Netflix users in the U.S. can finally share what movies and TV shows their watching with their friends on Facebook. The Web video service today announced subscribers can now login in using their Facebook account, allowing friends a window into their view habits. “By default, sharing will only happen on Netflix. You'll see what titles your friends have watched in a new 'Watched by your friends’ row and what they have rated four or five stars in a new 'Friends’ Favorites’ row. Your friends will also be able to see what you watch and rate highly,” wrote Cameron Johnson, director …

Nearly half of American teens now have smartphones and one in four are “cell-mostly” Internet users, according to a new study of teen mobile use. Among key findings from the Pew Research Center survey of 802 people aged 12-17 and their parents: -78% of teens now have a cell phone, and almost half (47%) of them own smartphones. That translates into 37% of all teens who have smartphones, up from just 23% in 2011.  -23% of teens have a tablet computer, a level comparable to the general adult population. -95% of teens use the Internet. -93% of teens have a …

Brown Printing Company on Tuesday announced acquiring mobile marketing technology company Nellymoser. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Boston-based Nellymoser provides software tools and services that help them run mobile campaigns embedding technologies including QR codes, digital watermarks, and images in printed media from magazines to catalogs to product packaging. The company deployed more than 800 print-to-digital last year for 50 of the top 100 magazines. With the acquisition, Nellymoser will operate as a division of Gruner + Jahr-owned Brown Printing and maintain operations in Boston. “Our acquisition of Nellymoser allows us to provide cutting-edge integrated tools as an …

The Federal Communications Commission has approved the merger of T-Mobile USA with prepaid wireless provider MetroPCS Communications. The Department of Justice cleared the proposed deal earlier this month but transaction still has to be approved by MetroPCS shareholders. In a statement today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger “will benefit millions of American consumer and help the U.S. maintain the global leadership in mobile it has regained in recent years.” He suggested the deal would help advance the goal of building out the country’s mobile broadband infrastructure. The merger faces opposition, though, from MetroPCS shareholders who are …

The presentation I enjoyed most at SXSWi was "Anarchist to Sell-Out: Punks Make Better CEOs" by Deep Local CEO Nathan Martin. Martin's candid account of his journey from skate punk, to electronics anarchist, to metal front man, to tactical-media artist and agitator, to design professor, to creative technologist for hire (my characterizations, not his) was a provocative and inspiring story about embracing the disruptive force of creativity and living strictly on one's own terms."

In a kind of weird juxtaposition, NASCAR will be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art tonight for a cause marketing event supporting a partnership with Autism Speaks and Speeding for a Cure.

IMG's Catalyst Public Relations has won the Small Agency of the Year Award from PRWeek.It's the fourth agency of the year award for Catalyst in the past five years for client growth, client retention and overall creativity and innovation.

Tablet apps will generate $8.8 billion in revenue this year, while the larger volume of smartphone apps will drive $16.4 billion, according to the latest forecasts from ABI Research. Of the combined $25 billion, 65% will come from Apple’s iOS ecosystem, 27% from Google’s Android, and the remaining 8% from the other mobile platforms. The firm further projects revenue from tablet apps will surpass that from smartphone apps by 2018, when the combined revenue base reaches $92 billion. “The dynamic is quite straightforward,” said ABI senior analyst Aapo Markkanen. “The larger screen makes apps and content look and feel better, …

Macquarie Securities has thrown cold water on speculation that companies including Yahoo may want to buy struggling game developer Zynga. In a research note today, analyst Ben Schachter called rumors Yahoo might snap up Zynga “unfounded.” “We believe that ZNGA is unlikely to be acquired anytime soon, as we don’t believe that Mark Pincus wants to sell at this time. Nor do we believe that Yahoo would have any interest in acquiring a content creator such as ZNGA when its strategy is to partner with varied content providers,” he wrote. The takeover speculation helped send Zynga’s shares 10% higher on …

Robert Wong is Executive Director of Google's Creative Lab, the company's in-house ad shop. And what a great dad. He showcased some of the company's recent ads at the Four A's Conference in New Orleans on Monday, his daughter Lucy's ninth birthday. While he couldn't be home to celebrate with her, Wong enlisted the hundreds of attendees at his presentation to create a unique electronic birthday card. Or video actually. On his cue, the crowd sang Happy Birthday to Lucy while Wong caught it on his smartphone. And who knows, if you happened to have been at the session singing …