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The TV is evolving into a more complex device and the basic concept on turning it on and immediately watching TV could become a thing of the past. As consumers we’ve become conditioned to expect home screens on computers, tablets, and smartphones; TVs now look set to follow suit. New TVs from Samsung and Panasonic launch to a home screen rather than the last TV channel you were watching. This home, or launch page, is a customized experience based on recognition from a built-in camera.

Google and Apple have taken clearly different approaches to the smartphone market overall. On the one hand, Apple approaches the market from a hardware-centric perspective (after all, Apple fundamentally sells hardware), while Google outsources the hardware component, focusing instead on the content delivered by the hardware and related search and advertising opportunities. At the center of these two approaches are the smartphone-toting Connected Consumers who leverage the ecosystems, but there are clear differences between iOS and Android Connected Consumers when it comes to a wider brand loyalty beyond the device itself.

The Internet connected HDTV screen has so far failed to break beyond the bounds of its TV-centric heritage, with little use for the big screen beyond the obligatory video services. But the connection is being used to provide access to a far wider variety of alternative sources for video content. The latest NPD Connected Intelligence Application & Convergence report highlights that nearly six out of ten consumers who own a connected HDTV are accessing Over-the-Top (OTT) video services through the device.

T-Mobile has finally got its hands on the iPhone, and should be launching the device early in 2013. That’s the great news and is clearly a “good thing” for the carrier as it attempts to protect and increase its subscriber base. The bad news, of course, is the timing of the launch with two key issues reducing the impact of the deal, at least near-term...

The Black Friday extravaganza saw a major lift in mobile shopping app and website use, with more than 21 percent of smartphone users pulling out their devices to compare prices on apps and 40 percent using websites during the day.

Election Day had more than one winner, with traditional media outlets doing quite well in terms of an overall boost in usage. Notably apps continue to trail web use when it comes to news-seeker smartphone users…

In 1995, The Economist Newspaper Group launched the world’s first web-only publication, a hi-tech-focused magazine called d.Comm. The magazine basked in a short-term glow of being an innovator, blazing a futuristic trail, and then closed its doors due to a lack of advertising. 17 years later, does Newsweek’s bold step to go all-digital stand any better chance of success?

It’s no surprise that the smartphone has become central in the connected consumer’s daily communications, utility, and entertainment experiences. Over the past year, and, in step with device, network and content/app ecosystem improvements, the connected consumer is spending even more time on their phone. According to NPD’s Connected Intelligence SmartMeter when comparing monthly usage of minutes per day for August 2011 versus August 2012, Android smartphone users spent nearly one-fifth more time on their smartphones daily – 247 minutes, or over four hours versus 210 minutes or 3.5 hours.

Softbank has announced its purchase of Sprint, in a deal valued at $20 billion. This cash infusion will give Sprint a much-needed boost, ensuring that the company can continue with its current LTE network roll-out, which is key to the long-term success of the carrier.

But beyond the cash infusion, the benefits of the deal are a little more of a head-scratcher, with little-to-no synergies between Softbank and Sprint.

As the holiday season draws closer, a plethora of mobile phones have been announced; some have even hit the streets already while others are due out well before the all-important Thanksgiving deadline. Despite the array of devices that will soon be available, choosing between them is proving to be somewhat more complex as they all look and work in very similar ways.