IDC: Google now controls 59% of U.S. mobile advertising marke

Google is on pace to control 59 percent of the U.S. mobile advertising market by the end of 2010, according to research firm IDC. A year ago, prior to its $750 million acquisition of mobile advertising network AdMob, Google represented 48.6 percent of the U.S. mobile ad market (including search and display ads), IDC notes; Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which in January 2010 acquired mobile ad network Quattro Wireless for $275 million and introduced its iAd platform in July, will finish the year controlling 8.4 percent of the market, the researcher adds.

Millennial Media will finish the year in third with 6.8 percent of the market, up from 5.4 percent. Both Yahoo and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) lost market share in 2010, IDC reports: Yahoo is down from 7 percent in 2009 to 5.6 percent in 2010, while Microsoft slipped from 6.3 percent a year ago to 5.4 percent.

The U.S. mobile ad market more than doubled over the past year to $877 million, IDC states. The firm said it believes Google will continue to build its market lead as its Android mobile operating system continues to grow. Android controls 23.5 percent of the U.S. smartphone market as of October 2010 per comScore data, up from 17.0 percent three months earlier.

BlackBerry shipments up 40% in Q3

RIM's revenues rose 40% year-on-year and shipped 14.2 million BlackBerry smartphones in its fiscal third quarter, which ended on 27 November. That's up 40% year-on-year, despite stiff competition from iPhone and Android in RIM's key North American markets.

RIM's revenues were also up 40% year-on-year, rising $5.5 billion, as the company added around 5.1 million net new BlackBerry subscriber accounts in its Q3, bringing the total to more than 55 million.

RIM reported net income for its Q3 of $911.1 million, up from $796.7 million a year ago.

RIM's BlackBerry App World is now generating two million downloads a day, and has 16,000 apps available, according to RIM

Microsoft confirms 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 handset sales

Microsoft confirmed that 1.5 million handsets running Windows Phone 7 (WP7) have been sold by its manufacturer partners in the six weeks since launch although this is based on sales to operators and retail channel partners, rather than to end users.

The figures come after speculation that Microsoft was remaining tight-lipped on sales because the numbers were poor, following reports that supplies were limited in some markets. Early in November 2010, Taiwanese publication DigiTimes reported that demand from consumers was outstripping supply, although this was “largely due to limited initial shipments” as manufacturers took a cautious approach with the unproven platform.

Last week, advertising network Chitika said that for every WP7 impression it sees, there are 110 Android impressions and 172 iPhone impressions, which it said was “relatively stable, with very little significant market share growth in WP7.” The company has managed to generate some traction among the app developer community, with 4,000 products now available for the platform.

China Mobile is the leading 3G provider

China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom each had more than 10 million 3G subscribers at the end of October 2010. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the total number of 3G service subscribers reached 38.64 million at the end of October, up 10.4% month-on-month, and up 295.7% year-on-year.

China Mobile is so far leading with a 43.9% share of the 3G market by subscribers.

Google Voice app made available in App Store

Apple had finally approved Google Voice and its officially released on AppStore. It brings full Google Voice functionality, including background notifications and full two-way communication and message sync. Go check it out!

Facebook valued at $41 billion!

Facebook now ranks as the third largest web company, with a estimated valuation greater than EBay, based on trades of over $16 per share on SecondMarket.com.

Based on recent private-market transactions, Facebook has a total estimated value of $41 billion, exceeding eBay’s $39.4 billion in market capitalization. The only two web companies worth more than Facebook are Amazon, at $74.4 billion and Google, Inc., at $192.9 billion.

I m sure the recent announcement of Facebook new email service is going to further increase their valuation. You can head over here to request for an invite though i cant guarantee how long is the waiting time.

T-Mobile's Parody of Apple “Get A Mac” Commercial

T-Mobile goes after AT&T in their new myTouch 4G “Piggyback” commercial, which is a parody of Apple’s popular “Get a Mac” ads.

TVC - China : "Now America works for us"

Created by the American campaign group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). The TVC produced a commercial portraying a future with China as the new superpower in 2030.

Below is a parody made by Taiwanese-based Next Media Animation as a response to the original version.

Android is the No.1 smartphone in the US

Android continues topping US sales in Q3 and accounting for almost half the smartphones sold in the country. Devices running the Android operating system took 43.6% of sales in the market during the period, compared to 26.2% for Apple and 24.2% for RIM, Canalys revealed.

Android took mostly market share away from RIM. Apple iOS's share remained largely unchanged at 23%, and the iPhone 4 is still the No.1 best selling single mobile device for the quarter.

The most popular Android phones in the market during the quarter were the LG Cosmos, Motorola's Droid X and the HTC EVO 3G.

Globally, demand for smartphones was up 95% year-on-year, but grew particularly fast in Brazil, Russia, India, China and Indonesia markets, with sales up 112%.

Apple is now No.4 largest handset vendor by market share

Apple had overtaken RIM but still far behind Nokia, Samsung and LG. IDC has published its rankings for handset shipments in Q3, and it shows Apple overtaking Research In Motion to become the fourth biggest mobile phone vendor in the world.

The top three places are unchanged: Nokia remains at No.1 with 32.4% market share, followed by Samsung - 21% share and LG - 8.3% share. Apple's 14.1 million units shipped in Q3 gives it a 4.1% share globally, followed by RIM's - 3.6%. Sony Ericsson falls out of the top five for the first time since 2004.

