Samsung’s Galaxy Note “phablet” is a hit, with the company having sold more than 5 million units to end users around the world. While Samsung has not yet shared any region-specific sales data, any success the phone has had in the United States can be attributed to the company’s advertising, a new study suggests. The huge handset’s launch in the U.S. was precluded by a series of ads most agree were not terribly effective — including one where the vendor tried to coin the term “Samsunged” — but the South Korea-based technology giant’s current television ad was recently named the most effective ad of the year so far. Read on for more.

Television analytics firm Ace Metrix announced this week that Samsung’s “The Best Of A Phone And A Tablet” commercial is the most effective ad of the first quarter in the U.S. The firm uses a proprietary ranking system dubbed “Ace Score” that measures viewer reaction to national TV ads on a scale of 0 to 950. Samsung’s commercial earned an Ace Score of 686 for the first quarter, besting Doritos and M&M’s, which were tied for the No.2 spot at 671. Samsung also held the No.5 position for a television advertisement.

“Q1 is arguably the most important quarter for advertising, as the Super Bowl, Oscars, and awards season in general drives the advertising agenda,” Ace Metrix CEO Peter Daboll said in a statement.  ”It will be very interesting to watch how Samsung’s continually impressive ads affect the company’s marketshare vis-à-vis competitors like Apple, which, this quarter, did not come close to measuring up to Samsung’s advertising prowess. Samsung’s top-ranked ad was particularly brilliant because it conveyed innovation and information without a narrator.”

BGR reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Note this past February and while we found it to be a fantastic device with a gorgeous high-definition display, we also felt that the device was far too large to be used comfortably as a phone.

Google is attempting to file a patent that would thrust smartphone users into Orwell’s “1984.” TheNextWeb reported on Wednesday that the search giant is looking to patent a technology that can analyze the background noise during mobile phone calls and then serve up advertisements based on the environmental conditions Google hears. In short, the company’s famous “don’t be evil” motto may soon evolve into “we are going to listen to your phone calls to make money.” One example of Google’s proposed technology would recognize the background noise made by rain when a user makes a phone call in inclement weather, and then serve an advertisement for umbrellas. In addition, the system might also analyze background noise while users take photos and videos to serve up similar targeted ads. Of course there is no reason to sound the alarms just yet, as technologies described in patents often don’t see the light of day.

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Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that mobile applications that integrate advertisements pose privacy and a security risks. The team conducted a study that examined 100,000 apps from the Google Play market and noticed that more than half contained “ad libraries,” while 297 of the apps included “aggressive ad libraries” that could download and run code from remote servers. Researchers also found that more than 48,000 of the apps that were examined could track location via GPS, while others could access call logs, phone numbers and a list of all the apps a user has stored on his or her phone.  Read on for more.

“Running code downloaded from the Internet is problematic because the code could be anything,” said Dr. Xuxian Jiang, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the work. “For example, it could potentially launch a ‘root exploit’ attack to take control of your phone – as demonstrated in a recently discovered piece of Android malware called RootSmart.”

In-app ad libraries, which retrieve advertisements from remote servers and display ads on a user’s smartphone, are provided to developers by Google or other third-parties. The ad libraries receive the same permissions, however, that the user granted to the app itself when it was first installed – regardless of whether the user is aware he or she was granting these same permissions to the ad library.

“To limit exposure to these risks, we need to isolate ad libraries from apps and make sure they don’t have the same permissions,” Jiang said. “The current model of directly embedding ad libraries in mobile apps does make it convenient for app developers, but also fundamentally introduces privacy and security risks. The best solution would be for Google, Apple and other mobile platform providers to take the lead in providing effective ad-isolation mechanisms.”

Study: Including Ads in Mobile Apps Poses Privacy, Security Risks

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that including ads in mobile applications (apps) poses privacy and security risks. In a recent study of 100,000 apps in the official Google Play market, researchers noticed that more than half contained so-called ad libraries. And 297 of the apps included aggressive ad libraries that were enabled to download and run code from remote servers – which raises significant privacy and security concerns.

