- Local emergency service radio frequencies are hopping when a disaster strikes, and sites like Broadcastify put those streams online so you don’t have to buy and program a complicated police scanner.

- Live webcams can be a really interesting, unvarnished view of the event. They are a little hard to search, but here in California, one good place to start is the lengthy page of CalTrans live traffic cams. Also, go to the local TV news station web sites like KPIX 5 that likely have live cams, feeds from their remote trucks and helicopters online that they don’t put a lot of on the air.

- Let loved ones know you are OK or look for a loved one at either Google Person Finder or the Red Cross check in site, both of which go into high gear when a major disaster or attack takes place. Its like a web-based bulletin board for announcements of people trying to find each other.

- Finally, Twitter has become a really important breaking news tool in its own unmanaged way. One key way to follow news on Twitter as opposed to accounts is to follow relevant hastags. For example you can see how the hashtag #boston spiked right after the marathon bombing from this chart at Hashtags.org, which is also a good place to find the latest trending hashtags.

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The Fresno Superior Court issued the ruling about GPS on phones while driving. A driver fighting a ticket argued that the law about hands free behind the wheel means calling and texting, not GPS navigation which was acceptable in many other forms in the car. But, the judges came down with a strict interpretation that holding a phone while driving is a violation, even if holding a similarly sized Garmin or TomTom would not be.

The takeaway from this is that a telephone or “wireless communications device” suffers from a harsher treatment under the law that certain other handheld tech. Think how many portable GPS devices, iPods and digital cameras are juggled behind the wheel each day, yet escape the law’s scrutiny.

If you are going to use your phone for GPS in the car, get a mount for it and make sure you also consult California’s laws about where that can go (See CVC 26708) which is a 5″ square area top center of your windshield for toll tags or a GPS device can go in “a seven-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver or in a five-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest to the driver and outside of an airbag deployment zone, if the system is used only for door-to-door navigation while the motor vehicle is being operated.”

Beyond legal placement of the device, you might also want to operate it via voice, which all modern smartphones support. Some bay area communities are launching handheld device crackdowns this spring.

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The expectation is that the company will create a new, deeper integration into the Android operating system. Whether that means something rooted to a given model of phone, or just a new Facebook app for Android that is highly integrated into that operating system is a key point of contention.

Even if it is a phone model that uses Facebook as its main screen — making communication, photos, music and calendar functions — all Facebook-centric, Wall St. is seeming rather unimpressed at the outset. Facebook has a history of big events that are, shall we say, not exactly Apple caliber in what they announce and investors just want to see Facebook make money on mobile the way it does on computer based usage. Whether they do that with a “Facebook phone” or not is less important.

The world is rapidly shifting to mobile devices. Smartphones already outsell computers by a good margin, and tablets will do so on their own in a couple of years. Combine those two mobile categories are you can see how any company that makes the vast majority of its revenue on computer-based usage is in trouble not too far in the future.

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First off, notice the basic plan: Unlimited talk and text with 500 MB of high speed data (which is enough for most users, by the way) for just $50 a month. That’s cheap. If you want to add more data, its $10 a month per each 2 GB additional.

Now the phone. Instead of a two-year commitment to stay with T-Mobile, you earn your discount price with a two-year commitment to, in essence, financing the phone with them. For example, a Samsung Galaxy S3 from T-Mobile costs $69.99 PLUS a $20/month fee for 24 months. That comes to a total of $549.99 once the phone is “paid off”. You also have the option of paying for the phone up front at $549.99.

Also note that T-Mobile charges a fee to use more than 500MB of data per month as a mobile hotspot, which may be higher than other carriers.

The argument by T-Mobile here is why that the plan is much cheaper once the phone is paid off, you aren’t perpetually paying phone subsidy costs baked into the cost of service. But the value is mostly realized is you keep a given phone longer than 2 years and then stay on T-Mobile with it.

Bottom line, T-Mobile is cheaper but no less complicated, just playing the commitment phobia people have. Their 4G LTE rollout lags other carriers as well. This announcement doesn’t change the game so much as give them a unique set of talking points.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – 2013 is shaping up to be the year of body measurement – pulse, temperature. activity and even sleep patterns. These factors will all be part of the next big thing in tech, especially mobile tech.

The new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone that is coming to market in weeks will support an optional wristband that Samsung seems to be positioning as a device that will kill off many of the third party devices like FitBit.

And just announced is a technology from Japan’s Fujitsu that will use the camera in any phone, tablet or laptop to measure your pulse and perhaps other body factors by measuring the change in colors in the face.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – The biggest event of the year for new mobile tech , the Mobile World Congress – or MWC, as it’s called – is featuring an array of new smartphones, tablets and laptops.

Here are some of the highlights from MWC 2013 in Barcelona:

The $180 Nokia Lumia 520 is a very cheap smartphone and part of a trend to make smartphones less of the luxury good they are still today. The 520 runs Windows, has a 4″ mid-res screen, no front camera, and a lower powered chip inside. But it would seem to do 90% of what the $600 phones do. Ditto for the Samsung Galaxy Fame which is a 3.5″ Android phone

The Firefox OS made a big splash at the show. They are counting on the mobile device market being so big there is room for more than just iOS and Android — and they are also counting on Microsoft being a continued flop in this market.

The key to Firefox OS is that it takes is DNA from the Firefox browser and can leverage the web as a big cloud of apps in a sense, as well as actual installed apps, all based on HTML5 and wide open. Firefox argues that this is ideal for a low end phone, that may not have the horsepower to run Android.

Tizen is another alternate OS, based on Linux, and Samsung will sell phones based on it in July or August.

The Asus Padphone avoids you buying a phone and a tablet that have duplicate processors, memory, and storage and simply lets the tablet be a big, dumb screen. The power and connectivity are largely in the phone. Seems cash efficient — except they are pricing it well over $1,000.

The Emporia Connect phone is for seniors, or the phone phobic. Big buttons, but not orthopedic looking. Its a flip phone and has dedicated buttons on the side for camera and built-in flashlight. On the back, an emergency call button reaches out to 5 numbers you program and the phone has a remote management app you run on your smartphone to remotely program your loved one’s Connect and its calendar, contacts and even shared online photo viewing.

If you are looking for the follow up to the Samsung Galaxy SIII, keep waiting. Samsung apparently decided it deserves its own event on March 14th.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – The first all-new PlayStation in seven years is about to debut on Wednesday, and gaming will be only part of the story.

The PS4 will be unveiled months ahead of its expected shipping date, but just in time to give us a glimpse of how game consoles are dropping their first name.

Here are some of the hot rumors around the PS4:

- Second screen support might connect to either a tablet, smartphone or Sony PlayStation Vita to give you a second display that is integral to the game play on the main screen. This is being done with DVD and web streaming space already and is a very hot topic.

- Streaming TV service and/or DVR would allow the new PlayStation to become more of a living room all-arounder than just a game console. With Sony’s already substantial content ownership, the rumors that it will also unveil a new Hulu/Netflix killer in streaming seems at least plausible.

- More cloud gaming support is a given, as gaming is moving away or least in conjunction with cloud-based and streaming content, collaboration and settings portability.

- A new controller that integrates a touchpad, LCD screen or even a biometric controller is one of the most tantalizing rumors out there, but it’s been three generations — the PlayStation’s entire history — since the iconic Sony controller has had a re-do and it seems ripe for one.

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The first volley came with Amazon’s Kindle Fire, now evolved into the Fire HD model. Google’s Nexus 7 has also been strong. And while Samsung has no one model that grabs all the the headlines, its array of Galaxy tablets now command 15% of the global market.

Two lessons arise from this for the tablet shopper:

1.) Good enough is good enough. The tablet is typically the third device for most people, after their laptop and smartphone. That may mean you can be perfectly satisfied with a sub-$200 tablet as many tasks will be spread to other devices that are either bigger, more powerful, more portable, etc.

2.) Be aware of the mobile big trend in 2013: Device blur. The lines between smartphone, tablet and laptop is getting real messy. Smartphones come as large as 6.1 inches, tablets can be had as small as 7 inches and laptops are being replaced by tablet/keyboard combos. So get out of the old silos and just think of what your actual use cases are. Pick the top three things you do with a mobile device and try to nail all three with just 2 devices.

CNET’s Tablet center has the all the tablets you need to consider, ranked by review score as well as user reviews.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Buying a TV used to be an in-store experience, but increasingly people are making this big purchase online.

A lot of people used to be afraid of buying a TV online; You wanted to see the thing in person first, and were afraid it would either get damaged in shipment, cost a fortune to ship or be hard to ship back for a return.

