Analytics company Flurry has published an interesting study involving Android, iOS, and the U.S. video game market. Following up on a report from 2009, the company notes that the two mobile operating systems accounted for 8% of all U.S. video game sales in 2010 when calculated by revenue. What’s even more interesting is where both Android and iOS are taking their share from: portable gaming players. Console software revenues grew by 5% from 2009 to 2010 — 71% to 75% respectively — with portable gaming systems (e.g. Sony PSP, Nintendo DS) revenue falling nearly 8% in during the same period. Combined, Android and iOS accounted for 34% of all U.S. portable gaming software revenues — behind the Nintendo DS with 57% and ahead of Sony’s PSP with just 9%. Portable game software was a $2.4 billion business in 2010, with overall U.S. video game software revenues hovering around $10.7 billion. “Over 2011, we expect to see continued and significant smart-device game growth fueled by the recent launch of iPad 2, iPhone coming into distribution on Verizon, the expected release of iPhone 5, a relentless expansion of Android devices by leading OEMs across all major U.S. carriers, and Google’s enablement of in-app purchase billing, a proven key driver in iOS game revenue,” reads Flurry’s report. Smartphones and tablets may not be immersive enough for the most hardcore mobile gamers, but they seem to be more than adequate for most.

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No platform in recent history has grown as fast as Google’s Android OS, and now Google has created a quick video to help us visualize the Android phenomenon. The sequence was first shown ahead of former CEO Eric Schmidt’s keynote at Mobile World Congress, and this week Google finally posted it to its Android Developers YouTube account. The video gives us a visual representation of all Android device activations from October 2008, when the platform launched, through the end of December 2010. It also displays helpful indicators just ahead of major device launches, such as the Motorola DROID launch in November 2009. Hit the jump for the video and prepare to be wowed.

Thanks, Will

IHS, new owner of research firm iSuppli, has issued its full-year data on app stores in 2010. According to the company’s report, Apple’s market share decreased significantly last year while its revenue more than doubled. The app store pioneer pulled in $1.78 billion in global app sales during 2010, up 132% from the $769 million its App Store earned in 2009. Not surprisingly, its market share dropped from 93% in 2009 to 83% during the period. RIM’s BlackBerryApp World grew 360% year-over-year, pulling in $165 million and accounting for nearly 8% of the market. Nokia’s Ovi Store jumped 719% to $105 million in 2010, and Google’s Android Market was up 862% to $102 million. All in all, the top four mobile app stores combined to reel in $2.16 billion in revenue last year, up 160% from the $828 million of revenue they earned in 2009.

[Via All About Symbian]

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This comes as no surprise. Social networking juggernaut Facebook was the most-searched term and most-visited website of 2010, according to Experian Hitwise. Facebook, which was the most searched term in 2009 as well, actually appears four times, in one way or another, on Hitwise’s top ten list; facebook login, facebook.com, and www.facebook.com ranked second, sixth, and ninth respectively. The social network’s site also accounted for 8.93% of all U.S. visits between January and November of 2010 — Experian does note that a combination of all Google-owned properties totals 9.85% of all U.S. page visits during the same period. Facebook beat out Google, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo!, and Youtube who came in second, third, fourth, and fifth respectively.

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According to analytics company Nielsen, digital music sales in the United States were flat during the first half of 2010; showing no positive growth from 2009. The data should be concerning to record labels as digital music sales rose 28% from 2007 to 2008 and 13% from 2008 to 2009. Nielsen’s Jean Littolff spoke with Reuters and explained: “I think this is a plateau, it doesn’t mean that this digital consumption is going to drop significantly.” Nielsen cited lack of consumer confidence and confusion over the plethora of ways to acquire your digital music online as possible reasons for the sudden slowdown. How about you? Are you buying less music these days?

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For those of you wondering whether or not the Galaxy S family of phones has been a hit, we present you this story. Today, at IFA in Berlin, Samsung Mobile President J.K. Shin told reporters that his company is upping its smartphone sales estimates for 2010 from 18 million to 25 million. The original estimate of 18 million units was three times higher than the total number of cell phones shipped by Samsung in 2009. Shin went on to say that he is confident his company will grab a double-digit share of the smartphone market by year’s end. Go get em’ Sammy!

