With the first month of Apple iPad sales exceeding 1 million units, it's no surprise to hear that International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts there'll be 7.6 million media tablets shipped worldwide this year.

However, according to IDC, this is just the start of a trend that'll accelerate by a compound annual growth rate of 57.4% during the next four years. In 2014, the company says more than 46 million units will be shipped. That's equivalent to over 10% of the predicted market for portable PCs in 2014.

Last year – in fact, exactly a year ago today – we reported that Californian mobile developer HipLogic had created the SnappLife application store for The Carphone Warehouse in the UK.

The two companies are now announcing HipLogic Live (which replaces the 'SnappLife' branding). This, much like SnappLife, is a free application that helps consumers connect to social networking sites, provides media content and also offers an App store. It'll be preloaded on a number of mobile phones.

Gartner's latest report into worldwide mobile phone sales says end-users bought 314.7 million devices in the first quarter of 2010, 17% up on the same period in 2009. Smartphone sales rose 48.7% to 54.3 million units.

Hong Kong-based manufacturer G-Five made its debut in the top 10, while an increase in OEM 'white box' manufacturing has seen the 'others' category increase.

A recent survey by LG – published as part of the launch campaign for the LG Optimus - says people using the Android operating system are particularly keen on applications that save them money. 25% of people surveyed said they most wanted a money-saving app (e.g. one that offers discount codes), followed by apps that saved time (9%) and apps to help them stay fit (9%). In fourth place were 'apps that help you shop for dinner' (8%) followed by apps for gaming (6%).