Gphone: Google Phone ?

There have been rumours of a Google phone (short form 'Gphone') for some time now. Now Google is a search company, or rather it is a company that is trying to do a lot of things, but which makes most of its money from search. It has tried to enter the mobile world through a tie-up with carriers about placing Google search in the mobile space. Now carriers are typically very hard creatures to work with; they don't allow much freedom.
And there was this revolution that happened. Apple released the iPhone in a tie up with AT & T, but shockingly for the telecom industry, it was Apple that called the shots. This was a new type of device with a lot of hype, and hence AT & T would have allowed this. But any such move does set a precedent that Google could easily try and copy:

The company, which has made billions of dollars in Web advertising on computers, is courting wireless operators to carry handsets customized to Google products, including its search engine, email and a new mobile Web browser, say people familiar with the plans. It wants to capture a big chunk of the fast-growing market for ads on cellphones.
Google has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the cellphone project, say people who have been briefed on it. It has developed prototype handsets, made overtures to operators such as T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, and talked over technical specifications with phone manufacturers. It hopes multiple manufacturers will make devices based on its specs and multiple carriers will offer them.

For Google, the mobile market is the hottest new emerging market, and must be the focus of a lot of strategy sessions at Google headquarters. Carriers have been not so easy to convince, but Google's might and the precedent of the iPhone could change things. If Google does come out with a cellphone, then one would expect more Wi-Fi integration and other methods of browsing, something uncomfortable to carriers since that is outside of their data plans.
The further advantage of having ads on cell phones is that they can be targeted better, and hence Google can ask for and earn more revenue per ad. One thing is sure, Google will do all they can to get an entry into this business, even if it means buying up spectrum and launching itself as a carrier.

Google and eBay kiss and make up, but not the same as before

Google launched a service, Checkout, to rival eBay's Paypal, the most popular online money payment system. So far, so good. Remember, these 2 are closely related in terms of business, with eBay being the largest advertiser on the Google ads network. And then suddenly, 2 weeks before, there was a major clash.
eBay had planned an event in Boston, its annual user conference. Google, in a clash, disclosed plans for a party in Boston at the same time so as to lobby eBay to also start using Checkout. eBay was not very happy about this, and termed this as unworthy of a partner and, to send a stronger signal, discontinued all search advertising on Google. Even though it is not known whether this boycott had any affect on Google, it would have wanted to bring this confrontation to a halt. Advertising revenue after all, is the money source that brings in almost all the revenue for Google and it would not want anything to cause a problem on this front. In addition, there were reports that eBay did not suffer much due to this lack of advertising, since search results (the non-sponsored ones) also brought people to eBay from Google.
Anyhow, the relationship is now on track, but seems to have benefited Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft, since eBay claims that it will move some of its business to these alternate advertisers:

The animosity started nearly two weeks ago after Google disclosed plans for a party in Boston that coincided with eBay's annual user conference in the same city. Google's event was intended to lobby eBay to start accepting Checkout, a rival online payment service to eBay's PayPal.
"The major takeaway is that we aren't as dependent on Google AdWords as we thought," said Durzy, referring to Google's advertising program. EBay had been the most prolific advertiser on Google, according to comScore Networks. Whether eBay or Google suffered financially because of the brief pause in eBay's advertising is unclear.

Google would have suffered to some extent, also because the advertising revenue has to keep on increasing at a decent pace every year so as to meet the expectations of the stock market and investors.