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Mobile analytics and tracking firm AdMob has just released its latest mobile metrics report, a monthly snapshot of the smartphone industry based on data generated by ad requests within its network of 23,000 mobile websites and mobile applications. This current report, the last of its kind, notes the company who plans on reinventing the report to make it "more useful going forward," focuses on long-term trends across the industry.

Not surprisingly, the company found that Android has seen rapid growth thanks to the launch of new devices, Apple is still the top manufacturer and iPads are having an impact on mobile Internet traffic worldwide.

A recent survey of 2,733 mobile application developers has shed new light on the so-called Apple vs. Google battle that's taking place in the smartphone industry, pitting Apple's dominant iPhone/iPad operating system (iOS) against Google's mobile operating system, Android.

The survey, conducted by mobile app development company Appcelerator, asked a representative sample of its 51,000 customers to weigh the pros and cons of both the Apple and Google mobile platforms, among other things. According to the findings, developers view Apple's near-term outlook favorably, given its App Store, large market share and device line up. However, it's Android's adaptability as a platform that had developers pegging the OS as the best bet for long-term success.

CBS.com is experimenting with HTML5 video, the plugin-free video technology supported by Apple mobile devices including the iPhone and iPad. With HTML5 running on the CBS website's back-end, visitors from these and other Internet-connected devices could stream videos without having to install the Adobe Flash plugin, something that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is known to be vehemently against, having penned a public statement giving half a dozen reasons why Apple mobile devices won't include its support.

According to CBSi's SVP and GM of entertainment, Anthony Soohoo, CBS.com plans to reach HTML5 parity with the plugin-based Flash video, but is still trying to find the right mix of tools in order to do so.

How appropriate that these current tests utilize Star Trek Enterprise episodes for the experiments with this futuristic video technology.

Online tracking firm Quantcast has just released new data that shows mobile operating systems' current market share in North America, with the newly renamed "iOS" (originally called "iPhone OS" - the OS powering the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) in the lead...by miles. The Apple mobile OS dominates its competitors with a huge chunk of mobile market share, at 60%.

But don't let these numbers fool you. It's not how much or how little of the mobile landscape each OS has claim to, but how fast this picture has changed over the preceding months. The real winner here is Android, the OS whose rapid gains have come at Apple's expense.

There's a popular, but apparently unfounded, belief that those who watch videos on their mobile devices are mostly teens. This isn't the case, says Nielsen in its latest "Three Screen" quarterly report for the first quarter of 2010. More than half (55%) of the mobile video audience is actually adults, it finds, aged 25-49.

And while mobile video viewing on a smartphone still remains a niche activity in comparison to total audience size, its year-over-year growth (51.2%) is impressive.

"When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks," began Apple CEO Steve Jobs at last night's D8 conference, trying to come up with an apt analogy for the recent changes we're seeing in the computing landscape of the new millennium. "But as people moved more towards urban centers, people started to get into cars. I think PCs are going to be like trucks. Less people will need them."

Jobs wasn't trying to disparage Microsoft. He was actually referring to the form factor of "personal computers" - laptops and desktops alike. It's a discussion about the upcoming era of computing where everything becomes radically different, from the form factor itself to the user interface and interactions that, combined, make up what we think of as "personal computing."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg penned a public statement about Facebook privacy issues and what's being done about that issue by way of an article published in today's Washington Post. In the brief, carefully crafted mea culpa, Zuckerberg addresses the ongoing privacy backlash the site is now facing: "We just missed the mark," he wrote, referring to the overly complex, granular privacy settings and controls that offer toggles for everything from search engine visibility to whether or not your photo albums can be seen by your boss.

What wasn't addressed, however, was why the need for clearer, easier-to-use privacy settings became such an urgent matter in the first place. And that is at the core of Facebook's steamroller approach to forcing people into public sharing, a corporate philosophy that seems less about impact to its bottom line and more about fulfilling Zuckerberg's personal vision for a more social Web: "If people share more, the world will become more open and connected," he writes in the article. "And a world that's more open and connected is a better world."

A growing startup trend that we have been keeping a watchful eye on here at ReadWriteStart is mass customization and co-creation. Startups in this sector provide customizable products to the end user, like t-shirts, bags, jewelry and even food. Back in March we suggested that the U.S. may be on the verge of a co-creation invasion from Europe, where these kinds of startups are more prominent. This week the Smart Customization Seminar is being held at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts and some fascinating stats and trends have emerged from the discussions and talks.

Have app stores officially jumped the shark? uTorrent, one of the most popular BitTorrent client programs available today with over 50 million monthly users, has launched a new version of their software (codename: Griffin) which now includes extensions, aka "apps."

Yes, that's right, even uTorrent has an app store now.

What's this? The oddball, quirky and occasionally X-rated site that connects random strangers for video chat is a marketer's dream? That doesn't sound right. But that's exactly what Travelocity, the popular travel brand known best for their mascot, the travelling gnome, is saying. In a recent interview with ClickZ, a news and advice site for digital marketers, Travelocity company spokesperson Joel Frey, discussed the Chatroulette marketing campaign and its successes: 350,000 impressions and 400 conversations between potential customers and its "chat specialists." (Yes, Travelocity pays staffers to surf Chatroulette!)