Recently having raised $3.5 million, the Hong Kong- based Australian listed mobile game publisher Animoca Brands is looking to expand portfolio and enter the ebooks market.

The investment was led by Pattersons Securities, the financial services firm along with Taylor Collison, Bell Potter and Koda Capital.

The mobile gaming giant has also previously received an investment fund of $2.3 million by the Chinese publisher OurPalm in exchange for 11% stake of the company.

It has been said that the funds will contribute to expanding its current businesses which includes the strategic partnership with Mattel.

Furthermore, with limited details being provided, Animoca Brands will also enter the ebooks market.

Currently the company has many IP licensing details which include Mattel, Mr Bean, Garfield and Paris Hilton.

Robby Yung, the CEO of Animoca Brands said in a recent statement “We are extremely pleased with the strong interest received from investors through this placement, demonstrating confidence in our business model and strategy,”

He continued “The successful capital raise of AU$4.69 million is validation of our leading product offering and places the Company in a strong position to accelerate revenue growth and the roll out of its near term and longer term growth initiatives across a rapidly growing mobile gaming industry.”

Animoca Brands expects its annual revenue to reach a staggering $5.5 million USD, rising by 88%.

 

Myntra, who was the first web-based e-commerce firm to be an app only platform has recently changed its plans. Currently in pilot phase, the fashion retailer is beginning the roll out of a mobile website. It has been said that the app only strategy may have backfired with the retailer losing sales and traffic after its development.

Flipkart which is Myntra’s parent company, recently re-introduced a mobile web version. It was called Flipkart Lite and its aim was to offer users a similar app-like experience. Similarly, the e-commerce major Snapdeal, who sees 70% of its sales come from mobile has also developed Snap-Lite, which is a mobile website.

It was earlier this year that Myntra had announced it would be an app-only platform, the first ever in India to undertake the move. The mobile website is still in the rollout phase for users. Myntra will continue to have users make the purchases through the app and will not allow purchases via the mobile site. It would take the place of catalogue and help with the Google search platform.

It has been said that the move with the mobile site is to attract new users as most of them will search on google first.

We will no doubt see the continued success of the fashion retailer and the app is available for a free download from the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

 

Grinder, the casual gay dating app has recently announced the appointment of Lukas Sliwka to Chief Technology Officer, who was formerly the company’s vice president of engineering.

Joel Simkhai the CEO and Founder of Grindr commented in a recent press release “Grindr’s focus is to deliver meaningful, instant connections for our app users. In the last two years, Lukas has played a critical role in driving our mobile innovation journey, while improving the overall Grindr experience for our users.”

In over 200 countries, Sliwka helped Grindr reach over 2 million daily active users. He was essentially responsible for managing a global team of engineers as well as improving the app’s security measures and managing Grindr’s key systems and mobile clients.

Sliwka said in a recent statement “As an engineer by training, the opportunity to use technology to connect people in new and dynamic ways has been especially rewarding. Using cutting edge innovation to tackle the challenges of keeping Grindr at the forefront of location-based apps, we’ve also made the company a much more active and attractive career opportunity for technology specialists.”

To find more information on Grindr visit their website.

 

 

Just launched to the iTunes App Store is the Breaker Messenger news app by Breaker itself.

The news app mixes messaging features with a personalised news feed and users are able to search through hot content from over 500 topics. They can also discuss stories with friends and share the content from within the app.

Users are prompted to follow three different topics, some with generic topics to follow as well as category specific within that topic. For example, users can follow news for specific cities or even a general US news topic.

The news feed is then customised to the user’s choice of topics, with Breaker Messenger pulling content from various news sources as well as Vine, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. The in app web browser is loaded when a user taps on a story which then enables them to view the video, linked article and so on.

Users can tap the ‘break’ button next to the story on the feed if they would like to share with friends. Once a story is shared the app generates a conversation between the users within the app, allowing them to instantly chat about the news story.

Shares to those who are not users of the app are still delivered, they will simply receive a text that allows them to view content and chat within a browser. The non-users are still able to chat back to the users of the app in the chat window without having to download.

Shailo Rao, the CEO of Breaker said in a recent statement “ On mobile, people communicate with their friends and consume content about their passions many times a day, but why are these two experiences so disconnected? Breaker connects the dots between these two major use cases and gives people a great excuse to say ‘hi’ to a friend and start a conversation about something they’re both interested in

Breaker Messenger is available for a free download form the iTunes App Store.

 

 

Recently launched for iPhone devices is the location-based dating app Blume, that essentially allows users to skip or like potential matches with a system in place that ensures that they are chatting with a real life person.

The dating app lets users search through potential matches, passing a person or tapping a button to express interest. Before a match is connected and for the users chat, the app will run a verification test.

This process is completed by the users taking selfies which are only made visible once they have both taken the photo. The photo must be new from within the app as it does not allow for camera roll uploads. Users have seven seconds to approve the potential match once the selfies have been made visible. It is only once both selfies have been accepted that the users can begin chatting. Users are also able to customise their selfie with text.

To further protect users from fake accounts, users are required to sign in through their Facebook profile. Once a user is registered, they can edit their profile information from within the app.