LG had a particularly poor Q3, with unit shipments falling by 10.1% year-on-year, and its market share falling from 10.6% to 8.3% accordingly. Nokia's modest YoY shipments growth of 1.8% was behind Samsung (18.6%), RIM (45.9%) and Apple (90.5%), which is why Nokia's market share fell from 36.5% to 32.4%.

Apple App Store launches in China

Apple has opened a simplified Chinese version of its App Store and a new online store in China, the latest in a sharp ramp-up of operations in the market. Mainland China customers can order Apple products, including the iPhone 4 and iPad, and have them delivered for free.

Until now they would have to collect them from one of the handful of Apple retail stores in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. Apple is offering free engraving on any iPod or iPad ordered through the store. Apple is shipping iPhones in China in one to two weeks, and iPads in 24 hours as of Tuesday morning.

Apple, which had only one Apple Store in China last year and relied largely on authorized resellers to reach other customers, has said it plans to open 25 Apple Stores in the country by 2011.

With e-commerce booming in China and consumers spending tens of billions of dollars in transactions each year online, the move could help boost the company's distribution in China. Apple had 7.1% of China's smartphone market as of the second quarter, ranking fifth after Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Inc. and Sony Ericsson, according to research firm Analysys International.

Releasing a Chinese version of Apple's Chinese App Store, an online marketplace where customers can purchase software applications for their iPhones, iPads and iPods, also removes a barrier for Chinese users to access the store. But other hurdles remain, including the requirement for users to have dual-currency credit cards in order to make purchases within the store and problem with users jailbreaking the iphones for free softwares.

China Mobile's Growth slowing down

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, has reported single-digit growth in revenue and profit amid signs of a maturing market. In the nine months between January and September this year, the firm reported profit of CNY87.2 billion (US$13.1 billion), up 3.9 percent from the same period a year ago, on revenue of CNY352.6 billion, up 7.8 percent.

However, ARPU was flat at CNY72 and the EBITDA margin dropped by about 1 percentage point to 50.4 percent. The increasing penetration rate of mobile telecommunications and the changes in the competition environment of the telecommunications industry, the group's customer growth showed signs of slowing down. China Mobile’s total customer base increased to just under 570 million.

Unicom revealed its customer numbers for September, noting that it is now adding more 3G than 2G customers. It added just 800,000 net 2G subscribers in September to reach 151.5 million 2G subs, but 1 million 3G subscribers to reach 10.6 million 3G customers.

iPhone 4 TVC in China

iPhone 4 has finally landed in CHina and Apple has just launched two commercials to promote the ‘game-changing’ product to the Chinese market, pretty similar to the one made for the US market.

Apple Crushing 4th Quarter

Apple crushed revenue and earnings estimates, as expected, and the company's guidance looks strong for its holiday quarter. But the iPad business posted a huge miss: 4.19 million shipments versus the Street's consensus at 4.7 million and many estimates above 5 million due to a supply issue, noting that supply and demand weren't balanced until September, the last month of the quarter.

Steve Jobs stole the show on the call, trashing competitors like RIM and Google, and suggesting that the iPad and iPhone will win against rivals because they are better products at great prices and holding onto its cash in excess of $50 billion now which put them in great position for any strategic acquisition.

On the positive side, Apple's iPhone business posted huge numbers despite the "Antennagate" moving 14.1 million phones last quarter, and boasted in its press release that this beat RIM's most recent quarter, when it shipped 12.1 million BlackBerry devices.

Key Stats:

• Revenue: $20.34 billion vs. $18.9 billion consensus;
• iPad shipments: 4.19 million vs. 4.7 million consensus (via Piper Jaffray); accounted for $2.8 billion in total revenue
• iPhone shipments: 14.1 million vs. 11 million consensus (via Piper Jaffray); The iPhone continues to be the biggest money maker for Apple, accounting for $8.8 billion in revenue, with an average selling price of about $610
• Mac shipments: 3.89 million vs. 3.7 million consensus (via Piper Jaffray)
• iPod shipments: 9.05 million vs. 10 million consensus (via Piper Jaffray)
• Apple TV device : 250,000 units sold
• Sales in the Americas generated $7.2 billion in revenue. Europe accounted for $5.4 billion and Asia Pacific was $2.7 billion.
• iTunes had revenue of more than $1B for the quarter.

It was also confirmed by Jobs that Apple isnt working on a smaller iPad based around a 7-inch screen giving reason that it would be too small to express the software.

Nielsen: Android is the No.1 choice for new smartphone buyers in the US

The Nielsen Company has published research claiming that Android accounted for 32% of new smartphones bought in the US between January and August this year. That means Google's OS has overtaken BlackBerry.

However, when it comes to all smartphone owners, BlackBerry is still top dog in the US with a 31% market share, although Apple is up to 28%, and Android climbing fast with 19%.

This is a significant development and the future for Android taking a commanding lead in the nearest future isnt going to be far-fetched. I wonder where will Microsoft's Window Phone 7 is going to be positioned from this competition. Its going to be interesting to see how they will fair in this competition...

Parents' Favorite Poster

Simply brilliant!!