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T-Mobile held its position as the #4 carrier in the U.S. by adding one million new subscribers to its coffers in 2009 and ending 2009 with a total of 33.8 million customers. Catherine Zeta Jones’ favorite network gained a total of 371,000 new subscribers in Q4 2009, a number that was achieved by the addition of 488,000 pre-paid subscribers and the loss of 117,000 net contract subscribers. Despite the yearly and quarterly growth in its subscriber base, yearly revenue declined to $21.5 billion, a 1.6% year over year drop and quarterly revenue dropped to $5.41 billion from $5.72 billion in Q4 2008. T-Mobile’s net income also took a hit, dropping from $483 million at the end of 2008 to $306 million in 2009. Though overall revenue and income declined, T-Mobile’s mobile data business was lucrative as total data revenue reached $598 million in Q4 2009 and $2.2 billion for the full year, a 35% and 37% year over year increase. Additionally, the Magenta network’s infrastructure was also on the rise; its entire 3G network has been upgraded to 7.2 Mbps HSPA, select markets are being upgraded to 21Mbps HSPA+, and its 3G coverage now reaches 205 million people nationwide.

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Clearwire announced its Q4 2009 and 2009 year end results today, and though WiMAX in the US is lagging behind its European counterparts, it is coming on strong and 2010 promises to be a banner year for the 4G service. Q4 2009 was a strong quarter for Clearwire with the wireless provider adding 85,000 new subscribers in that three month period alone, a single quarter increase that is the largest in company history and greater than its first three 2009 quarters combined. Revenue was also strong in Q4 with Clearwire reporting $79.9 million consolidated revenue, a 34% increase from the same quarter in 2008. Year end results for 2009 were equally as impressive with Clearwire reporting $274.5 Million in revenue, a 19% increase compared with Pro Forma 2008. On top of that, Clearwire also added ten new markets in 2009 and ended the year with a total of 688,000 subscribers, a marked increase over the 475,000 subscribers recorded at the end of 2008. What we’re really waiting for is more 4G in more cities, and Clearwire expects to cover up to 120 million people with its 4G network by the end of 2010, including several high profile launches in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver, Minneapolis, and Kansas City. Our HTC Supersonics will be waiting.

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Another year, and even more devices, products, and services to look forward to. Things will be smaller, more advanced, faster, and some new markets might even be defined, but for now, check out the top 10 posts of 2009 (by traffic):

1. Motorola DROID hands on

2. BlackBerry vs. iPhone 3G: yeah, we definitely went there

3. Android 2.0 screenshot walkthrough

4. BlackBerry 9700 Review: Part 1

5. Nokia E71 Review

6. BlackBerry Curve 8900 hands on

7. Palm Pre Review: Part 1

8. T-Mobile’s Walmart roadmap: the wrap up

9. BlackBerry Tour hitting Verizon Wireless in July?

10. Motorola Calgary live photos: Verizon’s second Motorola Android device

Thanks to all our readers, connects, ninjas, and writers!

UPDATE: The above posts are listed by traffic, even if they weren’t published in 2009. Since most people expected just 2009-published articles, we’ve listed those after the break.>

1. Motorola DROID hands on

2. Android 2.0 screenshot walkthrough

3. BlackBerry 9700 Review: Part 1

4. Exclusive Apple iPhone 3.0 screenshots leak out

5.BlackBerry Tour Review: Part 2

6. Palm Pre Review: Part 1

7. T-Mobile’s Walmart roadmap: the wrap up

8. BlackBerry Tour hitting Verizon Wireless in July?

9. Motorola Calgary live photos: Verizon’s second Motorola Android device

10. A handful of FireFox tweaks that will double your browser speed

We’ve known for quite some time now that Motorola is going to be hitting Android fast and hard, but there’s nothing like hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth. Your pals at BGR are live on hand at Mobilize 09, ready and waiting to deliver all the news that’s fit to print as Motorola Co-CEO Sanjay Jha delivers his keynote. The action kicks off at 1:30pm Eastern, 10:30am Pacific, so check back here for some good old fashioned liveblogging action and see what Moto has in store for its desperately anxious fans!

(All times are Pacific — posts appear in reverse chronological order)

11:12: Show’s over. Nothing more to see here. Move along. Takeaways: CLIQ is hitting Tmo in Q4, lots more to come in 2010, BLUR is the hotness.

11:11: Context awareness, health care, fitness, 4G, multimedia, web moving forward as a platform. Oh hi, marketing speak. We missed you.

11:10: Jha is back in action now. What will mobile internet experience look like in 2013?

11:08: They’re basically whisper-chatting on stage right now. Umm, guys?

