Young men love Angry Birds and they are willing to lay out the cash to get the full experience - according to a new survey from Ask Your Target Market, a "do-it-yourself" online market research firm. According to the results, men between the age of 18 and 24 are most likely to pay for the full version of Angry Birds. Age aside, men are 35 percent more likely to pay for the game after downloading the free version and 76 percent more likely to buy the game than a female over the age of 25.

The Android Market has reached 6 billion app downloads, according to a report from analytics firm research2guidance. The number of downloads is on par with the number of Android-based devices sold this year, with NPD Group putting the Android market share at 52 percent of all phones sold in America in the last quarter.

Nokia's community pages have been temporarily closed and replaced with a company statement following a security breach over the weekend. The online community used by developers that make Nokia phone apps has been hacked and the company warned its members that their personal information, including dates of birth and email addresses may have been stolen. For now, the service has been shut down while Nokia investigates. No one has claimed responsibility for the security breach at this time.

Clearwire, the conglomerate behind WiMax - broadband wifi technology - which has a majority ownership from Sprint Nextel, added 1.5 million new customers last quarter. This, following a well-received advertising campaign featuring their CEO, Dan Hesse, in which the brand points out that they alone offer consumers unlimited plans and no caps, unlike rivals Verizon, AT&T/T-Mobile, through their Simply Everything plan.

Best Buy has decided (in the wake of HP’s TouchPad fire sale and the WebOS debacle) that it won’t be available in stores in the U.S. It was revealed on Friday that the top electronics retailer planned to ship its remaining stock of devices using the OS back to HP. While those looking for a deal on the HP tablet for around $100 in the U.S. will be disappointed, Canadian Best Buys offered it over the weekend. VentureBeat’s Regina Sinsky talked to an unnamed Best Buy manager on Friday who admitted that the company never had plans to sell the tablet below $300 in the US.

One year after acquiring webOS from Palm, HP has decided that the mobile OS is no longer worth the effort. Hewlett-Packard officially announced this week that support for webOS will soon come to a screeching halt. The company announced via a press release that "it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward."

This morning in a blog post Google CEO Larry Page said that the search giant had reached an agreement to acquire cellphone maker and electronics company Motorola for "a total of about $12.5 billion" or $40 per share in cash. Page believes that the partnership between the two companies will "create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere."

A T-Mobile employee is calling the proposed merger between AT&T and his company "like a car-jacking," referring to a statement on the company's private network that attempts to clarify to employees that a sale to AT&T should be thought of as an "acquisition" as opposed to a "merger." The employee shared his thoughts with SeattlePI.com.

Last week at the DefCon hacking conference in Las Vegas there were some unfamiliar faces wandering around the event: teens and children. For the first time since it was founded 18 years ago, DefCon has opened its doors to young people ages 8 to 16. Parents who regularly attend the event were delighted about the news. All of the young attendees had to be accompanied by an adult, and some of the most difficult competitions were geared toward the young participants. Those competitions included lock-picking and finding the weak points in popular software and computer hardware.

Ars Technica has confirmed that AT&T will begin throttling the data speeds of its heaviest wireless users beginning October 1.

AT&T spokesperson Jackie Vettorino told Ars that data throttling for heavy users will begin on October 1, and will only apply to users who still pay for unlimited data (and not users who pay for the non-unlimited tiers). The company has also posted a statement about the change on its website:

Even China can't escape the allure of the Angry Birds franchise. Rovio Entertainment announced the opening of corporate and marketing operations in China. The goal of this move is to bring a tailored Angry Birds game to China. China is currently the second largest market for Angry Birds and represents what Rovio calls an "immense potential for continued growth." Rovio Entertainment expects 100 million Angry Birds downloads in China by the end of 2011.

The average purchase price of virtual goods in free-to-play games on mobile devices is $14, according to a new report. According to data collected by mobile analytics firm Flurry, consumers who make in-app purchases are willing to spend large amounts of money than they might have if they simply downloaded it for 99 cents. Flurry claims that 51 percent of in-app purchase transactions come from transactions that are $20 or more. The $20-or-more transactions account for only 13 percent of the total number of transactions.

“We were surprised the numbers were so high,” says Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry. “Clearly, the high end of the spending drives the average up.”

id Software's John Carmack predicts that mobile phones and portable devices such as tablets will one day overshadow consoles. For the time being, most mobile gaming experiences are diversions, says Carmack, but when games mature into deeper experiences on mobile platforms it could spell bad news for the traditional home console as we know it.

"That's one of the things that we do discuss internally a lot and it's amazing to think that when we started Rage, iOS didn't exist. There was no iPhone. All of that has happened just in the space of one project development timeline," Carmack told IndustryGamers in a recent interview. "And that's a little scary when you think about it, because major landscape change could be happening underneath our feet as we work on these large scale projects. And we're going to be doing everything we can to constrain our projects more to not take so long."

