Distimo’s latest report takes a deep dive into the Amazon Appstore, taking a look at the top apps and publishers in terms of estimated daily downloads and one-off revenues in the app store. The report also takes a look at the differences and similarities between the Amazon Appstore, a third-party app store for the Android platform, and Google Play.

App tracking company Distimo kicked off its April report by revealing that the top 200 free apps on the U.S. Amazon Appstore saw a total of 16 million downloads in March. Similarly to the Apple App Store and Google Play, the most downloaded genre of apps were games, with Imangi Studios’ Temple Run 2 leading the way as the most downloaded free app. Also, eight of the top 10 most downloaded apps were games, with Netflix and Facebook as the two non-game apps.

As expected, the amount of device installs for free apps in Google Play is significantly higher compared to the Amazon Appstore. The Dutch firm adds that Google Play is approximately 10 times larger than the Amazon Appstore in the U.S. For example of the disparity between the two app stores, Developer Halfbrick Studios’ Fruit Ninja Free, which is ranked No. 9 in the Amazon Appstore among the top free apps, was downloaded 9.1 times less than in Google Play, which translates to 2.3 million installs from Google Play and 250,000 from the Amazon App Store in March.

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Android-focused mobile game developer and publisher Animoca today released Android tablet data gathered from its network of users, which showed that four of the five most used tablets were of the 7-inch screen variety, and Samsung devices were the first and second most popular tablets overall.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7 (includes p3100 and p3113) took an 11.8 percent share and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 grabbed an 8.3 percent share. Amazon’s Kindle Fire devices also faired well, coming in at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, with a 7.5 percent share for the standard Kindle Fire and a 4.9 percent share with the HD model. Another notable tablet was Asus’ Google Nexus 7, which generated a 3.8 percent share.

Beyond the No. 7  spot, the remaining tablets each claimed less than a one percent market share. So, given an error margin of 0.1 percent and the slight differences between the No. 8 tablet onward, Animoca says it couldn’t be sure of the correct ordering.

Developers should be creating mobile apps made for their target audience, and knowing which devices to develop for like tablets, in terms of screen size, hardware specifications, and platform market share, is important.

Animoca previously released similar data that analyzed for most used devices on its network, taking a look at the top Android smartphones in markets like the U.S., Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and India.

The Hong Kong-based game company collected data for this report from 978,000 users worldwide who used Google Play and played an Animoca game on a tablet device between February 18 to March 20.

Amazon today announced its Amazon Mobile Ads API service for mobile developers to monetize their apps.

Amazon is entering a crowded mobile ad network market filled with the likes of Google AdMob, Millennial Media and InMobi. Even Facebook seemed poised to get into this business at one point last year before it ended its test after a few months.

Amazon did not share what cut of ad fees it offers developers, but says its service offers a “competitive eCPM.” According to the company’s publisher agreement, the portion of the advertising fees that a developer will receive “may be adjusted depending on a variety of factors, such as the quality of your inventory or deductions for various expenses.” Ads will come with mobile-optimized display ads from Amazon itself and other “top” brands, the company says.

Amazon’s mobile ads API offers ads in two different flavors. First is the “floating ad,” which acts like a typical mobile banner ad that floats at the bottom of the screen. Second, is the “simple ad,” which is a rich media expandable banner ad such as a video ad.

For now, the API is in beta and only available for U.S. users and apps for the Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and other Android smartphones and tablets. Note that for the API to work in a developer’s app, the app has to be available for download on Google Play as well as on the Amazon Appstore for Android.

Developers interested Amazon’s mobile ads API can head here for more information and to download the API.

Millennial Media today released its 2012 year in review Mobile Mix Report, which showed Apple and Samsung remaining the top device manufacturers on its platform.

Apple remained the No. 1 OEM manufacturer on the mobile ad network’s platform in 2012, increasing its impressions share 5 percent year-over-year from 26 percent to 31 percent of the total impressions on Millennial Media’s top 15 device manufactures list. Samsung also maintained its No. 2 spot on the top 15 device manufactures list, thanks to a 5 percent growth in impressions since 2011 from 17 percent of total impressions on Millennial’s platform to 22 percent. The most notable newcomer to the ad network’s top 15 manufacturers list for 2012 was Amazon, landing at the No. 11.

Apple’s suite of iPhone devices — including the 4S, 5, etc. — also remained the top device on Millennial Media’s network in 2012, accounting for 15.59 percent of impressions, a 72 percent increase year-over-year. Impressions for Samsung’s flagship smartphone device, the Galaxy S, grew 182 percent in 2012, moving the device up five spots to the No. 2 position on Millennial Media’s top 20 mobile phones list. Tablet-wise, the Apple iPad stood pat as the No. 1 tablet on Millennial’s platform for 2012.

