Roundup: Zune HD specs, Google mobile ads, the most obscure Apple upgrade ever

Google AdSense Mobile — Yes, Google ads on your phone is a big deal. But Greg Yardley, CEO of mobile analytics startup Pinch Media, warns against dreams of Google megabucks for iPhone apps: “The bulk of applications either have a limited shelf life (just like a console game) or are used rarely, like a reference or utility app, and therefore are better candidates for paid sales – they just don’t generate enough impressions.” Yardley thinks only the minorty of mobile apps that are used regularly over time will benefit from AdSense. [Photo by Ubergizmo]

FriendFeed adds file-sharing — You can now upload and share file types like PDF, and more.

Digsby upgrade focuses on speed, robustness — The popular social network app for PCs has a new release. There are no mind-bending new features, but it does fix over 100 bugs in the all-in-one Facebook/Twitter/IM/email client.

Steve Jobs’ liver, we just hope he had AppleCare — Tennesee doctor James Eason, who replaced Steve Jobs cancer-plagued liver two months ago, gave CNBC a tour of the transplant center where the operation was performed. Dr. Eason is learning to live with the knowledge that no one will ever, ever believe His Steveness didn’t get bumped up the recipient list.

Apple TV responds to multi-touch gestures — A software upgrade lets iPhone and iPod users flick at their Apple TV. This presumes they actually have one.

Microsoft confirms acquisition of 3DV motion-detection tech for games — We’ve blogged about this regularly. Expect Microsoft to begin popping out games and applications that use motion detection. Microsoft is using this with its Project Natal, where you can control a game with your movements, not a controller.

Microsoft’s Zune HD is rumored for September 8 debut — Ignore the fact it looks like an iPhone. It will have HD output and be gaming-focused.

iStockphoto projects $200 million in revenues this year. The trick is to sell billions of photos cheap. The company. which was acquired by Getty Images in 2006, gives photographers a 20 to 40 percent commission on each sale. Napkin math says iStockphoto has created a $40 to $80 million economy for photographers, while keeping $120 to $160 million for itself.

Electronic Arts reshuffling includes departure of Mythic Studio’s Mark Jacobs — The studio head leaves behind an iffy legacy. Warhammer Online, a World of Warcraft competitor for which Jacobs was lead designer, failed so hard that Mythic took 63 servers offline in March. Jacobs co-founded Mythic in 1995. His cofounder, Rob Denton, will replace him. Warhammer still has 300,000 subscribers, but far fewer than WoW.