Most of those concerns are now alleviated and I would no longer hesitate to buy an HDTV online. Let’s knock down the concerns one at a time.

As far as buying a TV sight unseen, I don’t recommend that. Start by getting your short list together from independent reviews, like those we do at CNET.

Then you can go to the nearest TV retailer to actually look at televisions on your list and find the one you want based on picture and case design. Then, if the best price or availability happens to be from an online retailer, buy it there. It’s called showrooming, retailers hate it – except when its from their web site, which you might want to do simply to avoid having to haul the thing home in your too-small car.

Note that the exact same TV you see in store might have a different model number online. Big retailers demand their own model numbers in some cases to throw a wrench in the works of showrooming shoppers, but a little scrutinizing usually makes it clear when two models are actually the same TV.

As far as the shipping thing, read the return policy first. It should be short and clear. The word “may”, as in “may incur a restocking charge”, etc. is a red flag to me. Also, know that if you buy from the online arm of a physical retailer, like Best Buy, etc., you can likely return the item to a local store if need be. That can save you a lot of hassle of boxing up a television.

Then look at the shipping charges to your zip code. A lot of TVs ship free these days. And while you’re at that stage, see if the merchant is going to collect sales tax. That can be a huge savings.

Finally, don’t sweat the damage in shipment issue. Yes, its possible, but the cartons TV’s come in are made for shipping and like anything else it will be the retailer and shipper’s problem, not yours.

Save the box for a year in case you need to ship it back during warranty. After that, it may not be cost effective to repair a TV.

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Having said that, I think Windows 8 is confusing because it comes in different flavors there’s an RT version, which runs on lightweight tablets and the pro version that runs on PC’s and desktops. When it starts out you have a tile interface, which works okay on a touch screen, but if you have a regular PC with a mouse or a track pad, it’s just a layer of complexity.

KCBS Tech Report:

You don’t get the same multi-tasking capacities. For that you’ve got to go into desktop mode and then it looks a lot like your regular Windows, except that it lacks a ‘Start’ menu. If you want the start menu you have to download a third-party application.

At the end of the day I don’t think it adds any value; certainly not for the traditional desktop or laptop. It’s great if you’ve got a touchscreen, but most people don’t have touchscreens and I’m not even sure they want them. Keyboards are really good for productivity, touchscreens are great for tablets, but they’re kind of different animals.

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Check out CNET’s Top 16 Black Friday tech deals, part of our Holiday Gift Guide for 2012.

Have a shopping list of what you wanted to buy BEFORE they pitched you a price. Its OK to adjust your list based on a great deal, but make sure that isn’t the only reason you’re doing it. A pre-planned list of what you really want to give will help.

If there are door busters or limited quantity items that will be coming up at an e-tailer, pre-register as a customer at their site with your credit card info, etc. The time it takes to enter that on Black Friday can make the difference between getting the item or just a “sold out” icon.

Facebook Like and Twitter Follow retailers for advanced word on their deals, and subscribe to alerts from the various Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal sites and mobile apps that specialize in hunting down the deals before they go live. You can Unlike and Unfollow them later.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Not since the iPad arrived has there been such an explosion of new tablet tech to choose from.

The tablet market is splintering and that’s a good thing. It means tablets are gaining mainstream success and are not just an expensive luxury good, which it could be argued is the position staked out by the full-sized iPad and its direct competitors.

Here are three new branches of the tablets tree and why you would consider them:

Smaller tablets: These include the Google Nexus 7 and the iPad Mini. They are much less of a commitment in terms of cost or carriage. Being able to put something in a pocket or any space you have makes a big difference how livable it is. They also cost less, though the iPad Mini’s starting price of $329 is still steep. Others in this category cost around $200 and do basically everything a full sized iPad does, just a little smaller.

Microsoft tablets: Microsoft has just launched its Surface tablet and its not just a copycat of the iPad. Surface runs various versions of Windows 8, which allows it to be much more of a laptop replacement tablet. Surface comes with Word, Excel and other Office programs installed in a desktop interface, or you can use it like a regular touchscreen media tablet. And Surface supports a mouse. In a few months there will be a version that also lets you install all your PC software, not just apps. It’s an interesting argument for finally getting rid of your laptop. Starts at $599 for 32GB and a keyboard cover.

