LG Electronics has announced its highest-ever fourth quarter earnings – just three months after it announced its highest-ever third quarter earnings.

Global sales for Q4 2009 (including LG’s overseas subsidiaries) rose 6.8% to 14.3 trillion Korean Won (£7.6 billion) year-on-year. However, the LG Mobile business reported worldwide sales of KRW 4.2 trillion (£2.2 billion), 7.4% down year-on-year.

Pretty much as expected, Apple has announced a new tablet computing device. It's called the Apple iPad and it'll be available in the USA from late March, with a mobile 3G version arriving in April. International versions will be available from June, which is when we expect to see it officially in the UK.

The overall impression is of a giant iPhone with a 9.7-inch multi-touch 1024 x 768 pixel screen. It has a 1Ghz custom-designed processor, battery life is a maximum 10 hours and there are three memory options: 16GB, 32GB or 64GB flash storage. External dimensions are 243mm x 190mm x 13.4mm; weight will be from 680g depending on the model.

3 UK activated its 10,000th 3G cellsite on Friday night – and has another 3,000 planned for later this year. It says this gives its UK operation 92.75% population coverage. The network is also currently consolidating its 3G network infrastructure with T-Mobile through its Mobile Broadband Network Limited mast-sharing joint venture.

Last year didn’t seem to be a good one for job seekers anywhere – and the telecoms sector was no exception. But now, in 2010, things seem to be looking better. So does this mean it’s the right time for mobile phone companies to start recruiting and for employees to think about moving jobs?

To answer those questions, this week's edition of The Fonecast includes an interview with two telecoms recruitment specialists; Graham Sedgley, who runs Peplow Recruitment Services, and Spencer Davies, the sales director at Wye Recruitment.