Florida based Winning Blimp today announces Mosaique 1.1 for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices. Mosaique is a visually elegant puzzle game designed as the perfect pastime for long lines or lunch breaks. The game allows players to participate in the pastime of Vraxian colonial engineers and destroy small, localized gravitational pockets of sand. Users can develop their own strategy by swapping, lining up, and bursting the tiles in the playing field.

Temple Terrace, Florida – Winning Blimp is proud to announce today the release of their mobile game, Mosaique. Mosaique is a visually elegant puzzle game designed as the perfect pastime for long lines or lunch breaks. The game allows players to participate in the pastime of Vraxian colonial engineers and destroy small, localized gravitational pockets of sand. Users can develop their own strategy by swapping, lining up, and bursting the tiles in the playing field.

“Mosaique is a 10 minute brain snack, ideal for those wanting a short, engaging, intellectual distraction via a beautifully realistic visual interface,” said Alex May, co-founder and creative director of Winning Blimp. “The short length of the game, the graphic style, and even the name ‘Mosaique’ are all elements spawned from the feel of the music: intellectual, yet somehow familiar and accessible. We always prefer to create the music to our games first, and then draw inspiration from that.”

With just seven levels, Mosaique can be easily completed in ten minutes. Arrange and clear tiles of matching colors to beat each level and discover the hidden depths behind this addictive puzzle game. By switching to expert mode, players can use strategic elements to challenge themselves, earn more points, and progress further into the Mosaique. The game combines matching mechanics with a sci-fi theme, paying homage to the 16-bit games from the SNES, Genesis and Amiga era. It also features a 10-minute original soundtrack to help you slip away into the alien world of the Vraxian colonists and their intoxicating intellectual pastime.

Features:
* Algorithmically generated levels. Different each game
* Play as you please. Mosaique gives back as much strategic challenge as you put in
* No time limits. It’s a game, not a test
* 10 minute original soundtrack to help you slip away
* Elegantly designed interface and visual experience

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 4.3 or later
* 33.1 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Mosaique 1.1 is only $0.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. Mosaique is also available on Google Play and the Amazon App Store. For more information please visit Winning Blimp online and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Winning Blimp
Mosaique 1.1
Purchase and Download (iOS)
Purchase and Download (Google Play)
Purchase and Download (Amazon)
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Winning Blimp specializes in sci-fi themed games that pay homage to the classic 16-bit games of the Nintendo SNES, Sega Genesis (Megadrive) and Commodore Amiga. Based in both Osaka, Japan and Florida, USA, Winning Blimp is headed by Bear Trickey, a former game designer from Kyoto-based studio Q-Games, and Alex May, a multi-discipline graphic artist and musician. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2013 Winning Blimp. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.

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Portland, Oregon – Inkstone Mobile, maker of the top-selling speed reading and ebook reader apps, QuickReader, MegaReader, and eBook Search, is expanding their portfolio with the release of a new high quality audiobook app, Audiobooks HQ. Featuring over 5,300 free classic audiobooks, the Audiobooks HQ app gives users unlimited access to more audiobooks than any other app of its kind.

Designed with a stylish user interface and advanced navigation, Audiobooks HQ enables users to easily browse though thousands of their favorite classic audiobooks, download them, and play them back at anytime – no Wi-Fi connection necessary. Audiobooks HQ adjusts to the personal preferences of the user with additional capability to modify the playback speed in 40 steps from .5X to 2.5X without altering the pitch, leave bookmarks, set sleep timers, and skip forward and back through chapters as needed.

Perhaps, the most unique feature of the app, however, is its high quality audio. Audiobooks HQ is the only app that provides access to high quality recordings of its entire catalog.

“Our goal was to give people an easy way to find the best quality free audiobooks available, “says Inkstone Mobile’s founder Patrick Thompson. “Audiobooks HQ does so with its advanced catalog navigation filters, curated recommendations, playback features, and high bitrate downloads to give users the best listening experience available.”

