My smartphone and me: live-streaming in China This year the number of smartphone users across the globe is expected to top 3 billion, little more than a decade after Apple's game-changing iPhone first went on sale and transformed the way people interact with their phones. Qiao Xi is a 21 years old Chinese live streamer who considers her smartphone as a "boyfriend." She sings, dances and talks about her life to more than 600,000 followers through Huoshan, a Chinese live stream platform that works mainly on smartphones. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES