Hot Five

The PG.biz Hot Five: DeNA and GREE plod along in the west, Tapjoy takes on Apple's incentivisation block and Nokia gets back in the game

Last week's top five stories

The PG.biz Hot Five: DeNA and GREE plod along in the west, Tapjoy takes on Apple's incentivisation block and Nokia gets back in the game
Welcome to PocketGamer.biz's weekly rundown of the stories clocking up the hits, picking up the click-throughs and generally keeping the advertisers happy by serving up page views.

Or, if you'd prefer, the top five stories currently dominating our readers' attention.

Each week, we'll be counting down the biggest news from the previous seven days, giving just a glimpse of the industry's big issues, from five to one.



GetJar bolsters library as marketplace adds 50,000 free Android Market apps to listings

It's either a sneaky, or - if you're one of the developers that's benefited from what is essentially a bit of free promotion – a rather canny move. Either way, GetJar's decision to begin listing 50,000 free Android apps not registered with the marketplace represents a change in approach for the store.

The apps themselves are afforded standard GetJar pages, with screenshots and app descriptions, but clicking the title's download link sends you directly to the app's page on Android Market.

"As a developer you also have the opportunity to upload your application directly to GetJar, making it available to a wider audience and on devices that may not have access to Android Market," said the firm on its blog.

"Once you have an account, you can migrate control of your app's content from us to you."
Click here to read more.



Opinion: The painful progression of DeNA and GREE's $500 million US expansion

Quite often, acquisitions are a quick way for a business to move into an entirely new arena, tapping up a fresh market or making a mark in an alien sector by purchasing a proven performer.

As detailed by PG.biz editor Jon Jordan, however, efforts by Japanese outfits DeNA and GREE to play a part in the rise of the social scene in the west through their acquisitions of ngmoco and OpenFeint respectively is yet to pay off.

"The downloads from the games DeNA has released through Mobage in the west to-date, even on the massively expanding Android platform have been - in the words of JP Morgan research - 'extremely small'," said Jordan.

There's also been disquiet at OpenFeint, with a culture clash with its new bosses seeing staff, include CEO Jason Citron, leaving. 

"Effectively, OpenFeint is now an engineering and sales operation," Jordan reckoned.

"The result has been a slow braindrain of OpenFeint staff with marketing, biz dev and carrier managers leaving over the past couple of months, as GREE's Japanese management culture rubs up against the more easygoing US technology spirit."
Click here to read more.



Tapjoy gets around Apple's incentivised download ban for iOS with new web-based platform

Previously blocked by a supposed ban on incentivised downloads, Tapjoy's latest venture looks like it will circumnavigate Apple's various rules and regulations.

Instead of getting developers to integrate its SDK into their games – the act Apple banned – Tapjoy has launched a web app that delivers virtual currency when they download games on its books.

The app installs a piece of code on the device itself which allows Tapjoy to monitor what apps have or haven't been installed by the user, ensuring neither developer nor consumer misses out.
Click here to read more.



Opinion: Winning with Windows: Why the Lumia 800 signals the return of Nokia

Whether or not Nokia's first Windows Phone proves to be a success at the tills, one thing the Lumia 800 represents is a return to the Finnish firm's strength in design.

"Physically, Lumia 800 looks like an entirely different beast from the competition," detailed PG.biz news editor Keith Andrew.

"Windows Phone itself is nothing like either of its two major rivals, iOS and Android. Indeed, that's a factor that has arguably caused Microsoft some difficulty during the platform's first year – problems communicating the adeptness of the operating system's UI has undoubtedly had an impact on early sales.

"Combined together, both hardware and software slot into place like two perfectly formed Lego blocks."
Click here to read more.



Nokia World 2011: Ovi Store generating 10 million app downloads a day

As well as playing host to the firm's first two Windows Phone handsets, Nokia World 2011 in London also saw the Finnish firm detailing stats aplenty about its existing devices.

Top of the bill last week was the revelation that the Ovi Store's daily download rate has recently passed the 10 million mark, with 30 percent of said downloads coming from Series 40 devices.

That's a share likely to rise following the unveiling of four new Series 40 devices – branded Asha – set to make a mark in emerging markets.
Click here to read more.

Until next week, PocketGamer.biz pickers...
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With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.