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developers and publishers—Google retains 30 per cent of revenues in its
app store to “compensate for the expenses in steering and developing the
Android software”, the same fi gure that in the case of Apple's. On Febru-
ary 2010 it was reported that free applications in Android Market were
of games among the applications in the store similar to that of Apple's.
However, the best-selling premium Android game in October 2009, Lupis
Labs Software's
Robo Defense
, sold just 7,600 units at $2.99 each, which
translates to gross monthly revenues of just over $22,000. Therefore, the
total Android game sales for 2009 are estimated to have reached a meagre
$1.75 million, proving the dif erent expectations of users regarding applica-
tions and the dif erent approaches for business models in each platform. In
exchange for the rapid growth of Android applications, the main dii culty
for Android Market is fragmentation. For instance, in June 2011 there were
eight dif erent versions of Android (64.6 per cent of devices run Android
2.2 and 21.2 per cent run Android 2.1, 1.9 per cent smartphones still run
Android 1.5 and 0.3 per cent units run Android 3.1, a version of the operat-
ing system introduced in May 2011).
In the case of Nokia, at the end of 2009 it was still the second platform
in terms of monthly downloads. Interestingly, Nokia was the pioneer in
blending mobile phones and games through its N-Gage products back in
2003. However, this visionary proposal was a failure in practical terms
in the markets with much less sales than expected (Nokia never disclosed
the real sales). In any case, Nokia's strategy is linked to that of Microsoft's
from 2011. Precisely, Microsoft approach to mobile applications is based
on Windows Mobile and Windows Market. Until Version 7 it was designed
to be somewhat similar to desktop versions of Windows, feature-wise and
aesthetically. From this version Microsoft's Xbox LIVE gaming platform is
transported to mobile devices.
Other platforms are briefl y considered from the mobile gaming perspec-
tive. Research In Motion (RIM) has followed the path to become a full plat-
form with an application store using both its BlackBerry operating system
and a BlackBerry storefront for applications. Its fi gures on games and prices
suggest that developers consider it as aimed at the professional segment.
Linux for Mobile is represented through the LiMo Foundation, with
more than fi fty companies, among them Motorola, NEC and Panasonic.
Many handsets in the Japanese FOMA 3G network use this platform. Since
June 2008 LiMo includes the members of another body promoting a Linux-
based handset platform, the Linux Phone Standards Forum.
Sun Microsystems' Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) and Qual-
comm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) were the two
most prominent technologies used in the mobile gaming industry before the
success of smartphones and are therefore relevant for feature phones. Both
of them were adapted to mobile user interfaces, small screens and games
that can be run ol ine, eliminating the need for a network connection.
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