Taking a moment to put together three pieces of news coming out of the Google camp this week.

Two pieces pertain to YouTube. First, pictured, is a more deliberate mix of Hollywood and homegrown video content. An article on Wired's Epicenter blog reveals that Sony is the latest Hollywood partner to work with YouTube to "better promote authorized versions of full-length movies and TV shows on the site". The article goes on to quote Google CEO Eric Schmidt, saying that this new featured content will remain free for the time being, but that the company does "expect over time to see micropayments and other forms of subscription models coming" to YouTube.

Add to this news of YouTube's partnership with Universal Music Group to offer VEVO, "a music and video entertainment hub featuring UMG's premium content" and you start to see where things are headed: more premium content, and the potential to pay for access to it.

The third piece of news makes this even more interesting. Om Malik posts that Google's Android operating system is being ported to set-top boxes designed "to play DVDs, CDs and featuring a full-fledged Chrome-type browser". As Malik suggests, this positions Android as the operating system for a new generation of fourth-screen devices. With the provisions already being made for premium and potentially paid content at YouTube and VEVO, Malik's suggestion appears to have some promise.

2009 could be a big year for Android. But will it also be the year we start paying to watch videos on YouTube?

I spent some time this afternoon researching Augmented Reality (AR) for a couple client initiatives, and for our own curiosity. What I found was too cool not to share...

Augmented Reality is working its way into everyday use, thanks to the likes of Google’s Street View, as seen from Android which uses the device’s accelerometer and compass to re-orient the on-screen view to the direction you’re standing or holding your phone. See it here.

Of course, we wanted to find more than just Street View... Next, an exploration of an iPhone app by Pankaku called Xmas Camera2. It was intriguing, but left something(s) to be desired. You’ll see what I mean once you compare to the next link.

ARf is an Augmented Reality pet application, still very much in development at Georgia Tech. Lucky for us, there’s a video of it in action – click here to view it.

A step beyond ARf is this amazing Augmented Reality program developed for Topps Baseball Cards. From Topps’ 9 March 2009 press release:

“For Total Immersion, Topps 3D Live trading cards represent the company's first consumer product available commercially, introducing a broad audience to augmented reality, an interactive experience where virtual components are dynamically merged into a live video stream in real time.

Interactive code cards can be found in every pack of Topps 2009 Baseball Series 1 pack and also in packs of the new Topps Attax baseball card game. Fans log on to www.toppstown.com, enter the Topps 3D Live section and select the player on the code card. Once the player is selected and the program is initialized, it's game on! By simply holding the card under a standard webcam, the player magically pops up from the card onscreen and springs to life. Players can then be rotated around, and fans can control the action with just a keystroke or two as it unfolds on the desktop.”