Samsung’s new run of television commercials is the start of a wider effort to make the company’s products the apple of the U.S. consumer’s eye. The ads, which mock iPhone users for their obsession with Apple products, attempt to present Samsung as the smarter, cooler alternative. On a larger scale however, Samsung is hoping to create a fundamental shift in the way its products are viewed by consumers. ”Especially in U.S., people are obsessed with Apple,” head of Samsung marketing Younghee Lee told AllThingsD in a recent interview. “It’s time to change people’s attention.” Lee is looking to shift consumers’ obsession to the East, and to figure out ”how I can engage with consumers from the bottom of their heart, and not just be a big and functional and rational and reasonable brand.” While mocking consumers’ unhealthy love of one brand in an effort to create an obsession with another is a curious strategy, Samsung’s attempt to reinvent itself as a global smartphone leader is having a clear impact — the company reported a record holiday quarter during which it shipped an estimated 36.5 million smartphones worldwide. Three of Samsung’s recent commercials can be viewed after the break.

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Federal prosecutors in Virginia have shut down notorious file-sharing site Megaupload.com and charged the service’s founders with violating piracy laws. The Associated Press broke the story on Thursday, reporting that the indictment accuses Megaupload.com’s owner with costing copyright holders including record labels and movie studios more than $500 million in lost revenue. Seven people tied to Megaupload.com have been charged and four are already in custody, including the site’s founder Kim Dotcom. Dotcom earned $42 million from the the site in 2010 according to the indictment. Megaupload.com allowed users to upload and share content without any measures in place to ensure files being hosted on the site’s servers were not protected by copyright. The company claims that it responded to copyright complaints as they were received. According to court documents made available on Thursday, Megaupload.com was at one point the 13th most trafficked website in the world.

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Apple on Monday released the 2012 edition of its “12 Days of Christmas” application for iOS devices. From December 26th through January 6th, Apple is giving away free iTunes content including songs, music videos, apps and books to iOS device owners. New content is accessible through the app each day and free downloads will expire after 24 hours. Monday kicks things off with several Coldplay songs and videos, which can be downloaded for free until new downloads are made available on Tuesday. Apple’s 12 Days of Christmas app is compatible with the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2 and iPad as well as the third and fourth-generation iPod touch devices, so users of older iOS device models are out of luck this holiday season. The app is currently available in the U.K. with U.S. availability expected at a later point in time.

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Google on Tuesday announced that videos on YouTube were collectively played more than 1 trillion times this past year. In its look back on the year in YouTube videos, Google revealed that it served more playbacks than ever before in 2011. To quantify the massive figure, the company noted in a blog post that a trillion playbacks represents about 140 views for each person on earth, or more than twice the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Hit the break for a quick countdown of the 10 most popular YouTube videos of 2011 hosted by none other than Rebecca Black.

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Until recently, iTunes users were able to purchase episodes of television shows a-la-carte or buy a whole season outright. The problem was, however, a user still had to pay full price for a television season even if he or she already owned a few individual episodes. Apple has reportedly fixed that problem by adding a “Complete my season” button that functions just like the “Complete my album” button in the iTunes Music Store. That means, for example, if you’ve purchased nine episodes of Family Guy and want to own the entire first season, you can buy it at a discounted rate that takes your previous purchases into consideration. The feature should be live now, according to MacRumors.

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The firm behind PlayOn, the popular online video streaming service, announced its new PlayLater service. PlayLater allows users to record streaming video from nearly any website — including popular cable programs such shows from TBS, CBS, Adult Swim, and more — for watching at a later time. Its offline cachine features means you can store the video for watching even when a connection isn’t available, too. It’s exactly like a DVR, which means you can choose what you want the software to record, and simply forget about it until later. PlayLater is supported on PCs, and recorded content can also be watched on mobile devices such as the iPhone or iPad. Early beta users will receive a free one-month trial of PlayLater, after which it will cost $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Hit the jump for the full announcement, as well as a chance to be one of the first 5,000 users in the early beta.

Introducing PlayLater, the DVR for online video. Now you can record and watch your favorite shows anytime, anywhere, even offline!

Today, we are kicking off the closed beta for PlayLater, the world’s first DVR for online video. PlayLater is a revolutionary new technology that lets you record your favorite TV shows, movies, and sports events from nearly any website and watch them later, even offline.

If you travel or commute and don’t always have an Internet connection, PlayLater is the perfect way to keep up with your favorite flix and shows. We don’t care if you’re on a plane, train or automobile*, you can watch any shows you recorded with PlayLater.

PlayLater brings the functionality and convenience of your standard DVR to online videos. Tell PlayLater which shows you want to record, and just like your home DVR, PlayLater will record it and let you watch when it’s convenient for you. You can queue up a bunch of shows or movies to record, so you never run out of new content to watch.

Record Any Channel Available With PlayOn

PlayLater lets you record almost any video available online, from nearly any website. Queue up the latest Hollywood blockbuster, find your favorite music video from the 80s, or record the pilot episode of Always Sunny in Philadelphia for tomorrow’s train ride into work.

Watch Your Videos On Any Device

Of course you can watch your PlayLater recorded videos anytime you want on your PC, but if your PC is connected to your TV, you can easily watch your recorded content on your Television too. When used with our flagship product, PlayOn, you can watch your recorded content on your iPad, iPhone or other mobile device.

