Google, Mobile | featured news

Some interesting numbers from Norwegian browser company Opera today, as their 'State of Mobile Advertising' looks at impressions and revenue in Q4 2012. Much like that great golfing analogy (driving is for show, but putting what wins you the dough), there is a distinct difference in mobile advertising income and expenditures over the two major platforms. And it points to a healthy ecosystem for developers on iOS devices.

It’s a scenario familiar to any skier or snowboarder: You pull out your trusty paper trail map on a snowy, windy day, only to have it flap around, rip into pieces and succumb to the soggy bounds of your gloves. Now, though, you may be able to spare yourself the struggle. The map mavens at Google this week rolled out their latest product, mobile trail maps of 38 resorts in the U.S. and Canada, complete with colored lines for trails — green for beginner runs, blue for intermediate and black for experts — along with lifts and the occasional Street View–like tour.

Google is trying to create an experimental wireless network covering its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, a move that some analysts say could portend the creation of dense and superfast Google wireless networks in other locations that would allow people to connect to the Web using their mobile devices.

Motorola engineers working on a handset to be released next year, that parent Google hopes will provide more potent competition for devices like Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy phones.

Google Maps have found their way back to the iPhone. The world's most popular online mapping system returned late Wednesday with the release of the Google Maps' iPhone app.

The idea behind mobile payments currently holds more appeal than the reality does. Can Google change that? Retailer support for mobile payments is hard to find outside major metropolitan areas, and even then, the gaggle of tap-to-pay options means your favorite NFC-friendly store may not accept your preferred mobile wallet technology. If a new leak proves true, Google may have worked its way around the hurdle, albeit in an NFC-free manner.

Hurricane Sandy may have stopped Google's Android event, but it couldn't stop the Google website. There will be no swanky event in downtown New York City, but Google's Android team has taken to a blog post to announce the latest Android devices, including the long-rumored Nexus 4 phone made by LG and Nexus 10 tablet made by Samsung.

Google has just set an Oct. 29 event in New York centered on its Android mobile software. "The playground is open" is all it says, so we are left to figure out what might land on that playground.

Google wants smartphones and wearable computers to be integrated instead of intrusive, allowing us to ask them to do things without ever lifting a finger... If people are discussing the migratory patterns of monarch butterflies over dinner, for instance, phones will be able to hear that and present a map, she said. Or when you meet someone, your glasses could show you the person’s LinkedIn profile and your last e-mail exchange. “It’s the integration of the digital and physical worlds so no longer are they two relatively separate spheres where you have to make the connection between them,” Ms. Maes said.

Google objected to Taiwanese PC maker Acer's development of a smartphone that is powered by a rival mobile operating system, the launch of which was delayed this week.