Also, iOS benefits from development having already been paid for on those other platforms, so companies can migrate games to the new platform without needing to radically re-invest, hence needing a lower return on investment.

Then there is the ecconomies of scale, especially when selling bits which don’t cost anything to reproduce – if you sell cheap, you sell more and can make more money. I remember when Encyclopedia Britanica was charging hundreds for its CD based edition with a view to only selling a small number of copies to libraries etc, but once they dropped the price to a commodity level and sold millions of copies instead, they made much more from it.

There are figures I saw but cant remember which showed the high percentage of sales for the size of the market on iOS compared to other platforms which back this up, although there are a few niche app markets on iOS which seem to still take the premium price route (certain sat nav apps) which is understandable given the different demographic they are aimed at.

The other push on iOS ha been for ad revenue supported apps and apps which include an after sales revenue stream which becomes more important than the sale price. I have a vague idea that the Lego games include options to buy things to speed up progress or unlock different aspects of the game? This I believe is proving to be a very successful alternative financial model for developers.

Lastly, developers are often building in ways for players to become a commodity they can resell too. The ad model is one way, but also user generated content which they “own” or statistics about people then can resell etc are all becoming alternatives to making money from the sale of the app itself.

Some of these alternatives have made there way to other platforms too to different degrees – I heard that the PC version of Colin McCreigh Dirt was cheaper because it included in game billboard ads where as certain other platforms didn’t have the same benefit.

Another interesting game trend on the mobile platforms – the rise in popularly of asynchronous gaming. The rteurn of more turn based games rather than real time multiplayer. Sure, there are still pleanty of real time games too, but the success of “games” like DrawSomething could mark a shift back to more asynchronous gaming which does tend to suit the “pick up and play anywhere when you have a moment” nature of a mobile platform.

That last point could have implications to consider when designing user experiences for learners too?

But another person mentioned that 4OD and iPlayer can use airplay if you enable airplay outside of the App. (??) Have you tried this and seen it for yourself?

As far as I know, it only works of iPlayer and 4OD and not ITV and Channel 5. Would be great to hear a confirmation before I purchase.

The ITVPlayer App does not support external video via AirPlay and the iPod touch does not support mirroring by Airplay. If you have an iPad 2 (or the new iPad) or the iPhone 4S you can mirror the ITVPlayer on your TV via the Apple TV. With other iOS devices, as you have found, you won’t get the video.