load map data from any standard GIS source
• lightning fast dynamic (on the fly) label placement
• advanced label placement options (leadering, stacking, font reduction, shield placement)
• map presentation entirely configurable  including feature symbolization and text styles
• offline map usage (no network connectivity required)

To know in details about the SDK, interested iOS developers can visit www.maptext.com.

Leading mobile social gaming network, OpenFeint has announced a new feature to its existing Android and iOS SDK. GameFeed, the latest free-to-play gaming feature is a social gaming newsfeed which help android and iOS app developers to boost user engagement in their applications by enriching social activity from the network in games. GameFeed improves user engagement by engaging gamers with social information like updated player profiles and providing app developers with stronger communication tools to interact with the players.

According to OpenFeint, the inclusion of the new plugin in the SDK has increased sessions-per-user average by 25 percent with some Android and iOS app developers experiencing a jump of 60 percent.  The GamFeed plugin by engaging players with social information like updated player profiles and giving developers stronger player communication tools.

“OpenFeint is committed to delivering a next generation social network with features that will help free-to-play games improve lifetime value,” said Jason Citron, founder and CEO of OpenFeint.

“Sessions per user is a key engagement component of lifetime value and GameFeed significantly increases engagement at no additional cost to developers,” he added.

Popular Android and iOS game developers like Big Blue Bubble, Get Set Games, PikPok and Sibblingz etc., will integrate GameFeed in their games.

Reports suggest that Lodsys, a company that has filed patent infringement suit against iOS app developers for in-app purchases, is struggling to legally counter Apple’s petition of being an intervener in the lawsuit. Experts believe that Lodsys’s failure in keeping the Cupertino based technology giant out of the lawsuit may seriously jeopardize its patent infringement allegations.

In May this year, Lodsys has sent notices to several iPad and iPhone developers. In its communiqué, the claimed to hold exclusive patents rights on in-app purchasing system deployed on iOS apps and demanded iOS app developers to purchase licenses. Lodsys has similarly targeted Android developers on the same issue. Apple then came in support of iOS developers claiming that its licenses also extend to app developers resulting in Lodsys disputing it and filing a lawsuit on the issue. Apple then requested to be an intervener in the lawsuit.

iOS app developers may be praying for Apple to be a party in the lawsuit as it bolster their petition in the court. While on the other hand Lodsys wants to keep Apple out of the lawsuit. It will be interesting to see which way the case goes.

Spotify has announced the release of libspotify 9 API (Spotify Embedded Player) for iOS app developers. the latest API (Application Programming Interface) will enable iPad and iPhone app developers to deploy popular music streaming service within the application.

iPad and iPhone developers who are building paid apps or wish to monetize their applications have to get license from Spotify. Non-commercial application however will not require licensing for use.

“We hope this will enable a new category of iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch applications with Spotify inside and allow for more immersive music experiences within iOS apps,” says Sten Garmark, Director of Platform at Spotify.

Spotify’s API was previously available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating system. iOS app developers can download the API here.

Apple has releases iTunes Match Beta for iOS app developers in United States. A communiqué from the Cupertino based tech giant says that subscribes of iTunes Beta will receive iTunes Match services during the beta period. In addition, the subscribers will also get an additional 3 months service free of cost with their annual subscription.

Subscribers are also advised by Apple to maintain a local backup of their iTunes library and any music they add to iCloud. The email sent by Apple to iPad and iPhone developers reads “Apple will periodically reset your iCloud library during the beta and it is critical that you backup your music regularly. Some features and optimizations of iTunes Match will not be available during the beta.”

iTunes Match will be available for an annual subscription of $24.99.

Insanely Great Mac says that that the Beta provides both streaming and downloading service.

Nextpeer has announced the launch of a new developer toolkit for iOS developers that allow them to easily and quickly and easily turn single-player games into multi-player games. With Nextpeer SDK (software development kit), iPad and iPhone game developers will also be able to can add customized features into their games. The SDK will allow gamers to participate in real-time tournaments and compete against others.

