I often write about disruption and evolution of technology.  The iWatch is certainly one of the most anticipated new technologies, perhaps more so because of what it could be or become then what it is likely to initially arrive as.  Pebble is a great idea but much like the TI-99 in comparison to the iPad there is certainly a long way for it to go.

Imagine an iWatch that through Bluetooth, NFC or another next gen communication protocol could take over any compatible screen around you.  In the car, it could take over your ultra high res nav screen.  At home it could take over your iTV.  At the office it could take over your computer monitor.  Unlike Total Recall, you won’t need to touch a screen to engage and certainly won’t need a bottle of Windex at hand.   It’s been reported recently that Apple has applied for patents in the area of eye movement and detection.  As I mentioned in a previous article, I see this as core to the evolution of a next gen Google Glass like product.  Imagine if Apple integrates the iWatch with this technology.  Browse TV programming through eye movement on your iTV.  Navigate your computer screen or navigation unit by eye tracking.  Apple has already demonstrated their prowess in hardware and has the ability to disrupt all screen technology.  This cocktail of technologies can easily position the iWatch as the next flexible and wearable computing platform.  What do you think?

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Insert your joke here about where they embedded fax machines.

What’s truly remarkable, however, is the number of cutting-edge futuristic technologies in Total Recall that actually already exist or are poised to launch in the coming months.

For example, the film’s portrayal of external glass surfaces as remote screens engaged merely by touch was perhaps most interesting and relevant when considering today’s hottest emerging technologies.

Now, it certainly looked cool and I’m sure we can all agree that at some point transparent substrates and circuitry may permit for clear screens. But, to me, the immediate impact of this idea is more immediate.

I often write about disruption and evolution of technology.  The iWatch is unquestionably one of the most eagerly anticipated new technologies on the horizon, but perhaps more so because of what it could be or become than what it is likely to initially arrive as. Pebble is a great idea, for instance, but much like the TI-99 in comparison to the iPad, there is certainly a long way for it to go.

Imagine an iWatch that through Bluetooth, NFC or another next gen communication protocol could actually take over any compatible screen around you.  In the car, it could take over your ultra high-res nav screen.  At home, it could take over your iTV.  At the office, it could take over your computer monitor. And, unlike Total Recall, you don’t need to touch the screen to engage. And you definitely won’t need a bottle of Windex at hand.  Without a screen nearby, it’s own screen and pared peripherals would suffice.

It’s been reported recently that Apple has applied for a wide array of innovative patents in the area of eye movement and detection.  As I mentioned in a previous article, I see this as core to the evolution of a Google Glass evolutionary product.  Imagine Apple’s application in this technology. With Apple having already demonstrated its prowess in hardware, it isn’t difficult at all to envision channel surfing through eye movement on your iTV.

I see the disruption in all screen technology with the integration of eye detection software and hardware and I see the iWatch as the wearable device that could allow for the mobile computational power driving the use.  It would be a  symbiotic relationship of technologies all built and powered by Apple to truly make for a portable and wearable computing platform.

What do you think?

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As a result, Google is pushing the cutoff date to late summer in a move that will allow mobile users to continue accessing all the bells and whistles of Gmail messaging services on their Windows-powered smartphones.

“We’re happy to share today that Google will extend their support for new Windows Phone connections via Google Sync until July 31, 2013,” a post on the Windows Phone Blog reads.

At the same time, the Windows Phone team is building support into our software for the new sync protocols Google is using for calendar and contacts—CalDAV and CardDAV. These new protocols, combined with our existing support for the IMAP protocol for email, will enable Windows Phone users to continue to connect to Google services after July 31, 2013.

To read the full post on the Windows Phone Blog and for more information regarding these developments, click here.

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As widely anticipated, the 2012 summer games from London exerted dramatic influence on what we talked about on social media networks and also what we searched for on Google.

At the 2012 Olympics we’re seeing new records set everyday, not only in athletic performance, but also in global search behavior. It’s clear that these are the first multi-screen Olympics, as users are engaging across TV, computers, smartphones and tablets, often at the same time!

The infographic, Google says, providers a snapshot of the percentage of total searches that occurred on smartphones and tablets during the first two days of the Games, specifically for Olympics-related searches.

Check out the infographic below.

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If so, what will be in Google’s place?

According to John Paczkowski of All Things D, Apple could unveil at the company’s WWDC next month an amazing 3D Maps service and platform that will wow smartphone users like nothing has before.

“Sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tent-pole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, ‘blow your head off,'” Paczkowski says. “I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies.”

Apple has been rumored to want to distance itself from Google as much as possible in future iOS upgrades.

For the iPhone-maker, however, this revelation comes as little surprise. After all, way back in 2009, Apple purchased Placebase – a competitor to Google Maps that was thought to play a role in Apple’s eventual replacement of Google Maps.

The post Google Maps Getting Ditched for iOS 6? appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

In a new interview with Tech Crunch, Google’s mobile search ads chief Surojit Chatterjee admits that mobile search has increased five-fold in the past two two years alone.

Chatterjee says that quality of search ads is increasing thanks to some of the new factors being considered in mobile search ad rankings. For example, mobile web-optimized sites are now ranked higher. Since August 2011, Google has seen more than a 50 percent increase in the number of AdWords advertisers with a mobile optimized sites.