Based on ad impressions on Millennial’s network, smartphones were once again the leading device in 2012, increasing 7 percent for a 75 percent share of the total platform impressions. In second were non-phone connected devices — tablets, e-readers, etc. –, increasing 5 percent year-over-year to 20 of impressions in the ad network’s platform. Millennial Media attributed the majority of the growth of that category to the adoption rate increase of tablets. The feature phone category, as expected, fell from 17 percent in 2011 to 5 percent in 2012.

Now the breakdown for the operating systems on devices was stagnant year-over-year. Android was once again the top OS on Millennial’s platform at 48 percent, which was only a 1 percent increase since 2011. iOS was the second largest OS, with 32 percent of the impression share, down one percent year-over-year. Millennial also broke down OS share for tablets, with iOS taking a 58 percent impression share among all tablet OS. Android took a 41 percent share, with Samsung as the leading Android tablet manufacture with a 45 percent share.

There is no better sales incentive than free money. It’s just a pity that Amazon’s new virtual currency, Amazon Coins, are not a particularly useful sales incentive.

The company unveiled Amazon Coins on Feb. 5, explaining they could be used to purchase apps, games and in-app items on Kindle Fire tablets. Most industry watchers praised the announcement, but more than a few pundits questioned the logic of the coins.

While I’ve already made my opinion fairly clear (skip to 0:34 to get to the relevant part), Amazon’s Coins do deserve more analysis, particularly since so many people are convinced they are brilliant. The real rub is that those people are technically right. Stimulating the Kindle Fire economy is an excellent idea, more so because Amazon desperately needs to do it.

Not long after the Kindle Fire was released, many developers boasted that it monetized far better than other Android based tablets, and that its app store was much more lucrative the official Android market run by Google. As interest in the Kindle Fire has dropped off, however, so have the claims that it was the ultra-profitable Shangri-La Android developers were dreaming of. Competition from the Google’s Nexus-branded Android tablets and Apple’s new iPad Mini have squeezed the Kindle Fire’s share of the mid to low-end tablet market, and the device no longer has the “hot gift” cachet it had when it debuted just before Christmas 2011.

The Kindle Fire app store has always had a much smaller pool of apps and users than Google Play and the iTunes App Store, and as interest wanes in the device, so has the influx of excited new users ready to download apps. Amazon knows this is bad news. After all, developers aren’t interested in making apps for a platform without consumers and consumers don’t want devices with a lousy selection of apps.

Microsoft is in a similar situation; its work-around for the problem has been to incentivize development, assuming the consumers will eventually come for the apps. Meanwhile Amazon is trying the opposite approach, supplying the financial incentives to the consumers and letting developers know there will soon be a lot more liquidity in the Amazon app economy.

It’s a fair tactic that doesn’t penalize the developers that bet on the Amazon Appstore before the company started its stimulus efforts, and it’s technically giving both consumers and developers what they really want — money.

So, why not just supply money? Perhaps credit every Kindle Fire owner’s account with a few dollars via a virtual gift card? Kindle Fire owners already understand how to buy apps with real money and Amazon’s customers are already comfortable with the concept of gift cards. Even if Amazon is planning to roll out some sort of rewards program with Coins (i.e. spend $10 on Kindle Fire apps, games or in-app items and get 100 Amazon Coins), why not just use a cash-back system similar to the one many credit card companies already use?

There is also the matter of what Amazon is looking to gain by creating its own virtual currency.  Microsoft Points were designed specifically to make items look cheaper than they are (an item that costs 79 Microsoft Points actually costs $0.99). Amazon Coins meanwhile, convert one for one to real cents, so Amazon clearly isn’t hoping to target bargain hunters.

Perhaps Amazon is hoping to use Coins to convince people to spend money without having to (technically) open their wallets — after all, when Facebook introduced Credits, the idea was that a universal currency would boost conversion. Again, this is a questionable choice since in the end, Facebook Credits ended up being a mixed bag. While developers saw an increase in conversion, others reported a decrease in average revenue per paying user. In the end, Facebook eliminated Credits less than a year after they were introduced opting to use a local-currency system just like Apple, Android and yes, Amazon were already using.

Millions of people already know and trust Amazon with their credit cards, and Kindle Fire users were already using a standardized payment system with the currency they understood best — dollars. Amazon’s new virtual currency is just complicating the matter with a second payment option.