Reuters is reporting that Microsoft has "demanded" that Samsung pay $15 USD for every handset it makes that uses Google’s Android operating system. Reuters posits that Samsung will likely seek to reduce that price to $10 per handset in exchange for a better relationship with Microsoft and its windows mobile operating system. That is based on comments made by an "unnamed industry official" to the Japanese Maeil Business Newspaper.

Microsoft holds a number of patents related to Android, and is using them to help earn millions of dollars each year. In April 0f 2010 Microsoft reached a licensing deal with Taiwan's HTC Corp, under which it would receive royalty payments of $5 per handset. Since 2003, Microsoft has secured licensing agreements with more 700 companies.

A new report by Newzoo, claims that consumer spending on games in the US by the end of this year will total $21.6 billion, slightly lower than spending in 2010. In 2012, Newzoo predicts slightly modest growth of the total US games market of 3 percent as online and mobile games continue to increase their share of the total market and console games spending stabilizes.

The results depicted in the infograph, are based on analysis of high-level data from the US National Gamers Surveys over the last three years. For the first time in 2011, mobile, online and download games will capture more than half of total consumer spending by Americans.

A number of public interest groups have come out swinging against AT&T, saying that its proposed merger with T-Mobile will harm consumers and stifle competition in the mobile space. The groups, which include Media Access Project and Consumers Union, filed a reply with the Federal Communications Commission on Monday in response to arguments from AT&T and T-Mobile that the merger would be beneficial to consumers because it would accelerate the deployment of next-generation wireless access. The groups say that the opposite will happen if the FCC allows the merger to go through.

Gird your loins if you have them, new potential Verizon customers. According to an exclusive report in Droid Life, Verizon will roll out a new tiered data plan on July 7, charging new customers based on how much data they use every month. Verizon will charge $30 a month for 2GB, $50 a month for 5GB, amd $80 a month for 10GB.

If you want to add tethering into the mix it will cost you even more: Verizon will charge $50 a month for 4GB, $70 a month for 7GB, and $100 a month for 12GB. If you go over your monthly amount of data, it will cost you an additional $10 per 1GB.

This plan is for new customers and not those who already have a contract with the provider. The new rates are for both 3G and 4G smartphones. Check out the full report here.

VentureBeat has released the fifth set of speakers for its third annual GamesBeat 2011 conference, which includes Neil Young, founder and CEO of Ngmoco; Andrej Naborgoj, CEO of Outfit 7, the maker of Talking Friends; and Jason Citron, chief executive of OpenFeint, which was recently acquired by Gree. GamesBeat 2011 conference takes place July 12-13 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

If you ask the average consumer they will tell you that getting something for free is never a bad thing. But if you ask Nintendo president Satoru Iwata he'll tell you that free games are destroying the industry. Speaking to Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD, Iwata said that the free-to-play business model devalues software.

"Nintendo is a company which is trying to maintain the overall value of video games," Satoru Iwata told the Wall Street Journal. "We have no intention to provide a property to any other platforms, or making them available in a mode that does not require consumers to pay at all. If we were simply going to say OK, the only the way we could sell more products is by decreasing the price, then there wouldn't be a bright future and the entire industry will fold."

As mobile broadband providers such as Verizon and AT&T push data caps onto its subscribers, consumers are finding ways to limit the amount of data they use at home and on the go, according to a Free Press report. Most of this is being done at Wi-Fi hotspots around the country or at home through internet providers. According to a new survey from Devicescape, 64 percent of consumers surveyed use a hot spot at least once a day and 89.8 percent use Wi-Fi at home and when on the go.

The data comes from Devicescape's Wi-Fi Report, which it conducts on a quarterly basis. Devicescape develops software that helps devices connect "seamlessly to Wi-Fi networks," and polls its customers every three months for their opinions and usage statistics.

Other highlights from the latest survey:

Earlier this week advocacy group Free Press formally complained to the Federal Communications Commission concerning Verizon's ban of 4G tethering apps, claiming that the action violates the openness rules set forth in the agency's net neutrality guidelines and terms the company agreed to when it bought the spectrum in 2008.

In its complaint, Free Press claims that the wireless carrier asked Google to remove tethering apps from the Android Market. The motivation for doing this, according to Free Press, is because Verizon wants to charge a monthly fee of $20 for subscribers to use their phone as an ad hoc modem. Free Press says that these requests to Google violate the openness rules that the FCC attached to the C Block spectrum that Verizon bought at auction in 2008. Those rules require that Verizon allow users to use devices, services and apps without interference from the carrier.

Lodsys, a patent licensing company which has been keeping busy by threatening to sue multiple App Store developers over alleged patent infringements, has initiated seven lawsuits. This action comes despite Apple sending the company a cease and desist letter last month.

The lawsuits relate to two patents the company holds which allow users to purchase an upgrade or full program internally from a demo or partial app. How this company could hold such a patent is beyond belief considering that this functionality has been used in Shareware for decades. While the two patents are valid and owned by Lodsys, Apple says that the licensing agreement it has with Lodsys over the patents covers all of its customers and business partners too.

