The epic battle that is being waged between Samsung and Apple goes well beyong mobile technology. In fact, both brands are racing to the finish to release innovative products like Smart TVs and techy accessories that will eventually mold consumers into walking, talking brand ambassadors.

The latest staged battle ground is, oddly enough, the living room. While Apple TV's streaming device floats around the market and rumors continue to swirl about an actual TV, Samsung got a head start by shipping its souped up Smart TV line (heavily promoted at CES) in the U.S. this month. A star-studded launch event in New York focused on the brand's two models, the LED F8000 and the F8500 Plasma TV, which range in price from $2,199 to $3,699.

“What really makes the TVs stand out are the built-in software called S Recommendation that helps you find shows to watch and the integrated Web cameras and sensors for motion and voice control,” notes Business Insider. “The trend with all TVs this year revolves around interconnectivity and bringing the tablet and smartphone experience into the living room. To that effect, Samsung touted its TV's ability to act as multimedia hubs where owners can interact with the sets using their voice or even gestures.”Continue reading...

As those of us on the East Coast await the onset of warmer weather, Google is busy ‘spring cleaning,’ making its broad range of platforms and apps such as Google Talk, Hangout, Voice, Messenger and Chat for Drive able to interact and share data in a unifying move called rumored to be called Babble. 

According to Geek.com, “You can share photos in chat windows just like you would in G+ Messenger and start a Hangout with anyone in your contact list."

“Moving forward, the individual services will all be pushed onto the single platform, and you'll be able to use the same chat window across all of Google's products with the same features available everywhere. It's not so much releasing a new product as it is pulling together all of the existing products under a single branding.”Continue reading...

Since MTV aired “Video Killed the Radio Star” back in August of 1981, the company has gotten into plenty of things that haven’t involved music at all, from asking its viewers to “Rock the Vote” to exposing the world to the somehow fascinating mundane dramas of young adults on the Jersey shore. 

Now, Viacom’s MTV Networks International is getting into another business: selling branded tablets in India. Or, as the Telecom Tiger puts it, fablets (presumably, a more fab version of phablets). MTV has announced a partnership with Swipe Telecom to produce a co-branded fablet, MTV Volt.

The 6-inch smartphone features a television screen so people can get their MTV wherever they are. The youth-centric device will also serve as, “a fully functional high-definition Android tablet with Wi-Fi, dual cameras, FM player and GPS functionality,” that weighs half a pound and retails for around 12,999 Rupees or $240, Telecom Tiger reports. And, of course, built-in apps allow users to get right onto Facebook and LinkedIn.Continue reading...

BlackBerry 10 phones are available in Canada as of today. It's the company's home market, and the first place in North America where consumers can put the devices into action.

"Today is a day that many Canadians, especially members of Team BlackBerry, will never forget," the company blogged.

The debut is a significant moment for BlackBerry as it attempts to rebound in the mobile phone market it once pioneered. Its Super Bowl ad did not create much buzz, and the arrival of the keyboard-equipped BlackBerry Q10 in the crucial U.S. market is not expected until May or June, its CEO, Thorsten Heins, said today. (The Z10 is expected in the U.S. by mid-March.)

Without disclosing sales figures, the company released a statement by Heins that the Z10, which also launched last week in the UK, is off to a better sales start than all of its predecessors:

"In Canada, yesterday was the best day ever for the first day of a launch of a new BlackBerry smartphone. In fact, it was more than 50% better than any other launch day in our history in Canada. In the UK, we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone."Continue reading...

BlackBerry chief marketing officer Frank Boulben taped an intro, above, to the mobile brand's first Super Bowl spot (and U.S. TV campaign), which promoted the new BlackBerry 10 during Sunday night's game. Below, more on the rebranded RIM's strategy in a behind-the-scenes video released Sunday:Continue reading...

BlackBerry CMO Frank Boulben explains why Research in Motion is no more and the company is rebranding in a video taped during Wednesday's BlackBerry 10 launch in New York.

Also at the event, as you can watch below, Grammy Award winning singer Alicia Keys explained in an on-stage chat with CEO Thorsten Heins why a self-described "iPhone junky" is taking on the global creative director title at the company.Continue reading...

Samsung already has ensured that Super Bowl XLVII will become, among other things, a grand stage for a smartphone-advertising battle. The hottest brand in handhelds confirmed that it'll be a TV-commercial participant in the Big Game for the second time, joining newbie Research in Motion and its BlackBerry brand.

Samsung Mobile said that it plans to release a teaser this week, and BlackBerry has indicated it will reveal its first Super Bowl commercial on Wednesday.

RIM on Wednesday also will be revealing something even more important than its Super Bowl ad: the new BlackBerry 10 smartphone models and operating system. Their release and marketing represent something of a Hail Mary for the brand that essentially created and once dominated the smartphone market but whose share has sunk relentlessly (now down into the single digits) as Apple, Samsung and Google have gobbled up new users.Continue reading...

You think Apple was the first to think of the iPhone? Well, OK, maybe they thought up the iPhone, but there was somebody in front of them who cooked up the IPHONE. And now the smartphone-buying public of Brazil will get to be confused by them.

An earlier incarnation of IGB Eletronica SA, a Brazilian consumer electronics manufacturer, applied for exclusive rights in Brazil to register its products under the name IPHONE way back in 2000. Apple’s iPhone didn’t launch until seven years later. There was no confusion for more than a decade since IGB hasn’t released any products under that name. But that is all about to change.

IGB will start selling its $290 Android-based IPHONE in Brazil with the first model called Neo One, Reuters reports. This news comes only a week after Apple started selling its iPhone 5 in the country.

It doesn’t appear that Apple will take IGB to court, particularly after losing a battle last month with a Mexican telecommunications company that is selling the – wait for it — iFone. In fact, the Wall Street Journal reports that IGB may end up filing suit against Apple: "The two brands can't coexist in the market," said Eugenio Staub, president of IGB’s Gradiente. "It's up to Apple to make a move."Continue reading...