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Hulu has posted their results for 2011, and it appears the streaming site's strong growth has continued.

CEO Jason Kilar says revenue grew 60 percent from $240 million to $420 million, although the company had internal projections of $500 million.

Hulu Plus now has over 1.5 million paying subscribers who pay $7.99 per month to have mobile access to Hulu's complete catalog of content. Users can watch back episodes of shows like Family Guy and 30 Rock on hundreds of devices, with minor ads.

More than double the amount of subscribers are signing up per day that were in 2010, adds Kilar.

Additionally, Hulu's content grew 40 percent year-over-year and Hulu Plus' content grew 105 percent in the same period.

Kilar concludes that the company will invest approximately $500 million in content in 2012.

US retail giant Target is planning to add their own Apple stores to a small number of locations, likely to be expanded to more stores if successful.

In reality they will not be actual Apple Stores, but were instead described to the New York Times as "expanded displays" by a Target spokesman. No details have been provided about what Apple products will be involved.

Initially only 25 Target stores will be getting the expanded Apple displays. Presumably that will be expanded if it proves to be a profitable move. It will be particularly interesting to see if desktops or laptops might be added to their existing selection of iPods, iPhones, and iPads.

This change was announced alongside the addition of a number of boutique shops being added to various Target locations to showcase exclusive products from various local businesses. Presumably both are part of an attempt to move Target more into department store territory and away from discounters like Walmart.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley has dubbed 2012 the year of the breakout for Windows Phone.

The bank expects Nokia to sell 37 million of the devices in the year, followed by 64 million in 2013. The handset maker has just launched its first devices, the Lumia 710, 800 and 900, some of which are launching around the world as we speak. The 900 flagship device was just announced at CES.

Furthermore, Morgan Stanley says HTC will sell 6 million of the devices this year. The bank did not have estimates from Samsung or other handset makers, but the total could be over 50 million when all is said and done.

Microsoft is expected to begin a large marketing campaign for the smartphone operating system, as is Nokia.

The principle reason used by entertainment industry executives for new anti-piracy laws like SOPA and PIPA is the harm illegal copying supposedly does to the economy. Specifically, they say it destroys jobs for "artists."

In numerous debates in Washington figures provided by the MPAA, RIAA, and other trade groups are trotted out to show how jobs are being lost every day. If only there were a more objective source of information on the subject...

In fact there is such a source. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the Department of Labor, publishes all the data you need to come up with real world estimates, and contrary to all those job-loss claims they paint a pretty rosy picture.

In fact, according to the official US government numbers, the number of jobs in "arts, entertainment, and recreation" increased nearly 20% between 1998 and 2008. Even better, total compensation for those jobs (adjusted for inflation) increased almost 30% over the same period.

If you narrow the numbers down to just "independent artists, writers, and performers," the increases were even bigger. In fact those jobs inceased at nearly twice the rate as the industry category overall.

One of the biggest reasons politicians around the world feel comfortable crafting anti-piracy legislation which relies on restricting the Internet itself is a lack of leaders who actually understand the technology they seek to regulate.

Nowhere has this been more evident than in the House Judiciary Committee hearing over SOPA last month. During the hearing, Iowa Representative Steve King actually admitted (via Twitter) that he wasn't even paying attention.

Representative Jared Polis, representing Colorado's 2nd District, is perhaps the best example of someone who actually does understand tech issues. And not just in a general way from researching it, but from actual first hand experience.

Before entering politics, Polis was a successful Internet entrepeneur who founded multiple companies, including online florist ProFlowers. He is also, apparently, an avid online gamer. He recently joined a discussion on the League of Legends community forum about SOPA and PIPA to urge fellow gamers to take action.

If there's one issue where Google and every major handset and tablet vendor disagree, it's the question of what's best for the Android user interface.

From the beginning, Google has insisted that using the "vanilla" Android UI they provide is preferable to vendors creating alternatives like Sense, TouchWiz, or Motoblur. Clearly the top device vendors disagree.

Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha addressed the issue in a conversation at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this week. Motorola, he says, has no plan to drop their custom UI in favor of the stock Android alternative.

He told The Verge, "Verizon and AT&T don't want seven stock ICS devices on their shelves."

Certainly it's no big surprise to find out Android handset vendors place an emphasis on their own customer interfaces. Samsung and HTC are certainly known for the same attitude. On the other hand, Google isn't buying Samsung or HTC.

Pending regulatory approval, they are buying Motorola Mobility. While they have said Motorola will continue to operate independently, that doesn't mean the top executives won't be replaced with individuals who share Google's vision for Android.

At CES in Las Vegas, Samsung announced that all their future Smart TVs will support the RVU (R-View) protocol, allowing them to work with multi-room media players and DVRs.

They made the announcement in conjunction with DirecTV, whose RVU enabled HR34 Home Media Center HD-DVR was launched late last year. The two companies first showcased the technology at last year's CES. RVU works by means of a server, which in this case is part of the DirecTV DVR, which provides a UI to networked TV clients.

Last year Samsung introduced the D6000 line of Smart TVs (D6000, D6400, D6420), which can be firmware upgraded with RVU support. Now it seems a RVU client will be a standard feature on all future (Smart TV) models.

Stephen Goldstein, vice president of Samsung Electronics America, said in a statement:

AT&T has noted today that the upcoming PS Vita with 3G will be carrier locked, meaning only AT&T SIM cards will work in the handheld.

All international GSM SIM and T-Mobile in the U.S. will give an error when turned on.

Yesterday, the carrier revealed pricing for the 3G data plans. The carrier says 250MB will run you $15 per month, and $25 will get you 2GB. Those prices come on top of the extra $50 premium the 3G model demands on the base price.

