The French gaming firm singled out the “strong performance” of its iPhone games, as well as “solid sales” of Java and Brew games, as helping boost mobile games sales 21% in the first quarter.

Company spokesperson Anne-Laure Descleves said that sales of Java and Brew games, usually played on traditional feature phones, rose 6% compared to the same period last year. Overall, Gameloft reported sales of 30.8 million euros ($40.8 million) in the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 22% from the previous year.

Mobile games accounts for 94% of the company’s annual sales, meaning that the company earned 28.95 million euros ($38.4 million) from mobile games. Console games made up the remaining 6%. Sales of games were spread evenly in its different territories, with Europe accounting for 35% of sales, North America making up 37%, and the rest of the world bringing in the remaining 29%.

North America was Gameloft’s strongest growth region, with sales up 57% in Q1.

Source:Gameloft Continues to Grow

The figure was apparently “buried” in Deutsche Telekom’s earnings report. According to the German carrier’s report, the G1 accounts for two-thirds of all of T-Mobile USA’s 3G handset sales so far.

Initial sales of the G1 are certainly a lot smaller in comparison to Apple’s iPhone. Apple sold around 3.7 million iPhones during the two full quarters after the device’s launch in the summer of 2007. Keep in mind, however, that T-Mobile USA has less than half the number of subscribers than AT&T so on a relative basis, it’s doing OK.

Source:1 Million Android-based G1’s Sold

Every Week You’ll Get A New Horoscope For Your Pet!

Oprah will do anything for her pets. President Barack Obama enjoys playing
with his puppy on the White House lawn. People find their perfect mate through
web site dating where they meet other people who love pets. Some people travel with pets. Others even drink beer with their pets. But now, there’s something new you can do with your pet. We know you’re worried about swine flue, terrorist attacks, pirates boarding ships, losing your home to mortgage foreclosure, the recession, no healthcare, losing your job, vampire video, who’s on twitter and why the latest diet pill doesn’t work, so get ready for some good news.

Pet-ertainment LLC and Movaya Wireless, Inc. are pleased to announce the first ever Horoscope app for your pet.

“My Pet’s Weekly Horoscope” isn’t like those that just show you cute pets, funny pets, the world’s smartest dogs, crazy cats or adorable puppies. “My Pet’s Weekly Horoscope” brings you closer to your dog or cat because you will now have insights into your pet’s behavior. If you want to understand your dog or cat better, know what makes your pet tick and be able to change bad pet behavior, you want to get “My Pet’s Weekly Horoscope” every week.

Can’t wait to see your own horoscope? Now you can find out what the stars have in store for your furry best friend. Animalinks’ pet astrologer Carol Jepson helps you and your pet get closer by forecasting how your pet may feel and act every week. Check out your dog’s or cat’s horoscope and your friend’s pet’s horoscope with our Pet Zodiac featuring twelve of the world’s most loveable pets. Don’t know your dog’s or cat’s birth month? Use our Key Word Match-Ups to find your pet’s sign. Buy this app once and My Pet’s Weekly Horoscope delivers a new 7-day fun forecast every Monday for your pet on your iPhone or iPod touch!

Get it now!

Source:Movaya Launches My Pet’s Weekly Horoscope iPhone App

Speaking Wednesday at Google’s annual I/O developer event in San Francisco, Gundotra said Android users have downloaded an average of more than 40 applications per user, adding that Android smartphones are now second in the U.S. in mobile web browsing, behind Apple’s iPhone.

5000 apps is a pretty good number. We (Movaya) are about to launch our first premium app in the Android Market next week so we’ll see how that goes.

Source:5000 Android Apps

Analysts said that the company is likely to introduce either a $149 phone or a $99 phone, down from the current low end of $199.

Citing a firm survey of consumers, Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty said that a $50 price cut could increase demand for the phone by 50% and a $100 cut by 100%.

Apple sells about 11% of the world’s smart phones, trailing Nokia at 41% and Research in Motion (Blackberry) at 20%, according to Gartner figures from the first quarter.

Source:Cheaper iPhone Coming Soon?

KENKEN has become a certified phenomenon with more that 1.5 million puzzle books sold and regular puzzles appearing in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Detroit Free Press, Readers Digest and on NYTimes.com.

The brainchild of Japanese Math teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto and made famous by puzzle master Will Shortz, KENKEN requires simple arithmetic calculations and logic to decipher the ingenious puzzles. Translated as “wisdom squared” in Japanese, KENKEN involves addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

With difficulty levels from beginner to advanced, KENKEN puzzles improve logical thinking, concentration and perseverance.

If you’ve never played KENKEN it is in the same category as Sudoku but with a different twist. You can try it out online here and see what you think, or you can watch a how to play video here.

