Google yesterday announced the new Google TV service, which will merge applications and a web browser with TV content, enabling users to search across TV programming, their DVR and the web in order to find related content.

Apple is pushing the envelope with its plans for its new mobile-device advertising capability, saying that it aims to charge as much as US$1 million for ads, and as much as ten times that for advertisers who want to be in at the launch. The ads are expected to start appearing in iPhone and iPod Touch apps in June, and on iPads later on in the year.

The Telegraph reports today that Google is trialling a new system that allows viewers to search programme listings on their TV sets. The ultimate aim seems to be to target ads specifically at TV viewers, generating revenue that would be shared with the TV provider.

The Wall Street Journal Europe is reporting today on the promise of the ad selector format in online video ads. Originally invesnted by Hulu as a way of offering three alternative versions of the same ad, the format has been reworked by a number of companies to offer ads from three different brands; if the surfer doesn't click on one of the three ads, the ad server chooses one at random to play.

Vivaki has led a research project over the past year into the relative popularity of different video ad formats, and the ad selector format has turned out to be a clear favourite.

According to eMarketer, video ad spending in the US is expected to grow by around 40% this year.

BSkyB will prove itself very much arrived in the second decade of the 21st Century at the weekend when it makes its first ever live 3D TV broadcast - of the Arsenal v. Man Utd. match at the Emirates - to be shown in selected pubs across the country (although to avoid overcrowding, they're not saying which ones).

Then, from April, it will start making a 3D service available to home subscribers, broadcasting live Premier League football in 3D every week. Take-up will of course be initially slightly limited by the number of customers who actually own the requisite 3D equipment. 3D-ready TV sets are not yet sold in the UK, but this should obviously change if there is something worth buying them for. In the meantime, the 3D channel is being thrown in with the top subscription package at no extra charge to home users.

Sky's Director of strategic product development, Gerry O'Sullivan, commented:

"It's going to be fascinating to watch on Sunday how punters are holding their pints and wearing their 3D glasses."

Microsoft's Bing search engine, launched just three months ago, has already captured nearly 11% of the market in the US. According to stats from Nielsen, in August, Bing's market share was 10.7% - up from 9% in July - against market leader Google's 65%. In the UK, Microsoft has around 6% of the market (although this briefly touched double figures immediately following the launch of Bing), but Google is much more dominant, taking around 90%.

This week Bing unveiled a new feature allowing users to search using image galleries rather than text links. The focus will be on straightforward categories such as travel, health and shopping to start with, but Microsoft hopes to keep adding more and more features to Bing that are not available on Google in order to try to expand its share of the market. In addition, the ten-year search tech deal struck in July between Microsoft and Yahoo! that will see Bing generate searches on Yahoo! websites should give the brand a further boost.

The FT says it is redolent of Harry Potter. Next month's Entertainment Weekly will run ads from CBS and Pepsico in an experimental wafer-thin video format; the video will start playing when the appropriate page is turned. The videos will feature Monday-night TV content as well as an ad for cola.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today BSkyB's plans to launch a dedicated 3-D TV channel next year that viewers will need specially equipped TV sets to watch. 3-D TV is already up and running in Japan, but not yet anywhere else. A number of operators in the US, including satellite company DirecTV and cable operator Discovery Communications, are currently said to be working on 3-D implementation too.

Today comes news of the latest round in the battle by publishers to charge for their titles' content online: a new payment platform going by the name of Journalism Online has attracted around 500 newspapers and magazines and is expected to launch later this yesr. The company will provide a service whereby users will be able to log in once and then access news from a variety of different sites.

The company's founders hope that the service will enable participants to earn an extra US$50-US$100 per subscriber from the most active 10% of users.

Project Canvas, the joint venture currently being developed by the BBC, ITV and BT as a successor to Freeview, has taken a step forwards after the BBC moved to reassure the consumer electronics trade association Intellect over anti-competitive issues. Intellect had raised concerns that Canvas could have a 'negative impact' on the digital TV market as it feared its partners were seeking too much control over the project and had shown little interest in collaborating with the trade association.

However, yesterday Canvas said it would allow technology companies to use its set-top technology without insisting on the use of its own EPG, allaying worries about possible domination of the technology by BBC and ITV channels. The BBC has also said that its own ad-free PSB status will be irrelevant: Canvas will allow channel developers a range of options for pricing models for their content to ensure the project is commercially viable. These reassurances would seem to bring the eventual launch of Canvas closer.