flurry

Study helps better understand mobile gamers

The mobile social gamer is a different person than the traditional console player. Or at least that's what research firm Flurry Analytics concludes.

According to the researchers, the average age of the mobile social gamer is 28, several years younger than the average 34-year-old "traditional gamer." The company found in its survey of over 60,000 gamers that mobile social gaming is more prominent among people between the ages of 18 to 49. In fact, nearly 80 percent of those folks are playing casual titles on a mobile device. A little less than 50 percent of people … Read more

Developers show interest in Nokia-Microsoft tie-up

A burst of activity in Windows Phone 7 projects may be a sign that developers see promise in a Nokia-Microsoft tie-up, according to analytics firm Flurry.

Even before Nokia and Microsoft revealed late last week their proposed deal for Windows Phone 7 on Nokia phones, speculation about it apparently led to a surge in developer interest. Tracking the mobile platforms based on new projects started by developers, Flurry said it had seen relatively flat numbers for Windows Phone 7 for the month or so prior to last week.

But with speculation making the rounds early last week about a possible … Read more

Why Google's Nexus One hasn't flopped (yet)

The tech industry wants Google to deliver an iPhone "killer," and continues to be disappointed that Google doesn't share that interest.

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

Google has sold an estimated 135,000 Nexus One phones in the 74 days since it arrived, according to Flurry, a time frame chosen for comparison purposes because Apple sold 1 million iPhones in the first 74 days of its existence in 2007.

Given that 135,000 units add up to way fewer than 1 million units, it's easy to label the Nexus One launch a "flop." But that conclusion assumes that Google intended to sell a mass-market phone all along.

We've said it before, but we'll say it again: the Nexus One is not the One True Phone descended from on high to restore order to an iPhone-dominated world. Google is indeed very interested in having its Android operating system become the alternative to the iPhone, but it is not fighting the same fight with the Nexus One that Apple, Palm, Research In Motion, Nokia, and countless others are fighting.

When it launched in January, Google Android chief Andy Rubin told GigaOm that he expected the company would sell 150,000 Nexus Ones. He didn't specify a time frame, but he didn't say "74 days" either. So it's just as easy to make the argument that the Nexus One is actually a huge success based on the Flurry numbers and Google's own expectations.

That would also be a stretch, to be sure. The reality is that selling the Nexus One is a very complicated dance.… Read more