This week’s headlines from across Inside Network
A roundup of all the news Inside Network brought you from Feb. 13 to Feb. 19.
Inside Mobile Apps
Tracking the convergence of mobile apps, social platforms and virtual goods.
Monday, Feb. 13
- Ski On Neon provides stylized, retro-themed evolution of Tiny Wings’ gameplay
- Google TV apps aren’t seeing many organic downloads: 92.6% are pre-installed, Xyologic says
- Exclusive: What exactly is different about Zynga’s Dream Heights?
- Emerging top paid iOS apps: Beat Hazard Ultra, The Tiny Bang Story and Eufloria
Tuesday, Feb. 14
- Music-reactive shooter Beat Hazard Ultra blasts onto the App Store
- Emerging free iOS apps: Egg Punch, Sherlock Holmes and Farmkill
- Download bots were the “well-known secret” of the app ecosystem
- Zynga’s daily active users on mobile climb to 15M from 13M in December
- NimbleBit fans are giving Zynga’s Dream Heights a bad rap in app store reviews
- GREE announces partnerships with top Chinese developers Haypi, Hoolai and PunchBox for forthcoming gaming platform
Wednesday, Feb 15
- Egg Punch’s blend of mini-golf and 3D platformer shoots to the top of the free app charts
- New this week on the Inside Network Job Board: Atari, Mobile Deluxe, GSN and more
- Outfit7 adds Disney’s Mooney as an advisor to help with merchandising plans
- The address books fiasco finally comes to an end as Apple says it will make developers ask for permission first
- Zynga shares endure a brutal day, dropping nearly 18% after first earnings report
- Emerging top grossing iOS apps: Clear, Slotomania and Mystery Manor
Thursday, Feb 16
- Gamevil earns $27.4M in smartphone revenue for all of 2011
- New hires in mobile: EA Mobile, GREE and ngmoco
- Chillingo’s Parking Mania Free makes the dullest thing you can do with a car fun
- The virtual currency scam from China that’s costing iOS developers real cash
- Apple steps up outreach to developers over moving away from UDIDs
Friday, Feb 17
- Fish Tales challenges players to build a better aquarium on iOS
- Apple begins countdown to 25 billion downloads on iOS
- Mobile app news roundup: GREE, Google and iAd
Saturday, Feb 18
Inside Social Games
Covering all the latest developments at the intersection of games and social platforms.
Monday, Feb. 13
- Exclusive: What exactly is different about Zynga’s Dream Heights?
- EA trying China again with The Sims Social on Tencent
- Sword Quest puts players on the other side of the RPG weapon shop’s counter
- Angry Birds finally flies onto Facebook
Tuesday, Feb. 14
- Angry Birds gives Facebook some love this Valentine’s Day
- Vostu confirms layoffs, will be consolidating operations at Buenos Aires HQ
- Zynga’s oldest games still the moneymakers, Mafia Wars 2 below expectations
- Zynga shares slip 4.9% after reporting a 7% quarter-over-quarter bump in bookings
Wednesday, Feb 15
- Zynga brings Slingo to Facebook, edges closer to real money gambling partnerships
- zCloud evolution heralds ZLive launch
- Gameloft brings farming genre to Google+ with Green Farm
- Making Fun launches photorealistic Hidden Haunts, looks to expand into sports and more on Facebook and mobile
- New this week on the Inside Network Job Board: King.com, Atari, TinyCo and more
- Social Wars ends Men Vs Women’s battle of the sexes to combat an extraterrestrial threat
- Digital Chocolate launches Google+ exclusive Gangs of Boomtown
- Zynga shares endure a brutal day, dropping nearly 18% after first earnings report
Thursday, Feb 16
- Kabam branching off Facebook to iOS, new games networks
- Lucky Cruise invites players to gamble their way around the world
- New hires in social gaming: GSN, King.com and Wooga
Friday, Feb 17
- UC Santa Cruz’s Prom Week is a different kind of ‘social game’
- Social gaming news roundup: Zynga, the BAFTAs and Nexon
Saturday, Feb 18
Inside Facebook
Tracking Facebook and the Facebook platform for developers and marketers.
Monday, Feb. 13
- Hidden Chronicles, Tetris, birthdays, tabs, WashPo, Pinterest, more on this week’s top 20 growing Facebook apps by MAU
- Facebook runs promo to convert game players into paying customers
- Facebook tests read/watch/listen Sponsored Stories — too soon?
- Facebook prompts page owners to invite email contacts
- Platform update: ‘read’ action, pay dialog, best practices, more
Tuesday, Feb. 14
- UNO, Intel, Adele, Whitney Houston, more on this week’s top 20 growing Facebook pages
- Facebook management applications Shoutlet, Vitrue release updates
- Facebook tweaks requirements for app activity featured in ads
Wednesday, Feb 15
- Spotify, Yahoo, Pinterest, games, cards, more on this week’s top 20 growing Facebook apps by DAU
- Facebook opens up Open Graph targeting options
- Open Graph launch partners see early success with Timeline apps
- New this week on the Inside Network Job Board: GREE, SocialPoint, SponsorPay and more
- Timeline coming soon for businesses
Thursday, Feb 16
- Facebook career postings: engineering, mail, search, data centers, more
- Facebook hires and departures: legal, privacy, search, engineering, data centers, more
- Facebook starts verifying popular accounts
- Facebook tests ‘suggested guests’ for events
Friday, Feb 17
- Tabs, Jewels of the Amazon, Walmart, Angry Birds, more on this week’s emerging Facebook apps by MAU
- Santorum gains most new fans; Gingrich gets Timeline this week on Inside Facebook’s Election Tracker
- Brighter Option combines Page Insights, Ads API to improve Facebook ad planning
- Facebook Roundup: fellowship, Africa, shareholders, Windows Phone, more
Saturday, Feb 18
