Google Images Now Redefined With Less Text

Today, Google announced several enhancements to their Google Images search page that aim to be more accurate, efficient, and image-oriented. The new look is said to bring the following enhancements:

• Dense tiled layout designed to make it easy to look at lots of images at once. We want to get the app out of the way so you can find what you’re really looking for.
• Instant scrolling between pages, without letting you get lost in the images. You can now get up to 1,000 images, all in one scrolling page. And we’ll show small, unobtrusive page numbers so you don’t lose track of where you are.
• Larger thumbnail previews on the results page, designed for modern browsers and high-res screens.
• A hover pane that appears when you mouse over a given thumbnail image, giving you a larger preview, more info about the image and other image-specific features such as “Similar images.”
• Once you click on an image, you’re taken to a new landing page that displays a large image in context, with the website it’s hosted on visible right behind it. Click anywhere outside the image, and you’re right in the original page where you can learn more about the source and context.
• Optimized keyboard navigation for faster scrolling through many pages, taking advantage of standard web keyboard shortcuts such as Page Up / Page Down. It’s all about getting you to the info you need quickly, so you can get on with actually building that treehouse or buying those flowers.

The company seems to show that it is trying to change with the times and implement new technology behind their image searches to provide a better user experience. Not only has Google Images expanded since its first debut it has also been through several changes and it is now nearing what seems to be the ideal image search. Not only are they working on expanding functionality for users but also for advertisers who seek to put up ads on the Google Images searches. The new type of ads are called "Image Search Ads" and allow you to put a small thumbnail next to the text. Seems like Google is working hard to provide the average person a better internet experience. If you are interested in reading the official Google Blog Post, click here.

Android App Development Open To Everyone Via Google’s App Inventor

Google recently made a move to open app development to a wider range of people. Excellent news for people with ideas but no knowledge of programming or the money to invest to hire a developer. The tech giant released App Inventor for Android which is software that anyone can use to build something they might want to call an app. To use App Inventor, you don't need to be a developer since the software requires NO programming knowledge. Instead of writing code, you visually design the way the app looks and use blocks to specify how you want the app to behave. Check out the video below for a quick demonstration:

Technologizer had the following to say about Google's new software:

It’s an exciting idea that’s more than slightly reminiscent of HyperCard, the brilliant visual programming tool that was a big deal on the Mac more than twenty years ago, and which is missed to this day. HyperCard or something similar would be a boon on the iPhone–even Steve Jobs has says he thinks so.

Personally, we think Google has the right idea here since many people probably have great ideas or at least have stumbled upon features or lack-thereof for their smartphones but have no knowledge of programming or what to do. The interface seems just easy enough for someone with passion, time, and dedication to get something really solid out. Perhaps one of the App Inventor apps will get some interest from a real app developing company and the idea will get picked up and bought off. The possibilities are endless and Google really is taking advantage of app development by opening it up to those who don't have the programming knowledge as well as those who do. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Facebook Aquires Nextstop – A Travel Recommendation Site

Social networking giant, Facebook recently acquired social travel recommendation site Nextstop, according to a blog post on the startup's site. The startup, which originally launched early 2009 mixes social recommendations with search and adds a reputation system and elements of gameplay. The company was founded by two ex-Googlers, Carl Sjogreen and Adrian Graham, who helpd launch Google Calendar (Sjogreen) and Google Groups and Picasa. The idea of the site came about with the frustration the two had of finding things to do in unfamiliar places.

According to the post, the startup's employees are joining the social network and Facebook is acquiring most of the assets of Nextstop. The site is planned to shut down on September 1 but the startup is workign on several ways for current users to export their contributions to Picasa, Google maps, or other sites. The company is also aiming to release a database of Nextstop recommendations and content under a Creative Commons license. The site currently includes information on nearly 100,000 recommendations for places around the world. The main differentiation between Nextstop and its competitors was the focus the company had on making recommendations social. The site did more than just use Facebook Connect, it also used social elements to filter recommendations.

So what does this mean for Facebook? It could possibly mean that it is going further deep into socializing travel. This also appears to be a talent acquisition as the founders are experienced in social products at Google. Check out an excerpt of the text from the original Nextstop blog post below for some more information:

When we started nextstop just over two years ago, our goal was to make it dramatically easier to discover great things to do anywhere in the world. During that time, we’ve been amazed and delighted by your enthusiasm for this project, and it’s strengthened our conviction that information from friends and passionate locals is a much better way to discover the world around you.

