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DALLAS -- Samsung has opened a new front in its battle for smartphone supremacy: the storefront.

The Korean electronics giant plans to set up mini Samsung stores inside all U.S. Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile venues within the next couple of months -- just in time for the Galaxy S4 launch. The "Samsung Experience Shops," which start rolling out Monday, will be in 500 big-box Best Buy stores and all 410 Best Buy Mobile locations by early May. Best Buy's remaining 550 large-format Best Buy stores will feature the shops by early June.

A larger retail presence within Best Buy -- one of the world's largest tech retailers -- gives Samsung a place to directly pitch its products to consumers without shouldering the risks inherent to the retail business. Think of it as a lite version of Apple's retail strategy: a lot of the benefits without the hefty costs. With the stakes so high and competition so fierce in the mobile-devices business, Samsung couldn't take a chance that its retail partners alone could effectively sell its products.

"Retail is not something you jump into lightly, especially given consumers have been expecting this as a next step for Samsung," Ketrina Dunagan, vice president of retail marketing for Samsung Telecommunications America, told CNET. "Although the carriers and retailers today provide a solid retail experience for our consumers, what we find is a lot of [buyers'] deeper questions just aren't answered."

Operating standalone retail stores has been a huge advantage for Apple, but it's a strategy that few companies have been able to replicate. But with its position atop the smartphone market and a breadth of products few can match, Samsung wasn't content to have its contents stuck in part of a single aisle.

Read More: Samsung takes smartphone battle to the storefront

The next generation of Motorola smartphones may allow for custom designed handsets, if ongoing chatter is to be believed.

According to a recent AndroidAndMe post, the rumored X Phone is actually part of a larger brand and approach that includes user-defined configurations for color, storage capacity, ringtones, apps, and more.

Related stories: Former top Apple fanboy now rocks all Android devices, Motorola's X-Phone job req: Four clues about the phone, Android rumor roundup

If that weren't enough to whip fanboys into a frenzy, a source close to the blog suggests that memory, processors, and carrier support may be customizable as well. Reportedly, Motorola will guarantee one-week delivery for custom devices.

While the casual smartphone observer might find the rumors just a tad "out there," it appears that there could be a bit of truth behind them. Guy Kawasaki, who recently joined Motorola as an adviser, today alluded to customizing smartphones.

"Wouldn't it be great if you could personalize your phone like this?" the post stated, pointing to a video of a customizable car.

Read More: Motorola adviser hints at custom-built smartphones

Now that Samsung has said it's working on a high-tech watch, one that presumably will pack smartphone features, 2013 could shape up as the year of smartwatch wars, with longtime foes Apple and Samsung leading the battle.

The motivation, Wall Street analysts argue, is that the biggies need another act as growth of smartphones sales are already slowing. Could smartwatches become that act? It might sound like a long shot; many people already are abandoning watches and relying on their phones instead. And in an age of ever-expanding phone screens, a device for the wrist comes with obvious limitations.

Yet Samsung is publicly prepping for this fight. Apple has been mum amid a slew of reports that it has a team in Cupertino, Calif., working on the iWatch, or whatever it might be called. Startup Pebble, meanwhile, has already gained a big fan base, showing that an app-filled watch that's linked to a smartphone certainly has some eager customers.

For Samsung, however, this is hardly new terrain. Go back in Samsung history -- to the heady days of 1999 -- and you'll find that Samsung was already pushing a Dick Tracy-like device. Why? Because the wireless market was "saturated."

Here's Samsung's press release about its first watch phone, the SPH-WP10:

The SPH-WP10 is Samsung's first product developed as part of a market segmentation strategy designed to respond to the nearly saturated domestic market for wireless handsets. The new product signals new marketing approaches by domestic manufacturers to target specific generations of mobile telecommunications service users.

Read More: Apple iWatch: Samsung plans to clock you

Despite BlackBerry's focus on security with its upcoming Z10 and Q10 smartphones, the company has been dealt a blow by the U.K. government. According to The Guardian, the U.K.'s Computer Experts Security Group has deemed the devices not secure enough for sensitive government work.

