A roundup of all the news Inside Network brought you between August 20 and 26

Inside Mobile Apps

Tracking the convergence of mobile apps, social platforms and virtual goods.

Monday, August 20

• Conquer the card-based streets with Gang Domination
• Cloud-based cross-platform messenger MySMS looks to unite text and IM
• East Side Games gears up to launch Ruby Skies for iOS, works with 6waves to fix social-mobile publishing

Tuesday, August 21

• Applifier launches game recording viral Everyplay
• The Monsters Fight Again in Monpla Smash
• The Simpsons, Jaws, WWE and more on this week’s top free iOS apps
• Profitable Animoca’s “Android App Supermarket” strategy pays off
• Pitfall!, Jeopardy!, Mini Empires and more on this week’s top paid iOS app charts
• Google Play gift cards officially announced

Wednesday, August 22

• Red Robot dips toes into publishing to expand its R2 platform
• The Inside Network Job Board: Blue Shell, Spil Game, Storm8 and more
• Pontiflex now counts 100 million opt-in signups for its mobile ads
• Rage of Bahamut, The Simpsons, Textbooks and more on this week’s top grossing iOS app charts
• Unity adds monetization and publishing services to its Asset Store
• Number-juggling puzzling in KooZac
• FTC issues approval for Facebook-Instagram deal to move forward

Thursday, August 23

• Kabam launches Arcane Empires for iOS and Android
• One Epic Knight brings a touch of humor to ‘endless running’ games
• Apptiv Games aims to make mobile games really mobile — through exercise
• MobileSpaces nets $3M from Accel to improve BYOD security
• Facebook for Android update includes event creation, multi-photo upload and more
• Facebook rebuilds iPhone app for speed: what’s new, better and still needs work
• New hires in mobile apps: GREE, TinyCo and more
• Emerging popular Android apps: Minecraft, SongPop, Rule the Kingdom and more

Friday, August 24

• Guest Post: Will the Nexus 7 stand the test of time?
• Hardcore strategy RPG King’s Bounty: Legions comes to iPad
• The9’s losses widen to $36.1M in the first half of 2012, net revenues hit $16.3M
• iPhone loses ground in China, marketshare halved to 10%
• How Instagram has grown since Facebook announced its intent to buy the company
• Jury finds Samsung violated Apple patents
• Mobile app news roundup: PayPal, Sony, GREE and Amazon

Saturday, August 25

• The Inside Network Job Board: Machine Zone, Red Robot, DoubleDown and more

Inside Social Games

Covering all the latest developments at the intersection of games and social platforms.

Monday, August 20

• The Ville continues to dominate fastest-growing Facebook games by MAU
• Dynasty review
• East Side Games gears up to launch Ruby Skies for iOS, works with 6waves to fix social-mobile publishing
• Goko reverts to beta after troubled launch
• Broken Bulb Studios follows up Miscrits’ success with Hero Conquest

Tuesday, August 21

• Adobe updates Flash Player and AIR, continues to expand support for game devs
• Uberstrike review
• Konami brings Blockolicious to Facebook from iOS
• Playdemic secures new funding round, $3 million from IBM’s founders

Wednesday, August 22

• RockYou updates The Walking Dead Social Game’s energy mechanics
• Tencent’s Robot Rising now playable on Facebook
• Tagged raises $15 million from Lighthouse Capital Partners, Comercia Bank
• The Inside Network Job Board: Blue Shell, Spil Game, Storm8 and more
• Blockolicious review
• SongPop stays on top of this week’s fastest-growing Facebook games by DAU
• Funium Launches Family Village on Facebook

Thursday, August 23

• Kabam launches Arcane Empires for iOS and Android
• Zynga GM Alan Patmore joins up with Kixeye
• New hires in social games: Social Point, SGN and more
• Hero Conquest review
• SongPop and The Sims Social are this week’s gainer and loser among the top 25 Facebook games of August

Friday, August 24

• Seaside Hideaway on top of this week’s emerging Facebook games
• Robot Rising review
• No, EA, you are not “standing up for the industry” by suing Zynga
• Social games news roundup: Amazon’s hiring, Crytek won an award and Puzzle Chasers lets you get in touch with your inner interior decorator

Saturday, August 25

• The Inside Network Job Board: Machine Zone, Red Robot, DoubleDown and more

Inside Facebook

Tracking Facebook and the Facebook platform for developers and marketers.

Monday, August 20

• Facebook makes more tweaks to search: tests ‘top hit’ and increases size of results
• How Facebook search ads change the competitive landscape for businesses
• Zynga games, SongPop, social readers, Bing, Shazam and more on this week’s top 20 growing Facebook apps by MAU

Tuesday, August 21

• Open Graph apps can now use in-line tagging to mention friends
• Zoosk, Badoo, TopFace, Onedate and more on the top 20 Facebook dating apps by MAU
• Facebook tests larger visual format for Questions
• Nanigans brings ex-Yahooer in as COO; more Facebook platform hires from Kenshoo Social and Offerpop

Wednesday, August 22

• GraphEffect launches social marketing collaboration platform to change how teams work together on Facebook efforts
• Facebook widens Sponsored Results test, makes search ads available through API and Power Editor
• Facebook updates messages layout to look and function more like email
• Facebook adds ‘subscribe to page’ button to News Feed stories
• FTC issues approval for Facebook-Instagram deal to move forward

Thursday, August 23

• Facebook for Android update includes event creation, multi-photo upload and more
• Facebook rebuilds iPhone app for speed: what’s new, better and still needs work
• Facebook tests option for page owners to give users feedback about why comments were deleted
• Chili’s, Scoops, Texas Roadhouse and more among this week’s Most Talked About restaurant and cafe pages
• Facebook hires: engineering, marketing, communications, recruiting, legal, more
• Facebook careers: ad analysts, data center ops, marketing communications and more
• Instagram, Truth Game, schoolFeed, Netflix, Klout and more on this week’s top 20 growing Facebook apps by DAU

Friday, August 24

• Facebook ad budgets increasing faster than search budgets, Kenshoo study finds
• How Instagram has grown since Facebook announced its intent to buy the company
• Amazon, Chefville, Walking Dead, Songza, quizzes, photos and more on this week’s emerging Facebook apps by MAU
• Facebook updates iOS Messenger with option to view Timeline, call friends, more
• Facebook acquires Threadsy start-up behind Swaylo influence-ranking and marketing tool
• Facebook roundup: large investors sell shares, Gehry to design new building at HQ, agency learning tool launches and more