It’s with that goal in mind that we have some big news to share today: nextstop has been acquired by Facebook. What this means is that we’ll be joining Facebook and that Facebook has bought most of our assets.

This creates a number of big changes for the nextstop product and our community, but we believe it’s an opportunity for some of the ideas behind nextstop to reach Facebook’s audience of more than 400 million users and have a much bigger impact on the world than we could on our own.

YouTube Launches Leanback and Updates Mobile Site To HTML5

YouTube has officially rolled out Leanback, a television-friendly interface first debuted during the Google TV's big unveiling. The whole interface works via a keyboard with arrow keys (no options to use the mouse unfortunately) letting you scroll through your feeds, recommendations, categories, playback options, and search bar. Videos take up the entire browser menu and will crank up the HD when available. Navigation is snappy and the suggestions are pretty accurate. Check out the a video of the Leanback features below:

On the handheld side, YouTube also released a new mobile site which touts more features to tailor to mobile users. The new features include a more touch-friendly UI, further incorporation of the main site's elements such as favorites and ratings and generally a much more responsive load times. The company promises to work at bringing more update parity across its desktop and portable sites. You can check out the promotional video below:

Logitech Revue – Google TV Running Android Coming Soon

During the Google I/O conference, Google announced the newest product they had been working on, Google TV. Yesterday, the Logitech Revue (the first Google TV box) passed FCC approval, and as usual, the FCC was kind enough to provide some pictures of the device. The device sports some pretty decent specs as well, which include:

• Android 2.1
• 1.2 Ghz Atom CPU
• 4 GB Memory
• 2x HDMI 1.3
• 2x USB
• S/PDIF out
• Ethernet (presumably 10/100/1000)
• IR headers
• 802.11n

The Revue meshes well with the Logitech Harmony remote and acts as a WiFi access point for your entertainment devices. It helps unify many devices such as the TV, receivers, DVR, etc. and even comes with free 720p video chat software. You will have to bring your own webcam though but that isn't too bad. The device also supports many existing Android Apps and allows users to control everything via iPhone or Android devices as well as the previously mentioned Harmony remote and other IR devices. As of right now, there is no solid release date or pricing information, but it is expected to ship later this year for less than $500.

Cross Platform Developers for Both iOS and Android Increase

Usually a number of raw apps are considered in mobile OS comparisons, but this time developers that are working behind the scenes are being compared. AppStore HQ today have gone through their dev directory and claimed to to compile a complete listing of all 55,000+ coders whose work is currently available for consumption in the Apple App Store and the Android Market. They were each put in a neat pile of Apple, Google, and Apple + Google programmers (Gapple). After seeing the chart put together, it is pretty visible to see that single-platform development is the norm (with Apple having more developers), but AppStore HQ also provides a list of some of the most well known and funded apps doing the cross-platform developing. The company suggests that a movement is on its way, one that makes software available for both sets of users. VentureBeat, another company has extrapolated the following numbers from the chart:

43,185, or 80 percent, develop solely for Apple’s iOS.




8,787, or 17 percent, develop solely for Google’s Android platform.




1,412, or 3 percent, develop for both.

The company believes that Google has made it hard for Android developers to make profit compared to Apple developers but they have seen that customers and money is still there to be made. With the number of apps increasing steadily for the Android Market as well, it's a matter of time to see if things remain the same or whether the movement is really about. What do you think? Share your thoughts and comments below.

Apple Working On Cloud Capable iTunes

News of iTunes receiving a big upgrade late this summer introducing cloud capability have been running rampant recently. The update isn't exactly a surprise for anyone as such a development has been widely anticipated for what seems like forever now but there are still doubts about a September rollout. A Boy Genius Report indicates the new cloud capabilities for iTunes will be partitioned into three groups:

1. Streaming music and movies from Apple's servers to your computers, devices, etc.
2. Streaming music and movies from your home computers to your other computers, remote devices, etc.
3. Wireless iTunes syncing with devices.

Although all these features sound good, getting them up and working might take Apple longer then expected because some of them includes issues beyond Apple's control that can continue to delay the iTunes update. An example of these issues include, licenses that Apple will need to obtain from a variety of content providers, including the top four music labels in the US. Although the company has been hard at work on the major iTunes tweaks since last Winter, it is possible that Google's rumored and much discussed iTunes competitor (streaming music, with songs for download) could be released before iTunes gets the cloud capability that everyone has been anticipating.