Earlier iterations of BlackBerry phones have passed the rigorous CESG guidelines, but the new BlackBerry 10 operating system has yet to prove its worth in the world of U.K. cell phone security.

"We have a long-established relationship with CESG and we remain the only mobile solution approved for use at 'Restricted' when configured in accordance with CESG guidelines," a BlackBerry representative told CNET in an e-mail. "This level of approval only comes following a process which is rigorous and absolutely necessary given the highly confidential nature of the communications being transmitted."

While the CESG has nixed Z10 and Q10 devices for now, it could change its decision and approve the new BlackBerry platform in the future.

"We are continuing to work closely with CESG on the approval of BlackBerry 10 and we're confident that BlackBerry 10 will only strengthen our position as the mobile solution of choice for the U.K. government," the BlackBerry representative said.

Read More: BlackBerry 10 deemed not secure enough by U.K.

Gmail for Android updated today to let users respond to e-mails directly from push notifications.

That's not all: the update also allows archiving and searching Gmail from the notifications window.

The company suggests tweaking your settings to limit the amount of push notifications you get for e-mails:

"You can combine this with existing notification features like the ability to customize which messages you receive notifications for and set up different sounds for individual labels. So if you filter and label all the messages from your mom, you could set a ringtone to let you know you received a new mail from her and then quickly reply (because we know what can happen when you ignore your mother!)."

Read More: Gmail for Android updates to enable replies from notifications

With Samsung's Galaxy S4 unveiled last week and rumors of an iPhone 5S on the way, RadioShack is letting loose some of its inventory at a discounted price.

The consumer electronics store is offering deals on the Samsung Galaxy S3, iPhone 5, and iPhone 4S to Sprint customers starting today. A RadioShack spokesperson told CNET that this sale will last between now and April 4.

Of the three devices, the best deal seems to be for the Galaxy S3. With a new two-year contract, customers can save $150 on the device. Typically the mobile phone costs $199.99 at RadioShack, but the company is now offering it for $49.99 with a new Sprint account.

For the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S, customers can save $50 on the smartphones with a new Sprint plan. The promotion is in-store only, so customers can't score the lower price by ordering online.

Read More: RadioShack slashes prices on Galaxy S3, iPhone 5 and 4S

In a new ad, Google aims to show just how "shareable" its Nexus 10 tablet is. The ad (see below) features a couple expecting a baby and has scenes bouncing back and forth between the two who each use the tablet to make calendar notes, share on Google+, and read up on pregnancy books.

t seems that Google's goal with the Nexus 10 ad is emphasize that more than one user can use the tablet, each with their own user login credentials. The ad ends with the line, "The shareable 10" tablet from Google."

It makes sense that Google would focus on the multi-user feature because this is something that's not yet incorporated into Apple's iPad. As for Apple, it too has been rolling out a series of ads flaunting new features -- it debuted an iPhone ad last week and an iPad commercial last month.

Read More: Google airs Nexus 10 ad focusing on how it's 'shareable'

Apple isn't the only company itching to get its hands on the wristwatch market. A Samsung executive tells Bloomberg that it too has been working on wearable devices that act like smartphones.

"We've been preparing the watch product for so long," Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business, said during an interview with Bloomberg in Seoul. "We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them."

Lee offered no specifics when it came to features, price, or target release date. The South Korean electronics giant already has a pretty active product release calendar scheduled for 2013, with three high-end smartphones expected to ratchet up its competition with rival Apple.

The disclosure comes after reports last month that Apple already has a team of 100 people working on a rumored smart wristwatch, sometimes call "iWatch," including some prominent Apple employees. Key members of the team are said to include James Foster, Apple's senior director of engineering, and Achim Pantfoerder, a program manager who is credited with 13 Apple patents, including an electronic sighting compass and ambient light sensor.

Other reports have it that Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like devices that sported curved glass. However, a team of this size and with such prominent membership suggests the company might be farther ahead than the experimental phase.

Read More: Samsung wants to get its hands on wristwatch market too