Zynga will shut down a total of 11 of its social games as it finds new ways to cut costs to fulfill the cost reduction plan announced by CEO Mark Pincus in November of this year. When Pincus made that announcement he said that 13 games would be shut down. The list of games scheduled for closure covers 11 on that list.

On Christmas day iOS and Android device activations were greater than any other day in history, according to a new report from mobile analytics company Flurry. As highlighted by VentureBeat Flurry claims that over 17 million new smartphones and tablets were activated on Christmas day. Compared to the rest of December, new iOS and Android activations rose a whopping 332 percent on Christmas Day.

Just a friendly public service announcement: you can get the first episode of The Walking Dead game on Xbox Live and for iOS devices right now for free. While many claim the free episode of the game will be available until the beginning of the new year, it is probably best to download the game while it's available for sure. Why take chances, right?

The Walking Dead has already won numerous awards for creating a classic adventure game with an intense narrative from the popular comic book series and television series.

Forget about the so-called "fiscal cliff" the country faces in January, the debate over gun control or any other important pressing issues that matter in the United States - what's important to Barbara Walters and ABC seems to be what the President of the United States and the First Lady do in their off time. During the most recent Barbara Walters special, she gets the First Couple to divulge... their favorite iOS app.

Following yesterday's ruling by U.S District Judge Lucy Koh that rejected Apple's motion for a ban on the sale of three older Samsung devices still being sold in the U.S. that infringed on the company's iPhone-related patents, Samsung has decided to withdraw all of its requests for injunctions against Apple products currently pending in European courts.

Here's a not-so-shocking revelation about 2012: games were the most popular software on iOS devices in 2012 according to data released by Apple and collected by Inside Mobile Apps. Seven of the ten highest-grossing iPad apps and ten highest-grossing iPhone apps were games, according to the data.

According to All Things D, Apple has secured the regulatory approvals it needs from China to bring the iPhone 5 to the region, and this morning the company announced a release date for the phone: Dec. 14. Apple will launch the iPhone 5 after it launches the Wi-Fi versions of the iPad Mini and its fourth-generation iPad on Dec. 7

If you have ever thought to yourself "what would happen if Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and actor Danny Trejo teamed up to fight crime?" then the iOS game "Vengeance: Woz With A Coz" may be worth a look. The game turns that "other guy" that helped start Apple into an 8-bit hero in a side-scrolling beat 'em up, alongside popular actor Danny Trejo (Machete, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sons of Anarchy). Woz solicits the help of Trejo after his wife is kidnapped.

According to this Reuters report, Apple is now complying with local warranty laws in Italy after the company was threatened by the Italian government with shut downs of its local businesses and hefty fines if it did not comply. Last week Apple stopped selling its AppleCare warranty plans in its retail stores in Italy. The paid warranty program from Apple offers coverage after the limited warranty on an Apple product expires.

A new research paper from Google reveals what most gamers already know: the majority of tablet users spend more time playing games than anything else on their device of choice - whether it be Android, Windows, or iOS-based. In fact, Google's research found that gaming is the most popular activity on tablets right behind checking email.

iPhone iOS 6 users are complaining that since they have started using Apple's new operating system for its hand-held devices, they have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of data they consume. UK publication The Guardian is reporting that a number of iOS 6 users have been complaining about a "significant hike" in their data usage, which translates into higher monthly mobile data usage bills.

A judge in the United Kingdom has delivered a stinging rebuke of Apple, ordering the company to run ads publicly apologizing to Samsung. This ruling comes after the same judge ruled that Samsung’s Galaxy line of tablets does not infringe on Apple iPad patents. While Apple has better luck in other regions with its patent lawsuits, the UK seems to have dealt the company the most embarrassing of blows.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is not happy with the direction of Apple. He has called the company "arrogant' while speaking out against the iPhone 5's design in a recent interview with Tech Central.

Wozniak says that Apple is arrogant for refusing to make the iPhone 5 larger. The phone is a bit smaller than competitors' phones - like Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Wozniak thinks this is a big mistake.

Attorney Jack C. Schecter, Partner at law firm Sunstein Kann Murphy & Timbers LLP, passed along word that 6Waves has decided to settle its lawsuit with Spry Fox. You may remember that earlier in the year Spry Fox filed a lawsuit against the iOS developer claiming that Lolapps (a development studio the company acquired) had violated its copyright when it created a clone of its popular iOS title Triple Town.

2012 Election - Rise of the President is an iOS game that stands out because it was created by Stiven Deleur, a talented 14-year-old who started coding only a few months ago. But the inspiration for the game actually came from his father, who came up with the idea one afternoon.