“Running code downloaded from the Internet is problematic because the code could be anything,” says Dr. Xuxian Jiang, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the work. “For example, it could potentially launch a ‘root exploit’ attack to take control of your phone – as demonstrated in a recently discovered piece of Android malware called RootSmart.”

In Google Play (formerly known as the Android Market) and other markets, many developers offer free apps. To generate revenue, these app developers incorporate “in-app ad libraries,” which are provided by Google, Apple or other third-parties. These ad libraries retrieve advertisements from remote servers and run the ads on a user’s smartphone periodically. Every time an ad runs, the app developer receives a payment.

This poses potential problems because the ad libraries receive the same permissions that the user granted to the app itself when it was installed – regardless of whether the user was aware he or she was granting permissions to the ad library.

Jiang’s team looked at a sample of 100,000 apps available on Google Play between March and May 2011 and examined the 100 representative ad libraries used by those apps. One significant find was that 297 of the apps (1 out of every 337 apps) used ad libraries “that made use of an unsafe mechanism to fetch and run code from the Internet – a behavior that is not necessary for their mission, yet has troubling privacy and security implications,” Jiang says. But that is only the most extreme example.

Jiang’s team found that 48,139 of the apps (1 in 2.1) had ad libraries that track a user’s location via GPS, presumably to allow an ad library to better target ads to the user. However, 4,190 apps (1 in 23.4) used ad libraries that also allowed advertisers themselves to access a user’s location via GPS. Other information accessed by some ad libraries included call logs, user phone numbers and lists of all the apps a user has stored on his or her phone.

These ad libraries pose security risks because they offer a way for third parties – including hackers – to bypass existing Android security efforts. Specifically, the app itself may be harmless, so it won’t trigger any security concerns. But the app’s ad library may download harmful or invasive code after installation.

“To limit exposure to these risks, we need to isolate ad libraries from apps and make sure they don’t have the same permissions,” Jiang says. “The current model of directly embedding ad libraries in mobile apps does make it convenient for app developers, but also fundamentally introduces privacy and security risks. The best solution would be for Google, Apple and other mobile platform providers to take the lead in providing effective ad-isolation mechanisms.”

The paper, “Unsafe Exposure Analysis of Mobile In-App Advertisements,” was co-authored by Jiang; NC State Ph.D. students Michael Grace and Wu Zhou; and Dr. Ahmad-Reza Sadeghi of the Technical University Darmstadt. The paper will be presented April 17 at the 5th ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks in Tucson. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

Facebook on Wednesday announced at the company’s Marketing Conference that premium ads will now appear in its mobile application. Advertisements will be displayed on mobile news feeds — much like Twitter’s “promoted” tweets — starting immediately, with desktop logout screen advertisements scheduled to roll out in April. Previously, users would only see ads in the sidebar and news feed on the desktop version of Facebook. The move comes as the social networking giant is in the process of going public, and just after Twitter announced that it will bring ads to its mobile application.

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Microsoft, Nokia and carrier partners are planning a $100 million marketing push for the Nokia Ace (also known as the Lumia 900) when it launches in the United States. While the Ace isn’t yet official, it has been rumored that AT&T will unveil the device during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. We exclusively reported in November that the Ace will offer a 1.4GHz processor, a 4.3-inch ClearBlack display and an 8-megapixel camera. Other reports have suggested it will run Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) and support AT&T’s 4G LTE network. According to BetaNews, the Ace will hit AT&T store shelves in March where it will receive “hero” status. It is unclear how Microsoft, AT&T and Nokia will split the $100 million in marketing, but the hero status suggests it will be the focus of AT&T commercials, print ads, digital ads and in-store marketing.

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A company called Cellrderm has taken Microsoft to court over its Windows Phone “Really” advertisements, according to Adweek. Cellrderm, a gag company that creates commercials for a fake Cellrderm “cell abuse aid” product, argues that it owns the copyrights to the creative content used in Microsoft’s ads and that Microsoft copied its work in its “Bedroom” and “Bathroom” commercials. You’ve probably seen the ads on TV: in one, a man is too busy on his phone to pay attention to his wife in the bedroom. In another, an executive drops his phone in the urinal and reaches to pick it up. “The Microsoft commercials copy both the sequence of events and the character interplay found in the Cellrderm commercials,” the company wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. “The Microsoft commercials also copy other copyrightable expression, including but not limited to clothing, gestures, character appearance, camera angles, and other visual elements from the Cellrderm Commercials.” Cellrderm is seeking damages and has asked the court to block Microsoft from airing the commercials.

