Top downloads on App Store

Apple has released a list of the most popular apps since the launch of the App store. The list is divided into four different categories that highlight the free and the paid apps for the iPhone and iPad.

The most downloaded paid apps for the iPhone:

Doodle Jump
Tap Tap Revenge 3
Pocket God
Angry Birds
Tap Tap Revenge 2.6
Bejeweled 2 + Blitz
Traffic Rush
Tap Tap Revenge Classic
AppBox Pro Alarm
Flight Control

The most downloaded free apps for the iPhone:

Facebook
Pandora
Google Mobile App
Shazam
Movies by Flixster
The Weather Channel
Google Earth
Bump
Skype
Paper Toss

The most downloaded paid apps for iPad:

SoundHound
StickWars
FlightTrack
Backbreaker Football
Calorie Tracker
BlocksClassic
iFart Mobile
GoodReader for iPad
Cro-Mag Rally
Ambiance

The most downloaded free apps for the iPad:

Pandora
Google Mobile App
Movies by Flixster
Google Earth
Yelp
Fandango Movies
Remote
iBooks
Bible
Solitaire

China Internet user count reaches 457 million

The number of Internet users in China reached 457 million at the end of 2010, growing by more than 73 million users from the previous year, according to official statistics released on Wednesday.

The growth, while impressive, is a slow down from the previous year and points to a gradual maturing of the Internet market in China.

Last year's addition of 73 million people represents a 19 percent growth on 2009, when the Internet population expanded by 86 million people or 28 percent. In 2008 it grew by 88 million, equivalent to a 41 percent increase. The first major surge in the Internet user base occurred in 2007 with the addition of 73 million users for growth of 53 percent.

Internet usage from desktop PCs, laptops and cell phones all increased during 2009. China's Internet population includes 303 million users who use mobile handsets to go online, an increase from the 230 million figure a year ago.

Using search engines, listening to music, and reading news were the top three most popular activities for Web users in the country. Micro-blogging is done by 13.8 percent of Chinese Internet users, while group buying is at 4.1 percent.

While growth has slowed, more than half the population is still not online.

The bulk of China's Internet users live in urban areas. Web users from China's rural areas were 125 million, making up about 27.3 percent of China's total Internet user population.

Source : China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC)

Apple's best quarter results

Record quarterly results from Apple have helped allay fears surrounding the company's future after CEO Steve Jobs (pictured) was forced to take medical leave. Apple reported a 71 percent jump in first-quarter revenue, to US$26.74 billion, and a 78 percent surge in net profit, to US$6 billion.

International sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue. The company sold 16.24 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 86 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter, while 7.33 million iPads fell into the hands of consumers during the quarter.

Chinese government clamping down on fake mobile phones in China

China infamous "shanzhai," or fake mobile phone industry days may be numbered after several years of booming business. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has joined with the State Administration of Industry and Commerce to crack down on the industry for the first time. Targeting sellers and producers, illegal phones will be seized and destroyed and those involved in the business punished.

The phones are mass-produced at low cost by small domestic companies. They are illegal because some producers don't have business licenses and none of the phones has network access licenses.

The phones have been extremely popular in China because they look like all the current popular brands, such as iPhone and BlackBerry, with some even boasting similar functions but selling for a much lower price.

But the cheap phones have many drawbacks. After-sales service is poor or non-existent, some have high power batteries that may explode, and they are prone to the latest "money-stealing" scandal.

Source : People's Online Daily