The Apple-Google corporate tussle isn't going to go away. But Apple appears ready to fire another shot across the bow shortly by unfurling a mobile advertising system that tries to take a bite out of Google's preeminence in Web advertising.

MediaPost suggests it might be called "iAd" and will be tied to mobile devices. It follows the Apple acquisition in recent months of Quattro (and Google's acquisition of AdMob). And its implications for the news and information business are profound as they deliver content across the smartphone system.

In this instance the battle line shifts from the devices --- the iPhone and iPad against the Android --- to the content they carry again. Already Apple has found ways to diversify its revenue stream that Google hasn't, but now the battleground will be Madison Avenue.

Wired writes on impending technology that detects how you're reading text, how you pause, how you stare, how you might even lose your train of thought, and adjust.

It's called the Observer Effect and technology is emerging to reduce the friction in the reading experience. It can help you if you're puzzled, deal with you if you're stuck, or even eliminate extraneous material if you're skimming.

Wired author Elliot Van Buskirk identifies the iPad as the first possible test of this tech. He notes Apple is involved in software breakthroughs to accommodate reading, an era of Text 2.0.

He concludes the new technology, once released and experienced for some time, could reinvigorate reading.

A recent study suggests social media is addictive. There is no real surprise in that: People obsess over a variety of things, so the users of social media are bound to be inclined to use it frequently.

What's more interesting is the pattern change the study identifies with PC and iPhone users. An increasing number of them are turning to social media for their fix of morning news.

The Retrevo Gadgetology Report found 16 per cent of social media users get their news first thing in the morning, including 23 per cent of iPhone users. Indeed, among iPhone users, 28 per cent said they check the news before they're out of bed.

Advertisers, broadcasters and Web sites all know that the persuasiveness of commercial messages depends in part on repetition and continued exposure to the ad.

Google, the largest supply chain of online advertising, announced today a new system that permits an advertisement to follow you around the Web.

Google calls the concept ad "remarketing" and its AdWords blog today outlines what its benefits are for advertisers. It knows that people don't always click through the first time an image or message appears --- that they're more likely to do so as the ad insinuates itself through repeat exposure.

A simple piece of code on your site will then serve up your offerings as people visit other sites. Essentially Google is generating a relevance index that follows you.

The implications for the news business are significant. If digital advertising becomes more effective, it will be priced accordingly and perhaps provide a stronger financial underpinning.

The revenue situation for American newspapers was dire in 2009. Figures released by the Newspaper Association of America indicate a dramatic decline in advertising revenue in the year.

Indeed, ad revenue reverted to 1986 levels. In total the decline was more than $10 billion to $27.6 billion for print and online operations.

While the fourth quarter of 2009 featured a smaller decline, even that was a small consolation: the decline was still 27 per cent year over year.

The most precipitous drop came in a category few expect to regenerate: Classified ads. The drop there was 38 per cent from the previous year, and with the presence of such services as Craigslist, most believe it's a permanent shift in business that will not recover.

The president of the association believes there is "encouraging" news in the first-quarter results to date in the industry, a suggestion the worst is over.

It is getting preciously close to April Fool's Day, so it was with some skepticism that I read the account on the Singularity Hub about the robotic journalist prototype.

But there it is: A wheeled device that infers its surroundings (and changes in them), queries nearby people, conducts searches on material to further develop it, snaps pictures and video, and publishes the result. It was developed in the informatics lab at Tokyo University.

Not dissimilar to devices that go where humans dare and should not in war zones, theses devices are surrogates. Unlike those, though, these are autonomous and not remote controlled.

In his Reflections of a Newsosaur blog, industry veteran Alan Mutter examines a new survey from ITZ Belden that suggests there is reason for some optimism among news organizations in the digital age.

In the survey of users of three newspaper sites, users also happened to be significant techies. The survey found a disproportionate number of them happen to own smartphones or intend to buy the impending Apple iPad tablet.

Compared to other surveys, the ITZ Belden one found above-average numbers on intention to own a smartphone if one weren't already owned, too.

Some 30 per cent of news site visitors said they intended to own an iPad. If that were a universal number, and not just a news site visitor number, Apple would be assured a very sustainable future indeed.

Now, three newspaper sites' users do not a survey fully make. But it's clear in this data a connection exists between a news consumer and a desire for top technology. Mutter notes it's necessary for news companies to generate better digital applications to take advantage of the interest.

Time was, we expected a convergence of the computer and the television into one screen. The fear from television was that the emergence of the Internet was a zero-sum threat; hours into the Internet would be hours out of the television screen experience.

While neither has come to pass, it doesn't mean the TV and the computer aren't working with each other.

New data from Nielsen indicates Americans are more and more often using their computers while watching TV. About 60 per cent say they do so at least once a month.

The level of multitasking rose 38 per cent in one year, Nielsen suggests. It's perhaps an indication why such marquee television events as the Super Bowl, Oscars and Winter Olympics drew high ratings --- the use of the computer, particularly for social networking while the event was televised, turned America into one big living room.

A survey released today indicates online use and television viewing were up in the last year, but the Internet now has edged ahead of TV as the preferred platform for Canadians.

The Ipsos Reid survey found Internet use at 18.1 hours weekly, up from 14.9 hours weekly a year earlier. But that number has surpassed TV viewing, which stood at 16.9 hours, up from 15.9 hours a year ago.

Listening to the radio (8.9 hours), reading the newspaper (2.9 hours) and reading magazines (1.4 hours) have been stable in the year.

The survey found men (20 hours) spent more time than women (16 hours) online weekly. There weren't large gaps in the online usage among age groups, interestingly.

The digital age has arrived and taken along with it many news industry veterans who want to --- or have to --- transform their focus from the legacy media business.

AdAge summarizes some of their challenges in a lengthy piece: the skills deficiency, the formality that has to informalize, and the loss of status as the shift takes hold. It advises training and having a good explanation on why you're making the move now --- as opposed to, say, years ago.

All in all, the AdAge story suggests the only real upsides involve the acquisition of new skills and the provision of legacy skills in the new setting.

It's a familiar situation these days in news operations.