The PG.biz Hot Five: Microsoft to buy Nokia? Intel to do a Nexus? And the best dressed person in the mobile games industry
Welcome to PocketGamer.biz's weekly rundown of the stories clocking up the hits, picking up the click-throughs and generally keeping the advertisers happy by serving up page views.
Or, if you'd prefer, the top five stories currently dominating our readers' attention.
Each week, we'll be counting down the biggest news from the previous seven days, giving just a glimpse of the industry's big issues, from five to one.
Rumours start up again that Microsoft will buy Nokia's smartphone division
Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin is up to his usual tricks, suggesting that Microsoft and Nokia are negotiating a deal that would see Redmond take the smartphone operations of the Finnish manufacturer.
Quite why it would spend billions of dollars to own something it already has firmly within its orbit remains to be explained, however.
"Nokia is still a powerful, aspirational brand with enviable market share a major asset to Windows Phone, rather than a hindrance," pointed out Keith Andrew.
2011 in review: Phil Larsen, CMO, Halfbrick
One of the key developers of 2011 (and 2010) was Australian outfit Halfbrick, which built out its Fruit Ninja game to new platforms, also releasing new game Jetpack Joyride to much acclaim and the top of many charts.
We caught up with chief marketing officer, Phil Larsen to get his take on the past 12 months.
"Don't forget about the games. Quality is key, and fun is paramount," he told us about his New Year's Resolution for the industry.
Rumour: Intel to do a Google Nexus and release its own badged Android smartphones and tablets
With CES on the cards, we'll find out whether this is true next week.
But the deal goes that, in order to get its Medfield chip architecture up-and-running, Intel is preparing a Nexus-style initiative, releasing its own badged smartphone and tablet. They'll be running the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android.
European and Indian carriers are supposedly onboard for the smartphone launch.
The 10 most significant events of 2011
Sweeping the remnants of the past from our coat tails, this was a last chance to take a look back at the events which have proven to have lasting significance.
Starting with the failure of webOS and (other stories of corporate malaise), we covered the growth of Android, Storm8's $1 million day, Zynga's IPO, and Apple's iTunes tweak, ending with the industry working around Apple's incentivised download ban and the success of Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire.
PocketGamer.biz's top 10 offbeat industry awards of 2011
Who has the coolest name and who's the best dressed in the mobile games industry?
Who got the Chatterbox award for the top tweeter of 2011, or what about the best mobile games conference talk of 2011?
Or, who won our Richard Feynman award for the communication of complex topics to stupid people?
All these and more were answered in our slightly tongue-in-cheek look back at 2011.
Until next week, PocketGamer.biz pickers...