Mobile phones will soon replace Credit Cards - Eric Schmidt, Google CEO

Like everyone in the tech industry these days, Schmidt expressed optimism about the revenue potential of mobile devices and applications, particularly in the context of location-based services.

Like everyone in the tech industry these days, Schmidt expressed optimism about the revenue potential of mobile devices and applications, particularly in the context of location-based services. "I don't think people understood how much more powerful these devices were going to be than desktop computers," he said.

He also said that autonomous search on mobile devices, whereby information is simply delivered to mobile users based on preferences, represents a significant opportunity. However, he reiterated that in the near term display advertising and mobile advertising represent Google's next billion dollar businesses.

The company's initial focus was establishing volume, he said. "It's fundamentally about the math of the platform," he said.And now that quantity is assured we see concerns about quality. Schmidt's interest in improving the application layer appears to have been anticipated by the Android developer community. Android evangelist Roman Nurik last month published a blog post in which he urged Android developers to take steps to produce higher quality applications.

Schmidt played down the notion of competition, between Google and Apple, Google and Facebook, and Google and the TV industry, which has been resisting Google TV.

"People are obsessed about the competitive landscape when what they should really be focused on is how much bigger the market is getting," he said.

At the same time, Schmidt acknowledged the importance of social data. "We agree that social information is very important," he said, hinting that competition with Facebook to become the dominant online identity and communications service provider will continue.