Zynga relaunches gaming site, loosens Facebook ties

Online game publisher Zynga Inc relaunched its website on Thursday, allowing users to play its games without first signing on to Facebook, a significant step toward establishing its independence from Facebook Inc.

The relaunch of Zynga.com is the latest step in the slow dissolution of a special partnership that once bound two of the most influential players in the social Internet industry.

Tim Catlin, general manager of Zynga.com, told Reuters he believed Zynga's players wanted to create unique player names that were not tied to their Facebook accounts, which displays their real names.

Iron Man 3 - Games for iPhone, iPad and Android for free

Gameloft have made another debut with its new official Game "Iron Man 3". Game is now available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

 If it isn't clear from the name itself, the game is based on the much-anticipated movie, Iron Man 3.

After the events of Iron Man 3, Tony has become a peacekeeper, but new threats emerge regularly all around the globe - and Iron Man is the only one who can take care of them. The game lets you become billionaire Tony Stark aka Iron Man and promises a fast-paced, endless running adventure.

The game is now available as a free download with a host of in-app purchases for iPhone and iPad as well as Android.

Zynga Continuing effort to get over of loss

Zynga Inc.'s surprise profit in the first three months of the year got overshadowed by a revenue decline, a drop in the number of users and a lower-than-expected second-quarter forecast.

The online game maker's stock fell more than 10 percent in extended trading Wednesday after the first-quarter results came out.

Samsung Galaxy Camera vs Nikon Coolpix S800C

David Pogue, The New York Times, December 21, 2012

 

"Android camera." Wow, that has a weird ring, doesn't it? You just don't think of a camera as having an operating system. It's like saying "Windows toaster" or "Unix jump rope."

But yes, that's what it has come to. Ever since cellphone cameras got good enough for everyday snapshots, camera sales have been dropping. For millions of people, the ability to share a fresh photo wirelessly - Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, text message - is so tempting, they're willing to sacrifice a lot of real-camera goodness.

Weeks Super 30 Android Apps

Real Boxing is punching up a storm on Android

Real Boxing (£2.99)

Already a hit on iOS, punch 'em up Real Boxing has now mades its Android debut, initially as an exclusive for devices with Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor. It sees you battling through a 30-fight career mode against 20 beefy boxers, while training your fighter up in between matches.

MessageMe (Free)

Is 2013 too late for a new messaging app to cause a stir? Seemingly not. MessageMe is getting similar buzz this week to WhatsApp in its early days. The app is a combination of one-to-one and group messaging, but throws in simple sharing of YouTube videos, iTunes songs and digitally scribbled-on photos. Facebook is an option to find friends, but BBM-style private PINs are also supported.

Samsung emerges No. 1 phone seller

Samsung has overtaken Nokia to become the largest seller of mobile phones in the country's major markets.

KOLKATA: Samsung has overtaken Nokia to become the largest seller of mobile phones in the country's major markets, as consumers lap up its new feature phones and its smartphones continue to do brisk business.

According to market tracker GfK-Nielsen's data, Samsung's volume market share in urban areas in March rose to 31.4%, surpassing Nokia's 30.1%. GfK-Nielsen urban panel tracks sales in 793 cities and towns with a population of over 50,000, which account for more than 70% of India's total handset sales.

This is the first time the Korean company's volume market share has crossed that of Nokia's in the GfK-Nielsen survey. The all-India figures, which will include rural sales, will be released shortly.

Some months ago, Samsung's market share, measured in value terms, had exceeded that of Nokia's, and there is now a considerable gap between the two due to growing demand for the Korean firm's smartphones.

New models push sales
Last month, Samsung's value market share in urban markets stood at 42.2% compared with Nokia's 20.7%. Analysts say Samsung's gain in volume market share last month is led by the recent introduction of the Rex feature phone series and strong demand for smartphones such as Galaxy Grand and Note 2, the top-selling models at multi-brand retail outlets. Its newest premium smartphone, Galaxy S4, will be launched in India on Friday.
A Nokia India spokesperson said the company did not comment on country-specific market data, and added that it was executing its strategy with 'urgency and at a new clock speed'. The spokesperson said at the higher end of the price spectrum, the company had launched ten Nokia Lumia devices in the past 16 months and claimed that Asha 305 was the best-selling smartphone in India.

"We are competing at every price point with better mobile experience. Nokia will continue to deliver new and innovative solutions to consumers," she said.

Notwithstanding these initiatives, analysts and experts feel that Nokia's more than a decade-long leadership in the Indian handset market is under threat. The company, which once enjoyed a dominant 80% market share, has never completely recovered from its failure to anticipate and react to the dual-SIM handset boom a few years ago.

"It's truly unbelievable the way Nokia fell in India in the past six years. The brand failed to rejuvenate itself and fell prey to customer fatigue. Add to that the speed of execution - while Samsung was taking six months to launch a new model from the drawing board to retail store, Nokia was taking more than a year," said former BlackBerry India head Sunil Dutt, who was Nokia's head of sales till 2007. A Samsung India spokeswoman declined comment on the market share data. But Samsung India's Country Head (mobile phone & digital imaging) Vineet Taneja said the company has gained market share.

"Samsung has created new segments, such as the Note series or the Rex series, which was developed in India. We have developed a strong product portfolio straddling across entry-level smartphones till the premium segment," said Taneja. The Korean company has been the leader in the smartphones segment since end-2011, even as it trailed Nokia in the overall handset market.

 -Article Revised By Pushpendra Kumar Tiwari