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Nokia may be preparing to kick off a monstrous advertising blitz alongside the launch of its first round of Windows Phones, UK-based Marketing Magazine reports. The advertising campaign, which will apparently kick off in October when Nokia finally begins pushing out Microsoft-powered smartphones, is reportedly valued at just under $130 million. The new global campaign will seemingly be a rebranding mission of sorts, and will reportedly run for six months. Nokia has a steep climb ahead as it attempts to slow its bleeding market share while simultaneously attempting to get customers on board with a fledgling Windows Phone operating system that has not been well received thus far. Despite our love of the platform here at BGR, Microsoft’s share of the U.S. smartphone market has dropped by 35% since Windows Phone first launched in November, and International sales have been lackluster so far according to reports. Looking past its slow start, however, some analysts believe Windows Phone will quickly become one of the most popular mobile operating systems in the world. Pyramid Research, for example, believes Nokia will help propel Windows Phone sales faster than even Android saw during its rapid ascent to the No. 1 spot. Pyramid expects global Windows Phone sales to top Android in 2013.

[Via Engadget]

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Amazon announced on Wednesday that AT&T will sponsor a new Kindle 3G with Special Offers, a deal that has lowered the price of the device $50 to $139.99. In a statement, AT&T’s CEO Ralph de la Vega said that the Kindle 3G is “by far the fastest growing connected device” on AT&T’s network. Amazon’s “Special Offers” devices come at the cost of ad-sponsored content. Users will see advertisements at the bottom of the screen and can launch the “AdMash” Kindle application to choose which advertisements are displayed. The $114 Kindle Wi-Fi with Special Offers device, which launched in April, is currently the best selling version of the popular eReader. Read on for the full press release.

AT&T To Sponsor Kindle 3G

New Kindle 3G with Special Offers price is $139 – still no monthly fee or annual contract; Never pay for or hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot; Kindle 3G customers read more

Seattle, Washington, July 13, 2011

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With Kindle 3G, there’s no wireless set up, and no paying for or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots.  Kindle 3G’s always-on global wireless connectivity means that wherever you are – at the beach, on the train, or stuck on the tarmac – no problem, you can download books and periodicals in less than 60 seconds and start reading instantly.  Amazon pays for Kindle’s 3G wireless connectivity, which means the convenience of 3G comes with no monthly fees, data plans, or annual contracts.  Today, Amazon.com announced that AT&T has agreed to sponsor Kindle 3G with Special Offers and that it is now available at a new price of $139.  Kindle 3G with Special Offers is the same as the $189 Kindle 3G, plus money-saving special offers and sponsored screensavers.

“Kindle 3G is more convenient – customers never have to hunt for or pay for a Wi-Fi hotspot – they simply download and read books anytime, anywhere.  Kindle 3G customers read 20 percent more books, and take advantage of twice as many special offers,” said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com.  “A big thank you to AT&T for helping to make the new $139 price possible.”

“Kindle 3G is by far the fastest-growing connected device on the AT&T network. We consistently hear from customers how much they enjoy the freedom of not being tied to a Wi-Fi hotspot and instead being able to download and read new books anytime, anywhere on AT&T’s fast, reliable network,” said Ralph de la Vega, President and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.  “We are excited to sponsor Amazon’s best Kindle – Kindle 3G with Special Offers – at the new lower price of only $139.”