Apple is world's second largest company by market cap

It doesn't seem all that long ago that Apple was in danger of going out of business yet now they are the world's second largest company (in terms of market cap) and not too far away from snatching the No.1 position held by Exxon.

Apple, maker of the Mac, the iPod, iPhone and iPad, surpassed Chinese oil giant PetroChina during trading on Thursday to become the world's second-largest company in terms of market value.
Apple shares hit a record 292.76 dollars during trading on Wall Street, giving the California gadget-maker a market capitalization of 266 billion dollars, more than PetroChina's 265 billion dollars.

The most amazing element of all this is how companies like Microsoft, IBM, Intel and Nokia, formerly one of the world's largest technology company, has lost so much of its market share and mind share. Guess whatever that goes up must come down and Apple would need to continue designing the best products with best in class user experience to stay on top. And the one formula that really turn the table for Apple is their way of marketing, Steve Jobs and team are simply the best story teller in the world.

Source : Yahoo News

iPhone 4 - Total Sell-Out at China Unicom on the 1st day

China Unicom has stopped taking orders for the iPhone 4 after being swamped by customers seeking the new phone when it went on sale last Saturday. 200,000 orders were booked on the same day with 40,000 phones with contracts sold.

It took Unicom, the sole official supplier of the popular smartphone nearly six weeks to the sell the first 100,000 iPhones after they went on sale last year thanks to the quick launch by Apple.

Unicom is selling the phone for prices starting from 226 yuan ($33.70) a month for an 8GB phone with a two-year contract up to to 386 yuan for a 32GB device. Without contracts, the 16GB phone sells for 4,999 yuan and the 32GB for 5,999.

IDG's video report of the iPhone 4's launch in China.

iPhone 4 will be on sale in China today

Apple will start selling its iPhone 4 in mainland China from 8am starting today! The new iPhone 4 products will be sold at the Apple Stores at Shanghai's Hong Kong Plaza, Beijing's Xidan Joy City and all China Unicom's retail stores.

Customers who buy an iPhone 4 at Apple Store in Shanghai and Beijing will gain Apple's Personal Setup services, which will help customers set up their email accounts; download applications at Apple Stores; and help them learn skills to start and run these applications. In addition, special lectures will be given at Apple Stores to help customers learn more about how best to utilize the features of the iPhone 4.

iPhone 4 sold at Apple Stores are 16GB version with the retail price of CNY4,999 and 32GB version with the retail price of CNY5,999. These products are sold without any telecom contract. However, iPhone 4 sold at China Unicom's retail stores will be sold with a two-year contract.

Apple wont be making the same mistakes in the past with the delay in launching previous iPhone. I m sure the uptake of the new iPhone 4 will be huge with the official launch. Congrats Apple.

iPad set for China debut today

Apple will start selling the Wi-Fi version of the iPad in China today. The tablet will be sold through Apple stores and other retail outlets, with prices ranging from 3,988 yuan ($590) for the 16GB version and 5,588 for the 64GB model. There is no mention where Apple will launch its 3G version in China.

The device, which began selling in the US in April, has been available in limited volumes through gray market channels in China for several months at a much higher price.

iPhone app lets consumers 'try on' real watches

Canadian Nuevo Watches offers consumers to "try on" its range of watches by downloading an iPhone app. Compatible with the iPhone and the 4th generation iPod touch, the Nuevo app from Monokromik lets users try on and select watches in the Neuvo watch collection without physically touching them.

The free app is available for download from the iTunes store; it requires iOS 3.1.3 or later. Once it's downloaded, users can virtually try on any of Montreal-based Nuevo's four CAD 45 watches, which come in black, bronze, gold or silver. The watches are only sold online, which makes the app especially useful.

China Internet Status Report 2010

A comprehensive status report on China Internet which is based on CNNIC data.

China internet status 2010

View more presentations from Rocky Fu.

Source : China Internet Watch blog

Gartner: Android on track to take over Mobile OS top position

Google’s Android could be on the verge of becoming the world’s largest smartphone operating system by 2014, according to new figures from Gartner. The research firm forecasts that by this point there will be less than one percentage point between Symbian (30.2 percent) and Android (29.6 percent) in terms of OS sales market share. Moreover, Gartner forecasts that Android will overtake RIM's BlackBerry to become the second-largest mobile OS (after Symbian) by the end of 2010. This is almost two years earlier than Gartner had earlier predicted.

A Symphonic Orchestra on iPad

The iPad Orchestra is an ensemble of four musical players. The t-shirts they wear during concerts are marked with the musical instrument they are each playing on their iPads. These instruments consist of the clarinet, cello, flute and violin. The downloaded musical application is called ‘Seline HD.’

Make calls to a regular phone from your Gmail account

Gmail users can soon make phone calls from within their accounts for free to the U.S. and Canada and for pretty cheap to several other countries. The service will be rolling out to Gmail users in the U.S. immediately, with international availability coming at an unspecified later date.

At least 200 million accessing Facebook on their mobile

Facebook revealed that its iPhone app has 102.2 million monthly active users, with another 57.5 million using Facebook for BlackBerry, 11.9 million using its Android app, and 2.6 million using its Palm webOS app.

That's already 174.2 million monthly active users, and this figure doesn't include the 986,000 people still using Facebook for Sidekick, the 120,000 people on INQ handsets.

