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According to a new released research from the Indernational Data Cooperation (IDC) Worldwide  Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker this month, Apple’s iPad still kept the domiated position in tablet market in the passed third quarter, but rivals from Amazon and Barnes & Noble are expected to light up the fourth quarter.

The data from IDC’s reseach indicates that Apple shipped 11.1 million units in the Q3, up from 9.3m in the second quarter; but the market share is down from Q2’s 63.3%  to 61.5%. And this number shows that the company’s iPad continued to drive worldwide media tablet market in the third quarter.

But the third quarter is not strong for anyindividual Android market. SamSung’s tablet is next, but far less than iPad, 5.6% market share; HP’s TouchPad, which entered and left the market in Q3, listed in the third position; the company shipped 903,354 units and grabbed a 5% share of the worldwide market; After IDC updated its taxonomy to move LCD-based devices such as Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color into the media tablet category, Barnes & Noble shipped 805,458 units to achieve the number four spot with a 4.5% market share. ASUS rounded out the top five with a 4% share.

Though the Android is not strong in the third quarter and market share is down to 32.4% from Q2’s 33.2%, IDC expects Android to make dramatic share gains in the fourth quarter growing to 40.3%. Why IDC’s experts are so optimistic in Android market? They think that Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which was released in the early Q3, will contribute to the increase of Android market share.

“Amazon and Barnes & Noble are shaking up the media tablet market, and their success helps prove that there is an appetite for media tablets beyond Apple’s iPad.” Said Tom Mainelli, research director “That said, I fully expect Apple to have its best-ever quarter in 4Q11, and in 2012 I think we’ll see Apple’s product begin to gain more traction outside of the consumer market, specifically with enterprise and education markets.”

Mainelli suggested that there will be wider changes in 2012 as the iPad begins to enter newer mar: “I think we’ll see Apple’s product begin to gain more traction outside of the consumer market, specifically with enterprise and education markets.”

Jennifer Song, research analyst at IDC, explained: “Apple’s larger portfolio of tablet-specific apps, upcoming iPad versions, and growing physical store presence in key emerging markets like Asia/Pacific will help maintain its global leadership. However, an improving Android OS experience and lower competitor pricing in an environment with worldwide economic concerns should help Android to increase its market share.”

Let’s put aside this research, which tablet are you using? And if you are planning to get one, which will be your choice? iPad or Kindle Fire? Please leave comment to share your opinions.

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Last Thursay, Apple released its App Store Rewind 2011, lists the best and most popular apps of the year. The App Store Rewind features 20 categories from Travel to Games, and names the top five apps of each category. This year the Rewind separated iPhone and iPad apps, with some of the apps overlapping.

The iPhone app of the year was Burbn’s photo sharing app Instagram, while the honors for the iPhone game of the year went to Tiny Tower. In iPad, Apple ranked Snapseed as the tops, with Dead Space for iPad coming in as its favorite game.

In the music category, Adele garnered the top spot for her album 21 and The Foo Fighters Wasting Light is album of the year. The song of the year was Foster the People’s school shooting lament Pumped Up Kicks. Breakthrough artist went to Nicki Minaj.

In Books, Apple board member Al Gore took the top spot with Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.

There are many selections in the Movie category, from best Blockbuster to best Comedy, to best Indie, to best romance.  There are also a ton of sub-categories including most debated, reboot of the year and sweetest revenge.

How do you think of this top list? Are your favorite apps in the list? Please leave a comment if you have different opinion with Apple staff.

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Smartphones have become such an important part of our lives that they’ve become more than accessories. In fact, many people sleep with their smartphones, and nobody likes to hear about someone insulting their bedmate.

iPhone is absolutely the most popular smartphone in the world, though Android is undeniably winning the market share battle. So which is better?

Here are some quotes from Business Insider to show what some tech gurus, entrepreneurs and CEOs think of iPhone and Android.

“I think both platforms are great — I use both every single day — but for my primary phone I use a Galaxy Nexus. Why? Because while iOS might be more elegant, easy-to-use, and have a better overall selection of apps, Android does a better job at the things I care about most, like Gmail and Google Voice, plus I can install aftermarket keyboards like SwiftKey which have greatly improved my typing speed. Ultimately each person has their own mix of what’s important to them, and what’s great about the gadget space now is that we have so much choice and we can all find what’s right for us (this is why we started gdgt, actually).”