Kindle 3G includes all the same features that helped make the third-generation Kindle the #1 bestselling e-reader in the world:

• Free 3G wireless, no annual contracts, no monthly fees
• Global 3G coverage means books in under 60 seconds in over 100 countries and territories
• Paper-like Pearl electronic ink display, no glare even in bright sunlight
• Lightweight body for hours of comfortable reading with one hand
• Kindle Store with over 950,000 books – largest selection of the most popular books
• Seamless integration with free “Buy Once, Read Everywhere” Kindle apps for iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Android, PC, Mac, BlackBerry and Windows Phone

Learn more at www.amazon.com/kindle.

Amazon on Monday revealed a new discounted version of its popular Kindle eBook reader. Amazon’s announcement came on the same day Barnes & Noble announced its all-new NOOK eReader. When asked during a Q&A session after Monday’s press conference if Barnes & Noble would ever consider releasing an ad-supported NOOK, CEO William Lynch laughed and said it was highly unlikely — but Amazon seems to be having some success with the ad-supported model. Joining the company’s $114 ad-supported Wi-Fi Kindle is the new $164 Kindle 3G, which gives consumers the option of saving $25 and dealing with advertisements. The device is otherwise identical to the standard Kindle 3G, which features a Pearl E Ink display, a full QWERTY keypad and free 3G connectivity. Hit the break for the full press release.

Introducing the Lowest Price 3G E-Reader – Kindle 3G with Special Offers for Only $164 Same features as latest-generation Kindle 3G – free 3G wireless, Pearl E Ink display, up to two months of battery life and more – plus sponsored screensavers and money-saving special offers

SEATTLE, May 24, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –

(NASDAQ:AMZN)–Last month, Amazon.com introduced Kindle with Special Offers, a new member of the Kindle family that gives customers access to money-saving special offers. Just five weeks later, Kindle with Special Offers became the bestselling member of the Kindle family in the U.S. Today, Amazon announced that it is now making special offers available for Kindle 3G. Kindle 3G with Special Offers is available starting today for only $164 and ships immediately. At just $164, Kindle 3G with Special Offers is the lowest price of any 3G e-reader, and includes the latest Pearl electronic ink display. Learn more about the entire Kindle family, including the $114 Kindle with Special Offers and the new $164 Kindle 3G with Special Offers, at www.amazon.com/kindle3G.

“Kindle is the bestselling e-reader in the world. It’s been just six weeks since we introduced the new $114 Kindle with Special Offers, and already customers have made it the bestselling member of the Kindle family,” said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle. “In response to customer requests, we’re now making these money-saving special offers available for Kindle 3G. You will get all the features readers love about Kindle 3G – free 3G wireless, global wireless access, Pearl electronic ink display that’s easy to read even in bright sunlight, access to over 950,000 ‘Buy Once, Read Everywhere’ Kindle books – all for just $164 – the lowest price for any 3G e-reader.”

Special offers that will be available in the coming weeks include:

• $10 for a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card – customers loved this offer, so we’re making it available again in time for Father’s Day
• Save up to $500 off Amazon’s already low prices on HDTVs with a unique 20% discount on 200 HDTVs from brands including Sony, Panasonic, LG, and VIZIO
• $1 for a Kindle book, choose from thousands of books including Water for Elephants and the Hunger Games trilogy
• Spend $10 on Kindle books and get a free $10 Amazon.com Gift Card

Kindle 3G with Special Offers includes all the same features that helped make the third-generation Kindle the #1 bestselling product in the history of Amazon.com:

• Free 3G wireless , no annual contracts, no monthly fees
• Global 3G coverage means books in under 60 seconds in over 100 countries and territories
• Paper-like Pearl electronic ink display, no glare even in bright sunlight
• Lightweight 8.7 ounce body for hours of comfortable reading with one hand
• Up to two months of battery life with wireless off eliminates battery anxiety
• Kindle Store with over 950,000 books – largest selection of the most popular books
• Seamless integration with free “Buy Once, Read Everywhere” Kindle apps for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry and Windows Phone

Kindle 3G with Special Offers is available for immediate shipment to customers in the U.S. at www.amazon.com/kindle3G.

Learn more about the new Kindle 3G with Special Offers at www.amazon.com/aboutkindlespecialoffers. Advertisers and agencies interested in learning more about Kindle sponsorship opportunities can contact kindle-sponsorships@amazon.com.