What's more, these figures don't include anyone using Facebook from their Nokia handset - it doesn't have a dedicated application page on Facebook like those listed above. Nor does it include any users accessing the social network through operator or handset UIs (Vodafone 360, Motoblur etc), or through Facebook's mobile website, which is big in the developing world.

In short, Facebook's active mobile user base is surely already over the 200 million mark, and probably well on the way towards 250 million.

Apple captures half of all handset profits though only capture 3% of global sales market revenue

Apple took nearly half of the available profits in the $6 billion mobile phone market in Q2 despite generating only 3% of sales. Apple's Q2 share was more than double that of closest competitor Nokia, even though Nokia captured 34% of total sales.

The disparity is partly down to Apple's emphasis on profitability over sales, as well as the increasing importance of the smartphone market. Apple and RIM, both exclusive smartphone vendors, have gone from a combined 7% profit share to 65% in the last three years.

Samsung and Motorola took out a respective 1% and 2% share of the ebit pie in the quarter, after eight quarters of both running at a loss and LG sank to a loss after years of profit.

Guess the moral of the story is to focus on bottom line than top line. Great product with fantastic user experience is the real key which both Apple and RIM had certainly came out on top. Unfortunately as of now, there isnt a competitive device out there that can rival either Apple and RIM.

$35 Indian's "iPad" version

It is probably the cheapest tablet around and still puzzled how these guys could make money out of this pricing. Up until now, its still not in production so unsure whether they will price it out at $35. The cheapest faked ipad in China operating with an Android OS is priced around $

Bear in mind that the $35 price on this tablet, which we heard about a couple weeks back, is a fantasy until it is actually in production and releasing with that price. And also note that when the narrator is talking about how well it handles Android 1.6, the video is sped up quite a bit. I’ll believe it when I see it — but if I do see it, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Nissan and Unilever report good engagement and click-through figures on Apple iAds

The first two advertisers on Apple's iAd network have said they are pleased with the results from their campaigns. Nissan tells the Los Angeles Times that people spent an average of 90 seconds using its iAd, ten times longer than comparable online ads and click-through rates were five times higher.

Meanwhile, Unilever's iAd for its Dove brand saw a "double-digit" percentage of users seeking further information about the product advertised, while 20% of viewers watched the ad more than once.

The caveat here is that these were the first two iAds, and iOS users were excited enough about them to want to watch and interact with them. They had an extreme novelty value. Even i had clicked on almost all of the ads just to check it out. I must admit the user experience is good but since the amount of ads arent that many, thus its still too early to judge.

The real proof of iAd's effectiveness will come a few months down the line but this is certainly a good start.

Android surpasses BlackBerry as top-selling smartphone OS in the US

Google's Android platform now represents 17.2 percent of the global smartphone market, overtaking Apple's iOS as the world's third most popular smartphone OS and edging past Research In Motion's BlackBerry to emerge as the top-selling OS in the U.S. according to new data published by research firm Gartner.

Worldwide sales of Android-powered devices topped 10.6 million in the second quarter of 2010, up from just 756 million just a year ago, at which time Android made up only 1.8 percent of the global smartphone market.

Gartner reports that global smartphone sales totaled 61.6 million units in Q2, up 50.5 percent year-over-year. Symbian remains the leading smartphone OS worldwide, controlling 41.2 percent of the market (down from 51 percent a year ago), sales of Symbian devices topped 25.3 million in the second quarter, up from 20.9 million in Q2 2009.

BlackBerry unit sales exceeded 11.2 million (up from 7.8 million a year ago), with the platform representing 18.2 percent of the worldwide market, off from 19.0 percent. Sales of Apple's iPhone surpassed 8.7 million, with iOS now making up 14.2 percent of the market in Q2 2009, consumers purchased 5.3 million iPhones, translating to 13.0 percent market share.

Microsoft's Windows Mobile took the biggest hit: Sales slipped to 3.1 million from 3.8 million a year ago, corresponding with the platform's market share plummeting from 9.3 percent in the second quarter of 2009 to 5.0 percent in the most recent quarter.

For more on worldwide smartphone sales, check this release.

Chances of you getting laid is higher if you are using an iPhone

In news that is likely to please Apple fanboys, research conducted by a dating site has found that iPhone users have had more sexual partners than smartphone owners.

OKcupid.com found 30 year-old women who use an iPhone had slept with an average of 12.3 people, double the number of those with an Android device (6.1) and around three more than BlackBerry users (8.8).

Among men aged 30, Android users again fared worst, with an average of six sexual partners, compared to 8.1 for BlackBerry owners and ten for iPhone users.

The results will be good news for Apple, the dating site aimed exclusively at Apple lovers, which last month announced it had over 22,000 members.

Free : Sourcebook 2010

The latest edition of the most comprehensive guide to the European games and interactive industries, Sourcebook 2010, it is available via the dedicated Sourcebook website and a digital version of the print book that can be read online and downloaded on Issuu. Go check it out and download it free.

Android's shipment rising much faster than iPhone

Smartphones now make up 25 percent of the U.S. mobile market, up from 23 percent in the first quarter of 2010, according to new data issued by The Nielsen Company. Nielsen expects smartphones to overtake feature phones in the U.S. by the end of 2011 reports that smartphones based on Google's Android operating system continue to gather steam surpassing Apple's iPhone to account for 27 percent of smartphone sales over the last six months, compared to 23 percent for the iPhone.

