Monday 5 November 2012

Ads by Google MiiOS, Android app downloads to cross 85 billion by 2016 crosoft brings to India, Halo 4, its biggest sci-fi blockbuster of the season, marking the return of the Master Chief. Halo 4 will be available at retail stores across India on Tuesday, 6th November. The Halo 4 Standard Edition is for Rs 3,299 and Limited Edition for Rs 4,599. Speaking at the launch of Halo 4, Anshu Mor, Business Group Lead, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft Corporation India, said, “We are delighted to launch the next edition of Halo - a game that has shaped entertainment history and defined a generation of gamers. There has been much anticipation around the return of Master Chief and gamers will revel in the storyline and gameplay in Halo 4. Let the Halo fever begin!” Multiplayer in Halo 4 is the standard red versus blue Developed by 343 Industries, Halo 4 marks the dawn of a new game series, the Reclaimer Saga, centered on the Master Chief as he faces an ancient evil and a deadly new class of technologically advanced foes — the Prometheans. Master Chief sets out on an emotional journey fraught with personal demons and the most daunting challenges he’s ever faced. Featuring a darker and more personal story that reintroduces the iconic hero as a genuinely human character, Halo 4 sets players on a sci-fi voyage that will span the next decade of Halo games, across a three part trilogy. Halo 4’s multiplayer offering through War Games, will take place on the Spartan training ship Infinity and will tie into the game's story. Halo 4 will come shipped with Forge toolset, the in-game map builder further enhanced from Halo 3. Allowing players to design their own multiplayer maps, the Forge toolset with three unique environments has the ability to alter any current and future War Games map. You get to kill aliens and stuff Halo 4 also introduces the game's downloadable Spartan Ops mode. In this mode, as many as four gamers at a time can play through episodes around the Spartan Soldiers on board UNSC Infinity and their fight with the Prometheans. These episodes, divided into chapters, will be available for free download every week. The Halo franchise of games is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and the Xbox Live online entertainment network. To date, more than 46 million copies of Halo games have been sold worldwide, driving more than five billion hours of gameplay by people connected to Xbox Live. Back in October, Microsoft had revealed information on the game’s DLC and Season Pass. The Halo 4 War Games Map Pass is set to cost $25 (approximately Rs 1,341) and will include nine maps in total that will be released between December 2012 and April 2013. The map packs are set to cost $10 (approximately Rs 536) individually. An added bonus for those who purchase the Maps Pass is the inclusion of two in-game helmets called the Scanner and the Strider, and an in-game emblem – the Falcon. The Map Pass will be included in the Limited Edition of Halo 4.


With Google Play and the Apple App Store crossing 700,000 apps each recently, one would like to know how many apps have been downloaded yet, and what the future holds for these marketplaces in the future. As per a report by IHS, formerly called iSuppli, downloads in both stores combined will cross 85 billion by the year 2016.

IHS states that over the past few months, Google has made some improvements to the Google Play Android app store, helping boost app monetisation. App discoverability and integrated operator billing partnerships have improved, and users are now prompted to enter credit card details when registering with new devices.
Google Play to recieve more revenue than Apple App Store in the future
Google Play to receive more revenue than Apple App Store in the future


IHS states that despite the improved monetisation of Google Play, it will lag behind Apple’s App Store, in terms of smartphone app revenues in 2012. The app revenue generated so far this year is $1.68 billion for Google Play, and $2.53 billion for the App Store. However, by the beginning of 2014, the number of Google Android devices will allow Google Play to overtake Apple’s App Store in terms of revenue.

In terms of the number of apps being downloaded, Google Play will overtake Apple’s iPhone due to a greater installed base of Android devices. This translates to 20 billion smartphone app downloads for Google Play, compared with 11 billion for the iPhone in 2012.

The report states, “But this some 31 billion apps is child’s play to where the stores will be going in the future. We forecast that by 2016, some 85 billion smartphone apps will be downloaded through the App Store and Google Play – nearly tripling the number from 2012”.

The result of increased adoption of smartphones globally, and a larger installed base of Android phones compared to iPhones will see Google take the lead in global smartphone app revenues by 2016.

Google Play store now houses over 700,000 apps, and it reached the milestone one week after the Apple App Store. Google Play and App Store are now miles ahead of the Windows Store. Microsoft recently announced that the Windows Store has around 120,000 apps in its arsenal.

A report by Bloomberg states, “By luring software developers to its Android platform, Google is attempting to eliminate a key selling point Apple has used for the iPhone and iPad. Applications have become a battleground as the two companies look for an edge in the $219.1 billion smartphone market, akin to how Microsoft Corp. dominated the personal-computer business by getting other companies to write programs for its Windows operating system.”

Google recently rolled out an update (version number is 3.9.16) for its official marketplace for Android apps, Google Play. The latest update to the store allows you to remove apps from the All Apps list, which records all your app downloads to date, in ad

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