11:05: By the way — in case it’s not clear from the images, the CLIQ is in fact the Morrison.

11:04: Google and Moto are BFF according to Rubin — a whole lot of ego stroking going on right now. Good for them though — there really is a lot of potential for both companies in this partnership. Moto (so far) seems to be completely targeting a very important demographic that Android hasn’t yet hit.

11:02: Om is sitting there playing with the CLIQ. Yo Om, can we get in on that?

11:00: Yeah we’re not going to bore you with the stuff Rubin is covering right now. Internet, cloud computing, how smartphones fit in and so on.

10:58: lol @ the commenter below who said “Sholes me the money!” Yeah, no such luck buddy. Doh…

10:56: Umm yeah, it looks like that’s it. Jha is off stage — no Sholes. Andy Rubin from Google is on now.

10:53: Moto will definitely be going global with Android and Blur handsets though — many more to come in 2010. In 2009 it looks like it might just be the CLIQ, which will be called the Dext on Orange UK, Telefonica Spain, and America Movil.

10:51: Spec highlights include 3G, WiFi, 5MP cam with a/f, 24fps video and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

10:50: The CLIQ is the first US handset that will have Android and the BLUR UI.

10:48: Wi-Fi calling is supported (UPDATE: sorry, we misheard Jha. UMA is not supported on the CLIQ), and of course it’s super-focused on social networking. Available in Q4 of this year. Colors: Winter White and Titanium.

10:47: On to devices! First up, the Motorola CLIQ for T-Mobile.

10:45: If your device is ever lost or stolen, you can locate it online and wipe the handset as well. When you get a replacement device or new device, it gets set up exactly like the lost one since everything stored on server. Sweetness.

10:44: From contacts you can see latest info as contacts update various social networks — also when people call you, you can see contact info, picture, status update info, etc… all that stuff.

10:42: Homescreen widgets update live, including a “happenings widget” that covers all your SoNets.

10:40: One tap access for social network status updates — update directly to MySpace, Facebook and Twitter out of the box.

10:38: Jha is getting into MOTOBLUR now (umm, who called it?). BLUR is Moto’s UI built on top of Android. Everything is front and center, and very accessible… Live widgets on a customizable home screen and so on.

10:37: On to what we’ve been waiting for… Android!

10:35: And on to social networking — 800mm will use social networks on their mobiles in 2012.

10:32: What’s important in terms of handsets right now: high res displays, wireless broadband, OTA software updates, HTML browser, rich media messaging, good voice quality, multi-tasking, graphical OS…

10:32: Some background to kick things off. Mobile trends… 4.7 billion have wireless phones, 1 billion wireless broadband access… Etc.

10:30: Mr. Jha is coming out on stage now, and he’s getting right into it.

10:25: Everyone is taking their seats now — but we’ve been here since the butt crack of dawn so you know we’re front-row. Coffee please…

10:23: Hello Moto! Things are just about to kick off and this room is jam-packed full of anxious press/bloggers. Senor Jha best not disappoint!

Netbook fans may be pleasantly surprised today — or perhaps disappointed — as a purported roadmap for ASUS’ US Eee PC offerings is currently making the rounds. Allegedly depicting the Eee PC launch schedule for the remainder of the year, this roadmap doesn’t offer too much in the way of excitement but at least those in need of a new netbook can get an idea of what ASUS will have to offer in the coming months. If it’s real, that is. Hit the jump for the details.

Thanks, Al-B!

• 1005HA-M: Intel Atom N270 processor, 250GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, XP  Home or Win7 Starter — $349, October launch
• 1005HA-P: Intel Atom N280 processor, 250GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth, 802.11n Wi-Fi, XP  Home or Win7 Starter — $399, October launch
• 1202N: 12-inch display, Intel Atom N270 processor, NVIDIA Ion, 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Win7 — $499, October launch

Beyond that, netbooknews.de adds details on some more models not covered in the alleged US roadmap:

• New Eee PC 1008HA models: the 1008HA-P (Atom N280 processor, 320GB HDD, 2GB RAM, BT, 802.11n Wi-FI) will cost $480 and the 1008HA-M (Atom N280 processor, 250GB HDD, 1GB RAM, BT, 802.11 n Wi-Fi) will run $430.
• Netvertibles: Eee PC T91MT (multi-touch) with a 32GB SSD is priced at $ 549
• The 1101HA is already approved in October and the 1008HA in November. Both models will then be replaced by the above variants.