BlackBerry OS remains the U.S. market leader, representing 35 percent of smartphone subscribers nationwide, the iPhone is next at 28 percent, followed by Microsoft's Windows Mobile (15 percent, down from 27 percent a year ago) and Android (13 percent).

Jailbreaking of iPhone 4 straight from the browser

The first hack for the iPhone 4 has gone live and you can do it straight from the iphone browser. Users don’t even need access to a PC or Mac. This latest jailbreak can be applied simply by visiting www.jailbreakme.com on the iPhone’s browser and following the instructions.

The more straightforward nature of the hack compared to those for iPhone, 3G and 3G S will no doubt lead to concerns that it will fuel a piracy boom on the latest model. I m sure Apple is going to retaliate strongly on this one.

Please proceed with caution because this can and will brick your iPhone but most reports indicate smooth sailing. Make sure you back up your iPhone before attempting to jailbreak it just in case.

The new BlackBerry 6.0

This is the recently released BlackBerry 6.0 promo video and it shows off some of the rather cool new features that the 6.0 OS will support, including a new browser, integrated search across the device, along with numerous user interface improvements.

Watch it and let me know what you think.

Developers can now book iAds to promote their own apps

Apple has rolled out its iAd programme to developers, which means they can buy ads to promote their own content in other apps. Apple will be charging developers 25 cents per iAd click, which is a significant discounts from what it charges brand advertisers ($2 per click, 1 cent per impression).

The good thing about iAds is that user can download advertised apps from the App Store without leaving the app they're in. Once they are done looking at the advertisement, user will be taken back to the app. Its really an ad within an app!

The iAd Network allows developers to exclude ads from competitors or other unwanted advertisers based on specific keywords, URLs, and application Apple IDs. This will definitely open up more opportunities to many developers to market the new apps.

New British Airways Boarding Pass on mobile

This is how it looks, pretty cool right, definitely much better looking at the flimsy paper boarding pass that you get at the check in counter.

The British Airways app lets you access your current and upcoming flight details, check-in and discover flight information, timetables and so on. Right now you can only use the mobile boarding pass between London Heathrow and Edinburgh. I m sure this will be gradually opened to other routes in due time.

It makes so much sense to have it on your mobile as its always with you and there is no need to ransack your bag or pocket anymore for that flimsy boarding pass. As a traveler myself, i Love it.

Amazon sells $1 billion on mobile

I wanted to share this astounding milestone that the Amazon is now doing more than $1 billion in sales through mobile devices including Kindle.

I’m not surprised as I’ve been using Amazon’s iPhone app at least a few times a week to buy all kinds of stuff. Unlike in those days that you have to write down what you want before going shopping, all you need to do these days is to fire up your mobile and order what you want.

Good news for Amazon and a great news for everybody in the mobile industry as this is a validation that M-commerce is here to stay for a long time.

Baidu is way ahead in Search in China in the 2nd quarter of 2010

According to a report released by iResearch last week, China search engine market Q2 sales increased to 2.64 billion yuan (US$389m). Baidu’s market share increased by 3% to 70.8%. Search queries on Baidu also increased by 2.1% to 78.2% while search queries on Google dropped by 2.3% to 14.4%.

With all the problems at Google China, Baidu will continue to eat into its market share and expect a further reduction in its overall market share in Q3.

More miseries at Nokia with net profit downs 40% in Q2

Nokia has posted a sharp 40 percent decline in year-on-year second-quarter net profit amid signs that the world’s largest handset vendor is still struggling to keep pace with high-end rivals such as Apple and Google.

Nokia has revealed net sales of €10 billion for the second quarter of 2010, up 1% year-on-year - although down 4% at constant currency. The company sold 111.1 million mobile devices in Q2, up 8% year-on-year, with 24 million of those being smartphones (up 42% in the same period). Nokia also posted Services net sales of €158 million in Q2, compared to €140 million in Q2 2009 - a 12.9% increase year-on-year. Despite the firm issuing profit warnings in the quarter, the figures were still below analyst expectations as analysts had predicted profit of EUR285 million. The disappointing results reflect the fact that Nokia has still to develop a device able to compete with Apple’s iPhone or devices based on Google’s Android operating system.

Nokia estimates that it took a 33% share of the mobile device market in Q2 this year, down from 35% in Q2 2009. The company thinks its share of the smartphone market held at 41% over the same period.

Nokia also gave figures for the average selling price of its handsets in Q2 of both years. From Q2 2009 to Q2 2010 its overall ASP fell from €64 to €61. However, for smartphones specifically, its ASP fell from €181 to €143.

Some more stats: more than 17 million people have downloaded its free Ovi Maps navigation/mapping application; Ovi Store now has more than 13,000 'content items' (including apps), and its Ovi App Wizard has generated more than one million downloads in ten weeks since launch.

On a brighter side, The Nokia N8 will be coming out soon follow by by further Symbian^3 smartphones that Nokia is confident will give the platform broader appeal and reach, and kick-start Nokia’s fightback at the higher end of the market. While its unsure how the new N8 will perform, one thing for sure, Nokia isnt going flat down without putting up a good fight.

