Research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed that “smart connected device” shipments — which includes computers, smartphones, and tablets — reached a record high during the third quarter of 2012, largely thanks to Apple and Samsung. The pair’s hugely popular devices helped the market grow 27.1% year-on-year as it reached a record 303.6 million shipments valued at over $140 billion.

Samsung kept us waiting a long, long time for the Galaxy S III. We expected it to arrive at CES 2012 back in January, and when that didn’t happen, we hoped for a release at Mobile World Congress the following month (which Samsung didn’t bother turning up to). As it turns out, the Korean company’s flagship smartphone didn’t get its grand unveiling until May.

We may not be in for the same wait next time around, however. Samsung is already teasing “something new” for CES 2013, sparking speculation that the Galaxy S IV will be arriving as early as next month.

If you haven’t heard of the Samsung Galaxy Muse, don’t worry, you’re not alone. It’s a music companion device designed to work with Galaxy smartphones such as the Galaxy S III and Note II. Basically, it’s an MP3 player. What in the world would anyone want with an MP3 player these days? Well, some people prefer not to jog, bike, exercise, etc. with their $600+ device and would much rather carry around a small companion device such as the Muse that costs much less.

Samsung decided to take a stab at the connected camera market with its Android-powered Galaxy Camera. Originally released on AT&T, this Jelly Bean toting, quad-core processing (yes, a quad-core camera) point-and-shoot was met with much skepticism. With the quality of smartphone cameras getting better with each iteration, many consider it unnecessary to carry another device.

The ongoing legal battles between Apple and Samsung were rather entertaining early on, now it’s like watching two school children fight over who was first to own the latest pair of trendy sneakers. Even the judges presiding over the cases are beginning to lose their patience. As the pair continue to fight it out in the U.S. district court of Northern California this week, Judge Lucy Koh has made a plea for “global peace.”