It must be a bit difficult to be Microsoft sometimes, especially these days. Sure, they still make a desktop OS that dominates the world, but that lead is dropping as fast as sales of desktop computers.

And their other products, like the Surface, don’t seem to be catching on with the kids. And don’t get us started on the XBox One.

Microsoft just doesn’t seem to get it. So what do you do when you are a big company that’s falling behind the times? You go negative, of course.

In a new ad that’s just come out, Microsoft again decides to mock Apple and the iPad via Siri, the company’s voice-enabled personal assistant. The chief reasons the iPad is bad this time: it doesn’t have a zoomable home screen, lacks an SD card slot and for not being able to multitask as efficiently as Windows RT.

Sure, okay. Now that you put it that way we’re going to throw our iPads in the trash and rush out to buy a Surface right now. Not.

Check out the ad after the break.

As someone who made one or two commercials in the past, I can’t say all that much about the creative merits of this particular commercial except it didn’t really motivate me to buy an Audi. But that’s not really the purpose of this commercial anyway.

What’s the purpose then? Well, that’s debatable. However, to a Star Trek-loving geek like myself, I also say it’s pretty irrelevant. I just loved it because I get to see two great actors, who’ve played one of the most iconic characters in history, have a bit of fun. Plus, after today’s earlier sad news, I could use a bit of fun.

The two actors in question are Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto who, of course, both played Spock in various incarnations of Star Trek. The commercial in question is “The Challenge” and in it Spock battles Spock to see who can get to the golf course first. The loser buys lunch. Who wins?

Well, I won’t spoil it for you except to say that the solution found by Spock is highly logical, pretty darn funny and a great twist.

Check out the commercial after the break.

Effective commercials, and advertising in general, is an under-appreciated artform. Often, the right advertising and marketing campaign can greatly help a new product succede.

In other cases, an ill-conceived advertising and marketing campaign can hurt, and in some cases kill, a product before it really gets going. For Samsung’s upcoming new flagship device, the Galaxy S4, we’re not sure if it’s latest teaser video campaign is one that will help, or hurt.

With the unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy S4 now less than two weeks away, Samsung has begun dropping video teasers for the device featuring a kid named Jeremy, who is the “secret messenger of Samsung Unpacked 2013.”

In the new teaser released today, Jeremy is back and still trying to keep his secret, in spite of the persistance of the little girl down the street. Women. Isn’t that always the way?

Check out the latest teaser video, and the first one from last week, after the break. Do these make you want the Galaxy S4 even more, or do you care?

Even though tablets from Apple are still the most popular, many people prefer buying a device from someone else that runs the Android OS. One very popular alternative to the iPad that does just that is Google’s own Nexus 7.

It’s getting closer to the holidays so that means we’re going to be seeing more ads trying to convince us to buy one product or another. A prime example of this is the latsst Nexus 7 commercial from Google.

In it Google continues the theme of using the tablet in your daily life to be creative and have fun with friends and family. It starts off with a girl listening to the Life Aquatic soundtrack, which then leads to a group of friends creating a life sized aquarium to call their own.

Check it out after the break. If you want an iPad alternative, the Nexus 7 isn’t a bad way to go. Pick one up here.

With the next James Bond actioneer, Skyfall, set for release in November, you can bet your hard-earned dollars we’re going to start seeing a crapload of promotional material for the movie. One of those promotional materials just happens to be a new commercial for Heineken featuring Ian Fleming’s master spy.

Heineken you say? Why, isn’t that a beer? I thought James Bond drank a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred? Sure, everybody knows that. . . Everybody except, it seems, the makers of Skyfall.

In the new Bond film, 007 is a beer drinker. His brand of choice? Heineken, of course. Yeah, we don’t really like the idea either.

Even so, the commercial is pretty cool and from what we’ve seen so far, the movie looks pretty cool too.

Judge for yourself after the break.