KENKEN: Train Your Brain is available from iTunes for $4.99.

Source:Capcom Mobile Launches KENKEN for iPhone

While EA’s overall business continues to struggle, mobile was a bright spot with the company reporting that their mobile revenues were up 24% year-over-year to $189 million. For the fiscal fourth quarter, EA Mobile recorded $48 million in revenues, up 14% year-over-year.

Glu reported revenues of $20.8 million, compared to $20.6 million in the first quarter of 2008 which represents less than a 1% increase year over year.

If I was a Glu shareholder I’d be pretty disappointed with Glu’s results. Although EA is a bigger company , the mobile games business is growing fairly rapidly (see post coming soon) and Glu should be growing at a similar pace to EA.

If you read Glu’s full release and if you’ve been following the company over the last year, a lot of their lack of growth is due to the fact that Glu was very late to the iPhone party. They’ve started to ramp up lately with a number of high quality releases on that platform including the very fun Glyder title, but it’s clear that they’ve still got a lot of work to do to get their business to take off further.

EA, on the other hand, was early to the iPhone an their games have done very well. Just in the past couple weeks, EA announced five new iPhone titles and executives said they expect to introduce 30 games for the iPhone this year.

Source:EA and Glu Report Mobile Game Sales Results

The advent of the iPhone and its App Store have made the download and usage of mobile games easier than ever, and the mobile gaming industry is expected to grow more than 10% per year to hit $6.3 billion in user spending by 2011, according to a report from Gartner.

52% of gamers cited “distraction from daily life issues” as the top benefit derived from mobile gaming, followed by “relaxation and stress relief” (40%) and “improved mood” (12%)–in addition, 52% of gamers said they play mobile titles during work hours, and 14% selected “during my work day, when I need a short break” as the time when they most often play games on their phone.

60% of all mobile gamers cited “while waiting for an appointment” as a time when they play mobile games, with “during the day on weekdays” selected by 34% of respondents and “when traveling on vacation” and “on the weekend” tying for third at 25% each.

The Information Solutions Group study reports that 59% of AT&T gamers play games on their phone at least once a month, and 40% said they play weekly or more often–41% said they played less than once per month. 91% of mobile gaming sessions last fewer than 30 minutes, and 62% extend fewer than 15 minutes. In all, 71% of mobile gamers play games on their phone for less than an hour per week, although 52% of those who play daily said they play for three or more hours per week.

Asked to name “games you enjoy playing on your cell phone,” 20% of AT&T gamers cited Tetris, followed by Bejeweled at 18% and Solitaire at 17%. Puzzle games topped popular genres at 66%, followed by card/casino titles at 51%–board games earned 15% of the vote, with action/adventure trailing at 11%.

86% of mobile gamers also play video games on one or more other devices, with 76% of gamers playing on computers, 41% on consoles and 24% on handheld game devices.

17% of mobile gamers consider their mobile handset their primary gaming device.

Source:Cell Phone Gaming Taking Off

Couple highlights:

“But on June 6, Apple will get a powerful competitor in this category. It’s a beautiful, innovative and versatile hand-held computer that’s fully in the iPhone’s class. It’s called the Pre, and it comes from Palm, the company that pioneered the hand-held computer in the 1990s. I’ve been testing the Pre for a couple of weeks, and I like it a lot, despite some important drawbacks that will have to be remedied.”

“All in all, I believe the Pre is a smart, sophisticated product that will have particular appeal for those who want a physical keyboard. It is thoughtfully designed, works well and could give the iPhone and BlackBerry strong competition — but only if it fixes its app store and can attract third-party developers.”

Source:Mossberg Reviews the Palm Pre

Well, I may have found one tonight in Bed Bugs. Developed by Igloo Games Bed Bugs is highly addictive and very fun. You play the role of a sleepwalker who climbs out of bed and is bombarded by all different types of Bed Bugs that are doing their best to wake him up. At each level (I made it through 9) a new Bed Bug is introduced and each of them have to be handled differently.

Some you can’t touch. Others you have to touch multiple times and in the latest level, some you touch once but you better not touch them again.

The game starts out pretty easy but gets progressively more difficult as the new Bed Bugs get introduced and you have to keep your fingers moving to keep your Sleepwalker asleep.

This is a game that is simply perfect for the iPhone and iPod touch and everything about the game is done extremely well: the sound, the graphics, the controls and the game concept are fantastic.

This is Igloo’s second iPhone game. Dizzy Bee was the first and although I have personally not played it, it has gotten tremendous reviews so it’s no surprise that these guys have nailed it again with Bed Bugs.

This is a game for all ages and I’m excited to show my kids this one as well. It is currently selling for $1.99 in iTunes and I highly recommend downloading it now.

Source:iPhone Game Review – Bed Bugs