Google Voice VoIP Desktop Client Coming Soon

After Google first acquired Skype competitor Gizmo5 in November 2009, it wasn't hard to guess that a soft phone application for Google Voice would be coming soon. A few months after the acquisition that Google was working hard on Google Voice Desktop internally. More recently we learned that Google was delaying the launch of the product and possibly even scrapping it entirely because Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin don't want Google to be in the business of creating software outside of the browser.

The workers over at TechCrunch asked their sources to give them screen shots of what Google Voice Desktop looks like and in exchange ended up getting the actual application. They took a video that shows what the application looks like for both inbound and outbound calls. The software is still branded Gizmo5 but the sign up screen does say "Gizmo5 by Google," and it is fully integrated with the Google Voice service, address book and all. The desktop application was automatically added as one of the phones in the Google voice browser as well and there was no news whether this was an internal release or something a bit older.

Our opinion of the software is that it is very intriguing and that Google should continue to finalize it and eventually release it for everyone to use. It seems to work great and will probably become a very viable alternative to current software for many to use. Particularly for those who travel overseas and don't want to pay a ridiculous price for a Skype-in number. The video can be found below:

What are your thoughts of the software thus far? Keep in mind that it is an unreleased version so probably a beta version (or maybe even an alpha). Share your thoughts and comments below.

Google's Nexus One Gets An Android 2.2 Froyo Update: FRF91

Google has been hard at work pushing out updates for it's Android 2.2 Froyo operating system. Earlier this week, Android 2.2 build FRF85 was released, the big update everyone Nexus One got over-the-air. Today, Google has taken it upon themselves to released yet another update, FRF91. This update also seems to be going out OTA but not everyone has been notified as of yet. All the same though, a direct link has been found from Google's site itself so it definitely is legit. Supposedly, this is just security update but no official word on it yet. If you manage to find anything, drop us a comment below!

You can download the file from the sources below:

Official Link

MGN Mirror

Android 3.0 Codename Gingerbread Being Prepped For Tablets

Information is being leaked about Android 3.0, which is codenamed Gingerbread. From various previous leaks, it was already revealed that the release of the next major version of the OS was planned for Q4 2010. The details that recently emerged indicate that the release could be in October and might be boosting the minimum required hardware specifications. According to Eldar Murtazin, a blogger for Mobile Review, the new version will require a 1 GHz CPU and 512 MB of RAM and will also be bringing support for a screen resolution of 1280 x 760 for devices with displays larger than 4 inches. The screen resolution makes it a more compelling choice for tablet-sized devices which might be what Google is trying to push more. Several hardware makers have already created Android tablet prototypes with high-resolution screens by tweaking the platforms themselves.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Google is planning a major user interface overhaul for Gingerbread to reduce the need for third-party user interface customizations, such as HTC Sense and Motoblur. Google might take this opportunity to make sure that is new UI will scale up well for tablet devices as well. Intel's recent involvement in an official x86 port of the platform is also evidence that Google plans on pushing Android onto tablets. Intel still currently supports MeeGo for tablets rather than Android, but improvements to Android's x86 suport could still simplify matters for OEMs who want to pair Android with Atom in tablet-like devices.

More leaked information also indicates that while working on Gingerbread, Google plans to continually work on Android 2.2 (Froyo) for the foreseeable future as well so they can maintain it in parallel with 3.0. The purpose of keeping up to date with both is to ensure that 2.2 is still available for lower-end devices that don't meet the high requirements they plan on imposing for Android 3.0. This idea is similar to that of Nokia's strategy of using MeeGo on smartphones and Symbian for less expensive mass-market Internet-enabled phones. Amidst all this information acquired from leaks, its surprising to see Google's lack of any official confirmation. Kind of strange that developers and fanboys rely on leaks and rumors to get news for what is supposedly an "open" platform but we still have high hopes from Google.

Hacked Nokia N900 Spotted Running Android 2.2

While many Android manufacturers are still scrambling toward official Android 2.2 updates for their manifold handsets, someone managed to get Google's Froyo on the Nokia N900. The N900 actually runs really well with some super speedy browsing and decent hardware support. The only thing that is lacking is the lack of memory card support. Check out the video below to see Android on Nokia's phone:

Google Releases Android 2.2 Froyo Source Code

Although it isn't hitting the bulk of Nexus Ones, Google released the source code for Android 2.2 today. This is a good sign that the code has been readied for the Open Handset Alliance's satisfaction and is also ready for deployment across a number of phones from different manufacturers and carriers. It's still ultimately up to the important people to decide when various models will get the upgrade but this is the day where the countdown to those announcements can begin.