Alex Godin, tech entrepreneur and founder of Dispatch.io

“Two years ago I switched from the iPhone to Android. After a little while I’m back on a Sprint iPhone 4S. The simplicity and ease of use was just hard to beat. Android tries to do too many things and doesn’t do any of them well. We need both — art galleries and workshops.  Both are creative, but each serves different roles.  And you must support and understand both to succeed in a technology world.”

What do you think? Which is better and which are you using now? Will you change the one you are using to the other? Welcome to share your opinions.

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A report from IBM Smarter Commerce Survey issued on Saturday that  indicated, double digit increases in online sales Thanksgiving Day (up 39.3% from 2010) and Black Friday (up 24.3%) and a 200% increase in purchases made on mobile devices (from 3.2% in 2010 to 9.8% this year).

Below are some figures quoted from the survey:

• The Apple Shopper: Mobile shopping was led by Apple, with the iPhone and iPad ranking one and two for consumers shopping on mobile devices (5.4 percent and 4.8 percent respectively). Android came in third at 4.1 percent. Collectively iPhone and iPad accounted for 10.2 percent of all online retail traffic on Black Friday.
• The iPad Factor: Shoppers using the iPad led to more retail purchases more often per visit than other mobile devices with conversion rates reaching 4.6 percent compared to 2.8 percent for overall mobile devices.
• Surgical Shopping Goes Mobile: Mobile shoppers demonstrated a laser focus that surpassed that of other online shoppers with a 41.3 percent bounce rate on mobile devices versus online shopping rates of 33.1 percent.
• The Social Influence: Shoppers referred from Social Networks generated 0.53 percent of all online sales on Black Friday. Facebook led the pack, accounting for 75 percent of all traffic from social networks.

The relatively weak showing by devices running Google’s Android, despite a market share that dwarf’s Apple’s iOS, is consistent with earlier studies that found Android users spending less time online and far less money on apps.

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Many reports indicate that Apple will finally unveiling their newly renovated 5th Avenue Apple NYC store – the Glass Cube on Friday, November 4th. For preparing, Apple will temporarily close its flagship Fifth Ave retail store in New York on Thursday evening.

Apple began work on the $6.6 million renovation back in June. Since then, the 5th Avenue Store has been surrounded by barriers and the store has remained open as the construction has continued. The redesign involves replacing the cube’s 90 glass panels with only 15 larger ones. The new design is rendered artistically above.

In September, the company began slowly removing the temporary structure surrounding the cube. Workers began taking off the white covering along the bottom section of the cube on Thursday in preparation for the unveiling.

The store opened in May 2006 and has since become a popular destination for tourists.

A November 4th unveiling falls in line with the original permits which estimated “early November” as a possible completion date. If the grand unveiling is indeed taking place this Friday, we expect Apple will make an announcement this week to inform the press.

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In spite of its problems on batteries, Apple yesterday announced that the hot selling smart phone – iPhone 4s will be available in Hong Kong, South Korea and 13 additional countries on next Friday, November 11. The 13 additional countries are Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala,  Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal and Romania. Now, the new smart phone from Apple will be available in countries in Asia, Central America and Europe.

Customers will be able to pre-order iPhone 4S beginning on this Friday, November 4. But the price of the new iPhone 4s isn’t published on Hong Kong Apple’s official website.

Below is the original press from Apple.

“Pre-Orders Begin November 4

CUPERTINO, California—November 1, 2011—Apple® today announced that iPhone® 4S, the most amazing iPhone yet, will be available in Hong Kong, South Korea and 13 additional countries on Friday, November 11. Customers will be able to pre-order iPhone 4S beginning on Friday, November 4.*

iPhone 4S is packed with incredible new features including Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics; an all new camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri™, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking.

Beginning Friday, November 11, iPhone 4S will be available in Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania and South Korea. iPhone 4S is available today in 29 countries around the world and will be available in more than 70 countries by the end of the year.

iPhone 4S comes in either black or white for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the new 64GB model.** iPhone 4S is sold through the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPhone 4 is available for just $99 (US) and iPhone 3GS is available for free with a two year contract from participating carriers.

