Advertising Report: Google Dings Bing, Facebook Arrives, Tablets Rule Mobile

Microsoft has been developing designs for a simple set-top device for streaming video and other entertainment options.

According to internal documents obtained by the website TechCrunch, Microsoft has offered $1 billion for the digital assets of Nook Media, Barnes & Noble's digital book venture.According to internal documents obtained by the website TechCrunch, Microsoft has offered $1 billion for the digital assets of Nook Media, Barnes & Noble's digital book venture. The deal would give Microsoft Barnes & Noble's e-books, homegrown games and of course its Nook e-readers and tablets. But perhaps not for long: Nook plans to discontinue its Android-based tablet business by the end of 2014, according to the documents. Instead, the company will transition to having Nook content available solely on third-party devices, perhaps ones made by Microsoft, if the purchase goes through.

The Web site this week is expected to announce a plan to let some video makers charge a monthly subscription, according to people with knowledge of the plan.    

In order to write emails or text messages with Google Glass, you dictate words. The device is pleasantly reliable at transcribing things you say unless you happen to have a foul mouth. In that case, it'll make what you say "safe for work," even if you don't want to be censored.Geek.com's Russell Holly was among the first to notice that the voice-to-text feature on Google Glass, much like that     

Facebook reported that about 30 percent of its total advertising revenue came from mobile devices, a significant jump from the last quarter.