[Via netbooknews.de]

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T-Mobile USA just turned in its Q2 2009 numbers and while things weren’t all bad for the nation’s number four, Tmo is seeing its progress slowed while both Verizon and AT&T continue to gobble up subscribers by the millions. T-Mobile netted 325,000 new subscribers last quarter, down from 668,000 YoY and 415,000 sequentially. Of all the numbers reported, that is likely the most significant. While 325K net adds is fantastic from Sprint’s side of the table, it’s less than half of what Tmo took on in the same quarter last year. Operating income came in at $1.6 billion, up 1 percent YoY and a healthy 16 percent sequentially. Profits were down from $452 million in Q2 2008 to $425 million this past quarter, but up significantly from Q1 2009 which came in at $322 million. Finally, total revenue came in at $5.34 billion, down from $5.47 billion YoY and $5.4 billion sequentially.

All things considered, Tmo had a fair showing this past quarter — a quarter that saw Sprint launch the Palm Pre, AT&T launch the iPhone 3GS and Verizon continue to bulldoze through the middle of the country. Moving forward however, the myTouch 3G doesn’t quite seem to have the allure of the G1 which leaves T-Mobile lacking a true flagship draw. Verizon has the Storm 2 on the way, AT&T may have a new entry-level iPhone 3GS in store and Sprint, well, Sprint still has the Pre exclusively for the rest of the year. We know T-Mobile has some great handsets in store in the near future but, considering the competition, we can definitely see the carrier’s Q2 slump carrying over to Q3.

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Motorola is in the midst of a climb back into relevance and, quite surprisingly, it seems to be making more progress than had been projected. Are you sitting down? Motorola just reported its Q2 2009 earnings and… It’s in the black! That’s right people, Moto managed to eek out a $26 million profit albeit on the back of major cost cutting efforts including the reduction of its workforce by around 7,000 jobs. Mobile Devices remains Moto’s weakest link, having posted $1.8 billion in sales and an operating loss of $253 million. In the same quarter in 2008 however, Mobile lost $346 million so at least we’re moving in the right direction — though the turnaround can be attributed entirely to cost cutting as handset shipments were down almost 50 percent to 14.8 million. So what exactly is going to right this sinking ship? We’re not really sure, though Moto did confirm it would release its first two Android-powered handsets with US carrier partners in the second half of this year. While the company didn’t go into specifics, both should be out by the holiday season this year. We love the affordable Morrison on T-Mobile and the Sholes is definitely going to knock some socks off, but we need to see a hell of a lot more out of Moto ASAP because slow and steady isn’t winning any races these days.

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Still managing to skirt the ever-present how many Palm Pres has the company sold question, Sprint reported its Q2 2009 results this morning. While the company did post a slightly bigger loss than expected, it wasn’t the bone crushing declines we’ve seen from Old Yeller in recent history. Operating revenue came in at $8.1 billion, down 10 percent YoY and just short of the Street’s $8.12 billion projection, and it posted a net loss of $384 million or $0.13 per share, down 12 percent from $344 million in the same quarter last year. The part that’s really hard to swallow here is that despite the release of the Palm Pre, one of the most highly anticipated handsets of the year, Sprint still managed to shed 257,000 subscribers net in the quarter, up from 187,000 in Q1. Its subscriber count now stands at 48.8 million. The shocking part — Sprint lost 991,000 postpaid subscribers this past quarter, meaning the bleeding has barely slowed in this crucial category. If the Palm Pre, endless time spent improving customer service, vastly improved network quality and some amazingly attractive plans can’t keep subscribers on board, what can?

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Verizon, on its investor conference call this morning, reaffirmed its intentions to launch the Palm Pre in early 2010. While news of Palm’s revival handset hitting Verizon in the near future is hardly a surprise, Pre hopefuls loyal to Big Red will certainly find comfort in hearing VZW announce the news publicly once again. The impending arrival of the Pre comes alongside Verizon’s Q2 earnings report, which was otherwise laden with bad news. Revenue came in at $26.9 billion, up 11 percent YoY but profits dove a massive 21 percent to $1.48 billion. Wireless saw a 27.7 percent increase YoY in total revenue with a massive 52.6 percent increase in data revenue. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough. The real news from today’s call is that Verizon announced plans to reduce its workforce by around 8,000 between now and the end of 2009. It’s pretty obvious that Big Red needs to take drastic measures in its effort to cut operational expenses, but ouch.

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