Distimo had a closer look at two things known to boost app sales (and ideally app revenue): discounting your app and being featured in the Apple App Store or the Android Market. The study found that this is generally true, but not to the same degree for all stores and categories. Sometimes, it even leads to loss.

iOS and Android are the two big mobile operating systems - and most developers support both. However, while there is currently a slight advantage for iOS, this will reverse within the next 12 months, according to the analyst company Ovum.

Samsung is looking to merge its bada OS with the newly taken over Tizen. This came to public attention through an interview with Samsungs Tae-Jin Kiang, as Forbes reports. The two Linux based operating systems will share a common SDK and shared APIs, guaranteeing backwards compatibility for bada apps.

Apple's iOS and Google's Android are leading the way for mobile platforms. Dividing the market between premium (iOS) and mass-market product segments (Android), both platforms are in strong positions. The question which of them will win the "mobile wars" is still hard to answer. Following, we will provide you with a comparison of the two competitors.

Google, Apple, Nokia, Windows or BlackBerry app stores have become more and more important as distribution channel for developers. Promoted through offering developers the chance to sell their apps to more users, native app stores have been prospering. Currently, Apple's App Store and the Android Market are the leading OS app stores on the market. This increased popularity didn't just happen randomly, but emerged because of certain reasons.

Changing to a smart phone with another OS is more difficult than changing bank accounts or electricity providers. That is at least what 1 out of 5 iOS users stated in a recent GfK study on OS loyalty. So what does it take to bind a user to an OS eco system?

If you thought about creating a (new) bada app, this might be the time to do it. Samsung has started the Power App Race, giving $100,000 (€73,000) to the first ten apps to reach 100,000 downloads.

"Android developers are significantly more productive than Apple's", says the newest report by research2guidance. September additions to the market broke a new record. Altogether, Android publishers have uploaded half a million apps to the Android Market since it was created, getting closer to catching up with iOS. However, 37% of their apps were taken off the store already.

The most recent report by Distimo had a look at global differences in content distribution. In other words: What apps are used in each country and how many are popular worldwide. Most interestingly Nokia's Ovi Store has the largest proportion of localised apps. Countrywise, China and Japan have most local popular apps.

The long expected and much discussed Google Wallet has officially been launched. The NFC based wireless payment system is going live in the US for Sprint Nextel customers with a Nexus S 4G device. The service connects credit card information with the mobile phone, allowing for paying by tapping the phone against a receiver at the counter.

Several users outside the US have reported that the Amazon Appstore for Android was working in their country, among others Australia, India and the Netherlands. The expected global rollout did not happen and no official statement by Amazon was made. As of now, the store application can be downloaded, but app downloads are not possible. This could be a sign of preparations for a global launch going on in the background, very much like before the US launch of the Amazon Appstore.

The Google Maps contender Nokia Maps (previously known as Ovi Maps) has come out with a new HTML5 web app beta version. It allows accessing Nokia Maps from iOS as well as Android devices. In the meantime, a new version of Google Maps was released, giving the possibility to enhance points of interest with photos.

Apple insists that in-app subscription payments must go through the App Store. The Financial times did not play by that rule - not to get around Apple's 30% provision, but to keep user data for themselves. Now the conflict let to the expected escalation: The FT's iPad and iPhone apps have disappeared from the App Store. At the same time, publishing houses question whether "Apple's 30" are justified.

The big G just got bigger. The Mountain Viewers acquired the handset manufacturer Motorola for about 12.5 billion. This will give an impulse to the Android ecosystem, while Google stated that they will keep Motorola as a separate business. Between hardware expertise and patents, the interpretations of the benefits for Google are manifold. The deal still has to be approved by the regulatory institutions and is expected to close by the end of this year or early 2012.

Google and Apple are accelerating their lead in mobile by redefining mobile app engagement, loyalty and cloud connectivity. That's the main outcome of the recent Mobile Developer Report by Appcelerator/IDC. The opportunities created by the mobile cloud will be a big topic according to the developers surveyed. Regarding the platform preference, the report shows results differing quite a bit from the recently published study of Vision Mobile, especially regarding Symbian and BlackBerry.