Additional features of Audiobooks HQ include:
* Easy search functions. Find books by most downloaded, top rated, genres, tags, solo read books, language, recent, related books, and Inkstone’s top recommendations
* Leave a note for yourself to come back to your favorite parts of the book with the bookmarks feature
* Exclusive radio theatre audiobooks, originally aired on NPR Playhouse, beautifully performed by Globe Radio Repertory
* Access downloaded audiobooks anytime, anywhere – no network connection needed

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 5.0 or later
* 15.3 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Audiobooks HQ by Inkstone Mobile 1.0.1 is $1.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Books category.

Based in Portland, Oregon, Inkstone Mobile is an independent software development company founded by Patrick Thompson. Combining a strong blend of design and development skills, Inkstone Mobile’s passion is to craft elegant, easy-to-use applications for mobile devices. Copyright (C) 2012 Inkstone Mobile. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Marseille, France – The 9th International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) opens for entries today! Developers and studios across the world are invited to submit their games for these prestigious awards. Since 2004, the IMGA has become the most prestigious international competition for mobile games. For the past 8 years, the competition awarded the most talented game developers for the most innovative mobile games, whether they are made for iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry, Bada, HTML5 or feature phones; whether they are made by a top 10 developer or a start-up studio; whether the developers came from Spain or Singapore, Malaysia or Mexico, Brazil or Belgium.

This year marks a big step for the 9th IMGA as a few significant changes are made to enhance the quality of the entries:
* No categories will be defined for the entries; participants will instead specify their own category
* The Judges’ Honorable Mention will replace the Operator’s Choice Award
* 6 additional prizes will be determined by the jury
* The denomination of these prizes will be announced at the same time as the nominations on January 24, 2013
* Platinum-level sponsor Pro Sieben Sat 1 will award one million Euro in media exposure to the winners

Since 2004, the IMGA Awards Ceremony has been held at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. However, the exact location of the 9th IMGA has not been confirmed yet.

The IMGA Summit
Traditionally, the Awards are held in conjunction with the one day IMGA Summit consisting of a keynote, panels of leading experts in mobile games and pitching sessions. The Summit and Awards are traditionally attended by leaders in the mobile gaming industry as well as top international developers and studios.

The 9th IMGA Timeline
* October 4, 2012 – Call for entries
* January 14, 2013 – Entries closed
* January 25, 2013 – Nominees announced
* February 28, 2013 – Awards Ceremony, winners announced (TBC)

As of today, developers can submit their game online at www.imgawards.com and compete in an international arena with top studios and individual developers from all over the world. Games must have been published after January 1, 2012, or currently be in development.

Since 2004, the IMGA has become the most prestigious international competition for mobile games. Copyright (C) 2012 International Mobile Gaming Awards. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Montreal, Canada – Nickelodeon and Budge Studios continue to create endless educational and entertainment experiences for preschoolers by adding Team Umizoomi to the portfolio of their ever-growing storybook app series for iPhone, iPad and iPad Touch. Joining a line of successful apps like Dora’s Ballet Adventure and Dora’s Christmas Carol – Team Umizoomi Carnival introduces new characters and an engaging story that will bring added entertainment to the series.

Designed for preschoolers, the educational app invites kids to read along with their favorite Team Umizoomi characters, Milli, Geo and Bot, as they search through various locations at the carnival to help find their friend Jake’s lost stuffed animal, Bunny. Players can follow along with the story as text is highlighted while being read aloud, or narrate the story themselves.

Team Umizoomi Carnival features 14 story pages with interactive moments on each page, where tasks are changed every time the story is read. Additionally, users will have access to two bonus activities – Sticker Picture Game, inviting players to create their own carnival sticker scene by adding backgrounds from the story and placing tappable animated stickers anywhere on the page.; and Balloon Pop Carnival Game, which will help users strengthen key developmental skills by practicing color and shape recognition, grouping and patterns.

The curriculum in this app includes:
* Visual discrimination
* Positional vocabulary (over, under, around, through)
* Pattern recognition
* Colors
* Shapes
* Groups

“We’re thrilled to see kids getting excited about math and reading. Team Umizoomi makes learning fun, and this storybook app is packed with so many activities that kids won’t be able to put it down,” says Michael Elman, Creative Director at Budge Studios

With over 100 fun animations throughout the story, look for characters and objects that have a special glow to interact with them and find clues or hints to complete the task on each page as kids help Team Umizoomi find Bunny. Using actual character voices and original music, players will be entertained from start to finish time and time again.

