Category Archives: PlayBook

Xploding Boxes reaches 400 levels

IMG_00000017Xploding Boxes has been updated to version 4.6 in order to expand to 400 unique levels. The game supports BlackBerry phones both with and without touchscreens all the way back to OS 5.0 as well as BlackBerry 10, and the PlayBook, in addition to support for Android phones and tablets (including the Nook and Kindle), and also supports Windows 8 devices such as the surface.

About Xploding Boxes

Xploding Boxes is a strategy game for BlackBerry, Android, Nook, Windows 8, and BlackBerry 10 where the goal of the game is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level gives you a different number of touches, and requires a different strategy to solve.

The game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while an in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while maintaining your progress from the free levels.

Links & Information

Xploding Boxes gets even more levels

IMG_00000064Xploding Boxes has been updated to version 4.4 in BlackBerry World, Google Play, the Amazon AppStore, the Nook Bookstore, and the Windows 8 store. This new version adds an additional 10 levels to the game, as well as improving the sharing options on BlackBerry 10, and improving the in-app payment system for the Google Play store.

About Xploding Boxes

Xploding Boxes is a strategy game for BlackBerry, Android, Nook, Windows 8, and BlackBerry 10 where the goal of the game is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level gives you a different number of touches, and requires a different strategy to solve.

The game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while an in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while maintaining your progress from the free levels.

Links & Information

PlayBook users still on newest OS

PlayBookStatsMar2013

BlackBerry has not launched an OS update for the PlayBook since last October, and given that pretty much all users were already on the newest OS for the past three months now, it isn’t much of a surprise for almost all users to also be on the newest version of the OS in the month of March either.

This data was collected by BlackBerry World at the time of download, for the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of March 2012 through the end of March 2013.

Nationality of PlayBook users

In the first three months of 2013, the strategy game Xploding Boxes was downloaded by BlackBerry PlayBook users in 142 different countries. As in the past most users are from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

XplodingBoxesPlayBookUsersByCountry2013Q1

The biggest change from three months ago, is the increase in UK users, which is now up to 27.7% of PlayBook users. However, for the most part the distribution of countries being represented is very consistent with what it previously has been.

These statistics are generated from PlayBook downloads of the popular strategy game Xploding Boxes, from January 1st, through March 31st. Data was collected by BlackBerry World at the time of download.

Almost all PlayBook users on newest OS version

PlayBookStatsFeb2013

January saw almost all PlayBook users on the newest OS version available, and given that there has been no OS upgrades released since then, there is little surprise that pretty much all PlayBook users were still on the newest OS version this month as well.

This data was collected by BlackBerry World at the time of download, for the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of February 2012 through the end of February 2013.

98.1% of PlayBook users on newest OS version

PlayBookStatsJan2013

PlayBook users have always been quick to upgrade to the newest OS version, and January saw that pattern continue. While most users were already on OS 2.1.0 going into the month, January saw 98.1% of users on the most recent OS version.

This data was collected by BlackBerry World at the time of download, for the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of January 2012 through the end of January 2013.

Pixelated updated to version 3.3

IMG_00000080Pixelated has been updated to version 3.3 across all platforms. Notably, this update adds support for BlackBerry 10 which is being launched on Wednesday.

New in version 3.3

A new colour scheme option has been added to Pixelated Plus for all platforms. The PlayBook version of the app has had a visual update to give it a look more in line with the Windows 8 version. The game has also gotten a thicker highlight colour for the selector on non-touchscreen versions of the game on BlackBerry Phones. The new BB10 version of the game includes a leader board that is powered by Scoreloop for both the free and paid versions of the game. This update also includes a number of bug fixes.

