Mobile - AllThingsD

China Clears Google’s Motorola Mobility Deal

John Letzing, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News May 19, 2012 at 2:15 pm PT

Google said Saturday that Chinese antitrust authorities have cleared the Internet giant’s proposed purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., pushing the $12.5 billion deal over its last regulatory hurdle.

Tencent to Restructure Business

Paul Mozur, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News May 19, 2012 at 8:07 am PT

Tencent Holdings said Friday it will restructure its business operations into six groups and named a new chief operating officer as the Chinese Internet company moves to improve efficiency and grow beyond its core gaming business.

Maybe You Should Start Paying Attention to Indie Games Developers

Eric Johnson in Commerce on May 17 at 2:47 pm PT

Combine small teams, personal passion and a large accessible market and you have the makings of a creative explosion.

iSwifter’s New App Brings All Flash-Based Facebook Games to the iPad

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 16 at 9:55 am PT

While Facebook is slowly working out the kinks to bring more games to mobile, there’s a small company in Menlo Park, Calif., that has beat them to it.

ESPN Retools Radio App, Launches on iPad

Lauren Goode in Product News on May 15 at 7:00 am PT

ESPN is boasting better sound and offline listening with its new $4.99 radio app. Like rabid sports fans needed an excuse to download it.

Nokia Hopes Pair of Cheap Phones Will Help Regain Some Ground in Emerging Markets

Ina Fried in Mobile on May 15 at 2:38 am PT

The Nokia 110 and 112 both promise basic Internet access, free games, and connections to Facebook and Twitter, for under 40 euros.

News Byte

Facebook Tweaks Mobile News Feed, Photos

Mike Isaac in Social on May 14 at 1:45 pm PT

Facebook on Monday introduced a minor redesign to its News Feed product for mobile phones, changing the way photos and posts are displayed on users’ handheld devices. The tweaks come as Facebook continues to figure out a solid way of monetizing mobile access to its app, a method of entry more and more users are shifting to, according to the company. Among the changes are a 3x increase in photo display, as well as full-bleed status updates and posts.

Bill Clinton Highlights Global Cellular Success Stories as CTIA 2012 Wraps Up

Ina Fried in Mobile on May 10 at 12:56 pm PT

Addressing a techie crowd in New Orleans, the former President talked about ways he is seeing technology, especially cellphones, creating new opportunities across the globe.

Pebble Creator on How He Closed $10 Million on Kickstarter: Build for Mom

Lauren Goode in Product News on May 10 at 10:20 am PT

The now-famous Pebble watch has received more than $10 million in pledges on Kickstarter.

Demand Media’s Q1 Earnings: Kung-Goog Panda Did Not Kill Us!

Kara Swisher in News on May 8 at 2:16 pm PT

Take that, Po.

News Byte

Average Facebook Mobile Use Beats Desktop Access

Mike Isaac in Social on May 8 at 8:02 am PT

Facebook users spent an average of nearly 7.5 hours accessing the site from mobile phones in March, according to a recent comScore report, surpassing the average time spent accessing the site via desktop by nearly an hour. The trend is consistent with the shift of users relying more heavily on mobile devices to access the site, as the company itself has noted; more than half-a-billion people accessed Facebook via mobile device in March.