Strong Q3 results for Apple and forecasting an impressive Q4

Apple has reported another very strong quarterly performance and eased fears that its ‘Antennagate’ controversy around the iPhone 4 will hurt sales by giving an unusually upbeat Q4 revenue forecast. In the three months ended 26 June, Apple reported record revenue of US$15.7 billion, a 61 percent year-on-year rise and well ahead of Wall Street’s forecast for US$14.75 billion. Net profit came in at US$3.25 billion, up 78 percent on a year ago.

Apple sold 8.4 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 61 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter, and also sold 3.27 million iPads. Total company sales were boosted by a surprisingly large 33 percent spike in Mac computer sales.

But it was a fourth quarter revenue forecast of “about US$18 billion” that has grabbed most attention, above Wall Street’s prediction of about US$17 billion. The iPad looks set to contribute strongly to fourth quarter revenue growth. Research group iSuppli now predicts Apple will ship 12.9 million iPads in 2010, an increase from its previous forecast (issued in April) of 7.1 million units

China has 420 million internet users

The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) had just issued its 26th report on the state of development of China's internet. In the report, China had 420 mln internet users, up 36 mln users from the end of 2009, with a 31.8% penetration rate, up 2.9 percentage points from the end of 2009.

Broadband internet users reached 363.81 mln, reaching a 98.1% penetration rate among all fixed-line internet users.

Mobile internet users reached 277 mln, adding 43.34 mln over the past half year, a growth of 18.6%. Of the total mobile internet users, those for whom mobile phone was the only means of internet access reached 11.7%. With such rapid growth, China's mobile internet users alone will surpass the total internet users in the US by next year.

Internet users spent more time online each week, up to an average of 19.8 hours per person. Topping the online and mobile application are music and instant messaging respectively.

Below are the top applications for online :

The followings are the top applications for mobile internet :

$1,400 earned on the 1st day of Apple mobile advertising network iAds

Mashable is reporting that one developer using iAds has already generated over $1,400 in revenue for his free iPhone 4 app. Jason Ting, who’s app was just approved for the App Store yesterday, showed decent sales for the paid version, but revenue generated from the free version is what was truly impressive.

The app, which turns the flash on iPhone 4 devices into an LED flashlight, generated $1,372.20 in revenue on Day One alone, with an eCPM (effective cost per thousand) at a staggering $147.55. The iAds served through the app which was downloaded roughly 9,000 times generated 26,651 requests, 9,300 impressions and a CTR of 11.8%.

Most of the ads being served were from Dove and Nissan, which likely had huge introductory media buys. Though the novelty of iAds likely has something to do with it, with users quick to click on the ad to see what the all the hype is about, it’s still impressive nonetheless.

Check out the video of first iAds ever created below, one for Nissan’s new fully-electric LEAF vehicle. The ad takes advantage of nearly everything iAds and the iPhone has to offer, creating a truly impressive advertisement that lives directly inside the app.

Untitled from Justin Montgomery on Vimeo.

Source : Mashable

1.7 million iPhone 4 in 3 days

This is what Apple had sold in 3 days since it went on sale on June 24. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said the iPhone 4’s debut was the “most successful product launch in Apple’s history.”

In contrast, Apple sold just 1 million iPhone 3GS smartphones within the first three days of its release last year. The iPhone 4 went on sale in the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan on Thursday, but many stores have run out of stock. Demand of the device is incredible taking into account that Apple had confirmed the problem with its reception. Apple has given no indication when iPhone 4 supplies might catch up.

In the US, AT&T and Apple opened pre-orders June 15, but sold all 600,000 iPhone 4’s in stock by the end of the day.

iPhone 4 will be made available to many parts of the world by September and this figure is going to increase sharply. I m definitely going to be a proud owner soon when its available in Shanghai.

Malaysian Airlines - iPad as a check-in kiosk

Malaysia Airlines’ iPad check-in is the latest in companies adapting to the technological desires of their consumers. Specialized kiosks had been installed at their Kuala Lumpur Sentral stop. These dedicated iPad kiosks will make it easier for frequent travellers to check in instead of queuing at the busy counters.

Another one up for the iPad.

Check out the video below for the demo :

Nokia is sinking and Apple is flying

Bloomberg presented a chart that shows the erosion of Nokia’s market cap over the last 10 years. Not only that, it also shows how Apple has seemingly switched places with the Finnish phone maker.

10 years ago (back when the phone was bulky, the screens were grey, ringtones were sounding crappy, and I was still using a Motorola V), Nokia’s market cap was somewhere around a $245 billion which is where Apple is now. Both companies had actually traded place though not planned for.

In those days, phones were simple and there werent any differentiating factor except for the design. Most phones could send texts and make calls and nobody was really giving a damn on Wap or whether your phone could handle mms. But its all different now, a phone is more than just making calls or sending simple messages, today its all about the user experience, the size of the screen and its ability to bring the web to you. It’s cool to think about how much it’s changed right.

Just not too long ago, everybody was still talking about Nokia, the n95, the e66 and n96, these days, its either the iPhone, Blackberry or the Android based phones. Nokia is going through a difficult transition and its either they will make it to the other end like how IBM had transitioned or heading south similar to Motorola who was once the dominant mobile player.

