Mobile app developers remain the lifeblood of the mobile application industry. And their preferences go a long way to determine smartphone operating system supremacy in the contemporary mobile market.

That said, it could come as a significant blow to Apple that a growing number of mobile application developers are favoring the Android platform over iOS.

Based on the findings of Ovum’s second annual developer survey, the independent technology analyst reveals that Android looks set to replace Apple’s iOS in terms of importance to developers within the next 12 months.

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Mobile application developers will soon be able to boast of their own professional industry association.

Spearheaded by former Digital Media Association executive director Jon Potter, the Application Developers Alliance will officially launch next week at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The new organization is being hailed as a professional outfit charged with promoting the best interests of mobile developers. The effort will include raising greater education opportunities, providing cloud hosting services, and initiating government lobbying efforts.

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PapayaMobile – the popular mobile social gaming network with over 35 million users – announced an exciting new partnership Thursday with Tapjoy – a value exchange mobile ad network.

The new partners will work together to use the power of Papaya’s social community and Tapjoy’s in-app marketplace to create a Social Marketplace for Android app developers.

According to details provided in a press release Thursday, the Social Marketplace in question will enable players to discover new mobile games based on the popularity of those games within the Papaya social network.

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Beginning next January, Macworld – the renowned annual tech event dedicated to all things Apple – will get a facelift.

First launched in 1985, Macworld has long provided a place for Apple to introduce new technologies, products and services. But in 2009, the Cupertino, California-based tech giant officially withdrew from participation in the yearly event.

Not withstanding the palpable loss resulting from Apple’s disengagement, the expo has moved ahead and largely continues to be successful.

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Change is coming to Google’s mobile ad services. According to the Internet search giant, recently undertaken efforts to streamline the comany’s mobile advertising efforts will result in some palpable changes in the immediate future.

Chief among the revisions will be Google’s transition of all mobile website publishers to its AdSense service platform. Consequently, access to the AdMob network will be limited to application developers.

“Earlier this year,” writes Clay Bavor, Product Management Director of Mobile Ads for Google, “all AdSense for Mobile Applications beta participants switched to AdMob, which is now our primary, specialized solution for app developers.”

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Mobile analytics powerhouse Flurry has launched version 3.0 of its platform, adding several high-level feature updates along with audience segmentation and demographic estimation.

With the added feature-set, developers can easily segment their audiences and target their most valuable segments with the right products and services.  Developers can segment audiences based on location, age, gender, app category interests and usage, giving them visibility into how different groups use their applications and respond to different programs.

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GetJar, an independent cross-platform app store, has announced that its surpassed 2B total app downloads, with more than 100 million of which being Facebook installs.

In total, GetJar now offers roughly 150,000 apps that work across Android, BlackBerry, Java and Symbian platforms, with support for over 2,500 total devices spanning both smartphones and feature phones – the latter of which supporting most of its growth.  In addition, GetJar has gained close to 350,000 developer registrations.  The service places heavy emphasis on social integration and sharing, and announced that it has more than one million Facebook Connect users.  User interest and downloads continue to be highest among games, social & messaging, entertainment, and productivity applications, according to the company.

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