The Android platform reaches just under half the mobile market at 47%, according to the latest numbers from comScore.

iOS is sitting pretty in second place at 28.7%, followed by BlackBerry at 16.6% and Windows Phone at 5.2%.

comScore’s numbers also reflect a growing population of smartphone users — for the 3-month period ending in November, 91.4 million people owned smartphones, up 8% from the previous 3-month period.

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Asian markets are mostly higher, with Shanghai up 1.2% and the Nikkei up 0.6%.

European markets are flat.

Dow futures point to a small drop at the open.

For the year, the S&P 500 is up 5.38 or 0.43%. Even if it finishes in the green, this will have been a throwaway year for stocks.

Gold has recovered to $1562 per ounce after falling to around $1520 yesterday. The euro is also bouncing back against the dollar.

Somehow the Dow remains one of the best performing stock markets of the year.

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Thought people were tired of the Kardashians?

Think again.

In a Q&A with Reuters’ Tim Molloy, E! President Suzanne Kolb viewers are tuning in to the network’s all things Kardashian programming for one reason:

I think there’s something emotionally aspirational around that family dynamic and visually aspirational about the way that family lives…

From every piece of research I’ve seen, people aspire to be them or to befriend them.

We were guessing it was more about watching how that 72-day marriage fell apart.

With much of the programming being marathon re-runs of the family’s shows, it’s no surprise that Kolb admits the network never seriously considered canceling any of the Kardashian shows, despite the backlash that followed word of Kim’s divorce earlier this year.

But!

For those of you who can’t take it anymore, there’s a chance you’ll be watching less of them soon — E! plans to develop and pilot original scripted programming next year.

Click here to read the rest of Kolb’s interview>>

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Here’s one thing we wanted for Christmas but didn’t get — the nearly-forgotten cassette of music that Apple put out in the late 1980s.

The Next Web tracked it down and you can download all the tracks and lyrics to the songs right here.

“The Apple Boogie” is a collection of 8 tracks that are sure to inspire something in you, whether it’s laughter, nostalgia, or wonder at how simply weird it is to listen to this music 24 years later.

The barn-burner on the album is “We’re So Excited,” an Apple-centric reworking of The Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited.”

Choice lyrics from this and other songs include:

• “We want to shake you, break you, take you to tomorrow. Want to know you, show you that we got what it takes.”

• “We took imagination and let it lead the way to a new world of discovery stretchin’ life everyday.”

• “We held our ground when the hard winds blew and we survived and now we’re breaking through.”

What are you waiting for?

Click here to download it >

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• MERRY CHRISTMAS: Apple Device Activations Were Up 12x During The Holiday Weekend
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Your pant size is probably lying to you to make you feel better about yourself, reports Abram Sauer at Esquire.

It’s called “vanity sizing,” and it’s the reason why you find out your size is different at the various stores in the mall. It’s an infamous way marketers use to influence women buyers, but they do it for men as well.

The folks at Esquire’s Style blog put together this nifty graphic on the real size of pants, compared with what the brands advertise (for men’s pants):

Apparently marketers think that the vanity factor outweighs the confusion the sizes create for customers.

One solution out there for consumers is a body scanner called MyBestFit, which can tell you your size in various brands. It’s kind of creepy and airport-like, but it works.

What do you think of this practice? Do you want brands to make you feel better about yourself, or do you think they’re just lying to you?

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We can admit it. We were looking forward to tonight’s intro to Monday Night Football on ESPN ever since they announced Betty White would be doing “A White Christmas” skit.

Well, if you like jokes about an 89-year old woman thinking NFL quarterbacks are hot, then this is for you. But for us, it marked the first time that we actually missed Hank Williams Jr.

Here is the video…

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There have been no big crises in Asian markets today to spoil your Christmas vacation.

Most of the region is trading higher, led by the Hang Seng up 1.27%. The Nikkei, which was closed Friday, ended up 1.1%.

Shanghai, however, was trading down 0.7% and Korea’s Kospi finished down 0.6%.

The Santa Claus Rally for is on track for the U.S., with the DJIA up 2.06% this month. Another nice seasonal trend is that the five trading days before New Years and the two after have seen positive returns 31 out of the past 41 times, according to Marketwatch.

Economic releases this week include Case-Shiller and several Fed manufacturing surveys. Calculated Risk has a complete guide..

Don’t Miss: 16 Of Wall Street’s Sharpest Minds Predict Where Stocks Are Headed In 2012

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If you think you spent a lot of cash this Christmas, take a trip down memory lane and see how Christmas spending has changed over the past decade.

Thanks to MoneySupermarket.com for sharing this infographic with us.

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Today we bring you one of our favorite viral videos from a few years back—a kid going completely insane after opening his Christmas gift, a brand new Nintendo 64 video game console.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from SAI!

Check out the video below:

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The economy may still be floundering. But the Christmas tree business is booming. According to new study by research firm IBISWorld, Americans will spend an estimated $3.4 billion on Christmas trees this year, the highest amount since 2007. Here, a brief guide, by the numbers, to this “booming” holiday business:

25 million
Real Christmas trees Americans will buy this year, according to IBISWorld’s forecast

$800 million
Estimated retail cost of those trees

10 million
Artificial trees Americans will buy this holiday season

$2.6 billion
Estimated retail cost of those artificial trees

$3.4 billion
Total estimated Christmas tree spending this year

3.1
Estimated increase, in percent, from last year’s Christmas tree spending

$3.51 billion
Amount Americans spent on Christmas trees in 2007

$3.14 billion
Amount Americans spent on Christmas trees in 2008, when the global financial meltdown took a huge bite out of this seasonal industry.

80
Percent of all artificial trees that are manufactured in China

6 to 9
Number of years an average family uses an artificial tree before throwing it away

7
Number of years it takes, on average, to grow a typical Christmas tree

More than 100,000
People who are employed either part-time or full-time in the Christmas tree industry

The economy may still be floundering. But the Christmas tree business is booming. According to new study by research firm IBISWorld, Americans will spend an estimated $3.4 billion on Christmas trees this year, the highest amount since 2007. Here, a brief guide, by the numbers, to this “booming” holiday business:

25 million
Real Christmas trees Americans will buy this year, according to IBISWorld’s forecast

$800 million
Estimated retail cost of those trees

10 million
Artificial trees Americans will buy this holiday season

$2.6 billion
Estimated retail cost of those artificial trees

$3.4 billion
Total estimated Christmas tree spending this year

3.1
Estimated increase, in percent, from last year’s Christmas tree spending

$3.51 billion
Amount Americans spent on Christmas trees in 2007

$3.14 billion
Amount Americans spent on Christmas trees in 2008, when the global financial meltdown took a huge bite out of this seasonal industry

80
Percent of all artificial trees that are manufactured in China

6 to 9
Number of years an average family uses an artificial tree before throwing it away

7
Number of years it takes, on average, to grow a typical Christmas tree

More than 100,000
People who are employed either part-time or full-time in the Christmas tree industry

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