For all of those as Mad about technology as we are, you may be interested to learn that Apple are officially the most valuable company in the United States, taking the top spot from Exxon Mobile who have topped the list since 2005. Despite a fall of 2.8% on the stock exchange, Apple still ended trading at $363.69, giving a market cap of $337bn (£209bn) compared to Exxon Mobile’s $331bn after it fell 4.4% on the same day. For many MadBidders, Apple’s dominance over corporate America may not be at all surprising; after all they have systematically released the world’s most innovative technologies since the launch of the first iPod in November 2001. It was the first time in history that a person could travel with over ‘1000 songs in their pocket’, and since then Apple have launched countless other awe-inspiring products such as the iPod Nano, Shuffle, Touch, not to mention the world-class Mac laptops and of course the iPhone and recent second generation iPad. Apples multi-touch technologies coupled with super-speedy internet access and flawless design have marked them as the sexiest technology company around. And that is just the beginning.

Let’s not forget the iTunes store, which single-handedly changed the music and television industry by allowing hundreds of millions of users the ability to purchase high quality mp3s for as little as 99p in a matter of seconds. The iPhone and iPad are responsible for the latest technological phenomenon; the ‘app’. In fact, Apple’s App store is the largest around, with over a hundred thousand apps available for free or paid download, giving consumers and business new opportunities to interact with brands and technology.

The most remarkable part of this story is the astonishing growth that the company has achieved over the last decade. In 1986, Silicon Valley legend Steve Jobs (the original creator and CEO of Macintosh) was booted out of the company he built. After a few disastrous years of failed technology coupled with increasing competition from the likes of Microsoft, Jobs was reinstated in 1997 following Apple’s acquisition of ‘NeXT’, a hardware and software company also owned by Jobs, for $429 million. Since then, Jobs has nurtured Apple from a relatively dismal tech company to the largest and most impactful company in the United States.

Apple have always been a very secretive company, and have traditionally safe-guarded their developments in a fashion similar to Willy Wonka. Who knows what they will come up with next? What we do know is that the world is changing, and that companies like HTC and Android are releasing some similarly amazing tech masterpieces.  We at MadBid.com love Apple and we auction, and sell, items including iPhones, iPads and iPods, as well as the various MacBooks. Grab a bargain with us!

Just as Apple’s iPod wasn’t the first MP3 player, Amazon wasn’t the first company to release an e-book reader — NuvoMedia’s RocketBook and the early Sony Readers both beat the Kindle to market, however it’s hard to argue that the online retailer’s Kindle isn’t the iPod of the e-book reader market. The Kindle has helped usher the e-book reader from gadget curiosity to a burgeoning mass-market device, all in less than three short years and now, amid a much more competitive market, Amazon is debuting the third-generation Kindle.

The first thing you should know about the ‘Kindle 3′ is that it’s more evolutionary than revolutionary. Most importantly, Amazon has made its 6in. e-book reader smaller and lighter, and it has improved the screen.

In fact, this Kindle comes in a couple of versions, one with both Wi-Fi and 3G wireless for £149 (inc. VAT), and a Wi-Fi-only version that costs £109. On top of the more compact design, other key additions include more memory (4GB instead of 2GB) and double the battery life (four weeks instead of two weeks with the wireless turned off).

Here’s a rundown of the key specs:
• 6in. e-ink display
• 21 percent smaller than previous Kindle
• 15 percent lighter (247g)
• Like the new Kindle DX, screen offers better contrast
• Faster page turns (we confirmed they are slightly faster; Amazon says 20 percent)
• 4GB built-in memory (stores around 3,500 e-books)
• Improved battery life (up to a month with the wireless turned off)
• Smaller page-turn buttons that are also quieter (clicking noise is nearly silent)
• Up to four weeks of battery life from sealed-in battery (wireless turned off)
• New ‘experimental’ WebKit-based browser works better than previous browser, especially using Wi-Fi
• Expanded text-speech options. New text-to-speech-enabled menus allow you to navigate the Kindle without having to read menu options. You can not only listen to books aloud (certain ones, anyway), but also content listings on the home screen, item descriptions, and all menu options
• New built-in PDF reader, with new dictionary lookup, notes and highlights, and support for password-protected PDFs
• No cover is included, but Amazon sells two covers — one with a built-in slide-out light for £49.99 and a basic cover for £29.99.

Clearly, one of Amazon’s primary goals was to make the device smaller and more pocket- and purse-friendly so that users would be more apt to see the Kindle as an everyday gadget they can carry around with them at all times. We can say that Amazon has certainly achieved that, and the device, at least when held without a cover, feels lighter and more comfortable in your hand and easier to hold for longer periods.

Earlier this week it was announced in The Guardian that MadBid.com had made it onto the Tech Media Invest Top 100 in association with The Guardian, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Kemp Little. Tech Media Invest is a list of today’s hottest and most innovative emerging companies in the ever converging tech and media industries. The Tech Media Invest 100 (TMI) aims to showcase high-growth companies that are developing innovative ways to serve business and consumers, and have the potential to radically change the shape of the technology and media industry.

MadBid.com founded by CEO Juha Koski in August 2008 recently raised £4million in Series A Funding from leading technology investment group Atomico Ventures. Mr Koski said “for MadBid.com to be included in the Top 100 technology companies in Europe is a fantastic achievement and honour for us.” He went on to state “it is a sign of just how far we have come in such as short space of time, a real achievement for everyone connected to MadBid.”

MadBid.com made the Top 100 List for the year 2010 and will be among the top 30 companies invited to present at the prestigious Tech Media Invest 2010 event taking place on October 18th 2010 in Central London. The company will showcase just what makes their business stand out to corporate partners, journalists and industry moguls at the Tech Media Invest event.