A move that may seem as a shot across the bow of their smart phone competitor, Samsung has announce its partnership and support of Adobe Air for apps on the Smart TV. This will certainly drive scale of that app ecosystem. Wondering how many app stores I'll have to manage in the future...

No set top box needed in new parnerships with Samsung Smart TV and access through these cable providers. And watch the same content on the Samsung tablets. Interesting counter-point to the Google TV partnerships of the other TV manufacturers. This marriage though, may seems less rife with potential issues of the Google TV one. Is "over the top" dead?

Watching President BK Yoon talk about the emotional value of digital products and "digital humanism" inspired by Samsung's pico projector being used by the trapped miners in Chile. His 4 As: Access, Align, Amaze, Act. It's all about content and human experiences. Nice to see some "humanism" in this sea of tech.

Watching President BK Yoon talk about the emotional value of digital products and "digital humanism" inspired by Samsung's pico projector being used by the trapped miners in Chile. His 4 As: Access, Align, Amaze, Act. It's all about content and human experiences. Nice to see some "humanism" in this sea of tech.

Skype, expected to raise up to $1 billion through an IPO this year, is starting to roll out new paid services to bolster revenues. The Luxembourg-based company said Thursday it will introduce group video-calling for businesses for $8.99 a month per user. Companies using the Skype Manager tool that sign up employees for a 3 or 12-month subscription for the new Group Video Calling feature will get a one-third promotional discount. According to Skype's IPO filing in August, only about 1.5% of its users are paying customers. To strengthen its income statement, Skype plans to add more …

Tapjoy, formerly Offerpal Media, has secured $21 million in a venture funding round led by Rho Ventures and including prior investors including InterWest Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners and D. E. Shaw Ventures. The latest financing brings the company's total raised to $40 million. Tapjoy said it will used the additional capital to expand its app distribution and monetization across Apple's iOS platform, Android and Facebook. Offerpal, which was caught up in the controversy over scam offers in 2009, acquired app monetization platform Tapjoy earlier this year and adopted the company's name to reflect its shift toward broader mobile …

Google's Android mobile operating system blew past Apple's iOS to become the second-ranked smartphone platform in the U.S. with a 26% share of the market for the three months ending in November. BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion is still No. 1 with a 33.5% share, but that's down from 37.6% in the prior three months. Apple's share increased only slightly to 25%, while Android picked up more than six percentage points since the end of August. Samsung remained the top phone manufacturer, with a 24.5% market share, followed by LG (20.9%), Motorola (17%), RIM (8.8%) and Nokia (7.2%). The number …

Mobile barcode scanning activity in the fourth quarter doubled over the prior quarter and was up 16-fold for the year overall, according to the latest trend report from barcode technology company Scanbuy. Scanning traffic in the quarter peaked on Black Friday and on Christmas Day (as people received gifts including new smartphones.) The study also found scanning of traditional UPC (or 1D codes) outpaced 2D codes during the holiday shopping season and that coupons, pricing, and nutritional information were the most popular features among those scanning UPC codes. That follows a previous finding that food and personal care are …

Call it the Christmas that fizzled. When consumers stormed into stores in November, retailers thought they could count on that enthusiasm to last until the ball dropped, but shoppers had other ideas: December's sales numbers aren't as healthy as many had hoped. Despite strong gains for some, including luxury chains like Saks and Nordstrom, and positive results for department stores, there were still some major letdowns. Target, for example, says its comparable-store sales gained just 1%, below expectations. "Strength in grocery and apparel was offset by softness in electronics, toys and some home categories," Gregg Steinhafel, chairman/CEO, says …

Lisa Weinstein has joined Starcom MediaVest Group as president of global digital and search. Weinstein, who will be based in Chicago, will report to SMG Global CEO Laura Desmond. She joins the Publicis unit from WPP's Mindshare unit, where she was a managing partner responsible for several high profile accounts, including BP, Kimberly-Clark, Motorola and Wrigley. Weinstein will serve on SMG's Executive and Global Management Groups.