Feast or Famine arrives on iOS — X4 Games’ new action-platformer Feast or Famine launched on iOS this week. The game is set in the Netolithic era and has players hunting animals, while designed to look like a cave painting. An Android version of the game is expected to launch soon.

AppGratis surpasses 10 million users — App discovery firm AppGratis announced this week it’s secured over 10 million users worldwide, 3 million of which connect every day. The service regularly drives apps to receive between 500,000 and 1 million downloads, often sending apps into the top five positions on the iTunes App Store.

Disney Mobile gets in on the Valentine’s Day spirit — Disney Mobile is feeling the love, adding Valentine’s Day content to Where’s My Holiday? The free update gives players 12 limited-time levels filled with hearts to play.

Glu launches Dragon Storm – Mobile game developer Glu launched Dragon Storm for iOS, an MMO-style strategy game developed by Griptonite Games. In the game players build up their kingdoms, join up with or battle other players and play across multiple devices utilizing iCloud. You can find the game on the iTunes App Store here.

Ouya at Best Buy, Target, Amazon, GameStop for $99.99 in June – Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman told the Wall Street Journal that the people who funded the Android-based open console on Kickstarter will receive their units in March. Orders from Ouya’s official site will ship out in April, and the retail version will go on sale in June.

Animoca launches Robo5 exclusively through the Amazon Appstore – Cross-platform app publisher Animoca announced its previously released iOS game Robo5 is coming to Android, exclusively through Amazon’s Appstore. In the 3D-Action-Puzzle game, players control a tiny robot climbing from the bottom of a mountain of boxes all the way to the top. You can find the game here.

Sega launches After Burner Climax – Sega Europe announced that its bringing the classic arcade game After Burner to iOS. The action fighter jet game features 20 levels, a selection of aircraft and leaderboards. The game is a universal app, available from the iTunes App Store for $2.99.

Eros resmini joins Peter Relan in new stealth project – Former OpenFeint and GREE executive Eros Resmini is joining YouWeb founder Peter Relan as an “entrepreneur in residence,” working on an “undisclosed project that will reshape the startup growth landscape.” Details on the special project will emerge in the coming months.

Electronic Arts announces TMi Trivia for iOS — Games developer and publisher Electronic Arts announced that it will release a new trivia game for iOS, TMi Trivia, later this spring. Players will be invited to answer questions about themselves and their friends. TMi will then use that information to provide the player with question based on his interest. In addition, EA is partnering with Variety, SPIN, Celebuzz, and Fanhattan so the questions are also based on what’s trending on the web at the time.

Users report overheating and connectivity issues caused by iOS 6.1 – Several users in the discussion forums on Apple’s official website are reporting shorter battery life and overheating after they upgraded to iOS 6.1, which apple released in Jan. 28. As reported by MacRumors, UK carrier Vodafone has gone as far as to send texts to their users, warning them not to upgrade to the latest version of iOS if they have an iPhone 4 due to 3G performance issues.

Amazon is launching Amazon Coins, a virtual currency to purchase apps and buy in-app goods on the Kindle Fire. Announced this morning, Amazon says they will be available in May.

According to the Amazon Coins FAQ, an Amazon Coin has a one-to-one relationship to an American penny, so developers will receive the same royalty payments as credit card purchases. Users will be able to purchase everything but subscription-based services.

At May’s launch, Amazon promises to give away “tens of millions of dollars worth of Coins” to customers. Amazon is investing significant money in the giveaways, but users will need to purchase a Kindle Fire to redeem their gift or, at the very least, visit the Amazon App Store and risk purchasing more than just what the Amazon Coins are worth.

Furthermore, we can imagine future Amazon gift cards not being redeemable in the entire Amazon marketplace, but tailored, via the Amazon Coin, to be redeemed just within the Amazon App Store.  The Amazon Coin is another serious run to lock users into the Amazon ecosystem, specifically the Kindle Fire one.

Amazon has certainly been looking at Facebook’s issue with its own Credits system. As Inside Facebook reported in 2011, Facebook eventually let developers use their own in-app currency systems because the translation between currencies was too confusing.

To be involved in the launch, app developers must sign up for Amazon Coins by April 25. Amazon Coins will only be available in America at launch.

Amazon announced today that consumers can now use their Amazon accounts to purchase virtual goods and currencies in PC, Mac and Web based games, as well as games in the official Amazon app stores for Kindle and Android.

As the world’s largest online retailer Amazon already has an enormous amount of users’ payment information. Developers are likely to see benefits as consumers within Amazon’s ecosystem will be able to make in-app purchases with little friction, much like markets in Japan and Korea where carrier billing is the norm.

