Mobile game publisher, Gameloft, announced Q1 earnings yesterday and their business is growing nicely.

The French gaming firm singled out the “strong performance” of its iPhone games, as well as “solid sales” of Java and Brew games, as helping boost mobile games sales 21% in the first quarter.

Company spokesperson Anne-Laure Descleves said that sales of Java and Brew games, usually played on traditional feature phones, rose 6% compared to the same period last year. Overall, Gameloft reported sales of 30.8 million euros ($40.8 million) in the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 22% from the previous year.

Mobile games accounts for 94% of the company’s annual sales, meaning that the company earned 28.95 million euros ($38.4 million) from mobile games. Console games made up the remaining 6%. Sales of games were spread evenly in its different territories, with Europe accounting for 35% of sales, North America making up 37%, and the rest of the world bringing in the remaining 29%.

North America was Gameloft’s strongest growth region, with sales up 57% in Q1.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s second largest cellphone maker, today unveiled the I7500, its first Android-powered mobile phone. With the launch, Samsung becomes the first company among the global top three mobile phone manufacturers to unveil an Android-powered phone.

“Samsung is among the earliest members of the Open Handset Alliance and has been actively moving forward to introduce the most innovative Android mobile phone,” said JK Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Communication Division in Samsung Electronics. “With Samsung’s accumulated technology leadership in mobile phone industry and our consistent strategy to support every existing operating system, I believe that Samsung provides the better choices and benefits to our consumers” he added.

The I7500, a touch screen smartphone, offers a 5 megapixel camera and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, that gives users access to all of Google’s services.

Samsung said that the phone would be available in major European countries in June. No word on pricing.

Spam text messages can be a problem for mobile phone users. Just like annoying marketing calls, you can receive text messages from different companies on your mobile phone at odd times. If these unwanted text messages start coming regularly, they can be a real pain. Most service providers provide call blocking capabilities, but they do not provide services which can help you block spam text messages. This is when mobile phone users look for alternatives which can help them block unwanted SMS Text messages and spam text messages.

Mobile phone users may also need to use a phone utility to help them block unwanted SMS text messages from an ex or from an annoying co-worker. In other cases, a parent might be interested in blocking unwanted text messages on their kids mobile phones to guard against bad influences or to protect them from spam messages which could be harmful to them. Companies can also use these mobile phone utilities to monitor the activities of their employees and to block unwanted text messages on company provided mobile phones to save on mobile phone bills.

TextGuard is a handy mobile phone utility which allows SmartPhone users to effectively block unwanted text messages on their mobile devices. The utility has been developed for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry users to help them secure text messages which are sent and received on their mobile phones. The utility monitors and tracks all messages and archives them on a central server, which is accessible for later retrieval through a website admin panel. TextGuard offers 3 different plans designed for individuals, businesses and corporations.

Once you download and install the utility, you can login to the website with the provided user name and password and access your account. You will see a record of all incoming and outgoing text and email messages saved on the server. Call records are also saved on the server, allowing users to block certain numbers if they do not want to receive text messages or calls from them. The server provided easy access to all the information, which can be organized and retrieved later on. Users can quickly and effectively block any numbers to stop communicating with the. The utility is not only handy in terms of blocking unwanted spam text messages, but it can also help you keep backup of all your communications, which makes it extremely useful for businessmen, who might want to keep a backup of all their daily activities. The archived data also acts as a backup and can help you in cases like mobile theft or lost or stolen mobile.

Users can register online on the website at www.TextGuard.com and download the 30 day free trial of the software.

According to FierceWireless, T-Mobile USA has sold more than 1 million of its Android-based G1 devices during the past six months.

The figure was apparently “buried” in Deutsche Telekom’s earnings report. According to the German carrier’s report, the G1 accounts for two-thirds of all of T-Mobile USA’s 3G handset sales so far.

Initial sales of the G1 are certainly a lot smaller in comparison to Apple’s iPhone. Apple sold around 3.7 million iPhones during the two full quarters after the device’s launch in the summer of 2007. Keep in mind, however, that T-Mobile USA has less than half the number of subscribers than AT&T so on a relative basis, it’s doing OK.

Filed under: Advice, Digital Camera, Peripherals, Portable Audio, Web, Social Networking

The micro-blogging site Twitter, along with its 140-character-or-less messages known as “tweets,” is continuing to earn daily references from media outlets, but to the uninitiated it can seem confusing, narcissistic and creepily voyeuristic. In reality, it serves as an instant and simple method of keeping in contact with family and friends, or for reading the latest news from favored writers, musicians and comedians.

PC mag, this week, released a list of “13 Twitter Dont’s” to help inform newcomers and wary observers. They also offer tips to the annoying members who unceasingly tweet without concern for those of their followers who don’t care what they may happen to be eating at that particular moment. Some of the tips seem self-explanatory (“Don’t say anything that can get you fired,” for instance), but, then again, many people need a constant reminder of that warning, too. Other tips provide insight into the language and abbreviations common on Twitter, and others demonstrate proper Twitter protocol (“Don’t tweet more than 10 times a day”). So, read on. And when you’re finished, and properly informed, you can follow our own Switched tweets right here. [From: PCMag.com]

Continue reading 13 Twitter No-No’s

13 Twitter No-No’s originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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