Phablets: These are phones so big they can be considered mini-tablets. For people who want to carry the least number of devices and have a screen that feels generally large, the Galaxy Note II is a good candidate. It also has an interesting pen stylus as well as a touchscreen. $299 with activation through a wireless carrier.

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Texting instead of calling is key. Texting requires far less time transmitting on the network and will often work when calls can’t go through due to jammed networks.

The screen on your phone is about 70% of battery use in the average day. So don’t turn the screen on unnecessarily and turn the brightness way down when you do.

4G networks are all the rage right now but connecting to them tends to use a lot more battery power. Even 3G networks use a lot more than you need. If you just want your phone to be a phone, step it down to a 2G network only for calls and text. You can download free apps that will make it easy to switch.

Make sure you have a car charger, as vehicles carry stored energy in their batteries that can charge up a cell phone many times. And backup batteries from Duracell or Mophie can give you hours more run time, but you do have to remember to keep the backups charged as well.

Finally, there are solar charger/battery pack combos you can consider for almost any type of phone.

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The overall tablet market will grow about 57% this year, but the 7″ tablet market will grow almost twice that fast. That’s what Apple is taking notice of. And few have failed to realize that iPads, while relatively common today, are still well outside the reach of many consumers at $499 to $829. A smaller iPad needs to be smaller in price as a goal, smaller in size as a way to get there.

Apple likes to portray itself as a cutting edge leader, so the other interesting part of this story will be what unique features it can build into a smaller iPad to keep it from being a “me too” product.

Steve Jobs forcefully discounted a smaller iPad as a bad idea while he was alive, so this would seem to be the first product that truly announces the Cook Era. That adds a certain drama to this unveiling that will start to give us insight into how sharp Apple’s design skills and market sense remain in the post-Jobs era.

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So, how do Best Buy’s prices stack up to Amazon.com? Here are a few price comparisons:

Monster HDMI cable:
Best Buy: $60
Amazon: $11

Samsung Smart TV:
Best Buy: $1,000
Amazon: $998

Audio-Technica headphones:
Best Buy: $71
Amazon: $40

Playstation 3 controller:
Best Buy: $54
Amazon: $44

Although the savings will not always be dramatic, consumers may run into significant savings on items like cables and other accessories. Items like televisions and computers, which have a smaller profit margin, generally have uniform pricing across most retailers.

As you take advantage of retailers’ price match policies this holiday season, consider these shopping tips first:

-Research before heading to the store. Use Web sites like PriceGrabber.com to compare prices among Best Buy, Amazon, and other online retailers. Although Amazon is famous for being the least expensive retailers, other outlets may have better deals. Once you find the best price, bookmark the product page on your smartphone to have proof on-hand when you’re ready to price match in-store.

-Ensure that the model numbers are the same. This is where things get tricky. Many times, one product will be assigned unique model numbers and SKUs for different retailers. In this case, the retailer may refuse to price match on this factor alone. Double-check the model numbers before requesting a price match.

-Check prices after purchasing. Best Buy (as well as many other retailers) offer price adjustments for the duration of your return period. Remember this, and be on the lookout for cheaper prices — if you find a better deal, bring proof to the store and request and adjustment.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – You don’t have to spend more than the average for a new car that has a nice dose of tech and modern engineering.

To prove it, I’ve pulled together a list of the best high tech cars well under the average new car price of $30,303.  None of them are showcases of all that’s possible in cars today, but each has some strong high-tech points that make them cars which feel thoroughly 21st century.

All cars listed in order of ascending CNET Rating. Prices quoted are for model well-equipped with featured technologies, not stripped.

5. Scion FR-S – $25,800

+ Inarguably the coolest car on a budget.
+ Just $900 for nav and premium audio.
- A little gutless in its first year.

4. Scion iQ – $17,434

+ Really small but still a real car
+ Integrated Pandora, low cost nav
+ Real world MPG in the 30′s
- It is very small.

3. Hyundai Veloster – $22,225

+ Asymmetrical doors make it stylish.
+ Best touch screen in this class
+ Direct Injection engine
- A little underpowered

2. Ford Focus Titanium – $25,935

+ MyFord Touch interface
+ Self-parking for under $999
+ Best interior in its class
- My Ford touch

1. Toyota Prius C – $22,820

+ CNET Editor’s Choice
+ Best app support of any car
+ Real world 50 MPG
- You’ll be a Prius Driver

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One of the most irritating issues with the iPhone 5 (and there are only a few) is that it is unable to do voice and data connections at once on Sprint and Verizon. Other 4G phones on those carriers are able to do so, but not the iPhone 5. That’s due to the way Apple designed the phone and it’s going to leave iPhone 5 users having to hang up to check a map or grab or search for something while their peers on other phones can do both at once. This may be an issue for you or not, depending on how (and how avidly) you use a smartphone.

