Samsung’s mobile and TV app store Samsung Apps has passed 10 Million downloads in Europe, the manufacturer announced today.

Samsung Apps, which was launched in September 2009 in countries including the UK, France, Germany and Italy, is now available in 109 markets worldwide, including 34 countries across Europe.

However, the manufacturer is still some way behind Apple. In January this year, Apple announced that three billion applications had been downloaded for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Samsung is now planning to drive the creation of more ‘locally-customised applications’. It will also integrate relevant local information, designed to ‘reflect cultural characteristics and provide a more enriching, tailored service’ to users globally.

Samsung said it will continue to drive Samsung Apps by introducing further bada-powered devices, following the Samsung Wave, the first smartphone based on Samsung’s own bada platform.

Mark Papermaster, senior vice-president of devices hardware engineering, has left his job at Apple following a series of problems with reception on its latest iPhone 4.

The company has not disclosed the reasons or time of his deparature but it’s evident what are reasons are. Apple got evry bad ss following the iPhone 4 launch and this has pissed off Setve Jobs.

Papermaster’s responsibilities are being handled on by Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of Macintosh hardware engineering.

Papermaster, who’s previously worked for IBM for more than 20 years, was lured to Apple by Jobs last year, prompting IBM to try to stop the move on fears he would give away the family secrets. IBM though settled teh issues and he joined Apple in April 2009.

Apple has been selling people style and not decent cell phones is now clearly evident when Apple Inc. said Friday that it was “stunned” to find that its iPhones have for years been using a “totally wrong” formula to determine how many bars of signal strength they are getting.

Are they kidding?!!!!

Apple said that’s the reason behind widespread complaints from users that the latest model, iPhone 4, can show a sudden plunge in signal strength when they hold it in a way that covers a small black strip on one edge of the phone. Users have jokingly called this the “death grip” for the phone.

That drop seems exaggerated because the phone can wrongly display four or five bars of signal strength when it shouldn’t, Apple said.

“Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place,” the company said in a statement to users.

The company said it will fix the formula to one recommended by AT&T Inc. through a free software update within a few weeks for the most recent iPhone models, 3G, 3GS and 4. However, the “wrong” formula goes back as far as the original iPhone, launched in 2007.

Apple apologized to customers “for any anxiety we may have caused.”

Apple launched the iPhone 4 on June 24 in the U.S. and four other countries, and users began complaining on Apple’s customer support website within hours.

Despite numerous complaints about dropped calls, slow data service and lack of features, particularly in the U.S., the iPhone is a standout success owing to marketing and people penchant for stylish products, with each model selling faster than the previous one. Apple said it sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in its first three days, essentially running out of stock.

Apple unveiled the new iPhone 4 featuring FaceTime, which makes video calling a reality, and new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone. This will mean super crisp text, images and video. In addition, iPhone 4 has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time in a all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world. iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the mobile operating system, which includes over 100 new features and 1500 new APIs for developers. iOS 4 features Multitasking, Folders, enhanced Mail, deeper Enterprise support and Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform.

“iPhone 4 is the biggest leap since the original iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “FaceTime video calling sets a new standard for mobile communication, and our new Retina display is the highest resolution display ever in a phone, with text looking like it does on a fine printed page. We have been dreaming about both of these breakthroughs for decades.”

People who are contemplating a new smartphone are advised to hold off their purchase and wait for the highly anticipated revolutionary Windows Phone 7 which will be released by holiday 2010.

Despite been riddled with many inadequacies and problems, iPad tablet computer is sellign briskly. Though, many other products offering much better and additonal features will be on sale in coming months, this another new product from Apple’s stable which is Good for Nothing!

Apple put its iPad 3G on sale in the U.S. late Friday afternoon at prices starting at $629, compared with the $499 bottom price for the version without cellular connectivity that launched a month ago.

It appears consumers just want it for cool style statemenst like they did with iPod and iPhone. The marketing hype ensured that it went off the shelves as soon as it arrived. BUt what is it good for? Nobody is sure of it’s utility or purpose.