Hasta La Gadget!

Analyst Gartner has just put out a set of predictions for the Chinese market – and it’s expecting a big role for PC and mobile maker Lenovo in the homegrown smartphone space. Noting that Lenovo has “gained real momentum” in China, Gartner expects the company to take the No. 1 smartphone seller crown next year.

It’s been an impressive surge for Lenovo and its Android-powered LePhone. Gartner notes its smartphone market share rose from 1.7 percent in Q3 2011 to 14.8 percent in Q3 2012, making it currently China’s No. 2 smartphone brand, ahead of Apple (6.9 percent) and behind Samsung (16.7 percent).

In a conference call with analysts back in August, ZDNet quoted Lenovo’s CEO Yang Yuanqing saying: “Our smartphone sales in China reached almost 5m this quarter. Total phone sales volume reached almost 7m to surpass our China PC volume for the first time. In June our smartphone market share in China reached 13%. Now we have surpassed Nokia and Huawei to become the number two smartphone and the all-phone player for the first time in China.”

Earlier this month, Reuters reported Yianqing saying the company expected its Chinese smartphone business to become profitable in the “next couple of quarters.”

Gartner notes: “[Lenovo] is the only local smartphone player that can compete with global top brands in China, thanks to its household brand recognition, nationwide distribution, strong portfolio and reasonable pricing.”

Lenovo’s smartphones are priced at the mid-to-lower end of the market, and it’s that affordable pricing that Gartner expects to drive much of its future growth — noting that “global brands are less competitive” in this segment.

Gartner said it also expects Lenovo to gain share from open markets where “its brand and distribution are better established than local competitors.”

When it comes to the tablet market in China, Gartner expects shipments of media tablets to match shipments of mobile PCs (such as laptops) by 2016 — noting that media tablets are becoming much more affordable in the region. Gartner expects the average price of media tablets will drop from $262 in 2011 to $176 in 2016, and predicts shipments of media tablets will reach 57 million units in China in 2016, nearly matching mobile PCs at 58 million units.

Gartner also notes that media tablet adoption in China is not limited to the consumer market — with “increasing” demand from many different vertical markets, including hospitality, insurance, finance, retail transportation and education.

“China is a market characterized by strong local flavors, especially in the fast-growing smartphone and tablet markets,” said Matthew Cheung, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a statement.

The popular internet radio service iHeartRadio has announced that they have reached the 20-million-user mark. Furthermore, they claim that their app has been downloaded over 135 million times. Clear Channel, the company that owns and operates iHeartRadio, says that they now have almost 240 million monthly listeners.

While 20 million listeners registered on iHeartRadio seems like a lot, Clear Channel says that users don’t need an account to use the service, meaning that millions more people are using the service. iHeartRadio was launched 13 months ago at the inaugural iHeartRadio Music Festival back in September 2011.

Brian Lakamp, President of Digital for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, says that “iHeartRadio has experienced unprecedented growth,” and the service “truly creates unmatched promotional power that is unique to Clear Channel and allows [them] to be wherever [their] listeners are with the products and services they expect.”

iHeartRadio provides instant access to over 1,500 live broadcast and digital-only radio stations across the US from 150 cities, and by signing up for an account, you can get access to user-created Custom Stations inspired by a variety of favorite artists and songs. The iHeartRadio App is available across multiple platforms including on the web, and on iOS and Android devices.

iHeartRadio surpasses 20 million users, sees over 135 million downloads is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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If you like some of the music that AC/DC has made over the years, like me, it probably pains you to pay full price for a complete album when you only want a couple tracks. Sadly, AC/DC has kept their music off the iTunes digital music store so no one could buy individual tracks – until now. AC/DC’s full catalog is finally available on iTunes.

That means all sixteen of the band’s studio albums, along with four live albums, and three compilation albums are now available to purchase as digital tracks. Apple is also offering two exclusive iTunes collections. Naturally, one of those collections is called The Collection and gives you all sixteen studio albums for $99.99 (USD).

The other special collection only available on iTunes is called The Complete Collection, which includes all the studio albums, live albums, and box sets for $149.99. The best news is that fans can now purchase any individual track they want from any of the bands albums.

For those about to download, we salute you.

In two days we celebrate a holiday in which the main theme (aside from gratitude) is “bigger is better.” That’s why Rebtel is here to change that mindset by offering two iPad Minis (black 16GB WiFi-only) to a pair of lucky winners, along with a voucher for $100 service credit! The VoIP provider is promoting its iPad app, which is a free download that allows you to make free calls over WiFi and cellular to other Rebtel users, as well as cheap international calls. (If you’re not an Apple user, the company also has Android, Windows Phone and PC apps available.) So you know what to do: take a moment to reflect on what you’re thankful for, and leave a comment below to enter to win.

Continue reading Engadget Giveaway: win one of two iPad Minis, courtesy of Rebtel!

Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile, Apple

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