Apple Maps is buggy and unfinished and that’s a big problem. The search in Google Maps is far more comprehensive than the Yelp powered search Apple uses. Street View doesn’t exist with Apple Maps, and many areas don’t even have the flyover mode.

Related: Apple iPhone 5 Sales Weaker Than Expected

Finally, you have to think about the adapters you may need to connect an iPhone 5 to your legacy iPhone accessories. The adapter is $29 from Apple, though cheap knock-offs are starting to emerge. But even if they were free, even Apple doesn’t promise they will adapt your new phone to every accessory and they are just another rather clumsy piece of gear you have to attach to your sleeker, thinner, lighter iPhone. It’s just a bit against the grain.

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An FAA task force will take a fresh look at use of laptops, tablets, e-readers and handheld gaming devices at times when you must put them away currently.

Currently, these devices must be powered off during takeoff and landing, yet they are OK to be powered up mid-flight and now you can even use Wi-Fi in flight for internet connections.

No commercial U.S. flight I know of has ever been put in jeopardy, let alone crashed, due to passenger electronics interference. If that sounds like a ringing endorsement that the device ban is working, realize that on any given flight that are almost certainly a handful of tablets, phones, e-readers and laptops left on in the cabin and in the baggage hold. That’s millions of flights without an incident, and plenty of credible reasoning that they never did pose a threat.

Radio frequency emissions are not the only reason for the current bans. Another major reason is the assumption that hard, dense portable devices can become projectiles in the cabin during the takeoff or landing, when aircraft dynamics can be put into flux very quickly. It’s the same reason you have to sit down and buckle up at those times.

Note, this is NOT about allowing cell phone calls in flight. The public comment period begins end of August and runs for 60 days. A report from the task force is expected first quarter of 2013.

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Expect these apps will allow connected dashboard access to text messaging, streaming radio, search for navigation and likely Facebook and Yelp. Sound scary? Frankly, it is. We’re in the middle of an awkward decade or so between the arrival of new distractions and the arrival of semi self-driving cars. I recently did a piece on the nature of distraction behind the wheel.

If you want a taste of what Chrysler will do (and possibly surpass by the time they do it), check out my recent video of the connected services in the 2013 BMW 640i Gran Coupe.

Philosophically, I think carmakers have to go down

this path for two reasons: 1.) They’ve already let the cat out of the bag and 2.) if they don’t give people safe, voice-operated, easy to digest connected services in the dash we’ll just juggle our phones while driving and that’s far worse.

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The latest credible rumours suggest Apple will roll out the fifth iPhone on September 12th. Meanwhile, Microsoft has confirmed it will launch Windows 8 and it’s new line of tablets on October 26th.

Apple, of course, has been masterful in its mobile device offerings. iPhone and iPad are some 70% of the company now, relegating iMacs, MacBooks, iTunes, software and the rest to footnote status.

Microsoft needs a home run badly or it’s out of the mobile game. The company’s XBox is huge, but Windows powered phones and tablets have minuscule market share and not a lot of time to reverse that.

The Windows 8 software looks very impressive to CNET and is being deployed on phones, consoles, PCs and tablets. But if Microsoft can’t convince consumers it powers a family of devices that are meaningfully different and better than Apple and Android, they will be in dire straights by 2014.

It’s no surprise Apple would want to release the new iPhone a little early because, as the latest earnings report showed, earnings were a bit soft because people stood on the sidelines waiting for Apple’s next phone. Must-do improvements to the iPhone would include a bigger screen, fast 4G connectivity and improved ties to Apple cloud services that can match what Google offers.

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On Thursday, Judge Alison Nathan for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected a requested preliminary injunction against the service. The major television networks had requested that Aereo be stopped from rebroadcasting their programs over the Internet.

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

How does Aereo work? Basically, subscribers pay a monthly fee that allows them to receive and record programs on any Internet-connected device over a tiny antenna. The service connects the tiny TV antennas to the Internet, allowing subscribers to watch over-the-air television.