As we prepare to finally get our first taste of Sony Ericsson’s Xperia PLAY here in the U.S., we can’t help but think back and remember Sony Ericsson’s hilarious Web-only spots starring Kristen Schaal. We laughed, we cried, and we even readdressed them in a feature covering gaming as a differentiating factor for Sony Ericsson moving forward. It has been a couple of months since the spots first ran but they’re still racking up hits on YouTube, and we’re happy to report that BGR has managed to obtain a blooper reel containing outtakes from the filming of these promo spots. As funny as Schaal was in the videos, we’re sure there are hours of hilarious outtakes hidden away in a studio somewhere. While we do our best to hunt down all the footage, hit the break for a quick compilation of outtakes from the Schaal promos.

Apple has reportedly confirmed to a developer that it is no longer serving advertisements tied to its iAd platform in iOS apps geared toward children. When Mike Zornek — developer of Dex, a free Pokemon app for the iPhone and iPod touch — noticed iAd ads were no longer being served in his app, he contacted iAd support. The purported reply he received from Apple reads as follows:

Hello Michael,

We periodically review the apps in the iAd Network to ensure that all apps receiving ads are aligned with the needs of our advertisers. Currently, our advertisers prefer that their advertising not appear in applications that are targeted for users that are young children, since their products are not targeted at that audience.

We appreciate your understanding.

Best Regards,

 iAd Network Support Apple, Inc. 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014

Apple’s iAd product hasn’t been the sweeping success many thought it would be when the company announced the product last year. Apple has since cut its minimum spend in half to $500,000, and it also tried to draw attention to the platform with a gallery of iAd ads packed into a dedicated iOS app. It now looks as though Apple is trying to add further appeal to its iAd product by delivering a network that is more targeted than several competitive networks might be. Of course developers like Zornek stand to suffer from the changes, and in typical Apple fashion, no notice was given to developers. “And that’s how an iAd supported version of Dex died,” Zornek wrote on his blog. “No warning, no notice and inevitably no respect to the developers who have cenetered [sic] their app’s revenue model around the iAd platform.”

[Via MacStories]

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Toyota recently launched a publicized campaign that placed a special Scion-branded theme pack in the Cydia store for jailbroken iPhone users to enjoy. The move was seen as progressive considering Toyota’s decision to embrace the jailbreak community, but a new report reveals that the theme pack has since been pulled from Cydia. According to the report, Toyota’s advertising agency claims Toyota was contacted by Apple and asked to have the theme removed from Cydia. Toyota complied, of course, and had its agency contact the theme’s publisher to have it taken down immediately. Apple has been openly opposed to the jailbreak community in the past, and this latest move hardly comes as a surprise.

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According to data released by The Nielson Company in March, Sony Ericsson’s share of the U.S. smartphone market is barely a blip on the radar. Apple and RIM combine to own more than half the market, HTC is coming up behind them with 19%, Motorola holds 11%, Samsung has a 7% share and Sony Ericsson sits somewhere in the “Other” category, grouped among an undefined number of nameless manufacturers that combine to share roughly 3% of the smartphone market in the U.S. But Sony Ericsson smartphones are preparing to invade American soil, and the company’s assault just started with a boob-stab.

Read on for our full feature including an exclusive interview with the creative team behind Sony Ericsson’s Xperia PLAY ads.

Nearly every major research firm that covers the wireless industry has predicted that Android will continue to grow until it becomes a smartphone platform even more dominant than Symbian was in its heyday. And Google’s mobile OS is well on its way; major players like Samsung, HTC and Motorola have flooded the market with so many Android devices, it is becoming the go-to platform for consumers by default. Millions of users around the world seek out Android for its flexibility and its feature set, of course, but millions more buy Android phones simply because they’re there. Android is what carriers are selling, so Android is what subscribers are buying.

And so a new challenge is born: how does one manufacturer differentiate its devices from the hoards of other Android phones that tout nearly identical specifications, similar features and a similar user experience?

