iOS app revenues still four times higher than Android, but Play store growing fast

A new report from mobile app analytics firm App Annie shows that, while revenues for iOS apps are still four times higher than those of Android apps, the gap is beginning to close, thanks to spiking sales in the Google Play store. The report is the first of a monthly series that the company will make publicly available via its blog. MORE MOBILITY: Exclusive: Nokia seeks to block sale of some RIM products SMARTPHONE...

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OLPC cancels XO-3 tablet, downplays need for new hardware

One Laptop Per Child has cancelled plans to release its XO-3 tablet, although technology from that project could still be used in other products, OLPC Chairman Nicholas Negroponte said. "The XO-3 is by no means gone. It may emerge in its constituent parts rather than as a whole," Negroponte said via email. OLPC started off in 2005 as a laptop project and is well known as a hardware innovator, with its first XO-1...

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Facebook loosens ties with Zynga

Facebook and Zynga have loosened their ties in an amended agreement that does away with most of Facebook's exclusive rights to Zynga games, but also permits Facebook to develop its own games from March next year. The social networking company, however, said it did not plan to develop its own games. "We're not in the business of building games and we have no plans to do so. We're focused on being the platform where games and...

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Sony sells 160,000 PS Vitas in first week of US holiday season

Sony sold over 160,000 PlayStation Vitas during the opening week of the holiday shopping season in the U.S., a key test for its flagship handheld game. The Vita launched in December 2011 in Japan, but several months later in most other markets, so the next few weeks will mark its first holiday season in much of the world. The Vita is increasingly competing not just with Nintendo's portable 3DS console, but with the growing...

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Adidas Heads to the Cloud to Control IT Spending

Adidas Latin America decided to implement cloud-based procurement software to improve internal compliance and consolidate spending management. The company is a regional subsidiary of theAdidas Group sporting goods empire, which includes brands such as Adidas, Reebok and Rockport. Procurement at $1.4 billion Adidas Latin America was complex--involving different currencies and languages--and disjointed. Some countries had developed...

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Apple starts selling thinner, higher-priced iMacs

More than a month after Apple unveiled new all-in-one desktops, the company today started selling its redesigned iMacs. The 21.5-in. iMac, with standard configurations prices at $1,299 and $1,499, will ship in one to three days from ordering. The larger 27-in. iMac, which costs $1,799 and $1,999 for its two models, can be pre-ordered starting Friday, but won't ship for two to three weeks, Apple's online store showed. The...

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