3 million iPads in 80 days

Apple today announced that it sold its three millionth iPad yesterday, just 80 days after its introduction in the US. iPad is a revolutionary and magical product that allows users to connect with their apps, content and the Internet in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.

And guess what i had also just bought one and I must admit that its one of the best device that i had bought so far. Its slick and has a great user experience. Many had said that its merely an extended iPhone, i disagree as its more than that. It actually allows me to use it like a notebook, i have access to my corporate emails, browsing is fantastic and great apps. Except that you cant do heavy lifting with it but then again how often do you do heavy lifting these days. And my kids love them, i have apps for each of them including my youngest daughter whom i had downloaded some educational apps. Apple is way ahead of the rest. Well done and i cant wait to get my hands on the new iPhone 4.

Build Facebook storefront in 15 minutes

It's a well-known fact that the more steps a shopper must take in order to make a purchase, the less likely that purchase is. The same is true for shoppers on Facebook, of course, which is why San Francisco-based Payvment has developed a tool that lets them buy from vendors without ever leaving the site.

Now in beta, Payvment turns companies' Facebook fan pages from marketing platforms into sales platforms. Specifically, its Facebook app gives vendors everything they need to create a storefront on the social networking site, including a built-in, full-featured admin area. Installation takes 15 minutes, the company says; once it's done, Facebook users can shop and make purchases from that store without needing to leave Facebook. Each TRUSTe-certified storefront can be added to an unlimited number of Facebook pages. Integrated product search enables discovery of the store's items from across Facebook, and a universal shopping cart lets customers complete their purchases from any Payvment-powered storefront on the site. Payvment currently supports sales in more than 20 currencies with automatic conversion; PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Discover are all accepted. Other features include automated inventory control, email receipts, storefront comment capabilities and instant discounts for Facebook fans. Payvment is free for participants in its public beta program.

Since Payvment launched in November, more than 20,000 businesses and individuals have started to sell goods on Facebook and over 500,000 Facebook users have shopped for products in stores using the Payvment app. Businesses large and small: time to venture into the social shopping waters yourself...?

This is how you distract a footballer

Countdown to World Cup

On online commercial thanks to the guys at Adidas. The Adidas ‘The Quest’ ad is an exciting online ad that comprises some incredible directing and editing

How do you generate tons of buzz with $0 ad dollars?

The answer is with social media. The Pilpel ‘30 Girls 1 Villa’ case study is a fantastic example of companies and brands taking advantage of social media on a large scale.

Pilpel is Israel’s leading swimsuit brand. To launch its new collection and create buzz, it gave 30 girls each a bathing suit and a laptop, and moved them into a lavish villa for three days. All the girls had to do was constantly update their Facebook accounts, telling their friends how much fun they were having and posting info about Pilpel. With record breaking amounts of photo views and page impressions, the Pilpel ‘30 Girls 1 Villa’ case study is a great example successful marketing using social media.

Your overall marketing strategy should give due consideration to the power of social media. You may end up spending less and yet receive responses without your expectations.

The Sprint TV Ad reminds us how much progress we have made in technology

It is an effective commercial that reminds the viewer of how things used to be and how far we have come with technological advancements. It definitely offers a nice reminder of our technological history.

Uniqlo Lucky Switch online ads

I love this campaign from Uniqlo. Smart execution and what made it powerful is how it engaged the blogger communities to participate in the campaign. Check out the video below.

UNIQLO LUCKY SWITCH from HN on Vimeo.

Steve Jobs introduces the new iPhone 4 at WWDC

The big reveal at Apple's WWDC keynote this morning was, of course, the next-generation iPhone. The device will be called iPhone 4, and goes on sale this month in US, UK, France, Germany and Japan.

The 16GB model will cost $199 with a contract in the US, while the 32GB model will cost $299. It goes on sale on 24th June and will be available in 88 countries by the end of September.

Its launch in those five initial markets will be preceded by the release of the iPhone OS 4 software, which has been rebranded to iOS 4 to reflect the fact that it's also available for iPad and iPod touch devices.

Jobs focused on nine specific features of the new device during the keynote, starting with its design, which integrates the antenna into the structure of the phone itself.

The handset has a front-facing camera, which can be used for video calls via Apple's new FaceTime technology. It's Wi-Fi only, and will be made available as an open standard, which could see other handset makers using it in their own devices.

iPhone 4 uses the same in-house A4 chip as the iPad, and has a bigger battery, which Jobs said will lead to 40% more battery life for talktime: ten hours of Wi-Fi browsing, ten hours of video, and 40 hours of music.

The device will also have a gyroscope to complement its accelerometer and compass, which Jobs flagged as a boon to games developers, who'll now be able to use six-axis motion sensing in their games.

iPhone 4 will also have a five-megapixel camera, and will record HD video at 720p resolution.

Apple dishes out the stats in its WWDC keynote

App Store has now passed the five billion downloads milestone and the company has paid developers more than $1 billion for sales of paid apps on the store!

Jobs also confirmed that there are now more than 8,500 native iPad apps available in the App Store, which have so far totalled more than 35 million downloads. That's 17 apps for each of the two million iPads that have been sold.

Meanwhile, the iBooks application for iPad has so far generated more than five million e-book downloads and the five biggest publishers on iBooks is already accounting for 22% of their e-book sales.

