While newspaper and magazine publishers have portrayed Apple's iPad as a great savior, the potential partners still face key differences over revenue sharing, and other matters. Still, negotiations are in their early stages, and are considered to be friendly and continuing, sources tell The Financial Times. Yet, according to the paper, "Apple's proposals could significantly alter business practices that have protected profits over decades, publishers fear." Along with the allocation of subscription revenue, Apple and its publisher partners have to figure out who owns subscribers' information -- both personal and behavioral. Needless to say, all parties involved …

With an eye on ecommerce, Google is bringing on ex-eBay exec Stephanie Tilenius as vice president of commerce. Other than the fact that this is a new position at Google, the search giant didn't detail Tilenius' new role. People close to Google, however, tell The New York Times' Bits blog that Tilenius will likely oversee Google Checkout, the company's online payments system, and other e-commerce efforts. More broadly, notes Bits, "If Google makes inroads into ecommerce, it could cause headaches for a number of online retailers, as many of them get a majority of their traffic from …

New details have emerged regarding ex-Facebook Platform Manager Dave Morin's new startup. Morin said he was leaving the top social net just three weeks ago to take the plunge with Napster founder Sean Fanning. Dubbed Path, the company describes itself as "a tool that facilitates the creation, sharing and correlation of lists." Granted, "List creation is nothing new, but that's not a problem," according to ReadWriteWeb. "When world-class social technologists tackle an age-old problem, the results can be quite interesting." Other collaborators on the project include Numair Faraz, who ReadWriteWeb describes as an "old friend of Napster, Plaxo …

Join the club, Google! The search giant, which has had little success in the world of social media, continues to struggle with its latest and most aggressive effort, Google Buzz. Indeed, Google just admitted to BBC News that testing of what's been branded its "controversial social network" was insufficient. "The firm has had to make a series of changes to the service after a ferocious backlash from users concerned about intrusions of privacy." According to the BBC, Buzz was only tested internally and bypassed more extensive trials with external testers, which …

Digital TV, the standard that recently went into effect, was developed for stationary televisions. TV stations nationwide, however, are beginning to broadcast signals for a new class of devices that can show programming pretty much anywhere you can imagine. If enough people watch using the mobile TV technology, known as "ATSC Mobile DTV Standard," local stations will be able to charge more for commercials and increase their revenue, according to The New York Times. The technology will be used on new portable televisions with up to 10-inch screens, while smartphones and laptops with special adapters will also …

Last week, M&A news site TheDeal.com, backed by the late Bruce Wasserstein, moved back behind a paywall. "We've made big changes to TheDeal.com," the newly redesigned site reads. "All daily news ... is now only available on The Deal Pipeline, a transaction information service for investment banks, law firms, private equity firms, hedge funds, deal advisers and corporates." Meanwhile, a company rep tells paidContent that the weekly magazine will remain free online. The Pipeline, which debuted launched in 2008, is now the company's primary brand. In mid 2000, founder American Lawyer Media sold the assets of The …

Top mobile phone operators -- including AT&T, Vodafone and China Mobile -- have formed alliance to build a single platform for customer applications. The stated goal is to unite a 'fragmented marketplace," and give app developers a single route to users of different devices and operating systems. The move is being interpreted as show of force against industry leaders like Apple and Android maker Google. The alliance of some 24 operated, named the Wholesale Applications Community, is backed by the GSMA, the industry group that organizes the congress, and device manufacturers LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. …

Facebook has surpassed Google as the top driver of traffic to portals like Yahoo and MSN, according to new data from Compete. This shift coincides with consumers spending more time on social networks -- and Facebook, in particular -- where they steer "friends" toward all manner of Web content, and are similarly steered. "This trend is shifting the way Web site operators approach online marketing, even as Google takes steps to move into the social-media world," according to The San Francisco Chronicle. "Some experts say social media could become the Internet's next search engine." Not surprisingly, social-media …

If reaction to Google Buzz is any indication, the search giant still has plenty of work to do before earning its social stripes. The service has irritated many who feel it exposed too much about their private interactions, while others have met the service with a yawn. To counter privacy concerns, Google rolled out further changes over the weekend."First, no more auto-following everyone in your Gmail contacts. Now, Google Buzz will auto-suggest those you should follow" writes Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim. Of course, Buzz never auto-followed everyone on your contact list, but it has made …

Until today, critics had been preparing Microsoft's obituary in the absence of what they saw as a viable mobile strategy. Those same critics on Monday were falling over themselves to praise Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series, which they say secures the software giant's future in an increasingly wireless world. "It's astounding that until this moment, three years after the iPhone, the biggest software company in the world basically didn't compete in mobile," writes Gizmodo. "Everything's different now," it states, adding: "The mobile picture is now officially a three-way dance: Apple, Google, and Microsoft ... …