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According to new data from comScore, 6.8% of Web traffic in the U.S. comes from "non-computer" devices such as smartphones and tablets. This is an increase from 6.2% in the previous quarter.

Phones account for the majority of non-computer traffic. Mobile devices drive 4.4% of total digital traffic, tablets contribute 1.9%, and other non-computer devices send 0.5% of traffic.

Last week, we cited a study from mobile analytics firm Distimo that stated the majority of paid Android applications were downloaded less than 100 times. On Android, folks like the free apps, it seems. Now, to back up that report with additional data, we have mobile search firm Chomp's report for the month of April.

During this past month, 97% of all Android downloads throughout its search properties were free apps, and that number has increased by 2% over March, the company says.

According to a new study from MocoSpace, the market for virtual goods is heavily male-dominated. After anonymously analyzing the user behavior of 1,500 mobile social gamers on its platform, the company found that, while it saw similar traffic levels from both men and women, it saw far more sales of virtual goods going by men. In fact, nearly 90% of all virtual goods bought in-game were purchased by men.

In mobile ad network Millennial Media's March 2011 report on mobile platform trends, it found that iOS's share has grown, thanks to the recent launch of the Verizon iPhone. Month-over-month, the iPhone grew 17% and the iOS platform itself grew by 11%. The Verizon iPhone accounted for 8.2% of all the iPhone impressions on its network during March, says Millennial.

Meanwhile, Android was the leading smartphone platform on the network for the 4th month in a row, with a 48% ad impression share. However, in terms of impression growth, as opposed to share, Apple iOS impressions grew at 29% while Android impressions grew 23%.

Remember last week when U.S. trends-tracking firm Nielsen reported that Android had passed both RIM's BlackBerry and Apple's iOS to become the number one mobile platform in the U.S.? Well, prepare for a little déjà vu. This week, a report from comScore is confirming the exact same thing. According to the measurement firm's numbers from January 2011, Android just edged out RIM to move into the number one position for the first time, with a 31.2% market share figure compared with RIM's 30.4%.

At last week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the GSM Association (GSMA) partnered with mobile analytics firm Zokem to publish highlights from Zokem's recent smartphone research study. Its report found that mobile applications are overtaking mobile Web browser usage in terms of monthly use. In addition, apps are now second only to messaging in usage activity, beating both voice and Web for the #2 spot.

A report that Android has achieved status as the number one smartphone platform in the world has been called into question. According to analyst firms Gartner and IDC, the numbers reported by competitor Canalys are inaccurate...at least for now. Despite 888.8% growth this year, Android did not displace Symbian in Q4 2010 as the world's top smartphone platform, both firms say.

Instead, Gartner reports that Android overtook Symbian in unit sales, but Symbian is still slightly ahead in terms of market share. IDC also reported that Symbian is the "market leader" at present.

NFC, or near field communication, is an emerging technology that enables the exchange of data between devices in close proximity to each other, typically mobile phones. Much of the interest in the technology at present is in its potential to serve as the basis for a mobile payments system, such as the one Google is currently building or Isis, the U.S. operator-led mobile payments initiative.

However, mobile payment systems are just one of the many markets where NFC can succeed. According to a new research report by SJB Research analyst Sarah Clark, NFC's true potential lies with its ability to bridge the gap between the real world and the online world.

There's some interesting data from mobile analytics firm Localytics out this week - in a recent report, it found that 26% of the time, customers never launch a mobile application they've download more than once. In a report titled "First Impressions Matter," the firm detailed its findings, which includes both good news and bad.

A recent report from Strategy Analytics stated that the Apple iPad lost a good bit of tablet market share to Android-based tablet computers, dropping from 96% to 75% in the fourth quarter. As it turned out, however, the numbers the analysts were basing their findings off of were incorrect.

As revealed by Samsung VP Lee Young-hee on the company's earnings call last Friday (and subsequently reported by The Wall St. Journal), the number of  Samsung Galaxy Tab sales were not "2 million," as the company had touted earlier this year - that was how many devices had been shipped to distributors.