The service was hit with two complaints from the major television networks earlier this year. The broadcasters had complained that Aereo needs permission to distribute their shows, arguing that the service is illegal.

This is expected to be the first of many battles in court between the two sides. Currently, Aereo is only available in New York.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Google glasses are still a couple years off, but if you’re athletic you can get a taste of the wearable technology of the future today to augment your outdoor sports and activities.  My colleague Jay Greene has been testing some of the latest connected wearable tech that adds new dimensions to training or sports.

As the anniversary approaches, research from Strategy Analytics suggested the Cupertino-based company has raked in $150 billion in iPhone sales to date.

Neil Shah, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics told CNET on Wednesday that those figures only include hardware sales.

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

One of the pivotal moments in Apple’s history occurred when the late Steve Jobs revealed the revolutionary gadget at the 2007 Macworld Conference.

“An iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator…are you getting it? These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we are calling it iPhone. Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone,” he said.

It was a game changer because for a smartphone, the iPhone was simple to use and also provided a more appealing looking phone compared with what most users were familiar with at the time.

And there is still more to come as later this year, as Apple is expected to introduce the latest iPhone, which will likely have a bigger screen and faster Internet connection.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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The report found that 17 percent of cellphone owners do most of their online browsing on their phone, rather than a computer or other device. Most of those surveyed said they do it for convenience, but for some their phone is the only option for online access.

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

Some other stats: 88 percent of U.S. adults surveyed said they own a cellphone of some kind as of April 2012 and 55 percent said they use their phones to go online, a huge increase over the 31 percent of cell owners who went online using their phones in April of 2009.

Most experts feel this could change the way browsers and websites are configured as sites will be forced to have mobile versions for their online content to compete.

The national telephone survey was conducted in March and April of this year among more than 2,200 adults.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley said that many of those extras are of the high-tech variety, including LED headlights, voice activation, head-up displays and wireless connectivity.

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley:

But while consumer sentiment is growing to bring more of the technologies in their house to their car, that is increasing the divide between carmakers and legislators, regulators and law enforcement officials, who are looking to put an end to distracted driving.

Cooley said that one thing that is on the horizon is cars that drive themselves, which many consumers are already interested in, if the price is right for them.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley said as a whole, it is pretty difficult for these companies to make money because unlike Apple and Samsung, which have produced highly popular cellphones, some of the other companies have to make up for duds in the market.

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley:

According to the latest ComScore survey, a look at the three-month period which ended in February, Google’s market share jumped over three percent from November to now 50.1 percent of smartphone subscribers. Apple’s market share increased to over 30 percent. All told, Apple and Samsung accounted for 95 percent of the industry’s profits in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, RIM’s market share fell by more than 3 percent over the same three-month time period. Cooley said that executives with the company said they are going to “refocus on the enterprise,” with more branding of BlackBerrys as a business phone. The only problem he said is that more and more, consumers are using their smartphones for both business and personal use.

Overall, Cooley said the interesting race to watch in 2012 will be whether Research In Motion or Nokia becomes that third company, competing with the market’s two “big dogs,” Apple and Samsung.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley said the service, Aereo, is set to launch next month in New York.

“Aereo is installing huge collections of antennas and they are assigning subscribers one of those antennas, which picks up live TV and then can stream that to you over an Internet device,” said Cooley. “The reason they’re doing this is to get around this legal loophole that cable companies have to go by which is they have to pay local TV stations money to carry that station. Aereo is not doing that.”

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley:

Cooley said that subscribers would pay $12 a month to access streams from local channels to their iPhones, iPads and iPad Touches. Eventually, the company hopes to make the service accessible to PC browsers and Android-powered devices as well.

“It’s basically a web page that you go to and the television station streams there,” said Cooley. “You can also record the show. Aereo has a recorder on their web server that will grab it for you, but you have to tell it to do so. It’s like a virtual leased TIVO.”

Cooley said it’s still to be seen if the service will take off as a lot will depend on whether the programming is compelling enough for subscribers.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley said the app is struggling to find carrier and device partners.

“They have it available on only one phone from Sprint and one other unlocked phone you can buy. But those are always very expensive,” Cooley said. “And all the other carriers, aside from Sprint, said ‘we’re not going to let our phones do it,’ largely because they want to do their own competing payment system. So Google is in competition with some of the wireless carriers that it’s also a partner with – who sell (Google) Android phones.”

