China will overtake the U.S. this year as the world's largest smartphone market, according to a new IDC forecast. The research firm projects China will account for 26.5% of all smartphone shipments in 2012, compared to 17.8% for the U.S. Lower-priced Android phones will be a key to wider smartphone adoption throughout China.   Smartphone growth won't grind to a halt in the U.S, but it will slow as smartphones become the majority of mobile phones. “There is still a …

Mediabrands has named Liz Ross North American CEO of its new conflict shop BPN. Previously she was CEO Mediabrands Ventures North America. The shop also named Mauricio Sabogal global CEO of the new agency, which has been quietly rolling out this year in markets in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Previously, Sabogal was president world markets, Mediabrands UM and Initiative.

After expanding to Windows Phone devices last month, Zite has launched an updated version of its newsreader app that promises improved performance and new features including a social sharing menu. Among other tweaks are an icon to indicate articles that require a Web connection and the ability to maintain font size changes across articles. Though Zite launched on the iPad, the company said it will no longer make the app available on similar sized Android tablets. (It will still run on smaller Android-based devices like the Nexus 7 and Kindle …

There isn't much of a debate about apps versus the mobile Web when it comes to travel. New data from Nielsen shows Android and iOS device users spent 95% of their time accessing travel information from apps versus only 5% on the mobile Web. The research firm said the huge discrepancy was mainly driven by Google Maps—the top travel category app and site in June, accounting for 78% of all time spent in mobile on travel.

WhatRunsWhere, which allows marketers and agencies to track competitors online ad campaigns, is extending its service to mobile through the acquisition of U.K.-based startup Mobile Ad Spy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Under the deal, Mobile Ad Spy's technology will be merged into the WhatRunsWhere platform to providing competing intelligence in mobile advertising. “Anyone involved in online marketing can now see where their competitors’ ads are running on smartphones, tablets and other mobile media -- and pinpoint exactly which individual ads are running on which …

A day after announcing hitting 20 million users, Flipboard has introduced a new set of curated “TV” channels in the newsreader app's Content Guide sidebar. Powered by popular YouTube channels, the new video offering is organized into topics including cooking, music and news. While Flipboard articles may already contain video, this is the first time the company created a separate video section to complement the personalized magazine experience. Among the publishers featured in the new TV channels are Chow.com, TED, Noisey, Pitchfork TV, ABC News, CBS News and SciShow. For the video content providers, the move can …

Manish Bhatia, a long-time media research executive who for years oversaw Nielsen's online and digital strategy, has joined rival Arbitron in the new role of executive vice president-new product innovation. Bhatia, who reports Arbitron COO Sean Creamer, will oversee "cross-platform initiatives," including teams responsible for developing additional research services outside Arbitron's core radio business. Since 2010, Bhatia had been President and CEO of Symphony Advanced Media, a Silicon Valley-based startup serving advertisers with cross-media insights. Before that, he held senior positions at The Nielsen Company focused on advanced TV, online, mobile, and social media measurement.  

Meredith Corp.'s Meredith Xcelerated Marketing unit on Tuesday named Adam Gold as managing director, new business development, for The Hyperfactory, the agency's mobile practice. Gold, who was previously head of North American sales at mobile barcode company Scanbuy, will be based in MXM's New York office. His background also includes seving as senior sales director for Advertising Age.  

Popular newsreader app Flipboard today announced hitting 20 million users two years after launching as a way for people to aggregate content in a magazine-style format. In the last year, the app was extended from its original home on the iPad to the iPhone and Android and BlackBerry devices. Flipboard made a splash most recently when The New York Times in June agreed to distribute all of the newspaper's content through the app. But other publishers, most notably The New Yorker and Wired, …

LinkedIn is making it easier for marketers to advertise internationally on the professional networking site by allowing them to create display ads in one or more of 17 major world languages including Japanese, French, Czech and Turkish. “Until now, these ads have only been available in English, however it’s always been our goal to expand languages across the 200 countries where we operate,” stated a LinkedIn blog post today. Earlier this month, Linkedin said 35% of its $228 million in second quarter revenue came from …