The US appeals court overruled a circuit judge who last month called for a hearing to go forward even as Google contested whether the case may be certified as a class action.

The appeal judges granted Google's motion to delay a hearing at the lower court, noting that the groups suing the Internet giant had indicated "that they consent to the stay, although not to the arguments put forward in the motion as to why Google expects to prevail on appeal."

The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers filed the suit in 2005 alleging copyright infringement in Google's effort to digitize millions of books to be made available online.

As a result of Monday's order, the appeals court will first decide if the case should be heard as a class action. After that is resolved, the matter may proceed in the lower court, possibly to trial.

The US tech giant has argued that its Google Books project should be considered "fair use" under copyright law, and that the digitized versions are not a substitute for the books themselves.

Google has scanned more than 20 million books so far in the project.

Books in the public domain -- without current copyrights -- are made available online to the public for free. For copyrighted books Google offers a searchable database that displays snippets of text.

A tentative settlement in the case was reached in 2008 under which Google would pay $125 million to resolve copyright claims and to establish an independent "Book Rights Registry." But a judge rejected the deal.

Opponents of the agreement have said allowing Google to proceed with the project raises anti-trust, privacy and copyright issues, while also granting sole rights to Google to digitize millions of out-of-print works whose authors cannot be traced.

Others say copyright cannot be waived unless an author expressly opts out of the deal.

The survey by IHS iSuppli predicted a robust 56 percent annual increase in shipments for the tablet market in 2012, from 82.1 million units in 2011.

"Media tablets increasingly are becoming the biggest growth driver in the market for the small and medium display market," said IHS analyst Vinita Jakhanwal.

"While the nine-inch segment dominated by the iPad will account for the majority of tablet display shipments this year, the fastest-growing portion of the market will the 7.x-inch screens used in products like the Galaxy Tab from Samsung Electronics, the Kindle Fire from Amazon, the Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble, and other tablet products using the Google Android operating system."

A report last month from ABI Research boosted that firm's estimate for tablet sales to over 100 million.

IHS said 59 percent of all tablets will be in the larger form where the iPad "is the uncontested leader."

Growth in this segment is forecast to rise 35 percent from 55.2 million units in 2011.

In the seven-inch segment, which Apple is expected to enter later this year, sales are expected to nearly double from 20.8 million units last year.

Among the manufacturers of the LCD displays used in tablets, South Korea's LG and Samsung dominate the market with 42 percent and 38 percent shipment market share, respectively, IHS said. Both are Apple suppliers.

Aside from supplying Apple, LG also furnishes display panels to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, while Samsung provides panels to its internal tablet division.

Google buys smartphone photo app maker Nik
San Francisco (AFP) Sept 17, 2012 - Google on Monday announced that it bought the company behind photo-sharing application Snapseed in a move evidently aimed at countering Facebook's acquisition of Instagram.

Financial terms of the deal for Nik Software were not disclosed.

"We want to help our users create photos they absolutely love, and in our experience Nik does this better than anyone," Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra said in a post at the Internet titan's social network.

Google+ social network passed the 400-million member mark this week, with 100 million people using the service each month, according to Gundotra.

Google launched its social network a year ago in a direct challenge to Facebook.

"For nearly 17 years, we've been guided by our motto, 'photography first,' as we worked to build world class digital image editing tools," Germany-based Nik said in a blog post.

"We've always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google's support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures."

Nik photo editing and sharing products include Snapseed software for smartphones, tablets or desktop computers.

Early this month, Facebook completed its billion-dollar acquisition of popular smartphone photo-sharing service Instagram.

The big ticket purchase was seen by some as a move by Facebook to strengthen defenses against Google and blazing hot newcomer Pinterest just ahead of the Facebook public offering.

Sharing pictures taken with smartphones is among the most popular activities at social networks.