The first generation of devices use a UI layer to differentiate themselves from other manufacturers’ offerings. HTC has its Sense UI, Samsung has TouchWiz, Motorola has the ever-changing MOTOBLUR UI, and so on. But it’s not enough. These UI layers often add a great look and some additional functionality to Android phones, but beyond all the smoke and mirrors they’re still Android phones and they’re still quite similar.

So what’s next?

Rumors of a “PlayStation Phone” go back years, but Sony Ericsson was thinking bigger. One PlayStation Phone would only take the company so far, while an Android-based, PlayStation Certified mobile gaming platform could span numerous devices with various form factors that might appeal to different demographics.

And gamers… what a market to address. Sony has sold nearly 50 million PlayStation 3 consoles and about 103 million original PlayStations to date, and its PlayStation 2 console is the most popular video game system of all time with nearly 150 million units sold. The gaming industry is massive, and the Sony half of Sony Ericsson’s joint venture certainly knows gaming.

So for Sony Ericsson, that differentiating factor was actually born more than 16 years ago in December 1994, when Sony released the PlayStation gaming console. Gaming is in the company’s blood, and it will no longer hide from its heritage. What’s more, gamers are hungry for a smartphone option that affords a more complex and attractive gaming experience. Flicking birds at pigs is great for killing a few minutes while taking a break, but most mobile games don’t even come close to providing the immersive experience afforded by a dedicated console. Developers are beginning to create more immersive games for popular platforms like iOS, but the iPhone’s form factor and other limitations often result in a low ceiling for iOS games.

The mission is clear, and Sony Ericsson’s upcoming Xperia PLAY is the first device to feature the company’s new PlayStation gaming platform for smartphones.

But the smartphone market is anything but a field of dreams, where simply building a great device will bring millions of eager customers to a manufacturer’s doorstep. Building a product is only part of the battle. Sony Ericsson has to aggressively attack carriers around the world so its gaming phones are accessible to customers, and it must also climb to the top of every mountain and shout about its new phones as loud as it can. Or it could opt for a triple-kill.

Sony Ericsson has identified the U.S. as a key market for its new breed of smartphones, but the U.S. can be a tough nut to crack; just ask Nokia. Carriers are the only option for a successful route to market, but in many cases the real fight begins after a company works out a carrier deal. Without a solid marketing and advertising effort, even the most capable phones are doomed to collect dust on store shelves.

Enter Sony Ericsson’s creative team and McCann Worldgroup.

When it comes to advertising, you can’t game gamers. Young or old, video game fans are a discerning, finicky breed and influencing their buying decisions is a challenge creative professionals have struggled with for decades. There are several approaches that have proven successful over the years, however, and the most successful video game franchises in history have often left a trail of brilliant advertising campaigns in their wake.

Advertising is easy to dismiss, but there’s a reason more than $500 billion was spent globally on advertising in 2010. And the value of solid advertising can extend far beyond the immediate return garnered by sales of a specific product. Successful advertising campaigns can stick in the consumer’s head for weeks or even months, resulting in a mind share victory that might even impact sales for years.

“Throughout the years, everybody was speculating and waiting for what everyone was calling, up until now, ‘the PlayStation Phone,’” Sony Ericsson’s Head of Marketing Activations for the Americas, Adaliz Vicens, told BGR in an interview. With so much riding on the device, which will be the first to bring PlayStation gaming — Sony Ericsson’s new point of differentiation — to the Android platform, Sony Ericsson had to swing for the fences when introducing its coming smartphone to the masses.

The company started strong with a commercial that premiered during Super Bowl XLV, but a series of Web-only promotional spots really set the Internet abuzz last month. While the audience for these spots might not have been Super Bowl-sized, the hilarious premise and the soft spoken starlet who was able to transform herself into a swirling ball of rage at the drop of a hat — or, at the drop of the Xperia PLAY’s dedicated game controller — will remain on the minds of millions of viewers for quite some time.

The promos were the brainchild of acclaimed creative firm McCann Worldgroup, and were actualized by Creative Director Sean Bryan and his team. They star actress and comedian Kristen Schaal, who manages to pull off a unique brand of schizophrenic comedy perfectly.