Although the device is carrier-locked, Sony revealed that device will at least be region-free, meaning Japanese games will work on American handhelds, and every other combination.

With a release date in late February for the U.S. and Europe, the Vita will run on an ARM Cortex A9 quad-core processor and be powered by a quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU.

Featuring a 5-inch capacitive multitouch OLED screen (with 16 million colors), the device will be 7.16 by 0.73 by 3.28 inches. Furthermore, the Vita has 512MB memory and 128MB VRAM in its graphics processor.

Just a day after Sony confirmed it would not be unveiling a new console at this year's E3 event, one company is saying that either Microsoft or Sony will completely skip this upcoming generation of gaming systems.

Gaikai, is a cloud gaming service similar to OnLive. CPO Nanea Reeves says: "Not all of the current console makers will have one more generation. That will be the big news at E3."

Because Nintendo has already announced and showed off parts of the Wii U, that leaves Sony and Microsoft. The Wii U will be completely revealed at E3 with a holiday release schedule.

Sony execs like Kaz Hirai have said they believe the PS3 will last its promised 10-year life cycle so the speculation is on Sony skipping this generation. Microsoft's console, which has a DVD optical drive and a less powerful processor than the PS3, can likely not last too much longer without upgrading. Top games already fill up multiple DVDs.

Sony boss Kaz Hirai confirmed today what other Sony execs have said; there will be no PS4 (PlayStation 4) announcement at this year's E3 event.

Nintendo will reveal their Wii U at the event, a year after unveiling the tablet controller for the console.

Hirai, along with Sony Computer Entertainment president Andrew House, say they believe the device will live up to its 10-year life cycle, with no need to change that. By bowing out of this year's E3, it is likely that the PS4 will be coming in 2014, at the earliest.

Microsoft is rumored to unveil some details of its Xbox Next (720) at the event, with a late 2013 launch expected. The Wii U could be ready to ship by the end of the year, although everything here is speculation.

While the PS3 is powerful and includes Blu-ray, many of its exclusive developers have said that they are beginning to max out the console's potential.

Apple has invited the media to a special "education announcement" in New York for next week, January 19th, although the contents of the event remain unknown, in true Apple fashion.

The invite, which features a NY skyline, says "Join us for an educational event in the Big Apple." The event will take place at 10 a.m. at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on the upper east side.

Although completely unconfirmed, the general Internet consensus is that Apple will announce their entry into the e-textbook business. In his biography, Steve Jobs spoke about a subscription textbook-on-iPad plan.

Of course, Apple could be going a whole different way with it. We will update you after the event.

Google has announced that streaming gaming company OnLive has developed an app for its Google TV platform.

The platform is seeing something of a revival at this year's event, with four major companies announcing new devices and 200 developers announcing they are working on applications for the service.

OnLive says their "Viewer" app is available now, but it is kind of useless at the moment. For now you can just use the social features or watch other players play their games via the "Arena." Adds Google: "As we do with most new platforms, OnLive is starting out with a Viewer on Google TV, so for now, you can just watch and use OnLive social features. But hang in there, OnLive is working closely with Google to enable full gameplay with OnLive gamers from around the world on Google TV. And more Google TV devices are coming, with OnLive built right in."

The company sells their $49.99 OnLive Universal Controller which is compatible with set-top boxes, Android, iOS, OnLive TVs and eventually with Google TV.

After weeks of speculation, Apple has confirmed its purchase of Anobit Technologies.

The Israeli flash memory maker has its tech already used in most of Apple's iOS devices and Mac laptops. Although the company would not reveal its purchase price, two shareholders say the final buyout was about $390 million. The company had been seeking more, and Israeli newspapers had been speculating for weeks that the price was high as $500 million.

By owning the company, Apple has a full supply of a key component of its iPhone and iPads and can customize the tech to better suit its devices.

Apple is the largest purchaser of NAND flash memory in the world, accounting for a full 23 percent of the planet's consumption in the Q3 2011.

Allegedly, 300 disgruntled workers at Foxconn's Technology Park in Wuhan, China threatened to commit suicide today by jumping off a building.

The factory builds parts used in the Xbox 360.

Apparently the threats came after a payment dispute with their boss. After asking for a raise last week, the boss told them to quit with a small severance or continue to work without a raise. Most of the workers took the severance but the company reportedly then reneged on the deal, not paying them the extra compensation and not giving them their jobs back.

Foxconn had a different statement, however, saying 150 employees took part "in a workplace incident" over being transferred to a different unit within the same massive campus. The company says Foxconn officials and government representatives resolved the issue, with 45 employees resigning and the rest staying on.

Microsoft released a statement, as well: "Microsoft takes working conditions in the factories that manufacture its products very seriously, and we are currently investigating this issue. We have a stringent Vendor Code of Conduct that spells out our expectations, and we monitor working conditions closely on an ongoing basis and address issues as they emerge. Microsoft is committed to the fair treatment and safety of workers employed by our vendors, and to ensuring conformance with Microsoft policy."

At CES today, Intel announced two deals designed to put their latest Atom processors on the mobile device map.

New partnerships, with Motorola and Lenovo, are the culmination of some major changes in the chipmaker's Atom platform, along with development work to ensure Android compatibility. The new Z2460 Atom processor is their first true SoC (System on a Chip) mobile processor.

Starting in the second half of this year, the new processor will be appearing in Android handsets from Motorola, who signed a two year deal to produce Atom-based smartphones and tablets. Before that, in Q2, the Z2460 will be used to power a Lenovo Android phone destined for the Chinese market.

In the past, Atom processors had been generally avoided for mobile devices because they used too much power. That was largely due to their failure to build everything into the same chip. In addition to moving to an SoC design, the new Atom processors also address the power efficiency issue by using a 32nm process.