Jobs also revealed that Apple now has more than 150 million registered iTunes accounts complete with credit card details and that this month, it will sell its 100 millionth device running the iPhone OS!

Apple announces $60m iAds spend from brands

Apple announced today that its iAd mobile ads network will launch on 1st July, and already has $60 million spend committed by brands for the second half of this year!

CEO Steve Jobs listed the brands who have already signed up in the eight weeks since iAd was announced and they include Nissan, Citi, Unilever, AT&T, Chanel, GE, Liberty Mutual, State Farm Insurance, Geico, Campbell's Soup, Sears, JCPenney, Target, Best Buy, DirecTV, TBS and Disney.

Jobs had further claimed that iAd is on course to account for 48% of the US mobile display advertising market in the second half of this year, basing that claim on figures from JP Morgan suggesting the market will be worth $250 million for 2010 as a whole.

What iAd offers advertisers is guaranteed reach across a wide audience. That’s why big brand advertisers are signing up. So far, Apple hasn’t demonstrated that iAd will have the sort of personalized “long tail” targeting that made Google’s AdWords and AdSense a multi-billion-dollar busines

"We're trying to combine the emotion of video with the interactivity of the web. This is what advertisers have been after in the digital advertising medium," said Jobs.

I can finally decide on what phone to buy!!

Check below for the demo video.

Source : Apple

Mercedes Benz and the Angel vs Devil

The Mercedes-Benz ‘Sorry’ commercial takes a funny spin on the concept of death coming to call. Apparently your car can be your life-saving angel and thats provided its a Benz. This is a very simple commercial with a great concept. It is memorable, shows off the car and showcases how well the car works under pressure.

2 million of iPads in 60 days

Apple says it has sold more than two million iPads since launching the device on 3 April. The device's launch in nine countries outside the US on Friday appears to have pushed it past the milestone, although the company hasn't broken down the sales by geography.

Apple sold 300,000 in the US on 3 April, and passed the one million mark on 30 April. One month later, and the total stands at two million. This has certainly surpassed the milestone made by Apple who took 76 days to sell 1 million iPhone.

Using iPhone to unlock doors

The OpenWays hotel key app seeks to eliminate digital room keys. Hotel room keys are easy to misplace and even when you can find them, sometimes their proximity to other digital devices can erase the code to your room.

This ingenious app allows smartphone users at select hotels to open the door to their room, extend their stay, and check in or out—all from the their iPhone or other supported device.

Spokeo People Search Pushes Personal Privacy to its Limit

With social networking sites getting tons of heat for privacy issues, Spokeo People Search seems to be asking for it. Spokeo was originally set up as an Internet White Pages, but now seems to be crossing the line with their amount of accessible information.

When Spokeo was first created in 2006, the site’s format allowed users to access information on what social networking sites their e-mail contacts were on. Now, Spokeo People Search reveals much more. By entering a name, you can see e-mail addresses, Picasa images, an appearance description, and the number of people in their household. If you are a paying customers, you can really do a deeper search. Bye bye to privacy...

Free White Paper - Make money from your mobile apps

Bango, a company known for its mobile analytics and billing solutions, recently published a new whitepaper aimed at helping developers monetize mobile apps, which the company says is in response to the fact that over 80 percent of the 180,000 apps in the marketplace are free.

The comprehensive whitepaper does a good job breaking down the various aspects of mobile app monetization using various methods and overcoming the various problem that can arise. The paper looks at issues such as multiple platforms/fragmentation, ad-funded models, payment issues, in-app sales, promotion and measurement, among other things.

The paper goes over every aspect in much greater detail, and can be downloaded for free here. It’s definitely worth a read.

Apple is the No. 1 Tech company by market cap

The moment came today when Apple, the maker of iPods, iPhones and iPads, shot past Microsoft, the computer software giant, to become the world’s most valuable technology company. This changing of the guard caps one of the most stunning turnarounds in business history for Apple, which had been given up for dead only a decade earlier, and its co-founder and visionary chief executive, Steven P. Jobs.

As of Wednesday, Wall Street valued Apple at $222.12 billion and Microsoft at $219.18 billion. The only American company valued higher is Exxon Mobil, with a market capitalization of $278.64 billion.

A little more than a decade ago, Apple, which had pushed out Mr. Jobs in 1985, was widely believed to be on the path to extinction.

Michael S. Dell, the founder and chief executive of Dell computer, went so far as to suggest that Apple should shut down and return any money to shareholders. (The computer maker is now worth about a tenth of Apple.) Around the same time, Microsoft’s chief technology officer called Apple “already dead.”

But with the return of Mr. Jobs to Apple in 1996 — and an investment by Microsoft of $150 million — the company began a slow path to recovery. Apple’s rebirth began in earnest with the introduction of the iPod music players, and Mr. Jobs began to gain a reputation for anticipating what consumers want. Congrats Apple...

Google Job Experiment - Brilliant Job Hunting Idea

The Google Job Experiment was conducted by Alec Brownstein, who came up with this outstanding idea to hunt for a job. Using only $6, Brownstein created an ad referring back to his website and contact information, which would show up as the first Google search result if his potential employers were to Google themselves online.

Of the five individuals he created ads for, he landed an interview with four of them, and got offered a job from two.

Interesting China Stats at a glance