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.

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.

Independent mobile application network Tapjoy has recently announced that it has signed many new Android and iOS app developers to its network. The network has also expanded with over 10,000 mobile applications. OMGPOP, Craneballs, Game Circus, Moblyng, and Spry Fox are some of the new developer partners of the network.

“Free-to-play titles are driving user experience and engagement in mobile, and we are honored to partner with so many of the best and fastest growing developers leading this charge,” said Mihir Shah, president and CEO of Tapjoy.

“Our developers tell us that nearly one-third of their total revenue comes from our platform, which speaks to the tremendous consumer demand for easy-to-use and 100% trustworthy alternative payment options like ours,” he added.

The network reaches to over 30 million daily active users and claims to distribute more than 1 million ad completions every day for brands and mobile app developers.

A few months back, a tweak in Apple App Store ranking algorithm forced Tapjoy to put a cap on incentivized app download promotion.

comScore, Inc. has released data reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry that provides key market insights to iPhone developers. According to the report, Samsung leads the manufacturer list with 25.3% market share while Google Android continues to gain ground in the US smartphone OS market reaching 40.1%. The survey also reveals that 78.5 million people owned smartphones during the three month survey period ending in June 2011, an increase by 8% from the preceding three month period. The survey also brings key data on mobile content usage which will be of particular interest for iPhone app developers.

US Manufacturer Market Share.

US Smartphone Platform Market Share

Mobile Content Usage

Tags: iOS app developers, iphone developers

Apple has released the 5^th beta version of its soon-to-be launched operating system iOS 5 for iPad and iPhone developers. The iOS 5 beta 5 has build number 9A5288d. The latest beta version is available as OTA update but iOS app developers are required to erase all content and recommended backing up their device before installing it.

The latest beta version only fixes bugs and has no major upgrade from the previous version.

Apple has released beta 4 of iOS 5 two weeks back. The iOS 5 is expected to be released in September coinciding with the release of Apple’s next generation iPhone 5.

Nuance Communications, has announced that it’s Dragon Mobile SDK’s support for Australian app developers. The SDK will now support Australian English. The Nuance Mobile Developer Program provides android and iOS app developers the power to voice-enable their applications through the self-service website. It allows mobile app developers to speedily and easily leverage the powerful dictation and voice search capabilities.

The Nuance Mobile Developer Program, available in the US, EMEA, China and now Australia, has signed over 3,000 android and iOS app developers and has successfully launched many voice-enabled apps globally including Siri, Dictionary.com, Price Check by Amazon, Merriam-Webster, SpeechTrans, Yellow Pages and AirYell from Avantar, Ask for iPhone, iTranslate from Sonico, and several others.

The Dragon Mobile SDK is available for Apple iOS 4.0 and for many devices running Android 2.1 and higher. The SDK currently supports US and UK English, Mandarin Chinese, European French, European Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese and now Australian English for dictation and search. Some more languages is expected to be added through the end of the year. The Mobile Developer Program also offers android and iOS application developers instant access to easy-to-integrate prepackaged wrappers and widgets for quick inclusion of voice recognition into their apps.

“The success of the Nuance Mobile Developer Program has proven that developers and their consumers love the ability to quickly and easily interface with applications via voice,” said Jason Stirling, senior vice president Asia Pacific, Nuance.

“The expansion into Australia is very exciting for local developers given the depth of talent that exists in this part of the world and high smartphone penetration in the domestic market. The Nuance Mobile Developer Program provides Australian developers with an opportunity to leverage advanced speech technology in support of their own innovation and global ambition,” he added.

Apple has released the third beta version of iOS 5 to iPad and developers. The iOS 5 is set for public release in the fall. The new version is called Build 9A5259f. Details of what this latest iOS 5 beta version will offer are slowly coming out. Itsalltech.com has posted a few details of the new offerings from iOS 5 beta 3 versions.

