Samsung’s U.S. smartphone spending in 2012 saw a huge jump from a total of $78 million in 2011. In the meantime, the company actually outspent Apple, which put $333 million toward iPhone ads during the year. Read more »
Rhapsody has retooled its relationship with MetroPCS. Instead of bundling its music subscription service in all upper-tier Metro smartphone plans, it’s selling the service for $5 a month to any Metro customer. Read more »
Give us your thoughts and takeaways from CES 2013. Read more at GigaOM »
Nokia is back with another music service in the U.S. and this time, it’s completely ad-free and no cost. Lumia 710 and 900 device owners can grab it now from the Windows Phone Marketplace to start streaming or customizing their playlists; even when offline. Read more »
The implications of Apple’s recent billion-dollar victory over Samsung in a patent-infringement case go beyond the specifics of this particular battle — the reality is the war over software and design patents is bad not just for individual companies but arguably for society as a whole. Read more at GigaOM »
Home cooks are using digital tools to help them cook: smartphones, video streaming, cooking apps and social media sites, according to an Allrecipes.com poll. But our increased dependence on the internet for cooking advice is also destroying our faith in the recipe itself. Read more at GigaOM »
Spotify’s conversion rate isn’t bad: Out of 15 million active users, more than 4 million are paying subscribers. That number may soon increase thanks to Android support for Spotify radio, which is ad-supported and offers unlimited playback of Spotify’s entire digital music catalog. Read more »
There’s an unprecedented amount of digital video coverage for this year’s Olympic Games and yet analysts suggest that the TV will easily trump viewing on other screens again. The numbers look low because of our time- and place-shifting mentality: Share your viewing plans in our poll. Read more »
Amazon is expected to introduce up to 6 new tablets, including a 10-inch model. Why not? Few besides Amazon have the consumer data, shopping experience and content to make multiple screen sized tablets, proving that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to mobile devices. Read more »
Simon & Schuster is adding QR codes to the back jackets of all its hardcover and trade paperback titles starting this fall. The publisher hopes to use the the codes to build direct-to-consumer relationships, but will readers actually scan them? Read more »
Once a Google Android exclusive, Amazon released an iOS version of its Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch devices. The free software provides streaming and download access to audio files on Amazon servers either purchased from Amazon’s music store or later uploaded by customers. Read more »
German e-reading service txtr hopes to take on Amazon and Apple by becoming the biggest provider of third party reading apps — and a deal with four major American publishers and a New York office could be the latest steps in that journey. Read more »
Nokia is launching its Reading app and e-bookstore for the Lumia Windows Phone in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK. In doing so, the company hopes to bring more local-language e-books to countries where e-readers haven’t yet taken off. Read more »
Looks like another tipping point in mobile progress was reached in Q2 this year: IDC says that shipments of smartphones outstripped those of… Read more »
ZTE, the Chinese handset and wireless equipment maker, epitomises a certain kind of new entrant in the mobile industry: very determined, ver… Read more »