Lastly, the app will discourage users from taking screen shots by incurring a warning for the first offence, and being banned for a time duration from the app for the second offence onwards.

Daniel Delouya, the CEO & co-founder of Blume said in a recent statement “ Blume provides a safe environment where people can just relax and be themselves.” He continued “ Blume creates a platform where people can actually form authentic emotional relationships.”

Blume is available for a free download from the iTunes App Store.

Youzu, one of the most successful PC and mobile publishers of China has announced it is going global. Recently, Mark Chen, the VP of Domestic Publishing spoke at Pocker Gamer Connects Helsinki 2015 and expressed the company’s ambition to go global.

The company itself has released more than 20 games and has over 350 million players, with 1500 employees.

It has been recorded that the hit mobile game release Youth of Three Kingdoms made it to top 10 grossing games in China ever since its release. League of Angles, their PC game rakes in a staggering $25 million monthly.

In regards to finding development partners the company intends to extend its reach globally in 2015.

Chen said in a recent statement “We want to act like to bridge to western games into Chinese market,”.

To get high quality western games into China, Youzu is hoping to sign co-development and publishing deals.

Furthermore, it assures that they can provide great access to the ever-growing market in China.

Chen continued “As well as $330 million to invest in these operations, we also have a strong portfolio of IP for developers to work with,”.

 

 

Recently launched to the iTunes App Store is Giffage, the GIF keyboard app by Giffage itself. The app essentially allows users to share GIF’s in emails or messages, or even create their own to share. Elliot Tebele is the co-founder of Giffage, who has over 6.8 million followers on Instagram. It functions as both a third-party keyboard once it is activated by a user, as well a standalone app.

Users are able to search and browse a large number of GIF’s from the library of content. They are able to browse via categories such as animals, memes, reactions and more, as well as trending GIF’s. For specific GIF’s users can also search via a keyword.

Once a user has found a GIF that they like, they can view its full size by tapping it, then copying the GIF which in turn can be pasted into other windows, text messages and emails. To save a GIF for later use, users can tap the ‘heart’ button which adds it to their favourites.

Furthermore, users can also create their own GIF’s by recording a short video clip from within the app. They are then able to customise with text and various filters.

Once the Giffage keyboard has been activated, a search bar is appears where they can find and copy into messages, without the app being open. Users are able to access their favoured GIF’s from inside the keyboard. They can also favourite new GIF’s by tapping and holding on them as they search inside the keyboard.

Jack Shalom, the CEO of Giffage said in a recent statement “Like emojis, GIFs are 2015’s preferred way to communicate visually with your friends.”.

Giffage is available for a free download from the iTunes App Store.

 

Last week the mobile games studio Futureplay released its first game Farm Away. Ex Rovio exec and Co-founder of Futureplay, Jami Laes is already happy with the market response.

 
Laes recently commented “We’re around 100,000 daily active users, and we’re generating $0.082 average revenue per user per day,”
“It’s early days but we’re monetising better than similar games that use IAPs.” He continued.

 
Laes strongly believes the success has stemmed from the in-game advertising positively reinforcing player experiences. He says that some games use advertisements as a negative reinforcement. His goal is to “use adverts to make your fun more fun.”.

For example, an ad within the game is done by the user tapping on a cloud, watching the ad within the game and the user then receives rains for four hours. This ultimately doubles the generation of gold for the user.

 
Laes said “These ads need to be opt-in, because that’s how we feel good about things,”.

 
He continued to say that the ads are not a replacement for in-app purchases.

 
Farm Away is available for a free download from the iTunes App Store.

 

Just launched by Align is the dating app for Millennials targeted at iOS users. The app was designed to measure compatibility of users based on astrological signs.

Originally being released in LA, the app has expanded to San Francisco and New York City.

To get started with the app, users will enter their birth date and login with Facebook.  Once the app has determined the astrological sign of the user, it will provide them with an emoji and list of traits that correlate to that sign.

On the users Align profile, six items which the user relates to most are displayed.

On a daily basis users are provided with five unique matches. The users are also given compatibility reports for the matches, which relate to each of their astrological signs. Like other dating apps, both users must show an interest in the potential match and connect before they can private message one another.

Aliza Kelly Faragher, the co-founder of Align said in a recent statement “ Over 45 million Millennials believe in astrology. Astrology is not a niche market, it is a cultural movement, and Align provides today’s singles with the platform they need to make meaningful connections.”

Align is available for a free download from the iTunes App Store.

 

 

Just released is the Fallout Pip-Boy app by Bethesda Softworks, targeting iOS and Android devices. The app is said to be a companion app for the Fallout 4 video game, which will be released on November 10 on PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One.

The game turns player’s phones into Pip-Boy, which is what the character wears on its wrist in Fallout 4.  The app enables users to access their data by connecting to the console game, as well as like their characters stats and inventory while outside of home.

Additionally, users have access to the game’s radio and map, as well as their mini-games. Included in the app for free is the Atomic Command game, and challenges players to tap to aim and shoot to eliminate enemy bombs. This is to protect the famous landmarks and the game continues as long as they are still standing on each level.

The Fallout Pip-Boy app is available for a free download from the Google Play and iTunes App Store.