About Nickelodeon:
Nickelodeon, now in its 33rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years.

Pricing and Availability:
Team Umizoomi Carnival 1.0 is available for $1.99 (iPhone, iPod touch) and $3.99 (iPad) from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Budge Studios leads the apps for kids industry in innovation and creativity with top tier, category-defining games, books and toys. The company is changing the way kids play and learn by creating more robust and engaging experiences. Played by millions of children worldwide, Budge products are amongst the most acclaimed and popular apps. Copyright (C) 2010 Budge Studios. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc.

Montreal, Canada – From the developers behind Minnie Bow Maker and Dora’s Ballet Adventure, Budge Studios announces the launch of Chuggington Traintastic Adventures, a train set adventure app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, now available on the App Store.

Based on the popular show Chuggington(TM) which airs weekdays on Disney Junior, Disney Channel’s programming block for kids ages 2-7 and their families, and daily on the new 24-hour Disney Junior cable and satellite channel, this virtual train set invites children ages 3-8 to explore Chuggington in an interactive adventure on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

With the unique path drawing gameplay, children help chuggers accomplish various quests within an adventure pack by solving problems along the way. The additional Build and Play mode allows players to customize the world by adding buildings, interactive rail items and the ability to upgrade and personalize their trains with exciting accessories.

“With this app, kids get to be creative, learn and play in a dynamic way unlike any traditional train set,” adds Creative Director, Michael Elman.

“Budge Studios is a leader in developing eye-catching, educational and entertaining apps targeted to preschoolers,” said Megan Buecher, Director of Licensing, Ludorum. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with them on our newest Chuggington app.”

Chuggington Traintastic Adventures is filled with endless entertainment, eye-catching 3D animation, character voiceover and even features short clips from actual episodes as players make their way though each of the adventure packs. Players can also visit their collection to see what items have been completed and find additional quests within the four adventure packs available in the app.

About Ludorum PLC:
Ludorum was co-founded and is managed by Rob Lawes (CEO)and formerly CEO of HIT Entertainment PLC which managed a strong portfolio of children’s properties including Bob the Builder(TM), Barney(TM), Thomas & Friends(TM), Pingu(TM) and Guinness World Records(R), and by Dick Rothkopf (Chairman) and the co-founder and former CEO of Learning Curve, International, the company that held toy licenses for Thomas & Friends and other preschool properties. Ludorum is dedicated to developing, building, acquiring and marketing global intellectual entertainment properties.

About Chuggington:
Chuggington is a CGI-animated series that follows the adventures of Wilson, Brewster and Koko, trainee engines, each with their own unique personality and learning style. The series is set in a world much like our own with cities, villages and diverse cultures and geography. Entertainment and enjoyment are at the heart of Chuggington, but embedded within each story are important educational and developmental messages centered on learning and social-emotional development. Chuggington is directed by Sarah Ball, who won a BAFTA award for her work as a director and writer of Bob the Builder(TM).

Device Requirements:
* 3/4/5 Gen iPhone, iPad, or 3/4/5 Gen iPod touch
* Requires iOS 4.3 or later
* Universal app optimized for display on all iOS devices
* 337 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Chuggington Traintastic Adventures 1.0 is $3.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Budge Studios is a leading publisher and developer of interactive children’s books, games, and digital toys for multiple platforms including touch devices and tablet computers. Located in Montreal, Budge creates dynamic and engaging products that are both entertaining and educational for millions of children all over the world. Focused specifically on producing content for kids, Budge Studios is working together with the industry’s top licensors and toy companies. Copyright (C) 2012 Budge Studios. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

Happymagenta, an experienced app developer, makes its foray into adventure gaming with the release of Pilot’s Path, a helicopter simulator where players take on the role of an ex-US Air Force helicopter pilot who is forced to enter the criminal underworld

Minsk, Belarus — After disobeying orders from his commanding officers, an ace pilot faces a dishonorable discharge and finds the only way to return to the skies is by going underground. By performing services for criminal kingpins, the pilot must rebuild his reputation in order to once again retake the skies.