About Pixelated

IMG_00000083Pixelated is an addictive puzzle based strategy game that requires a mixture of skill and luck in order to accomplish. The object of the game is to change the colour of the squares until the entire screen is a single solid colour. Starting with the square in the upper left corner you can change the colour of the blocks in order to match that of the surrounding squares. This is done repeatedly until the entire screen is a single colour. The object of the game is to clear the screen in as few moves as possible. Under the default settings you must do so in under 22 moves in order to win. The game is controlled by the large colored blocks on the side of the screen.

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Where are PlayBook users from?

The PlayBook is seeing a much more diverse installation base then when I looked at it last year. While the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom combine for 71.6% of users, another six countries held claim to over one percent of the instal base, and downloads were seen from 142 different nations.

PlayBookDownloadsByCountry

The PlayBook continues to have an outsized popularity in RIM’s homeland of Canada, accounting for 37.8% of users. The PlayBook also showed surprising popularity in India and the Philippines, which both saw a higher share of PlayBook users than traditional BlackBerry hubs such as Indonesia.

The vast majority (83.93%) of these users have English as their primary language. The next most popular languages were Spanish, French and German.

PlayBookUsersByLanguage

96.5% of PlayBook users are running OS 2.1.0, and well over 99% of users are running some version OS 2.x on their devices. For more details see yesterday’s post on BerryReview.

These statistics are generated from PlayBook downloads of the strategy game Xploding Boxes, from September 1st, through December 31st. Data was collected by BlackBerry AppWorld at the time of download.

Black Out released for Android

device-2012-12-18-142328Black Out has been updated to version 1.4 adding support for Android and BlackBerry 10. This strategy game is played by flipping the tiles one at a time until all of the tiles are ‘blacked out’. This is trickier than it sounds because whenever you tap to flip a tile, it also flips all of the tiles surrounding it. In order to accommodate different difficulties, the game supports board sizes from 3×3 all the way up to a 10×10 grid. Versions of the game on the already supported BlackBerry PlayBook, and Barnes and Noble Nook platforms were also updated.

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91% of PlayBook users on the newest OS

In November, (the first full month after the release of OS 2.1) saw 90.8% of BlackBerry PlayBook users running newest available operating system. At the same time there is almost nobody left using an OS prior to version 2.0, with 99.6% of PlayBooks running OS 2.0 or newer.

This data was collected by AppWorld at the time of download, for the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of June 2011 through the end of November 2012.

PlayBook users quick to adopt OS 2.1

As seen with previous OS versions on the PlayBook, users have been very quick to adopt OS 2.1 when it was released last month. October saw 73.3% of PlayBook users running the new OS. Most of those running early versions were from the first week of the month, when OS 2.1 was not yet released.

This data was collected by AppWorld at the time of download, for the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of June 2011 through the end of October 2012.

PlayBook OS statistics

With version 2.1.0 not released until early in October, September saw very little change in the OS breakdown on the PlayBook, as the vast majority of users were already running the latest version. As with last month 99.6% of users were running OS 2.0.0 or higher, and 98.6% of users were running 2.0.1 or higher.

This data was taken from downloads of the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of June 2011 through the end of September 2012.

99.6% of PlayBook users on OS 2.0 or higher

PlayBook users have continued to be very quick in updating to the newest operating system. August saw an astounding 99.6% of user running OS 2.0 or higher. The result is that developers should feel very confident that they can just release apps requiring a minimum OS of 2.0 without leaving any user behind. In fact the newest OS (2.0.1) is already being used by 98.6% of PlayBook users.

This data was taken from downloads of the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of June 2011 through the end of August 2012.

96% of PlayBook users on newest OS

BlackBerry PlayBook users are continuing to upgrade their devices to the newest operating system. July saw 95.6% of users running OS 2.0.1 and 98.2% of users running OS 2.0.0 (or higher).

While the adoption of OS 2.0.1 is actually a bit slower then the adoption of 2.0.0 or 1.0.8 was, it is still a significant majority of users, and a welcome improvement over the upgrade patterns of the old BlackBerry OS.

This data was taken from downloads of the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of June 2011 through the end of July 2012.