Nintendo Sees Strong Sales in New Year

This is traditionally the slowest time of year for videogame sales, while December moves the most units. Speaking to investors in Japan today, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata explained that January sales are typically only 20 to 30 percent of what is sold in the previous month. One game didn't get the memo, however: Wii Fit. Iwata said that the fitness game sold over 300,000 units in the U.S. just last week, January 19-23. When you compare sales of Wii Fit in January 2009 to December 2008, the game is selling at about 75 percent the amount it did during the holiday shopping season last month -- much higher than games normally sell right after Christmas (and during a recession).

The Wii itself is also enjoying a strong New Year. Sales in early 2009 have so far been higher than they were in January of 2008, despite the current economic crisis. Over 250,000 units were sold the week of January 19-23.

Iwata also pointed out that the U.S. videogame industry grew 19 percent in 2008 -- but 99 percent of that growth can be attributed to Nintendo. According to NPD, 10.17 million Wii consoles and 9.95 million DS systems were sold in the U.S. last year, which both set new records for yearly system sales.

Source : http://ds.ign.com/

‘Duck Hunt’ iPhone game pulled at Nintendo's request

Lawl Mart’s Duck Hunt, an iPhone and iPod touch game that has been available at the App Store, can’t be found any more. The developer says that the game came down at the request of Nintendo, which alleges copyright infringement.Released in January, Duck Hunt made it through Apple’s App Store vetting process and was available for purchase for 99 cents. The game mirrors a title that Nintendo originally released for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, its 1980s-era video game console, and one of the first to support Nintendo’s Zapper, a light gun peripheral.

The game featured a cartoon hunting dog who would flush out cartoon ducks from rushes; your job was to shoot the ducks as the flew away, before they reached the edge of the screen and out of your range. If you ran out of time or missed three shots, the dog would make fun of you and the game would be over.

Lawl Mart stayed true to the formula, using a graphics motif, sound and music that mirrored the original Nintendo game. And it was this that seemed to run afoul of Nintendo’s legal department, which ordered Apple to take the game down.

Lucas Mansfield, the developer behind the game, confirmed to Macworld in an e-mail that the game had been removed from the App Store at Nintendo’s behest. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but I do understand Nintendo’s position,” he said.

Mansfield indicated that the Duck Hunt game for the iPhone would be reworked and updated to remove the offending graphics and sound, while still trying to take “as much inspiration from the original as possible.”

Source : http://www.macworld.com/

Black and red versions of Nokia E71 now official

The same day when Nokia announced a trio of new classic phones (Nokia 6700, Nokia 6303 and Nokia 2700), the Finnish giant has also officially unveiled the black and red editions of its E71 smartphone. You know, the ones we first saw back in December 2008.

So now Nokia’s Europe website features the E71 in four color versions: the new ones, plus the white and the dark grey ones that have been available since last summer.    

Apart from the fresh look, the all-black and the silver-red Eseries smartphones don’t bring any novelties, but we didn’t expect them to anyway.

Not sure when the new E71 versions will be available for purchase, although, taking a wild guess, I’d say the next few weeks will see them in stores – in Europe, at least. 

Via BGR

Smartphone Market To Grow Despite Economy

The mobile market wasn't able to escape the faltering economy as many cell phone companies had a poor fourth quarter. Most companies and industry watchers are expecting a contraction in the overall market in 2009, but ABI Research said the smartphone segment will still have strong growth.

The report, titled "Mobile Devices Market Sizing And Share," said more than 171 million smartphones were shipped last year, and that figure will grow as wireless operators seek to sell more data plans and manufacturers seek higher margins.

"What is certain is that handset vendors will be trying to convince everyone they should own a smartphone," said Jake Saunders, Asia-Pacific VP of ABI Research, in a statement. "Welcome to the year of the smartphone."

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) continued to dominate the field, as ABI said it finished 2008 with about 38.6% of the market. With its N Series and the popular 5800, Nokia is well-positioned to maintain its lead. But Nokia is vulnerable because of its somewhat small presence in the United States, which is expected to become the largest smartphone market eventually.

Driven by the success of the touch-screen Omnia, Samsung was in second place with 16.2%. This was followed by LG Electronics, which had 8.3% of the market thanks to increased traction in the U.S. market.

The biggest loser of the year was Motorola (NYSE: MOT), ABI said, as the company lost 5% market share. The company is hoping new CEO Sanjay Jha can help mount a comeback, and Motorola is placing large bets on Android-powered smartphones. "It will be a tough year for Motorola, but it needs to deliver handsets that draw back the once-faithful Motorola purchaser before it is truly too late," the report said. "The challenge is that purchasers in 2009 will be very, very picky."

Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson is expecting some tough business months ahead, but it still claimed 8% of the market. The Xperia X1 has sold well and it may give the company a boost, ABI said. Sony Ericsson also recently joined the Open Handset Alliance, and it could release an Android smartphone this year.

Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) and Apple hold a relatively small amount of the market, but ABI said both are in good positions to capitalize on increased adoption of smartphones. RIM holds about 2% of the entire market, and handsets like the BlackBerry Bold and Storm will make it a strong player with the enterprise and prosumer buyers. Apple has grabbed 1.1% of the global market, which is quite a feat considering it entered the space less than two years ago. The iPhone 3G continues to sell well, and analysts predict Apple could bring out another model this year to further boost sales.

 

Source : http://www.informationweek.com/

Does the Samsung i780 handle similarly to the Nokia E71?

I have Nokia E71 but I need a Windows Mobile-based handset. Will going for the Samsung i780 be a good choice? I need it to work like the Nokia E71.

 

You are essentially looking at two different operating systems with the Nokia E71 and the Samsung SGH-i780. The E71 runs on the Symbian S60 software, while the SGH-i780 is based on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. The user interface is very different for both smart phones, not to mention the SGH-i780 has a touchscreen LCD and the E71 doesn't. You may want to refer to our quick guide to handheld OS here.

In a nutshell, if you want the same handling (not referring to features) as the E71, it's best to stick to a Symbian S60 device as the user interface is generally consistent throughout different handsets, even for other makes. Alternatively, if you are looking for a QWERTY device, here are our suggestions.

Answer By Damian Koh in Cnet