PlayLater works with any Internet connected PC and costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Beta users will receive a full one-month free trial. To be one of the first 5,000 users in the closed beta and get PlayLater free for a month, download here http://www.playlater.tv

We are passionate about new technology and online video. As more people look online for video content, they will demand more flexibility in their viewing, including a DVR. With PlayLater, we are ready to deliver the ability for people to watch anytime, anywhere.

Just waiting for Motorola’s update to the extremely popular DROID lineup? The Motorola DROID 3, which we’ve seen leaked in bits here and there, has now been shown off in a pretty detailed way. Enthusiast blog PhonePads has posted 3 how-to videos featuring the Motorola DROID 3 and they look like corporate-produced videos. We’re sure we’ll see the Motorola DROID 3 get official sooner than later, but the question is, are you interested? Videos are after the break!

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Google’s YouTube team on Wednesday announced two milestones to help celebrate its 6-year anniversary. Most notably, YouTube stated that as of this past weekend, the site now serves over 3 billion videos each day. That’s equal to half the world’s population watching one YouTube video each day, and it represents an increase of 50% over last year. The company also said that over 48 hours of footage is uploaded to the site every minute, which is a 100% increase over last year. Needless to say, YouTube has become an Internet staple over the past six years and try as they might, competitors have yet to come close to seeing the tremendous adoption YouTube has experienced.

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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.

On Tuesday, CNN announced the availability of its mobile news application for the Android platform. The app provides quick access to CNN’s main news stories and features — complete with a picture-driven user interface — and closely resembles the news organization’s current iOS offering. Other features include free access to CNN Radio, breaking news notifications, and the option to share live photos and videos with CNN — a feature CNN refers to as “iReporter.” We’ve installed the CNN application on our T-Mobile G2x, and enjoy the robust feature set it offers. We also dig the customizable widget that is bundled with the app. CNN for Android requires Android 2.1 or higher and is available in the Android Market now.

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The brood over at PreCentral have managed to acquire a leaked copy of HP’s webOS 3.0 beta 1 software development kit (SDK). Why is this a good thing? Because contained within said SDK rests a TouchPad, webOS 3.0 emulator, of course. While emulators only provide 50% of the TouchPad story — the other half being hardware — it is useful to get a high-level overview of what user interface will look like. If you want to whet your appetite for this summers TouchPad release, hit the jump. There’s an eighteen minute video overview awaiting your scrutiny. Be sure to click through the read link as well for a host of screen grabs.

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A recently leaked iteration of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry 6.1 mobile operating system is beginning to bear fruit. Nestled deep inside the application’s package, blog N4BB found four video tutorials for the BlackBerry Bold Touch — also known by its codename, the Dakota. Topics covered in the four videos include how to make and receive calls, inserting your SIM card, navigating the homescreen, and a video entitled “basics.” We gave the device a proper BGR unveiling back in January, but if you’re interested in seeing BlackBerry 6.1 and the Bold Touch in simulated-action, hit the jump. The videos are waiting for you.

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Following recent reports that Microsoft will soon be killing off its Zune suite of entertainment services and replacing them with a new offering, All About Microsoft has uncovered what may end up being Microsoft’s Zune successor. The blog’s tipsters claim knowledge of a new set of services currently being developed by Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division. These services, codenamed “Ventura,” are said to be focused on media discovery and consumption — much like Zune. To help firm up the report, All About Microsoft also reveals a Microsoft job posting that references Ventura. ”The Ventura Media Services team is looking for a highly motivated Software Development Engineer to help drive some great new service innovation,” the job description reads. It goes on to say, “In this position you will have the chance to help choose direction and drive innovation on some of the most cutting edge media services. Think large scale. Think Azure. Being a web and services group, our goal is to release early and often while maintaining high quality.”

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Sony Ericsson might not be ready to unveil the highly anticipated Xperia Play at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, but the world is most definitely ready to see this little guy get official. Perhaps in an effort to appease the masses of anxious mobile gamers waiting impatiently to get their mits on the upcoming PlayStation-branded Gingerbread phone, Chinese enthusiast blog IT168 has issued an extensive preview of the device. And when we say extensive, we mean it. Details found within the preview include confirmation of a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a Qualcomm Adreno 205 graphics processor, a 4-inch 854 x 480-pixel display, an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, a 1,500 mAh battery, microSDHC support and 512 MB each of RAM and ROM. The blog also ran some benchmark tests and, well, the results were pretty impressive — the forthcoming Xperia phone scored 1,733 in Quadrant. Hit the jump for some solid Xperia porn and then hit the read link for a gigantic, poorly translated preview.

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Courtesy of T-Mobile and its newly announced G-Slate tablet by LG, several videos showing off Google’s new tablet-only OS have surfaced. Honeycomb will power the next generation of Android tablets, and it appears to offer some huge benefits over previous versions of the OS, which were designed with smartphones in mind. We really like what we’ve seen from Honeycomb so far, and we can’t wait to see more on the show floor. In the meantime, hit the jump for a handful of great videos that really give us a taste of what’s in store from Android 3.0 Honeycomb.