As a result of the mobile search surge, Google’s mobile ad revenues are similarly projected to double from approximately $2.5 billion in 2011 to $5.8 billion in 2012.

To read more from Chatterjee’s interview with Tech Crunch, click here.

The post Google Says Mobile Search Ad Requests Doubled Late Last Year appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Munster says AdSense for mobile and the AdMob unit have been huge cash generators in the past and 2012 will be no different.

Unlike Apple, however, which continues to fall short of initially high expectations surrounding the iAd mobile ad service, Google’s mobile ad business has consistently grown – from $1 billion in 2010 to $2.5 billion in 2011.

Google’s track record of 150 percent mobile ad growth won’t slow in the least this year, says Munster.

“On the advertising side, one source shows that Android is doing well as a percentage of mobile ad impressions on their network, which we believe makes sense since a greater portion of Android apps are free versus paid,” Munster observed.

Thanks in no small part to Google’s Android market share sitting at more than 50 percent, Munster said Android will soon become “biggest platform for mobile advertising both for Google and the industry.”

“Mobile now accounts for 10.1 percent of time spent with media, up from 5.4 percent in 2008, but only 0.9 percent of advertising dollars,” Munster concluded in his note to investors. “The shift to mobile will likely come at the expense of other over-indexed media like newspapers and magazines, but as we know from the shift to online advertising, the shift is likely to be slow and steady.”

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According to the company, 40% of all mobile searches coming to Google are local in nature at this point, which continues to trend upward.  As such, the search giant also announced that “physical location,” or the proximity of a local business to a user’s location will become a targeting variable when serving ads to mobile users.

We reported yesterday that Google is now on track to bank over $2.5B in mobile ad sales this year, and it looks like the company’s “Click-to-Call” ads are driving a large portion of this total.  Google’s Surojit Chatterjee said that Click-to-Call is now driving “millions of calls per week” globally for the company.

The new AdWords ranking variable that takes into account a user’s location is good news for local businesses and retailers as it aims to drive more relevant foot traffic at lower costs.  Local businesses will need to use Location Extensions to take advantage of the new location targeting, and the smartphone user will need to be opted-in to share their location for location proximity to kick in.  In addition, here’s a quick rundown of the new ad-units Google introduced today . . .

Custom Search Ads for apps: will appear when users search within apps for content. Search ads now can be integrated into apps, which wasn’t available previously

Click to Download ads: will direct users to download areas in Android Market or iTunes app store.

Mobile App Extensions: these ads can direct people to specific apps or pages within apps already on their phones. Here’s Google’s example: “If someone searches for sneakers on a mobile device, they might see an ad that takes them directly into a cool shopping app they’ve installed on their phone.” It’s not clear what happens if the app isn’t on the user’s phone already.

Circulars (not limited to mobile): these are more graphically rich ads that contain product images, pricing and deals/offers. Google says, “When someone clicks on a search or display ad (on desktop, mobile or tablet devices), they may see these engaging ads which contain photos of relevant products and special offers.”

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On its “Inside AdWords” blog today, Google said that +1 buttons have been installed on over a million Websites across the Web with more than 4 billion daily impressions.  By adding the buttons to display ads across both the Web and mobile, advertisers have the ability to run social-enabled ad campaigns that work across millions of sites on over 40 countries around the world.  The new feature is being added to display ads by default, though users can opt-out manually via their AdWords account.

The idea is that a display ad becomes much more powerful when people can see which of their friends and contacts have chosen to endorse it.  On the Web, the +1 button and recommendations will appear at the bottom of display ads, then fade out until the viewer hovers over the ad.  On mobile, the +1 button will replace the existing “g” logo and recommendations will appear for several seconds before fading out.

The buttons placed on display ads will also work together with buttons on search results, search ads, and Websites — meaning a single +1 applies to the same content across the Web, no matter where it appears.  While the theory is solid, I’m not sure people will be “+1ing” ads as much as Google hopes.  Will you?

The post Google Adding +1 Buttons to Mobile Web, Mobile Display Ads appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Called the Google+ project, the Internet search giant has raised the curtain on a beta version of a social networking platform that makes it possible for users to be more selective in their social networking.

Google+ is a hybrid social network that incorporates many familiar features, including connecting with friends and contacts, a stream of updates, live video chatting, mobile group messaging and photo sharing. And all of it is very Google with names for the apps like Circles, Huddle, Sparks and Hangouts.

According to Google, the concept of “social circles” is critical to the nature of scope of the new platform, as users can pick and choose which social networking content is shared with particular individuals within designated “circles.”

+Circles, Google says in one example, lets users share what matters most with the people who matter most, Google admitted in its announcement of the platform.

The project, according to the New York Post, has been internally code-named Emerald Sea, indicating Google will either sink or sail on the social tide.

“Not all relationships are created equal, the company acknowledges on its official blog. “So in life we share one thing with college buddies, another with parents, and almost nothing with our boss. The problem is that today’s online services turn friendship into fast food—wrapping everyone in “friend” paper—and sharing really suffers.”

For now, Google is only allowing a select few Google users to try out the service until all the bugs are worked out of the beta phase.

“We realize that today people are increasingly connecting with one another on the web. But the ways in which we connect online are limited and don’t mimic our real-life relationships. The Google+ project is our attempt to make online sharing even better. We aren’t trying to replace what’s currently available, we just want to introduce a new way to connect online with the people that matter to you,” said Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of social at Google.

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