In Pilot’s Path, the player will be able to explore 50 islands over two vast locations. Additionally, each map is randomly generated, so every new game is a unique experience. Beautifully rendered picture cut scenes and detailed character design create an engrossing world, and the joystick controls are intuitive and unobtrusive so the player is never pulled out of the experience. The player will be able to perform plenty of missions and search exotic locations for goods to make extra money. The player’s helicopter is also fully upgradeable through the mechanic shop. Using coins earned from missions, exploration, or in-game purchase, the player can improve hull integrity, fuel and cargo capacity, maximum altitude, speed, and radar capabilities.

The game was built from the ground up to turn your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch into a gaming console. As such, the game is meant to be best enjoyed by playing it on a big screen while using another iOS device as a remote controller. It is maximized for retina displays, iPhone 5 and full HD displays out of the box and can also be experienced on a TV or projector (HDMI, VGA, RCA cables, and AirPlay supported)

Players will be able to fly their way to glory today for $0.99 from the App Store.

For more information, please see the media kit located here:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l0zxbqa8p6cmhp5/bxwyqfKaoA

To download the app, please click here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pilots-path/id537251466?ls=1&mt=8

Follow Happymagenta on Facebook and Twitter for more information about Pilot’s Path and other releases.

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San Francisco, CA – Welcome to the Magic Forest, a place filled with adorable creatures and fairies, magnificent groves of trees, and enchanting snowy plains, and more. Though things may seem peaceful, the creatures of the forest are unable to get to their homes due to glass blocks, jello, and other items blocking their way. It’s up to you to tap the blocks out of existence so the cuddly little animals can get to their nests.

Magic Forest, the latest game from app developer Alfa Production LLC, is a physics-based puzzle game where players will use critical thinking skills to determine how they can help the creatures of the Magic Forest get to their homes safely. Along the way, players will have the opportunity to collect candies, jewels, and coins to increase their score. With 80 challenging stages across 5 unique levels, both adults and kids will find themselves occupied with this brainy puzzler. The game also has an original, imaginative art design and tons of beautiful, inspired backgrounds that set it apart from others in its class.

“The puzzles are definitely a bit of a challenge,” says Alfa Production General Manager Andrey Dmitrichev, “but I think it will be a great way for younger players to develop their logical thinking skills and for adults to keep their mind sharp. Ultimately, I hope for players of all ages to find something they can like about this game.”

The game, available now on the App Store, is compatible across all iOS devices, and requires iOS 4.3 or later. It is free to download, but requires an upgrade for all 80 levels of the game.

Download Magic Forest for the iPhone:http://bit.ly/QKRRao
Download Magic Forest HD for the iPad: http://bit.ly/PVZDSt
Game Trailer: http://bit.ly/SITyew

About Alfa Production, LLC:

Based in San Francisco, Alfa Production LLC is a developer and publisher of quality gaming and entertainment apps. Viewed as professionals in the business, Alfa Production LLC was actively engaged in web development, web design and SEO since 2004. In 2011 the company shifted their main expertise to the world of mobile app creation and publishing. With over 50 apps to their name, Alfa Production strives to deliver the best, most up-to-date and innovative apps on the App Store, Google Play and Amazon.

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Release and Controversy
At WWDC 2012, Apple announced the coming release of iOS 6, the latest software for the iPhone and iPad. Apple boasts that there will be more than 200 updates and improvements over the previous operating system, and have outlined a bevy of new features to be included in the new package.

Among these new features is what Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president for worldwide marketing, has called a “redesigned app store to allow developers to provide moreinformation about their apps.” Apple has asserted that this release will make it easier for app developers to sell their product within a fair and balanced system.

App developers have retorted that the changes are simply not enough. They criticize thestore design, claiming that is just more of the same. “The top 100 paid apps list is very static and difficult to penetrate even with significant app sales,” says Ben Hamey, co-founder of Bonobo Pte.

Despite what has been said about the app store redesign and the ease with which app developers will be able to sell their product, it is impossible to deny the popularity that this coming update to iOS will have among developers. Currently, 7 out of 10 apps are developed for iOS, as reported by mobile analytics firm Flurry.