Google Command Line Tool Announced - GoogleCL

Google recently announced the availability of a new tool called GoogleCL that will allow users to interact with the company's Web services directly from a command line. GoogleCL was developed in the programming language, Python, on top of the gdata-python-client library. It's an open-source software project that's hosted on Google Code and distributed under the Apache license. Anyone who tries it and wishes to contribute fixes and improvements can submit patches through the project's issue tracker.

Although current desktop computing is dominated by GUI's (graphical user interfaces), command line tools are still really useful for rapid interaction, simple programmatic automation, and remote system management. Google's new tool will make Google-hosted data more accessible to common command-line workflows. The GoogleCL tool offers a quick and easy way to pipe your Gmail contact list into sed and awk, or use a shell glob to specify which photos and movies to batch upload to Picasa and YouTube, with support for Blogger, Google Calendar, and Google docs.

The tool can be downloaded from the project page on the Google Code Web site. A tarball with the source code and an installable DEB package will also be available by Google. After testing it from the DEB package on an Ubuntu 10.04 desktop computer, the first time you access each individual service, it prompts you for your username and then it will supply an OAuth link that you can copy and paste into a Web browser to complete the authentication process. Once the initial account configuration is finished, the tool can be used in pipelines and the other non-interactive command line workflows. After testing several of the features, we came to a conclusion that it works well with Google Apps accounts. The supported services and operations are documented in the projects user manual. An assortment of sample uses can also be found on the project's wiki for reference.Some of the features in GoogleCL, such as Google Docs editing, require at least version 2.0 of the gdata-python-client library. Unfortunately Ubuntu repositories only have version 1.2.4. The tool works with the older version of the library, but will display an error message when the user tries to use a feature that isn't supported.

If you want more information about the tool, you can refer to the release announcement that has published this morning in Google's open source blog.

Feds Investigate Apple's "iAd" Mobile Advertising Policies

According to Financial Times - The U.S. government is once again going to investigate Apple's alleged anti-competitive practices, this time for the new language Apple is using in section 3.3.9 of its developers agreement which appears to be directed straight at Google’s AdMob. This would be the second time that federal regulators have looked at Apple relating to mobile ads and one of many other preliminary investigations. It was just yesterday that AdMob broke its silence on the matter and went on the offensive saying that Apple is putting up “artificial barriers to competition” which will only serve to “hurt users and developers and, in the long run, stall technological progress.”

Just to clear things up - Apple is not against other non-iAd advertisements showing up on iPhone; the whole mess actually came up to stop nosy analytic firms from mining device and geo-locating data.

Check out the video below:

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Microsoft Launches Free Version of Office Web Apps

Microsoft recently launched the free version of Office Web Apps after nine months of allowing select users test the Technical Preview. The service is initially available via Windows Lie SkyDrive (integration with Hotmail is currently not yet ready) at office.live.com to users in the U.S, Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland with support for English, Spanish (USA), and French (Canada) languages. For the users who don't live in those regions, you will still have access, but you won't be able to choose your language. Rest assured though, Microsoft says "more languages and locales will be added over the coming months."

Office Web Apps allow uesrs to view, edit, and share Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and OneNote documents directly in their browsers. OWAs requires Internet Explorer 7+, Chrome on Windows and Mac, Firefox 3.5+ on Windows, Mac, and Linux, or Safari 4+ on Mac. Microsoft has also revealed which mobile browsers are supported for Office Web Apps: "You can view the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files that you save to SkyDrive via Office Web Apps on supported mobile browsers, including Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile 5 or later, Safari 4 on iPhone 3G or 3GS, BlackBerry 4.x and later, Nokia S60, NetFront 3.4, 3.5 and later, Opera Mobile 8.65 and later, and Openwave 6.2, 7.0 and later," mentioned by a Microsoft spokesperson.

The apps work better with Microsoft Office 2003 and later, and when Office 2010 is released to consumers net week, Microsoft will further explain how the two will work together. This could include features such as editing files offline, co-authorizing documents using revision marks, comments, and other rich features in Word and PowerPoint.) You can go ahead and mark your calendars if you are excited about this: June 15 is when a beta of Hotmail Wave4 (with OWA integration) should start rolling out as well as when Office 2010 will hit retail and start getting preloaded on new PCs.

Nexus One Hacked To Allow 720p HD Video

NexusOne is still one of the hottest Android OS powered smartphones out there, even though Google has not been keeping up with the updates. The developer's community over at the xda-developers forums has done a marvelous job of providing us with new features.