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley:

Cooley said he’s not sure if Google will continue with the struggling app. “I think it’s too early and too lucrative for them to let go of. I have a hunch they stay in this.”

He said that part of the problem has been name recognition, as customers either don’t know what it does or how to use it.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley said the high-tech glasses would provide real-time information to users.

“Think of what fighter pilots have when we see the footage from inside those military jets, where they’re looking out of the cockpit and seeing the world, but there’s all this moving, live video information displayed on the screen in front of them. That’s usually a visor they’re wearing,” said Cooley. “That’s augmented reality. You’re seeing the real world, but there are overlays being projected on it. The idea is that these glasses would have that kind of technology in them for getting around the everyday world.”

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley:

Cooley said the glasses make sense because of how much Google has invested in location-based information.

“Think about their maps, awareness of where your friends are in your social networks, the real-time information like navigation. They could flow that information into these glasses and you could be walking down the street, let’s say in a new city where you don’t know where you are,” he said. “You could have it set up where it could be showing an icon on every restaurant on a corner or every coffee shop. It could give you walking directions right in the glasses or even driving directions, meaning your glasses become your automotive navigation system, not what’s in the dashboard.”

Cooley said that this could be the next big category for technology devices following a wave of new tablets and smartphones in recent years.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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“You can only have so many private or secondary market shareholders. They cap that at 500 by law, and Facebook is already at that cap of people that own shares, but not on the public market,” said Cooley. “Secondly, you get a certain prestige when you’re a public company. As you want to grow to the next level in terms of business, partnerships and revenue, the visibility that partners have into you give people a lot of confidence.”

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley:

Cooley said that employers also want to get paid, not in terms of salary, but making it big because of the IPO.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has always tried to keep the company private and he probably has some mixed feelings about going public.

Cooley said that the offering will also change how the company is run and bring new challenges for the social media giant.

“Facebook is going to have to show more of where it’s going, what it’s thinking of and how it operates,” said Cooley. “That doesn’t directly change the way they deal with privacy. But when you’re a public company, you basically are called to heel in many ways that you’re not when you’re private.”

Many experts believe the filing will be the largest IPO ever by an Internet company.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley said the BlackBerry maker has lost ground in the marketplace and quickly needs to turn things around.

“Among the first things RIM has to do is get new blood on the management team. Thorsten Heins is definitely new blood. He’s an insider, but not one that people have known, even those who watch RIM,” said Cooley. “The problem is that the introductory video he posted this week doesn’t seem to have a lot of urgency and doesn’t seem to grasp the dire situation that Research in Motion is in, especially in North America, where it’s getting whipped silly by Android and Apple with the iOS devices.”

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

Cooley said RIM has to get a new device on the market with a new operating system, but the release has been delayed until late 2012, which is an eternity in the smartphone world.

He said that while the company does need new blood, he doesn’t expect a huge hiring binge to take place. But he said the company needs to “refresh the slate” if they plan to keep the same people on board.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley said the controversy over the Stop Online Piracy Act and companion Protect IP Act will finally come to a head with sites like Wikipedia going offline for 24 hours starting at midnight.

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

“The tricky part about these particular bills is that they target rogue or offshore websites,” said Cooley. “When sites are in the United States, there are a fair number of legal tools to go after them. But the problem with sites that are outside the U.S. boundaries is it’s very hard to take legal, methodical action against them.”

Google is planning to post a link on its homepage to let users know why it’s opposed to the bills.

Cooley said that there are some indications that the bills are starting to lose support among legislators.

“The White House has just recently said that it has some reservations about these bills,” he said. “The White House did strongly back them until just recently. We are also seeing some seeds of receding by the proponents.”

Late last week, Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the author of the House version of the bill, said he planned to tone down SOPA, with a new version not including one of the most controversial aspects of the measure, the ability for federal authorities to completely shutdown domains that were alleged to have pirated content.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley said the system is far more than just a regular gaming console.

“It’s not just a portable device, but as the name suggests, it’s a 3D device,” he said. “It gained sales to a record 4.5 million. And then you have the Wii console dropping from 10 to 7 to now in the 4 million range. This is partly because the Wii console doesn’t really have much of a new message right now.”

