It might not be making as much money as the competition in Cupertino , but that doesn’t mean Samsung isn’t raking in cash at an astonishing clip. We reported earnings estimates a few weeks ago, but now it’s official that the firm posted a 5.3 trillion won ($4.7 billion) operating profit in Q4 2011

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Samsung 2011 Q4 earnings official: $42 billion in sales, $4.7 billion operating profit

Do you like numbers? What if we said those numbers were amounts of money — very large sums of money? If we’ve caught your attention, then perhaps you’d like to join us as we bring you Samsung’s earnings call live, straight into your eye holes courtesy of our fancy new liveblog viewer.

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Samsung’s earnings call liveblog

With Carrier IQ and O2′s most recent data-snooping, people’s vigilance about what information cellphones transmit is increasing. Using a Galaxy Note , AndroidPit found that every four minutes, Vlingo’s voice-recognition app was sending a packet of data to an unencrypted server.

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Vlingo co-founder explains data-collection issues

A lot of Canada news this week, which is why three of the four podcasters behind the mic today are from the land up north: international man of mystery Sean Cooper, Myriam Joire (yep, she’s got some Canadian blood in her) and our special guest Kevin Michaluk — also known to millions as CrackBerry Kevin . Brad Molen’s here too, and while he’s admittedly all US of A through and through, he can still say “eh” like the best of ‘em.

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Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast with special guest CrackBerry Kevin, Friday at 5PM ET!

There are plenty of off-the-shelf controllers out there, but what if you fancy something a little more… you ? How about fully customized, with a good seasoning of affordability and style?

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Open source controller framework lets you add the finishing touch

This is the LikeBelt: a concept device that inserts an NFC chip into a belt-buckle. Instead of tapping your mobile device on a ” check-in ” tag, you get the belt buckle close enough to do the same.

Link:
LikeBelt concept encourages a very physical kind of Facebook liking (video)

T-Mobile may be getting a new batch of spectrum as a result of its failed merger with AT&T, but it’s obviously going to always be on the hunt for more, and it’s now urging Congress to ensure that the playing field for future auctions is level for all bidders big and small. Specifically, it’s asking members of Congress to reconsider some pending legislation that it says would “effectively preclude the FCC from considering existing spectrum holdings in determining the qualifications for participation in auctions.” That, it suggests, would put smaller players like itself at a disadvantage to the big spectrum holders in future auctions (namely, AT&T and Verizon), and would represent a drastic break from the past twenty years — during which it says the FCC has continued to fine-tune it’s process to ensure “pro-competitive auction rules.” T-Mobile’s full case, laid out by VP of Federal Regulatory Affairs Kathleen Ham, can be found at the source link below

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T-Mobile urges Congress, FCC to keep spectrum auctions competitive

It hit two million paying subscribers in September of last year and 2.5 million in November, and now Spotify has hit another big milestone. According to the Financial Times , it now has three million subscribers paying for one of its premium services, which reportedly represents more than 20 percent of its active user base. As the FT notes, that percentage is up from 15 percent in March of last year, and Spotify says that its “active” users don’t include folks who signed up for a a free trial of its premium service but didn’t continue to use the free service.

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Spotify tops three million paying subscribers, 20 percent of its active user base

Posted by randfish Having content that goes viral can seem like the luck of the draw, but there are a number of steps you can take to improve your odds.

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How to Increase the Odds of Your content Going Viral – Whiteboard Friday

Motorola offered a estimate that lowered expectations for its Q4 2011 earnings earlier this month, and it’s now out with the final numbers, reporting net revenues of $3.4 billion and a GAAP net loss of $80 million. That’s a swing in the opposite direction from $80 million in net earnings during the same quarter a year ago, although the company did achieve the “modest profitability” it had promised on a non-GAAP basis, reporting earnings of $61 million by that accounting standard.

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Motorola announces Q4 2011 earnings: $3.4 billion revenue, $80 million net loss