First Cyanogen added support for 802.11n WiFi in CyanogenMod, and now, an xda-developers forum member by the name of charnsingh_online made an announcement that he made a patch for CyanogenMod which enabled 720p video recording in the Nexus One.

To get the mod to work you’ll need to be running Cyanogen’s CM5.0.8test3 and up. This means that for the time being Froyo is not supported, but an update for 2.2 is said to be coming soon along with improved audio quality and fps rate which requires a bit more tinkering.

Cyanogen himself expressed interest in rolling this patch into his next release, so you won’t have to keep patching for too long.

Get the patch here, or here and check out the video below:

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OnStar Partnered With Google To Expand Turn-by-Turn Navigation

OnStar has struck a deal with Google to integrate Google Maps into all of its navigation systems. OnStar users can now use Google Maps to get directions to a destination and then send those destinations to OnStar’s Turn-by-Turn Navigation Service in their vehicles.

A new navigation tab has been added to the home screen of the existing Volt app that, when pressed will show the current location of the vehicle on Google Maps. Drivers can then search destinations by voice control and send directions from the phone to the car.

Other feature of the application include the ability to receive emails and text notifications from teh car and a display showing mileage readings and battery life. Drivers using the app can also set the vehicle's interior temperature ahead of time and manually set grid-friendly schedules for charging.

The Google Maps option will be available on all current Turn-by-Turn capable GM vehicles starting with the 2006 model year and also will integrate with OnStar Destination Download to send destinations directly to the vehicle’s screen-based navigation system.

Press Release:

DETROIT, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- OnStar and Google have reached an agreement that will let OnStar users search for and identify destinations using Google Maps and send those destinations to the Turn-by-Turn Navigation Service in their vehicles.

OnStar eNav, a feature of Turn-by-Turn Navigation, will become available through Google Maps at the end of this month. Drivers can access the destinations whenever they choose and get OnStar Turn-by-Turn directions to the destination from wherever they are.

Turn-by-Turn Navigation is the most widely available built-in navigation system in the automotive market today.

"eNav is a perfect solution for subscribers who like the flexibility of being able to use Google Maps to plan their trips in advance, but without the hassle of bringing printed maps into the vehicle," said Nick Pudar, OnStar vice president of new business development.

"The eNav feature of our Turn-by-Turn service allows drivers to keep their eyes, hands and minds where they need to be – on the road," Pudar said. "And if they ever need help on the road, they can always just push the Blue OnStar Button to speak to a live advisor."

The Google Maps option will be available on all current Turn-by-Turn capable GM vehicles starting with the 2006 model year and also will integrate with OnStar Destination Download to send destinations directly to the vehicle's screen-based navigation system.

This follows last month's announcement in which OnStar and Google demonstrated mobile mapping and location functions for the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle that leverage the Google Android platform.

For the 2011 model year, OnStar Directions and Connections service is standard on all OnStar-equipped, GM retail vehicles. General Motors is the only auto manufacturer to offer navigation standard across all price points and all vehicle segments. Since launch, OnStar has delivered more than 54 million Turn-by-Turn Navigation routes, currently averaging more than 1.4 million per month.

OnStar, the leading provider of in-vehicle safety, security and communication services, also announced today that it has been honored with the Best Use of Telemetric Technology in the Public Sector award at the Telemetric Update conference in Detroit.

About General Motors

General Motors, one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 205, 000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.

About OnStar

OnStar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors, is the leading provider of in-vehicle safety, security and communication services. OnStar is available on more than 30 MY 2010 GM models. OnStar is standard for one year on nearly all new GM retail vehicles in the United States and Canada. OnStar provides services to more than 5.5 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. Shanghai OnStar Telematics Co. Ltd., a joint venture between OnStar, LLC, Shanghai Automotive Industry Sales Co., Ltd. and Shanghai General Motors, provides services in China. More information about OnStar can be found at www.onstar.com. OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is a recipient of the 2010 Edison Award for Best New Product in the technology category.

Innoversal's Pixel Qi-Based Tablet Expected To Launch In September

Innoversal, a new company in Taiwan which was looking to change the world, found itself hosting a striking 10.1-inch device that grabbed our attention. Pixel- Qi-based prototype devices were what the company was messing around with but the highlight was the expansive 3Qi capacitive touchpanel, with a 1024 x 600 resolution, and the ability to save battery life by flipping the backlight off in broad daylight. The current build was relying on three ambient light sensors to determine whether the backlight would be on or not, but after asking the company to implement a dedicated toggle on/off switch along with the border before shipping out, the company agreed. Innoversal will be shipping the product under its own branding in Taiwan, but is certainly open to selling the design to other major manufacturers who wish to slap their own logo on the device. If everything goes well, we can expect to see the device take off in September (globally), with a 16GB + 3G / WiFi model retailing for between $5430 and $550.