According to the post, with the new beta iPad and iPhone developers can now enable or disable Location Services right from the initial setup. The other noticeable improvement in the new iOS 5 beta is the speed enhancements which have considerably improved. The new beta also brings a voice roaming toggle to prevent users from connecting on roaming networks.

There is also a prompt for moved video content informing iOS users’ that video content like movies, music videos etc., have been moved to the videos app. Users can now also clear cookies and data and new page has been added for removing data. Plus there are many tweaks such as ‘reminders’ has a new icon, music has a “Store” button that takes you to the iTunes Store and the ability to create a new ‘Mailbox’ from the mail app.

UPDATE- Macrumors reports that in the latest iOS 5 beta version, Apple has activated the new “Assistive Touch” features for the iPad.

‘The Assistive Touch settings were in place in iOS’s accessibility settings in previous betas, but is only now active. The new features are meant to provide additional interactivity for those who might have trouble using the traditional gestures and buttons on the iPad.’

A report by Nielsen research finds mobile games continuing their dominance as the most popular app category. The research reveals that 93% of mobile users who have downloaded within the last 30 days are willing to pay for the games. While only 76% of users are willing to pay for news apps.
Among smartphone consumers, iPhone, Android and Windows 7 owners are most likely to have downloaded the games, while Blackberry phone or feature phone owners be likely to play pre-loaded games.
The study further reveals that an average gamer plays for an average of 7.8 hours a month. Apple iPhone owners tend to play the most with around 14.7 hours a month while Android smartphone owners play around 9.3 hours per month.

‘Living With Digital’ survey by Futuresource Consulting provides interesting insights for iPhone developers on smartphone market and user behavior. The consumer survey was carried out in the UK, US, France and Germany on a sample of 2,500 respondents. The survey reveals that 64% of iPhone users watch video on their device.  Other interesting findings of the study are-

• Facebook is driving the mobile internet usage. The social networking site is the most visited site followed by Google and YouTube across all territories while in the UK, BBC occupies third position.
• User generated content (UGC) account for majority of videos watched via mobile devices, although users are also watching clips, trailers and music videos.
• More than 25% of smartphone owners surveyed in the UK and US download apps. Gaming is the most popular across all four territories and 65% of smartphone users frequently play games on their devices closely followed by social networking and music. Over 40% users download social networking applications across all territories.”
• Apple iPhone owners are downloading the most games and paying for content. One in three iPhone users are making in-app purchases.

“A quarter of people in the UK and a third in the US now own a smartphone and this growth is set to continue, with Futuresource research showing that three in four people across the UK and US will own a smartphone by 2014,” said Alison Casey, Head of Global Content at Futuresource Consulting.

“The ever-increasing presence of smartphones across all four territories surveyed in our ‘Living With Digital’ study has seen greatest adoption of iPhone, HTC and Blackberry phones by the younger consumer, with the higher percentage of owners being under 25.”

The report notes that the focus on what users are willing to pay for when accessing content on mobile devices continues to influence the app developers. A common stream of income for the app developers is in-App purchasing, which has emerged as a significant revenue contributor.

Tags: iPhone, iphone developers

Canalys has forcasted that mobile app store’s direct revenue from the sale of apps, in-app purchases etc., will be up by 92% from an expected $7.3 billion in 2011 to hit $14.1 billion in 2012, and will reach $36.7 billion by 2015. The compound annual growth rate for 2011 to 2015 will be just under 50%. The analyst firm further notes that the projected growth in direct revenue from app stores offer a superb opportunity for mobile operators to battle with vendor app stores.

“The leading stores already have hundreds of thousands of apps, so it’s hard for operators to compete with those numbers,” said Canalys Analyst Tim Shepherd.

“On the other hand, too much choice brings serious problems in terms of application discovery for both developers and users, which operators can turn to their advantage,”he added.

With 419.0 million smart phones and 43.3 million pads projected to ship worldwide this year, the app market is only expected to get bigger and better.

Tags: App stores, iphone developers