Apple posted two new iPhone 4S television ads to its YouTube account this evening, "Road Trip" and "Rock God". Both ads showcase the various ways to use the iPhone 4S's Siri functionality to find directions, locate a restaurant, or send text messages.

Samsung aired another of its series of Apple-mocking commercials during the 2012 Super Bowl tonight. In this ad, Samsung is pushing the new Samsung Galaxy Note .

Verizon and other carriers have been talking for some time about the idea of shared data plans that would allow users to draw from a single monthly allotment of cellular data for multiple mobile devices, much the same way family plans can share minutes among their phones. While European carriers have led the way in allowing users with both an iPhone and iPad to share a single bucket of data, Verizon and AT&T have indicated they are working on similar workings with Verizon indicating early last month that such plans were likely to launch in 2012. Engadget now reports that Verizon appears to be continuing to make progress on shared data plans, with the offerings now showing up in employee training materials.

Earlier this week, Apple reported its best quarterly earnings ever , taking in more than $46 billion over three months. 53% of that revenue was from the sale of 37 million iPhones, at an average selling price of nearly $660

Details of Adam Lashinsky's new Inside Apple book set to debut tomorrow continue to surface, and while some of the ideas behind the company's "Apple University" program for training the next generation of executives were previously disclosed in Lashinsky's original Fortune piece on the topic and in a Los Angeles Times article last October, the new book takes a more extensive look at the concept. As had been previously disclosed, Apple in 2008 hired Yale School of Management dean Joel Podolny to head up the Apple University initiative on management training. Several other professors, including Harvard business historian Richard Tedlow, came on board in consulting roles to help develop the curriculum

AllThingsD reports on new research from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) analyzing the impact of the secondary market for the iPhone, the portion of used iPhones that are resold or given away when users upgrade to the latest models.

Back in 2010, an Apple patent publication was published revealing the company's concept for an iMac supporting both mouse-driven and touch-based input with a hinged display arm allowing the screen to transition from an upright position to a horizontal surface.

The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off next week in Las Vegas, Nevada. The January show has traditionally introduced new products and trends in the consumer electronics market.

Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse said in a note to employees Friday that Sprint will merge the marketing and sales teams of its enterprise and consumer businesses into one body. Hesse said the carrier is restructuring in an effort to better streamline its operations, Reuters reported on Friday. As a result, Sprint is also removing four executives from their roles with the firm.

Following Apple's lead in pulling out of Macworld Expo several years ago, Microsoft today announced that next month's keynote presentation at CES in Las Vegas will be the company's last at the major consumer electronics show.