“We knew we wanted to get somebody who had two sides to them because the phone has two sides to it,” Bryan said during an interview with BGR. “So we started off talking about somebody who has a very clean-cut, presentable, official side, and then when they open [the Xperia PLAY], can go to a more intense or out-there side. Some weeks later we arrived at Kristen, who was sort of the perfect find for that; and boy, did she ever bring a lot to the spots in production.”

Schaal — perhaps best known for her work on HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, her quirky segments on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and her voice work for Disney’s Toy Story 3 — is undoubtedly the star of the show. And yet she still manages to leave the viewer with a strong desire to pick up an Xperia PLAY and shoot someone in the face… once his or her bellowing laughter subsides, of course.

But it’s not just hardcore gamers Sony Ericsson is after, and the recurring phrase from Sony Ericsson’s campaign points to a broader range of consumers who might find the device appealing. “The smartphone with everything you need… and the one thing you want,” the ads state. This is an important message for Sony Ericsson to convey as it tries to avoid having its new smartphones painted into a corner.

“We really wanted to say two things with these communications and really, with everything we’ve done about the phone,” Bryan said. “On its own, without the gaming functionality, it’s a really top-notch smartphone. And then when you slide it open, it kind of turns into a whole different experience.”

Sony Ericsson sees a huge untapped market in young professionals who need a modern, capable smartphone but also have a suppressed urge to return to the gaming roots of their childhoods. “Lapsed gamers,” as Bryan calls them.

“[The Xperia PLAY] is meant to reacquaint you with that gamer side,” said Bryan. ”There’s a lot of people out there whose gaming has been reduced to Doodle Jump, or less immersive gaming experiences.” And Sony Ericsson’s new smartphone is designed to give them the more immersive gaming experiences they crave — knowingly or unknowingly — while also providing high-end specs and all of the functionality one might need in an Android smartphone.

While conducting research during the development process that ultimately yielded the Xperia PLAY, Sony Ericsson found that approximately 65% of smartphone users play games on their phones, Vicens revealed. With over 300 million smartphones sold last year and an estimated 450 million smartphones expected to be sold in 2011, that’s a pretty huge target market. Add to that the hoards of “lapsed gamers” who might might not currently spend much time with cell phone games due to the lack of a truly immersive experience, and Sony Ericsson is seemingly on a path with limitless potential.

The shot heard ’round the world is said to have instigated the Battle of Concord, marking the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. It may very well be that the boob-stab heard ’round the world, delivered during what might now be referred to as Schaal’s Battle of Conchords, will help Sony Ericsson prepare for war as it takes on the giants of the smartphone industry in the U.S. and around the world.

Dear ad firm that put together Sony Ericsson’s latest round of Xperia PLAY promos: thank you. In its latest effort to garner some attention for its upcoming gaming Goliath, Sony Ericsson brought actress and comedian Kristen Schaal on board to go over some of the Xperia PLAY’s finer points. In the spots, Schaal uses the Xperia PLAY to shoot herself in the face, watch furry kittens, score a triple-kill, check herself out on YouTube and even… edit some spreadsheets. If you haven’t seen them all yet — and even if you have — hit the break to watch five different promo videos. Trust us, you’ll be glad you did.

Google still reigns supreme in the U.S. online video market, according to new data released Thursday by comScore. There were more than 5.0 billion U.S. internet video viewing sessions during the month of February, and 1.8 billion of them were on Google sites — which includes YouTube. Google was followed by Microsoft’s sites (48.8 million unique viewers and a total of 297 million viewing sessions), Yahoo! Sites (46.7 unique viewers and a total of 200 million total viewing sessions), Facebook.com (46.6 millon unique, 170 million total), and the music video site VEVO (45.9 million unique, 222 million total). Across the entire internet, viewers watched an average of 816 minutes of video each, 261 minutes of which were on Google’s sites. comScore also said that video ads reached 42% of Americans with U.S. citizens watching a total of 3.8 billion video ads in February. Hulu served the most impressions reaching 7.8% of the total U.S. population with 1.1 billion ads viewed.

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