The PG.biz Hot Five: Piracy strife at Mobile Pie, Facebook warns against Farmville clones and Whale Trail hits 100,000 downloads
Last week's top five stories
Windows Phone Marketplace hits 40,000 apps in 13 months, devs adding over 1,000 a week
Games most popular with 15% share
Activision vets come together to launch browser-based digital studio U4iA Games
Freemium FPS on the agenda
PG.biz week that was: Nintendo's 3DS takes a knock, the government gets its game on, Whale Trail wins big and the rise of in-app purchase piracy
The past seven days' news compressed bite-sized
DeNA signs deal with NTT DoCoMo to bring Mobage to carriers in Europe, Asia
Social network to be pushed by subsidiary net mobile
NaturalMotion's stallion simulator My Horse amasses 500,000 daily active users
Freemium first generating 2 million daily sessions
Smaato partners with Cooliris to bring 3D ads to iOS
iPhone and iPad first in line
Amazon to lose $1.71 on every Kindle Fire sold according to iSuppli estimates
Software to bridge the gap
Nokia promo video inadvertently unveils Windows Phone Tango powered Lumia 900
But is it 1.4Ghz, or dual-core?
Google and Motorola stockholders vote 99% in favour of $12.5 billion buyout
Deal to close in Q2 2012
Amendment to Zynga's S1 filing reveals social giant made two acquisitions in last month
$4.9 million spent on who knows what
Windows Phone perfect for 1 or 2 man outfits, but revenue won't stretch beyond that, reckons Cheese Zombie Games' Marc Miles
Best smartphone OS needs to prove itself
Apple's iPad top of Christmas lists in US as 44% of 6-12 year olds lust after iOS tablet
Popular with 13 and over, too
Mobile Pie's My Star hit by 93% piracy rate on top in-app purchase in October
iAP Cracker the cause
Citigroup claims Amazon readying 'KindlePhone' for Q4 2012 launch
Entry-level Android device likely
Library of Birmingham seeking studio to develop 'redefining' mobile social game for 2013
£20,000 prototype fund for successful applicant
Life after Flash: Sibblingz updates cross-platform dev tool Spaceport to add support for Flash on mobile
New Spaceport app for games testing also inbound
Winning with wordplay: The making of Quarrel
Why lengthy dev time was no obstacle for Denki
Vodafone to pre-install refreshed marketplace App Select on all Android devices in Europe
Carrier reboots app platform
Ustwo's mills on the death of 69p, the need for bite-sized play and staying above all the 'f*cking clutter' out there
Seeking endless (runner) success
MEDL's Mobile Brain promises to do away with app search, pushing games where they're wanted
Algorithm finds apps the right audience
Sega cements 'growing' partnership with ad network InMobi, plans HTML5 rich-ads push for Samurai Bloodshow
Two parties speak out on blood bond
Hard Lines downloads top 270,000 for Spilt Milk Studios, clocks up 1.6 million game sessions
That's 7 years of play time
Startup studio Kwalee continues to expand, appoints Mark Oxenham as new lead programmer
On the hunt for more staff
Government needs to help startup studios find their feet before £1 billion UK games industry crumbles, reckons Neon Play's Oli Christie
TIGA takes campaign to the top
Android activations double to 200 million in 6 months
550,000 new devices activated a day
PressOK's hyper-local advertising platform PlacePlay Ads rolls out as beta
Offers up to 10 times higher eCPMs
Nokia to combat rival Windows Phone OEMs before taking on Android and iOS, claims CEO Elop
Plans to undercut other manufacturers under way
Nintendo games on mobile would 'fly in the face' of firm's DNA, claims Reggie Fils-Aime
US president and COO refuses to be moved
Social Gaming Summit 2011: Mobile the future as social studios brand the web too expensive for startups
Is web-based social gaming on the wane?
Nokia's Lumia 800 rolls out in UK as French head Amsellem claims Windows 8 tablet inbound
Mark summer 2012 off in your diaries
DeNA and GREE's acquisitions have slowed their social surge in the west, reckons PapayaMobile CEO Si Shen
Ngmoco and OpenFeint stalling success
10tons throws weight behind Kindle Fire, brings Sparkle HD, Joining Hands and Grim Joggers to Amazon tablet
Available immediately
PapayaMobile partners with Tapjoy to deliver new social marketplace for Android
Rolling out to developers before end of 2011
Flurry on handhelds, part 2: Nintendo and Sony need to embrace digital downloads, cut hardware prices and woo developers to combat smartphone assault
Giants needs to change approach
Devs should implement iOS 5's AirPlay Mirroring now to be ready for 'Apple's big TV play', reckons Revolution's Tony Warriner
Better now than never
Qualcomm to launch Snapdragon GameCommand promo app for Android in 2012
Add to expansion of 100+ GamePack library
Tin Man Games signs deal with Rebellion to bring Judge Dredd gamebook to iOS
Due to launch in Q2 2012
Flurry on handhelds, part 1: Menacing mix of shift from DS to 3DS and the rise of the free game hitting Nintendo hard
Smartphones having savage impact on software sales
Mobile marketer Velti acquires Mobile Interactive Group for $59 million
Expands lead as world's largest mobile marketing firm
Ustwo's Whale Trail hits 100,000 paid downloads on iOS in 25 days
It ain't no fail whale
Nokia claims consumers drawn to 'fantastic' Windows Phone as firm splashes out on Lumia 800 promo
Not looking to ram device down people's throats
UK carrier Three reports Galaxy Nexus delay, now due November 22
Three warning customers
150 apps later, Hong Kong-based Outblaze Ventures closes series A funding round
'Animoca' holds back actual figures
Frontier's David Braben on how Windows Phone is bringing the mobile market to console and PC devs
More high-end releases like Kinectimals to come
Nokia top dog with 24% of all mobile sales in Q3 2011, but Samsung the smartphone star
Android holds 52% smartphone share
Mode 7's Paul Taylor on why Frozen Synapse on iPad won't pretend your finger is a mouse pointer
Devs needs to embrace looser controls on tablets
Train2Game and Epic Games select finalists from explosive 48 hour Unreal Engine game jam
Set to take each other on at April's Gadget Show Live
Unreal powered Undead Arcade on iOS more like a console game than Infinity Blade, reckons Just Add U's Tanner Ewing
But comparisons won't do any harm
IndieSkies' Andrew Roper on launching an indie studio while still being a student
More than a gap year