*Pre-orders not available in Albania, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro and Panama.

**Qualified customers only. Requires a new two year rate plan, sold separately.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.”

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After the rush of snapping up Steve Jobs’ bigraphy in bookstores around the world from Monday, now, the biography has finally become available on iBooks and Kindle.

The book is an authorized biography by Walter Isaacson that has received positive reviews as many facts have leaked in the days before its official release.  Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years – as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

Refer to how this biograhpy came to be, here are some original words from Steve Jobs, “In order to mask my emotion, I asked the one question that was still puzzling me: Why had he been so eager, during close to 50 interviews and conversations over the course of two years, to open up so much for a book when he was usually so private? “I wanted my kids to know me,” he said. “I wasn’t always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.”

If you haven’t got a hardcopy of the biography, maybe you can also buy it from iBooks or Kindle. But for me, I would like to get a hardcopy.

By the way, you can also see the interview video of Steve Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson was interviewed for 60 minutes.

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Though it’s a bit late, but I have to say: Happy Birthday, iPod!

Tenth years passed after it was released on Oct, 23rd, 2001 by Steve Jobs on the press conference in Apple’s headquarter – Cupertino, California. While the iPod was not the first MP3 player, it was the first to catch on among the masses, the first version of the device offering space for 1,000 songs and 10 hours of battery life in a gadget that could fit in your pocket.

“it’s a nice feature for Macintosh users, but to the rest of the Windows world, it doesn’t make any difference.” Maybe this is a great drawback for the first generation iPod, so, about nine months after releasing the first iPod, Apple made a few minor updates and released the second-gen-ipod on July 17th, 2002. The biggest addition was the ability for Windows PC users to use the iPod with Musicmatch Jukebox software. iTunes was launched this year to make it convenient for iPod users to purchase and download their favorite songs.

The iPod itself has changed over the years. And it’s also very popular with many people, now, there are four patterns, iPod Shuffle, Nano, Touch and Classic.

iPod is not just a music player that changed the way people listen to music, it’s also a watershed to Apple. If the iPod failed, Apple would have remained a boutique computer maker prized by designers and schools but able to be safely ignored by the tech world at large. Instead, the iPod proved to be a powerful wedge. To date, Apple has sold more than 300 million iPods.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

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News from Reuters, Apple iPhone 4s is being sold in stores  in seven country across the globle on Friday, with fans snapping up the final gadget unveiled during Steve Jobs’ lifetime, many buying the phone as a tribute to the former Apple boss.

It’s reported that Sydney is the first country to sale iPhone 4s, then Japan, German, France, England, American and Canada. So, you can see hundreds of fans queued around city blocks in Sydney and Tokyo to be the first to get their hands on the iPhone 4S, which looks similar to the previous iPhone 4 but has a faster processor, better camera  and a well-received voice activated software – Siri, which makes the new iPhone still get a good comment after the disappointment of no iPhone 5.

Australian Tom Mosca, the first to buy the new phone in Sydney, said the first thing he would do was ask his new white iPhone: “Where’s Steve?” Many Apple fans believe the phone was called iPhone 4S meaning “for Steve”. ( I also believe this saying.)  So, many fans are willing to buy new iPhone, it’s said that the pre-order of iPhone 4s has set a new record, as it beat the old record of 600,000 sales for the iPhone 4. And a report from Reuters shows, only ten per cent of the queued people are new users, other are Apple fans to upgrade their iPhone.

Though Apple said that they wouldn’t make the sales data public, Apple CEO Tim Cook and his executive team hope the first device launched without the firm’s former visionary leader at the helm will safeguard their global market share and the volumn can reache up to 3 million, doubled as last year’s record.

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As schedule, the white iPod Touch of fourth-generation is now available in stock and priced from $199, you can go to Apple retail store to get one right now or preorder one white iPod Touch of the six types showed on Apple online store.

According to iLounge, as Apple salesman introduced, buyers can directly experience over 200 new features brought in iOS 5, which is pre-installed in white iPod.

Comparing of white and black iPod Touch:

White iPod just looks so “elegant”, don’t you think so? Do you like it or the black one?

If you want to learn more about the new white iPod Touch of fourth-generation, please go to Apple.com for details on excellent features of iOS 5.

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