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...

The Polaroid brand name has long been married to a seemingly ancient past that had cameras that actually printed physical manifestations of each image soon after they were taken. These days, photographers of all stripes, whether casually clicking on their phones or pulling out their high-end single-lens reflexes, have gone all-digital.

Now Polaroid—which hasn’t produced its iconic cameras or film since 2008 after going bankrupt and being sold off in 2001—is rebranding itself for the digital age and opening up branded stores that aid consumers in printing out their favorite digital works. Its first branded store, Polaroid Fotobar, has now opened in Delray Beach, Fla., just north of Boca Raton. The stores, announced at CES in January, aim to help folks “liberate” images from the “confines of their digital devices.”

Photography as a hobby has gained a lot of interest now that it has gotten much easier for people to tote around cameras and capture images in all sorts of locations, however it remains unclear how many consumers want to print out those images rather than just keep them all in purely digitized forms.Continue reading...

We may live in an increasingly virtual world, but often it's what happens at live tech trade shows that sets the tone for what is to come. Such was the case with the flurry of major product announcements at January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. 

This week's Mobile World Congress (MWC13) in Barcelona, Spain has been just as interesting, albeit for different reasons. One couldn't help but notice, for example, Samsung everywhere and Apple nowhere. Coming off its recent glitzy Super Bowl campaign with Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen and Oscars ad campaign starring Tim Burton, Samsung had a dominant presence at MWC13, debuting the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet as a competitor to the iPad Mini, touting its Android-powered Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II smartphones and proclaiming that it would double tablet sales from a year ago.

Samsung also aligned itself with the show introduction of Intel's Tizen, a new mobile operating system expected to challenge Google's Android. This could potentially put Samsung, which will launch Tizen-based phones this summer, on a collision course with Google, since Samsung currently makes more Android-based devices than any other manufacturer.

Of course, collision courses are nothing new for Samsung, the Korean behemoth that leads the world in cellphones.Continue reading...

The International CES show in Las Vegas put branding on the main stage on Wednesday.

The "Brand Matters" keynote focused on the social media aspects of marketing. Moderated by Michael Kassan, chairman and CEO of MediaLink, the keynote began with a one-on-one with Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com. Benioff discussed social marketing, the explosion of consumption and sharing of content thanks to the proliferation of wireless. “The mobile revolution has taken over everything,” said Benioff. “When you walk the show floor like I did yesterday, you see in real-time that everything is connected.”

The keynote then broke into a panel discussion with executives from AT&T, American Express, Coca-Cola and Unilever to explore the magic of unlocking a brand. As CNBC noted, Benioff quipped: "It's amazing that a software professional is on a panel with CMOs; that's never before happened at CES," Benioff said, chalking it up to a shift in CMOs' spending. "These marketers are going to spend more on technology than their Chief Information Officer counterparts in a very short amount of time."

The Brand Matters SuperSession (watch above) then focused on how consumers are really engaging with digital media.Continue reading...

One of the more buzz-worthy exhibits at International CES in Las Vegas this week has proven to be HAPIlabs' booth. One of a glut of new health-centric gadget makers at CES vowing to track consumers' every blip and move, the developers of the device promise that its battery-operated, digitally connected HAPIfork can help you eat less and save weight by reminding you to ingest more slowly. Mom would be so proud.

"It tracks the time you start eating, the length of your meal and the number of times you bring your fork to your mouth," HAPIlabs CEO and Founder Patrice Boutain explained to ABC News in an interview at CES. If you go for too many of what he called "fork servings," HAPIfork lightly vibrates in objection and lights up an LED warning on the fork handle — sort of like the gentle reminders that occur these days in high-end, wired automobiles when you stray out of your lane.

A video for HAPIfork shown at CES promises that the device can help monitor your eating behavior, encouraging healthier habits and weight loss. It's CES, so it's touting its a Bluetooth connection, USB connector, mobile app, virtual coach and "fun social game." It'll be $99 when it becomes available at retail this year.Continue reading...

Apple reportedly working on a lower-end iPhone.

H&M reveals launch plans for & Other Stories store brand.

Lance Armstrong to discuss doping in exclusive live-streamed Oprah Winfrey interview as new allegations arise.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos doesn't care about profit margins.

American Airlines upgrades international travel.

Asus looks to share in Google Nexus glory.

Audi A7 self-driving autopilot car goes for a spin at CES.

Beauty brands including Philosophy try oxygenating products.

Best Buy's former CMO lands at LivingSocial.

Boeing sees formal probe of Dreamliner.Continue reading...

Samsung's marketing team is inviting the public to contribute to "We All Share," a crowdsourced film that it plans to unveil in a live premiere at CES on January 9th at 2pm EST:

"Embark on a global film experience and discover what common bond brings us all together. Tell us 'what does sharing mean to you?' by tagging Twitter or Instagram pics with #weallshare and learn more at weallshare.samsung.com."

Watch the trailer below, and Samsung's other 2013 CES videos on its YouTube channel.Continue reading...

The annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that's now underway in Las Vegas is not only the world's biggest trade show, but a snapshot of how the fast-moving world of technology innovation is impacting sectors. Witness automotive, such as Ford's just-announced mobile partnerships to enhance the brand's in-car connectivity platform as part of a bigger CES push by car manufacturers this year.

CES is also a soapbox for competitors to one-up one another as they spit out product announcements and flaunt new alliances. This year, the rivalry is particularly fierce in the web TV/digital streaming arena.

"As new Internet TV players look to invade the living room, some cable and satellite operators are stepping up their embrace of Web technology to jazz up aging interfaces and head off subscriber defections, the Wall Street Journal reports from the show.

CES attendees include DirecTV and Dish Network on the satellite side, Verizon (FiOS) and AT&T (U-verse) touting Telco TV, and U.S. multi-system operators including Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications are at CES to recast themselves as web TV purveyors and shake off the dreaded "cable operator" moniker. No wonder the U.S. National Cable & Telecommunications Association is reportedly considering dropping "cable" and rebranding to the U.S. Internet and Television Association (but, oddly, keeping the NCTA acronym).

AT&T's U-verse platform is introducing "Screen Pack," a $5 per month addition to existing subscriptions which enables customers to stream some 1,500 on-demand movies. AT&T plans to add more content in the future in an effort to thwart the flood of video streaming competitors in the space.Continue reading...