Samsung Electronics, which opened a new startup accelerator in New York City this week, has a key goal in mind for the new center: incubate promising startups and then acquire them to incorporate their innovations into Samsung's devices. "The future for us is about the thoughtful integration of hardware and software," David Eun, the head of Samsung's Open Innovation Center, told The Verge. "And that means startups." As CNET noted, the company hosted an event for reporters, startups and other partners in its new office in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The New York office opened just months after Samsung launched a similar center in Silicon Valley. Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, recently announced a new $1 billion venture fund that it will use to back early-stage startups. However, the aims of the accelerator are different. "We're looking to meet the hottest companies, incubate and acquire," Eun said. "It's a different model from our VC arm." As The Verge notes, Samsung has done this in the past: In 2012 it acquired cloud services firm mSpot in a move to increase the breadth of music, video and radio content available across its devices. Article