For gamers, it is very easy to use a Nextpeer powered game. They have to sign in using the Facebook Connect ID and all the live tournaments will be displayed on the screen. Players also have an option to place bet to participate in the tournament depending on the game they choose to play. The players will get real-time messages on their status to give them a perfect gaming experience.

The Nextpeer SDK is now only available for iOS app developers. The SDK for Android will come later. Interested iOS app developers can sign up to join the private beta here.

As per a report by The Wall Street Journal, Sprint will join AT&T and Verizon to offer the iPhone 5 when it launches this year. Sprint will be the third carrier in U.S. to offer the iPhone. The report says that Apple will release its next generation iPhone in “mid-October”.

In another report, Reuters says that a lower priced 8GB version of the iPhone 4 will be launched this fall. There has been considerable speculation on Apple changing its strategy to target low-end mobile users with a low cost iPhone 4. The report further says that Apple is targeting end of the September launch for the iPhone 5 and completely refutes claims that the IPhone 5 will have significant changes in form-factor. The new iPhone 5 is reported to look identical to iPhone 4 but will have a bigger screen, 8 MP camera and better antenna.

An iPhone developer has also reported to found evidence that the iPhone 5 will be a dual mode device supporting both GSM and CDMA.

The iPhone 5 release has generated considerable speculation in the last few months. As the above two reports show, it is still very unclear when Apple will release its next generation iPhone. But it would be safe to say that the next two months might see an iPhone 5 release.

AdIQuity has announced the release of a new iOS SDK for iPad and iPhone app developers. AdIQuity is a Global Mobile Ads Platform that enables iOS app developers to monetize their apps. The ad platform uses real time optimization applied on global ad inventory sourced from more than 30 top ad network partners to generate high revenues for mobile app developers. The real time optimization method makes sure that the best ad network is selected for each request based on device, carrier, platform and location etc. The ad platform provides many options for each request, ensuring that the fill rate is much higher in comparison to market average. It will ensure improved eCPM and overall ad revenue for iOS developers.

A Few weeks back AdIQuity releases a similar SDK for Android app developers. Developers from other platforms like Java, Blackberry, and Windows etc. also can also monetize their app using AdIQuity platform through API based integration.

Apple recently released beta 6 of its soon-to-be launched operating system iOS 5. The iphone maker is making several changes in its OS. One not-much talked about but significant change first pointed by Techcrunch and later picked by other websites say that Apple is phasing out unique device identifier (UDID) for iPhone app developers. Apple has communicated this to the registered iOS developers in its latest documentation to iOS 5.

Phasing out UDID is a significant change as it is used by mobile marketers, ad networks and iOS app developers to identify devices. Most app analytics use the UDIDs to monitor user engagement with an application. With this change, iOS developers will now have to create own user identifiers to know about user engagement.

It would be interesting to see whether Apple itself will use UDID to target users for it iAd network or not? If it does then iPad and iPhone developers will have every right to call foul.

Analysis of over 57 million purchase transactions by Mobile Analytics Company Flurry  across various freemium iOS and Android games reveal that game players spend most money on consumable goods.  There are two main categories of virtual good available in Freemium games- durable and consumable goods. Flurry defines durable goods as those items that offer permanent gameplay benefit to players whereas durable goods are those items that is depleted when used.

As per the analysis more than two-thirds of all items purchased in freemium games are consumable goods while durable items represent 30 percent of all in-app purchases in android and iOS freemium games.  Personalization items represent only 2 percent of the in-app purchases in Freemium games.

For Android and iOS game developers, the analysis reveals that freemium games are here to stay as players find it immersive and compelling. The latest data also shows where consumers are spending the majority of their money on.  So, game developers will do well to offer a good selection of durable items in their games which will not only make for better gameplay but will also boost their revenues.

Earlier Flurry reported that Freemium model generating more revenue for iPhone developers than premium models. Flurry estimates that total iOS and Android game revenue in United States to exceed $1 billion in 2011.