Apple's recent acquisition of Siri, a voice-activated iPhone application, leads Jemima Kiss of The Guardian to speculate that the company is aiming for small-scale, voice-commanded devices in the near future.

As she sees it, a voice-activated  phone could shed the screen and place the technology in a device smaller than an iPod Shuffle, with commands unfettered by menus.

As she notes, though, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has repeatedly denied his company is moving into the search engine business, which a device as she describes surely comprises. Mobile, though, is the next major scramble.

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.

CNN carries a ballyhooed item on the speculation on the tablet Apple is seemingly creating to rival the Kindle and perhaps even usurp its own iPod.

While there is no new information in the piece, it rounds up every thread and whisper and places them in the laps of commentators who wonder about Apple's master plan and possible impact. The device is reportedly everything from an electronic reader to a music library.

It's a strong primer for anyone unaware of the rumoured creation of the gadget to end all gadgets.