The new in-app purchasing API for PC, Mac and web based games uses the same revenue formula as Amazon’s Kindle Fire store and the Amazon Appstore for Android. Developers earn 70 percent of list price on each paid app as well as on each in-app purchase. Amazon did not specify the revenue share on PC and Mac. The fee for distributing apps through Amazon’s Mobile App Distribution Program is $99 per year, though Amazon is currently waiving that fee.

Another interesting benefit of the API is that the in-apps items will also automatically be available on Amazon.com so that they could possible appear on best seller lists. This could potentially greatly increase an app’s visibility and help increase discoverability and user engagement.

Developers who are interested in Amazon’s in app-purchasing API can get started here.

Applicasa raises $1M in seed funding — The Israeli mobile backend service provider turned mobile game management platform secured $1 million in seed funding from the founders of casino gaming company 888.com.

Samsung to “wait” on a Windows RT device in the U.S. — Samsung’s senior vice president Mike Abary told CNET at CES 2013 that the Korean electronics manufacturer will not be releasing its Qualcomm-powered RT device in the U.S. quite yet, saying the company does not see enough demand for the device. Abray did not rule out releasing a different Windows RT device in the future.

Groupon Payments now available on Android — Daily deal company Groupon has added its mobile payment and Square competitor Groupon Payments to its Android Groupon Merchants apps. Groupon Payments, which was already available on iOS,  uses a credit card reader attachment to allow merchants to charge their customers on their mobile devices.

Amazon introduces availability badges — Amazon announced new badges with which developers can identify the availability of their apps. The badges, which are available in German, Spanish, Italian, French, Japanese and English make clear whether an app is “Available at Amazon” or “Available on Kindle Fire.” Developers can find out more on how to use these badges to promote their apps here.

Hothead Games launches Big Win Basketball — Game developer Hothead Games announced the launch of its latest mobile game Big Win Basketball, the latest in its lineup of Big Win sports games, available now on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

eBay iOS app update streamlines selling, buying — The significant update to eBay’s iOS app will now assist sellers in choosing the right category and price for their items. The app also offers better photo editing tools, speedier checkout, search enhancements and more. You can download the app here.

Fitocracy now running on Android — Fitness app Fitocracy which tracks your workouts, shares your results and more is now available on Android via Google Play.

Aeria Games launches Immortalis — Browser and mobile game developer Aeria Games announced the launch of its role-playing and card collecting mobile title Immortalis. The game is a licensed and localized from developer Pokelabo’s (recently purchased by GREE) Japanese Guardian Battles which has been a top 20 grossing game since it launched in late November.

Samsung and HTC Windows 8 devices coming this summer — Microsoft announced that U.S. carrier Sprint will sell Windows 8 Devices from manufacturers Samsung and HTC.

HTC reports 91 percent drop in income year-over-year in Q4 2012 — The Chinese phone manufacturer reported an unaudited net income of $34 million for Q4 2012, its lowest profit in almost a decade.

30 million Angry Birds titles downloaded over Christmas – Mobile game developer Rovio reported that 30 million Angry Birds titles were downloaded between Dec. 22 – 29, with 8 million downloads on Christmas day alone. At this time Angry Birds Star Wars is also the No.1 paid app on iPhone according to AppData.

Ubuntu comes to mobile — Canonical announced the mobile version of its popular linux-based operating system Ubuntu. Canonical touted that Ubuntu’s user interface which uses all four edges of the phone to quickly switch between apps, and the ability to connect to a screen, keyboard and mouse for a full PC experience. You can read more details about Ubuntu for phones here.

PlayJam funds Ouya competitor with Kickstarter — Smart TV game platform and SDK provider PlayJam has successfully Kickstarted GameStick, an Android-based games console very similar to the Ouya, the most funded Kickstarter project to date. GameStick is composed of a USB stick which connects to a television and a small gamepad. At this time the project is well over its pledge goal of $100,000 with over $170,000. You can find out more about the project here.

Chilingo launches Swing King and Catch the Ark — Mobile games publisher Chilingo today announced it launched two new games on the Apple App Store, Swing King and Catch the Ark. Swing King, which is priced at $0.99, is a physics-based puzzle game developed by Zoink!. Catch the Ark, also priced at $0.99, is an endless runner in which animals attempt to catch up with Noah’s Ark during the great flood.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) adds tablet, Android support — Amazon announced several improvements to its cloud computing service AWS which make it easier to manage on mobile. The Management Console has been optimized for tablets with a new, “simple and intuitive” web-based user interface (still no tablet specific app). Amazon also announced an AWS Console app for Android phones which you can download now from Google Play.