New Features
Among the new features included in iOS 6 will be an update to Siri, including newlanguages, the ability to launch apps, and Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp integration. Another key feature will be the new Passbook. Using this feature, a user will be able to keep all their important bits of paper, such as airplane tickets, gift cards, vouchers, and concert tickets, in one consolidated place – right on their Apple mobile device. It is interesting to note, however, that Apple has decided to distance themselves from mobile payment options, a service that Googleand Microsoft have already started exploring.

Yet another important feature will be App Banners on the Safari web browser. This will allow users to have instant access to an app, straight from Safari. With one touch, they can immediately start downloading an app or just jump straight to the app if they already have itinstalled without going through the App Store. App Banners will allow an instantaneous, fluid,and functional switch from web browsing to using an app.

Facebook Integration
The most important new feature may be Facebook integration with iOS devices that will allow instant access to Facebook within web browsers, Siri, and apps. With this addition, users will be able to “like” apps on the app store and purchase apps based on what friends are using. Facebook integration will also exist within an app, so users will be able to share photos, scores,and other bits of information with their Facebook friends. Consider the social media integration incorporated in the previous incarnation of Apple’s iOS. Twitter integration was included with the main apps on iOS 5, and it allowed sharing ofphotos and in-app tweeting. This integration between apps and social media has allowed users toshare something they normally would only be able to experience by themselves with theirfriends, all with just a single sign-in. Twitter integration with iOS 5 meant developers needed tostart thinking about why users would want to share their app with other people.

Now think about the ubiquity of Facebook. Think about the way it fits into our day-to-day lives seamlessly and how it does so without us being consciously aware of it. We post incredibly personal information about ourselves and our day for friends, family, prospective employers, and even the occasional stalker. Facebook integration with iOS 6 creates anopportunity for developers to make apps that are a part of a user’s daily life. Sharing an impressive score from a game, a creative drawing, or a funny photo can become as inconspicuous as posting a status update about a delicious breakfast, a new relationship, or how weird Prometheus was. When an app can be integrated with our lives through Facebook, it becomes far more meaningful. The user doesn’t experience the app simply from the moment it is opened to the moment it is closed. Now the experience exists in a space outside of the app’s original confines, in a social universe that allows it to spread and be shared. If Facebook integration is as significant as one would hope, then iOS 6 may make apps socially relevant like never before.

Prit Patel is a Public Relations intern at Appency with an interest in technology, culture, and viewers like you.

Popular Kids App, Lola’s Math Train Releases Lite Version

BeiZ releases lite version of worldwide kids app Lola’s Math Train with self adjusting difficulty levels

Lola’s Math Train, the 5th Lola Panda app developed by BeiZ, is now available in a lite version to download for free! Designed to help improve math skills for children ages 3-7 years old, Lola’s Math Train Lite is available on the iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire and Android devices.

Lola the panda introduces children to over 15 different basic math games that challenge them to complete various equations like addition, subtraction, solving puzzles, shapes, sequencing and matching.

New to the suite of Lola Panda apps, BeiZ has added technology that allows the game to self adjust in difficulty depending on the success or needs of the child. As they do better, the questions get harder and if more practice is needed the game will remain at the level until it’s achieved. At the end of each game the results are shown in an overall rating scale to assess how the child has done which allows for parents to see the achievements of their kids within the game.

“With the exciting characters, interactive games and friendly environment we’ve seen a great response from players and are excited to launch the lite version for all available devices,” adds Mika Heikinheimo, CEO of BeiZ.

Lola’s Math Train Lite is available on the App Store, Google Play Store and Amazon Kindle Market for Kindle Fire by searching Lola Panda.

About BeiZ:
BeiZ Ltd is a game studio that concentrates on providing enjoyable educational solutions and non-violent games for children and adults. BeiZ also assists its partners in publishing their games and mobile content.

For Press Inquiries, please contact,
Paige Kirchubel
Appency for BeiZ, Ltd.
paige(at)appency(dot)com

Lola’s Math Train Lite PressKit: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kghctsv59o3io7o/97YD8VBk5W
Lola’s Math Train: http://www.beiz.com/lola6.html
Purchase & Download: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lolas-math-train-lite-fun/id529720159?l=fi&ls=1&mt=8

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Quizboard – Now Available in the App Store!

Words with Friends meets Trivial Pursuit in this great new trivia game now on iPhone and iPod Touch

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