Mobile firm eMobiSoft Inc. is giving their audience a special gift this holiday season.  In association with Daily App Dream, eMobiSoft Inc. has made their smash hit game Troll Blaster free for a limited time. This announcement comes in conjunction with the recent 1.1 update to their app.

“We are very excited about partnering with Daily App Dream for this free holiday campaign.  The response to Troll Blaster since we launched it has been phenomenal.  People seem to really love it and the challenge it provides!  To get ready for the campaign we also issued a pretty big update (1.1) which fixed bugs and added social media integration.” says eMobiSoft Inc. owner Lucky Gupta.

In addition to the bug fixes and social media integration, Gupta goes on to mention that since the games launch fans have overwhelmingly asked for a few features which have been added to version 1.1. “With the 1.1 update, we also added two in app purchases (IAP’s) which the fans have been asking for.  The first is what we call ‘Grenade Power’ which allows players to add one grenade to any and all levels at any time.  No restrictions, anytime they have trouble with a level, they could push pause and add a grenade.  The second IAP we added was a level skip.  The player will receive three level skips which automatically re-generate every week.  The game is very challenging so for some of our players this will allow them to gain a bit of an edge.”

Drawing comparisons to games such as Angry Birds, Gupta states “We are happy to be compared to such games as ours is definitely in the genre.  Once people play they see significant differences in gameplay such as strategic weapon selection, a greater challenge as well as overall different physics.  The environment we’ve created allows for fans of the projectile destruction type of game to easily migrate to Troll Blaster and quickly start playing in a familiar setting.  Additionally, a much more subtle feature people really enjoy is the complete lack of load times in the game after the initial game load.”

Troll Blaster v1.1 is available now in the App Store for free for a limited time: http://itunes.apple.com/app/troll-blaster/id464204098

Thanks for all the support and downloads of Troll Blaster.  So far the feedback has been much extremely positive and even we are surprised by how much people are loving it!  Here are some reviews and video demos!

http://www.theiphoneappreview.com/2011/10/troll-blaster-iphone-app-review/

http://www.appstorearcade.com/2011/09/30/troll-blaster-review/

http://www.appbite.com/troll-blaster-iphone-app-review/

Here’s the iTunes link in case you haven’t already go it: http://itunes.apple.com/app/troll-blaster/id464204098

Montreal based software firm eMobiSoft Inc. officially announced the launch of their physics strategy / puzzle game Troll Blaster today.  Their game is designed for Apple iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iTouch.

September 28, 2011, Montreal, Canada – Montreal based mobile software firm eMobiSoft Inc. announced today the launch of their physics strategy / puzzle game Troll Blaster for Apple iOS devices.  The game enters the popular projectile destruction genre of gameplay in which the player fires a strategically selected weapon onto a structure containing evil trolls.  Players progress by killing all trolls.

“We are proud to officially launch Troll Blaster to our Apple iOS audience.  This game brings a brand new element of strategy to the projectile destruction genre of games.  We worked hard to bring players a new type of challenge that they haven’t encountered before while also aiming to make a fun, strategic puzzle game.” said owner Lucky Gupta.

In Troll Blaster, each level presents a new challenge for the player.  The trolls are in structures to the right of the screen that are build of wood, stone, glass and metal.  With an arsenal of four weapons, a cross bow, cannon, fire cannon and grenade launcher, the player must strategically select which weapon to use and in what order.  Each weapon carries a different strength and has a different effect on the structures.  The player must decide strategically which weapon is most appropriate to fire at different points within the structures to destroy the most trolls.  Additionally, there is also an element of aim required as there are trolls that could only be killed by direct hits but require skill in aiming.

When asked what separated their game from other games such as Angry Birds or Crush the Castle, Gupta replied “Players not only have to be strategic, but have to have good aim and be able to solve physics puzzles.  Also, players have to get a sense of which weapon has what effect on the structures and act accordingly using a strong sense of strategy.” added Gupta.

The game received approval from Apple and is available in the app store. “We are excited to see how our audience will react to this game.  We believe that when players pick up Troll Blaster, they won’t be able to put it down.  If the feedback from our beta testers response is any indication, players are going to love this game.” said Gupta.

The game could be found in the App Store and at this link: http://itunes.apple.com/app/troll-blaster/id464204098

This is a PR we have going out today:

Mobile software development firm eMobiSoft Inc. is wrapping up beta testing and getting set to launch physics based projectile destruction game “Troll Blaster.”

MONTREAL, QUEBEC: Mobile software development firm eMobiSoft Inc. is gearing up to launch their physics challenge game “Troll Blaster” which sets out to claim its place among iOS classics.  Troll Blaster is a projectile destruction game which has players strategically select from a choice of weapons to destroy structures holding the “evil” trolls.  The player then pulls the weapon back selecting power and trajectory and then launches it smashing into the structures.

“We thoroughly enjoy projectile destruction type games such as Crush the Castle, Cannon Cadets and Angry Birds.  They were certainly our inspiration in making Troll Blaster which was an incredible experience.  We believe players will love what we’ve done with this game, it’s quite different from all of the games in its genre while at the same time being simple to pick up, learn and start playing.” said owner of eMobiSoft Inc. Lucky Gupta.

Troll Blaster is a game in which the player is presented with an arsenal of four different weapons, a cross-bow, cannon, explosive cannon and grenade launcher.  The weapons increase in strength starting with the cross-bow to the grenade launcher; however each weapon has different effects when hitting structures that players will have to figure out.  The player has the ability to select any of the weapons (if available for the level) at any time and will need to employ strategy to complete a level. “We wanted it so that each level was like a puzzle; the solutions are sometimes simple and sometimes elaborate.  The player needs to figure out a combination of which weapons to use to finish each level.” added Mr. Gupta when discussing gameplay.