"I wanted a fun way for people who are interested in politics, to participate in the election process and show support for their candidate," said Alex Deleur. "Plus, by collecting data per team, the goal was to create a game that could predict [the] result of the upcoming election."

Speaking to the New York Times, social game developer Supercell claims that it is raking in copious amounts of cash with its mobile endeavors. How much cash is it making on a daily basis of its games? According to the company, it is averaging over $500,000 a day from two of its most popular releases.

Anyone that has ever bought or considered buying a Square Enix game on a mobile platform has come to call its pricing the "Square Enix Tax." In other words, if you want to play a game like Final Fantasy Tactics on the iPad or iPhone, you're going to have to pay a premium price to have that privilege. Hardcore Square Enix fans begrudgingly accept this, but they are also vocal about it too.

According to this Tech Radar report, Samsung has gone ahead and added the iPhone 5 to the list of apple devices that infringe on its patents. The company has added the latest iPhone to eight complaints it has filed against Apple, claiming that its devices infringe on various patents it holds.

Digital Entertainment Ventures invites you to "vote with vegetables" in their new iOS and Android game, Mad Humans: Election 2012. In this 3D game you toss vegetables and other objects at world leaders, political mouthpieces and presidential and vice-presidential candidates including Sarah Palin, President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, and even Donald Trump. More characters will be added "soon." The game was developed by Sideline Amusements for both platforms.

Students from various colleges around the United States are helping to design a mobile game for the Department of Energy that promotes and encourages recruitment into the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The students are taking part in a virtual internship to create the app, which is supposed to deliver with challenging puzzles tied to the theme of linking buildings with energy resources. The activities that players partake in are meant to give them a general idea of what the Department of Energy does.

World domination continues for the house that Steve Jobs built. In just three days of being on sale around the world, Apple proves that its iPhone is still the coolest cat on the block - at least according to the droves of consumers who continue to buy it. Apple announced this morning that in the first three days of launch it has already sold five million iPhone 5 phones around the world.

The official Kickstarter campaign for iMpulse launched this morning, with the aim of raising some much needed capital for this pocket-sized Bluetooth controller designed specifically for iOS and Android-based gaming.

With all the talk of legalizing the use of marijuana at the state and federal level (for and against), it seems only appropriate that the 70's most iconic stoner comedy team should release an app on Android and iOS. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong have teamed up with developer MEDL Mobile to create and deploy Cheech and Chong's The Fatty. The app is a mix of gags, gameplay and fun but useless utilities for the modern age stoner.

While AT&T might be willing to take a lot of public heat for its stance on Apple's FaceTime application, Verizon Wireless is taking an entirely different tact. The company says that it will enable Apple's popular video communication apple on all data plans.

"All Verizon Wireless customers will be permitted to use the data-intensive application with no additional charges, including those remaining on unlimited data plans," said a company spokesperson. Sprint has also said it won't place any limits on FaceTime use.

Having bested Samsung in a U.S. court over patent infringement, Apple is putting its focus on defending itself against phone maker HTC, but it may have an uphill battle on its hands. As SlashGear points out in this article, Apple is not starting out on the best footing.

While Apple may have won a major victory in the United States against Samsung in its ongoing, never-ending patent war, the company has not been so lucky in other parts of the world. Adding to its column of losses is a new ruling in Japan where the courts there sided with Samsung.

One developer who is angry over web sites charging for expedited reviews of mobile game apps has decided to publicly call the web sites out. Luckily most people who consider themselves even casual gamers have never heard of these web sites, but apparently they have been running a racket for quite some time.

Apple has surpassed juggernauts like Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, Microsoft, Google and others as the most valuable company in history. The company responsible for the iPad and iPhone has reached a world record valuation of $623 billion today, making it the most valuable company in history. This beats out Microsoft's 1999 record of $620.58 billion (the figures were not adjusted for inflation, so it's still up for at least some debate).

This interesting GamesBeat report details a bit of controversy and an exodus related to the Facebook game Mystery Manor. Fans of the hidden object game (the Facebook game had 20 million registered users, according to the report) are apparently pretty upset with Game Insight over a recent change it made to the iPad version of the game, and they are taking the fight anywhere the company can read their angry replies.

According to new research from NPD Group, hand-held consoles are still more popular than the iPad, despite Apple's popular tablet device making in-roads with children because of its ease-of-use and large library of games and apps. According to the data released by the retail research firm, children ages 4 - 14 still spend most of their gaming time with dedicated gaming machines. Tablet devices did have gains from 2012 usage though: according to NPD tablet usage was up 10 percent of 2011 numbers.