Early success for the iPhone 5 smartphone has helped Apple to overtake Google's  Android  software in the United States, research firm Kantar WorldPanel said on Tuesday.

Apple's US market share in the 12 weeks to October 31 more than doubled from a year ago to 48.1 per cent, putting it within reach of the record 49.3 per cent it managed in early 2012.

Android's share dropped to 46.7 per cent from 63.3 per cent, Kantar WorldPanel's data showed, but it continues to dominate in key European markets. The platform 74 per cent market share in Germany and 82 per cent in Spain.

Its combined share of the top five European markets rose to 64 per cent, from 51 per cent a year earlier, while Apple's share edged up by one percentage point to 21 per cent.

The Pakistani websites of approximately as many as 300 companies, including that of tech giants Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Apple, were hacked and defaced during the weekend by a Turkish group named Eboz. Media reports have previously attributed around 600 other instances of hacking to this group.

On one of the defaced websites, the members of Eboz posted: "Why we have wasted our time to hack Pakistani sites? Just because let us convey our message. We warned you and we were willing to fix your vulnerability but you think we are jokers and you guys took it as a joke? Yes it's time to bang you guys!!"

The group seems to have exploited and highlighted a vulnerability of PKNIC, the TLD (Top Level Domain) operator that regulates all sites with .pk domains.

Some of the other companies affected by this systematic take down of services include Cisco, Visa,HSBC, Coca Cola, Blogspot, Sony, HP, eBay and PayPal, among others. While writing this report, some of the websites seems to have been restored; however, a few still seem to be under the hacker cell's control. Those trying to access Pakistani websites of iTunes, Blogspot, eBay, PayPaletc are either redirected elsewhere or the websites simply do not open.

The home pages of Google and a few other websites had the pictures of two penguins, with a phrase in Turkish that translates to: "My homies in a friend always there for me/ Have not shot by me with every breath."