The game is currently in the final stages of beta testing and is set to officially launch within the next few weeks. “This game has been thoroughly tested and the levels are a lot of fun!  Our beta testers have been extremely positive in their response to the game.  Troll Blaster is going to provide players with a challenge that they haven’t experienced yet and we’re excited to bring this game to our iOS audience.”

“We believe that when players pick this game up and start playing it, they’ll not only get addicted, but truly love it.”  Players could view screenshots of the game and follow the progress of the game at eMobiSoft’s website right up until launch.

Their website could be viewed here: http://www.TrollBlaster.com

Troll Blaster is currently in the final stages of beta testing and is set for release within the next three weeks.  Stay tuned for more details!

The race for the app market supremacy has hit full stride.  Once dominant leader Apple has now been relegated to second place when it comes to free apps being downloaded, first being the Android market.  There is even a study out there that predicts that within the next five months, the app store will be second overall to Android when it comes to apps available.  Does this spell the demise of the App Store?  Hardly.  By a significant margin, Apple’s app store continues to dominate when it comes to monetizing their app brands.  When it comes to quantity vs. quality, Apple is still leading the pack.  Worth an honourable mention, WP7 is projected to be the third in line followed by a rapidly falling Blackberry.

When it comes to sheer volume of downloaded apps, the app market is one of the fastest growing markets in history.  Smartphone and tablet users are projected to download 44 billion apps by 2016.  To put that in perspective, that’s approximately six apps for every man, woman and child on earth.  To think that just three years ago there were 15 million app downloads, the growth is unprecedented. Aiding in the growth is the constant expansion of targeted apps to emerging markets such as Latin America with an overall mobile phone penetration of 55.4% and significant improvements to internet infrastructure.  Influencing these numbers is the fact that 62% of Latin American mobile users switched to smartphones in 2010 creating a new opportunity for app developers.

The Android app market has exploded onto the scene having played catch up since its launch in 2008.  In a shorter period of time, they are set to overtake Apple as the #1 app provider in the world for smartphones.  Developers have been aggressive in submitting apps.  Helping in that fact is that Android OS installs on a much larger variety of smartphones and Apple’s app submission process could be a mountain for the average app developer to climb.  Developers have discovered that submitting free apps on the Android platform could mean bigger ad supported revenues.

Despite the competition and the rapid growth of the Android Marketplace, Apple continues to dominate when it comes to raw revenue.  No other company, as of yet, comes close when it comes to the sheer dollars and cents Apple has generated for their developers.  So despite the fact that Android OS based phones may be selling more, iPhones are also still selling and in large numbers.  The more smartphones out in the market, the more app downloads.  It seems that for ad supported free apps, right now Android is a good bet, for paid Apps, the App store.  Either way, there’s no wrong answer in such a rapidly growing market.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/02/27/japan.marathon.man/index.html?hpt=T2

It’s no secret that the mobile industry is surging at an astronomical rate.  According to a report by GetJar, the industry will be worth $17.5 billion by 2012.  Make no mistake, this is an industry being driven by apps that sell for between $0.99 and $2.99 on average.  The industry as such has attracted capital investment as well as growing exposure in popular culture.

GetJar estimates that mobile phone users will download approximately 50 billion applications in 2012 (majority of them being free apps of course) which is a 92% yer over year growth rate from the 7 billion apps that were downloaded in 2009.  The platforms that deliver these apps are led in 2010 by the iPhone’s 30% market share followed by the aggressively growing Androids 23% market share.  The iPad has already taken 21% and RIM following with 12%.  Windows mobile is still chasing from a distance with only 6%, however once they iron out the issues with Windows phone 7 and their “app store” it’s probably a safe bet to say they’ll take a larger market share.

In terms of market potential, according to investment firm Rutberg & Company the mobile app industry attracted over $600 million in capital investment.  That was close to 10% of all investment into the mobile industry which was $6.1 billion.  What’s interesting is that that figure is close to triple the figure from 2009 of $2.1 billion in total mobile investments.

Apps are becoming more and more a part of everyday life, on the metro, bus, in the office and generally anywhere humans gather, you’ll see people with both hands on their smartphone fully engaged.  This is even transitioning over to desktop PC’s.  According to editor in chief of Macworld Group Mark Hattersley “From the customer point of view, programs have never been that exciting, but apps are so easy to put on or take off your system that it actually feels good.” What users will ultimately be looking for are simple apps to make life simpler.  With over 300,000 apps in Apple’s App Store alone, this is a message that’s safe to say has been well received.

I read this article written by Philip Elmer-DeWitt.

I think it’s a great illustration of market monetization vs. market cap. Below is the article published in full:

When it comes to helping investors visualize the effect of Apple’s (AAPL) entry on the mobile phone market, nobody does it better than Asymco’s Horace Dediu.

It’s not just that every new phone that arrives looks like an iPhone and comes with an app store.

Or that Apple has helped shift the industry from so-called “feature” phones, dominated by Nokia (NOK), to “smartphones,” a market that was dominated by Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry until Apple came along.

It’s that Apple is selling iPhones as fast as it can make them and raking in huge profits in the process.

Everybody else is playing catch-up while trying to match Apple’s manufacturing efficiency and cost structure. To hold on to market share they either have to sell at razor-thin margins or give their product away in two-for-one deals.

The proof: These two pie charts. One shows Apple’s share of the worldwide cell phone market in terms of unit sales (4%). The other shows Apple’s share of the profits (50%).

(more…)

We saw this video today and feel as though it’s a perfect example of how smartphones are changing the world. This band got creative and made the following video: