Rovio’s Angry Birds Toons may very well be the first-ever mobile video show that reaches an audience of millions – but that doesn’t mean that startups are having it any easier. Read more at paidContent »
Matt shares impressions of Nokia’s Lumia 810 and 822 while Kevin gives a summary of the Nexus 10: Great hardware but not quite up to par on the software front. Plus, both hosts are addicted to Angry Birds Star Wars: May the Force be mobile! Read more »
Rovio, whose “Angry Birds” app has been downloaded over 1 billion times, announced its first book app, a $0.99 iPad cookbook called “Bad Piggies’ Best Egg Recipes,” at the Frankfurt Book Fair Thursday. “We’re looking for millions of downloads,” CMO Peter Vesterbacka said. Read more at paidContent »
Can’t get enough Angry Birds? Maybe you should invite the birds and pigs over to play the game in your home or office enviroment. A nifty proof-of-concept shows what it would look like on an iPad, giving us a glimpse of an immersive gaming future. Read more »
Rovio, the team behind Angry Birds, is launching Bad Piggies, a game told from the pig’s perspective. The game is still physics based but it doesn’t have the same visceral fun of throwing birds and bringing down structures. Read more »
I was going to include these posts in next week’s Om Says newsletter, but who wants to wait till then? I would say read these posts before you call it a Sunday. They aren’t exactly news, but that is why they are worth reading! Read more »
Rovio has finally released its next title after the smash hit Angry Birds — a physics puzzler called Amazing Alex that reworks an existing iPhone game with a few little extra touches. Will the Finnish company prove it’s not a one hit wonder? Read more »
It looks like the success of Angry Birds is starting to trickle down into the Finnish startup economy, with the news that Rovio chairman Kaj Hed is putting money into local e-commerce and marketing startup Kiosked. Read more »
Felicis Ventures, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture fund started by early Google employee Aydin Senkut has raised a new $70 million fund. The investment group is well known for its investments in Angry Birds’ parent, Inkling and Shopify. This is their second institutional seed fund. Read more »
Angry Birds maker Rovio generated $106.3 million in revenue last year based on the success of three games and a booming merchandising business. The tenfold improvement over the previous is a strong showing for the company as it looks ahead to an IPO next. Read more »
Book publishers have to make reading books as addictive and habit-forming as playing Angry Birds, Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit” (also known as “that book about how Target knew a teenager was pregnant before her dad did”) argues. Read more at paidContent »
There are 25 billion apps in Apple’s App Store, 450,000 in Google Play and 82,000 in Microsoft Windows Phone Marketplace. Making a successful app that stands out means looking beyond the popular gaming market toward areas like weather, news and productivity apps. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
UPDATED: Angry Birds Space is another huge hit for Rovio who said Thursday is won’t be building a version for Windows Phone, according to Peter Vesterbacka, the chief marketing officer of Rovio. Rovio, however, reversed course Friday and said they would develop a WP7 app. Read more »
A sprawling lawsuit filed in Texas this week targets Path, Instagram, Facebook and others for instructing their apps to suck up user address… Read more at paidContent »
Samsung, on a high after releasing some strong mobile numbers last week, today became the latest consumer electronics brand to hang its name… Read more at paidContent »
Angry Birds has soared into some rarified air with the news that it’s eclipsed 500 million downloads after launching less than two years ago. Mikael Hed, aka Mighty Eagle made the announcement on stage at the Slush Conference in Helsinki. Read more »
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but this may be stretching the expression a bit too far. Cut the Birds, a game release… Read more at paidContent »
The No. 2 free app on Apple’s app store is Cut the Birds, a mashup of two really popular iOS games: Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja. The comments on the app’s review section say it all. I am just surprised it slipped past the Apple censors. Read more »
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) are trying to aid app developers in an important case that will decide whether the developers are… Read more at paidContent »
There’s no question that apps have become a global phenomenon in the mobile world — and who doesn’t want to catapult a cute red bird onto s… Read more at paidContent »
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and games like ‘Angry Birds’ are some of the most popular applications on smartphones today, b… Read more at paidContent »
Angry Birds creator Rovio is using predictive analytics software from Seattle-based startup Medio in an attempt to improve the gaming experience and keep users playing. Mobile and social games might appear to be cute diversions, but they’re generating lots of money. Read more »
Right on the heels of $8 million in new funding, Roku has added seven new casual games to its boxes. The games, which were developed by Accedo, follow on the release of Angry Birds on its new devices and will add some additional revenues. Read more »
Roku has raised another $8 million, according to an SEC filing. The round comes just a few weeks after Roku launched the latest version of its broadband set-top boxes, which in addition to streaming video, also features casual games. Read more »
Mobile payments — payments initiated by a phone for a transaction at a physical point of sale or online — will total over $750 billion worldwide by 2015, and many predict they will soon begin to replace a typical credit card transaction. This report analyzes and forecasts the mobile payments industry, from its current technologies to the companies implementing them and the trends we can expect in the coming months. Much of the near-term growth of mobile payments will be driven by near-field communication (NFC) technology, but QR and 2D bar codes, mobile POS systems and SMS transactions are also important platforms for companies to consider when creating business models and strategies. Meanwhile, services from the likes of MasterCard, Nokia, Amazon and Google offer examples for others to follow and clues into the future of the industry. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Research in Motion, T-Mobile, Zong and Groupon. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The iPhone and iPad are swimming in awesome game releases lately. Three titles worthy of special attention arrived on Apple’s mobile devices Thursday, including a little something for everyone, from casual gamers right up to those looking for a fairly rich RPG experience. Read more »
Roku just came out with a new generation of streaming media players, complete with support for Angry Birds and other casual games as well as advanced Netflix streaming. Want to see it in action? Then check out this week’s episode of Cord Cutters. Read more »
The next generation of Roku media streaming boxes will roll out soon, with a new, smaller form factor and more powerful graphics. With the release, the company is betting big on casual games becoming available on new Roku 2 devices, including Rovio’s Angry Birds. Read more »
Pictures and details of the next generation of Roku set-top boxes have been revealed, thanks to a filing with the FCC. So should you get ready to buy one? It probably depends on if you already own a Roku — and how much you like Angry Birds. Read more »
Rovio wants to take Angry Birds local by enhancing game play for users when they visit real-world locations. The feature builds off an NFC feature for certain Nokia phones, and unlocks new levels when users tap their phones together or tap in at a location. Read more »
Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, has a huge hit on its hands — 200 million downloads and ambitious plans for toys, animated series and even a movie. But is the company really thinking about the future . . . or just trying to cash in while it can? Read more »
Chrome now has 160 million users in 41 countries worldwide. That’s more than double the 70 million users reported at last year’s conference. In addition to new features in the Chrome API, Google also announced a special web version of Angry Birds for Chrome. Read more »
When the iPad first arrived, a lot of iPhone games got HD treatments. A little over a year later, and the opposite seems to be happening. Sword & Sworcery EP and Chicken Balls are both now on the iPhone after debuting on the iPad. Read more »
NFC can be used for a lot of things, now including unlocking levels in Angry Birds. Rovio is partnering with Nokia to offer a Symbian version of its popular title, called Angry Birds Magic, in which most of the levels will be unlocked through NFC. Read more »
Angry Birds developer Rovio is launching its follow up game Rio exclusively on the Amazon App Store for Android, giving Amazon’s new market a marquee title as it prepares to open for business. Here’s what the deal means for Amazon, developers and Google. Read more »
Rovio, the Finnish company behind the hit Angry Birds game has raised $42 million in venture funding to grow the business into different directions. Investors in the company include Accel Partners, Atomico and Felicis Ventures. Angry Birds maker hopes to become a many-media brand. Read more »
The Game Developer Conference (GDC) is on this week, and iOS gaming is a big part of it. Angry Birds developer Rovio is in attendance, and CEO Peter Vesterbacka took some time to sing the praises of iOS before discussing the future of the bird-flinging franchise. Read more »
I went to an Austin cake show today, and amid several superhero cakes, wedding confections and some impressive feats of fondant I stumbled upon an ode to Angry Birds. I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks. Click through to see the whole thing. Read more »
Rovio is taking its success with Angry Birds — 50 million downloads and counting — and using it to launch a new carrier-billing payment system. The mobile developer said it is launching Bad Piggy Bank early next year, allowing one-touch in-app billing to a user’s wireless bill. Read more »
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a nice small tablet, and I often get asked if there is a dock/ stand for using the device at the desk. This video shows a simple stand that is commonly available for around $5 that serves the purpose nicely. Read more »
