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.