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

Cooley said that if Nintendo wants sales of the Wii to improve, the company has to make it more viable for other forms of media than just gaming.

“If they are able to branch it more to embrace things like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon and all these video stores that are the rage right now online within the living room, turning the living room into a place that you stream, rather than just at your desktop or laptop,” said Cooley. “But then you blur the message. The Nintendo Wii has always been the simpler, more affordable, easier to set-up device that has simple Wii games.”

Cooley said that portable gaming devices like the 3DS could struggle to compete against smartphones, many of which can already be used as a gaming device, along with its other functions.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley said there are several things coming down the pipeline in 2012, including the possibility of Apple TV.

“Perhaps the most interesting is the idea of an Apple television set, a true TV that has their Internet streaming built-in, but it’s actually a television,” said Cooley. “It’s not just a box that you hook up to your own TV.”

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

It is still uncertain if the product will in fact launch in 2012.

Cooley said there are other developments on the horizon for Apple including opening up Siri to developers and the potential end to Mac Pro, the higher-end desktop model for Apple. There is also the expectation that a brand new iPhone will be launched in 2012.

“They know that they’re going to have to bring out something that looks different and has a different number,” said Cooley. “What will be different is it will almost certainly have a bigger screen. The iPhone has a tiny screen by today’s standards. And it also needs to move to 4G, which is a much faster way for phones to connect to the Internet.”

Apple has released a new iPhone every year since its introduction.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley said they are still unsure why the delay occurred.

“A lot of folks are hanging on this one because it will really change how your Xbox looks,” he said. “And this is not just for gaming. This is more a living room, video viewing story. The new software will make this console much more that kind of device.”

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

The update will add the tiles aesthetic seen on Windows phones and Windows 8, along with making it a multimedia hub with the inclusion of voice recognition, gesture controls, Bing search, television and social options.

Cooley said the update will also allow users to carry over their subscription from services such as XFINITY and log in through their Xbox. But many of the cable and satellite operators won’t launch this service until early next year.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley said that researchers found that the printers can be remotely controlled by criminals over the Internet.

CNET Editor at Large Brian Cooley:

“Hackers can get into them either through your computer or directly through the printer, because those are increasingly connected to the Internet,” said Cooley. “And they can tell it to do crazy things like heat up its fusing element in a laser printer until it nearly catches fire or to take a print job and email it out to a hacker’s email address.”

The report found that researchers have found flaws in some Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printers, although the company said they are reviewing the vulnerabilities and can’t confirm or deny the research.

Cooley said part of the problem is that it is almost impossible to protect your printer from an attack.

“Think about all the anti-virus software that you probably run on your computer. They don’t sell that for printers,” he said. “Printers aren’t built that way. They lack a lot of that interactivity for security and they’re kind of dumb devices.”

Cooley said the “inconvenient truth” is that all you can do is make sure your printer is powered down to avoid an attack by hackers.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley said that the service could initially have some problems as it doesn’t have deals in place with all the major record labels.

“There’s a pretty good likelihood that (they announce) they might have some progress on getting those deals. The big label EMI was recently broken up and sold to Universal and Sony, which are the only two labels Google already has a deal with,” Cooley said. “So they might have things coming together.”

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley:

He said there is also some speculation that the tech giant might also unveil its “at home” service, which would allow everything in a consumer’s house to be put on a “mesh network,” where appliances and electronics can be wirelessly talking to each other, while also being reachable from a smartphone or tablet running Google’s Android system.

Cooley said what is not known is the wireless technology that would be used to connect all these devices.

You can hear Brian Cooley’s Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley said the library is only for Amazon Prime members.

“This is becoming a key differentiator between Amazon and Apple. The Prime membership used to get you free shipping in two day form for most of your purchases. Then they added free streaming of a bunch of movies. Now, they’re adding free books you can use in the Kindle format,” said Cooley. “This is their way of building a “home-brew” iTunes and it’s their way of bolstering the Kindle Fire.”

CNET Editor-at-Large Brian Cooley:

The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library will allow Prime members to check out up to one e-book a month for free with no due date.

Cooley said this is just the beginning of the competition for tablet users, as Barnes and Noble is also set to launch a new version of the Nook.

But he cautions that the devices are all very different and competing for separate audiences than the iPad from Apple.

You can hear his Tech Watch report Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:50 P.M. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)