Thhe purchase will snag you one of the best power-saving mobile displays as of right now, a 1.66Ghz Atom N450 processor, an integrated SSD (16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities), an SDHC card slot, 8 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, a SIM card slot (for 3G data), USB 2.0 connectivity, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and a 6-cel (5300mAh) battery. The device will supposedly sport Windows 7, Android, Ubuntu, and Chrome OS, with the last 2 being on display at the show. The working display model was also very lightweight and sturdy so this is definitely a tablet everyone should be looking forward to. Check out the video below:

AdMob Updates Advertising SDK To Support iPad Apps

AdMob has announced that its iPhone OS software development kit (SDK) now supports iPad native applications with new ad formats.

In a June 2 blog post, Omar Hamoui, founder and CEO of AdMob, said the company's iPad App SDK is now available for all publishers to download and install in their applications.

"Our new SDK is unified across all devices running the iPhone OS, which means that developers can download one binary for development across all Apple iPhone OS devices – iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. AdMob’s unified iPhone SDK makes it easier for developers to quickly integrate our code and start monetizing their applications.”

The new SDK supports two ad formats in native iPad applications: text and tile ads and image ads. Both of these ad formats are available in the three Internet Advertising Board (IAB) standard ad sizes: 300×250, 728×90, and 468×60.

The new text and tile ad formats contain the same 35 characters as AdMob's standard cost-per-click (CPC) text ads and are easy to create directly in the AdMob interface. The 35 characters of text are automatically re-formatted into all three ad sizes depending on which size ads publishers have implemented in their application.

Meanwhile, image ads become broadly available starting next week, Hamoui said. "We recommend advertisers using image ads provide all three ad sizes to maximize the reach of their campaign. We’re already working with advertisers to create compelling iPad campaigns. Amazon.com is currently running a campaign promoting their Kindle for iPad app."

AdMob has already signed on advertisers to create advertising campaigns for the iPad; currently Amazon.com is currently running a campaign promoting their Kindle for iPad app. AdMob is relatively late to roll out a iPad-specific SDK, competitors Millennial Media, Medialets, Mobclix, and Greystripe have all created ad formats for the device.

Hamoui said AdMob also has put together a sneak preview of the creative potential of iPad ads using HTML5.

"We’re excited about the potential of the iPad for both advertisers and publishers and will continue to invest in providing best in class monetization and advertising solutions on this platform," Hamoui said. "Advertisers should note that any ads targeted to the iPhone OS include the iPad by default and it is also possible to target only iPad devices."

Hamoui also explained that AdMob was one of the first companies to launch ad units for both iPhone and Android applications. "And now we’re helping to drive innovation on the iPad," he said. "We consider today’s launch of text & tile and image ads for iPad native apps to just be the starting point. We’re always thinking about what’s next and working to leverage the unique capabilities of mobile platforms to create engaging ad experiences."

Check out the demo below:

Bing Rumored To Become Default Browser On iPhone 4G / HD

Rumor has it that Microsoft Bing will replace Google in the next version of the iPhone operating system to be released in June. We aren’t calling it more then a rumor yet, but one thing is certain, sources near Google in particular are speaking openly about the topic. In January, Business Week reported that Microsoft and Apple were in talks over an iPhone search deal, and the deal would be an excellent move on Microsoft’s behalf.

There’s also been a lot of speculation around Google’s future on the iPhone since the first public dispute between the companies rose last year over the Google Voice app for the iPhone. Android’s continued gains in the market share only highlight Google’s competition with Apple, and the fact that so many of the core iPhone apps are controlled by Google (including search, maps, and YouTube) has been a sore point with Apple. Other than the core phone, contacts, and calendar features, Apple has little to call their “own” when it comes to the iPhone.

Google has been rumored to be paying Apple $100 million a year for the search rights to the iPhone, along with the ability to serve search ads. Apple would have likely stuck with them unless Microsoft was willing to pay as well, and it certainly wasn’t a lock that Google Search would be removed from the iPhone.

The situation is more complicated than it seems and Google Search is not expected to be fully removed from the iPhone next month. WWDC is around the corner and we won’t have to worry about rumors and speculation much once it arrives so stay tuned for more info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS Feeds.