Lodsys disputes Apple's claim, and went ahead with the lawsuits, which it filed in an East Texas court. The company commented on Apple's Cease and Desist recently on its official blog:

Responding to reports that 99.7 percent of Android-based phones suffered from a security hole that made vital personal data vulnerable to hackers, Google has released an automatic fix to deal with the problem. Google is trying to assure users that no action is needed on their part.

"Today we're starting to roll out a fix which addresses a potential security flaw that could, under certain circumstances, allow a third party access to data available in calendar and contacts," said Google in a statement. "This fix requires no action from users and will roll out globally over the next few days."

The flaw was identified by Ulm University (Germany) researchers who who tested the security hole on a number of smart phones using the Android operating system. They also found that some phones sent unencrypted data, which clever hackers could "eavesdrop" on with the right tools.

New research from Newzoo and Distimo confirm what most knew already: games represent the largest single app-category on Apple App Stores, and account for half of the downloads of both free and paid Apps. According to the research more than five million games a day were downloaded in the US and six European territories combined during March 2011. Around 63 million iOS gamers in seven countries downloaded an average of 2.5 games per month.

In-game purchases in free and paid games amounted to more than 40 percent of total money spent. Newzoo expects in-game purchases to surpass upfront payments for games in the second half of 2011.

A new report claims that around 99.7 percent of phones using Google's mobile operating system contain a security hole that can enable hackers to send unencrypted personal data. Mobile devices using the Android operating systems have a weakness that could allow hackers to gain "full access" to private information such as calendar, contact information, and "private web albums,” according to a research group from Germany's University of Ulm. The security hole could also give hackers the ability to view, modify or delete contacts, calendar events, and private pictures. Thankfully, the security flaw only affects individual phones.

A new game from indie developer Happy Monster Games launches today for Android called "TrickyLeaks." As the title suggests, TrickyLeaks puts Julian Assange and Wikileaks in the roles of antagonists in an all-new puzzle game where you play one of eight evil mega-corporations with plenty of secrets to hide from the world.

The goal of the game is to get all of your secrets back through your pipes before all your dirty laundry is revealed to the world. Throughout the course of the game, you get to play as parodies of real companies like the creator of Mineshaft (Minecraft), Bank of Omerica (Bank of America) and NASO (NASA). You'll even get to see real (fake) secrets leaked from these companies if you fail. The game also features Julian Assange on a bulldozer.. Weird.

The game should be available on the Android App Store now. For more information, check out www.happymonstergames.com.

Fight, fight, fight. Apple has filed a lawsuit against Samsung claiming the technology used in its Galaxy tablet and smartphones is copied from Apple's iPhone and iPad technology. The company is also alleging that Samsung has infringed on the "style" and user interface of the iPhone and iPad. The Galaxy Tab, Galaxy S and Nexus S were specifically named.

"Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple's technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products," the lawsuit said.

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet told the BBC: "This kind of blatant copying is wrong."

Samsung said that its products are the result of research and development carried out by the company.

Apple and Google have stolen 8 percent of the overall video game market, according to analysis by Flurry, an analytics and recommendation service for mobile apps. The analysis is based on publicly available data as well as its own data. Apple and Google now have about 34 percent of the market revenue as well, says the research firm.

A year ago, Flurry claimed that iOS devices garnered about 5 percent of the U.S. video game market from 2008 to 2009. Now with three iOS devices and millions of Android OS devices on the market, it is easy to see why these mobile devices grew as much as 8 percent in the 2009 to 2010 period.

"The magnitude of disruption is increasing, in particular within the portable gaming category," said Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry.

Indeed. Everyone's lunch is being eaten by mobile devices and software applications sold in various App Stores.

Google claims that over three billion apps have been installed on devices running its Android mobile operating system. Google made the announcement yesterday afternoon during a conference call with investors. The search giant also revealed that Android app downloads during the first three months of 2011 were up 50 percent, compared to the fourth quarter of last year.

Google added that 350,000 Android devices are activated worldwide every single day. Google said that it was performing well in the US, Japan, Korea, and Europe - but did not supply further details.

Google did not detail how many of the three billion apps were paid apps or free. While Google is certainly making progress with Android and its apps, it has a long way to go before it catches up with iOS device apps: Apple claimed ten billion app downloads in January.

Source: Edge

A new survey says that the number one use of tablets is gaming. Not reading e-books, going on Facebook and Twitter or watching movies. Games and gaming. According to a new survey conducted by Google's AdMob subsidiary, 84 percent of tablet owners (like iPad) use the device to play games. Around 78 percent say they use it for "searching for information" and 74 percent for checking and sending emails.

The data comes from a new Google survey which polled 1400 tablet owners. The survey puts "reading the news" as the fourth most common activity at 61 percent, followed by social networking (56 percent), music and videos (51 percent), e-books (46 percent), shopping (42 percent), and other (19 percent). The full report showed that 43 percent spent more time on their tablet than with their desktop or laptop PC. A third of respondents also said that they spent more time on their tablets than watching television.