Starbucks and the iPhone seem like a natural pairing, like espresso and biscotti, but so far the ubiquitous coffee chain has yet to release its own iPhone app. But the lack of a home-brewed Starbucks app hasn't stopped developers from trying to fill the void.

YouTube has announced that mobile video uploads have increased 400% a day since the release of the iPhone 3G S, and 1,700% over the last six months -- it attributes the gains to new video-enabled phones such as the 3G S on the market, improvements to the upload flow when a video is posted to YouTube from a mobile phone, and a new feature on YouTube that allows videos to be shared more easily via someone's social networks.With titles such as "At grandpa's house," "In a Cambodian liquor store," "Observing carnivorous plants," and "At a wedding," the new UGC is …

The removal of "Hottest Girls" from the iTunes App Store Thursday for containing nudity may have been a blow to soft-core porn fans and First Amendment activists, but it's not likely to upset Sports Illustrated. The Time Inc. magazine plans to launch an iPhone app version of its vaunted swimsuit edition July 7 and doesn't need any added competition from apps featuring topless women.

To the extent that rivals like Palm and BlackBerry want to compete directly with Apple in the growing smartphone market, they should also consider opening their own stores. If they're opening their own app storefronts to compete with the App Store, why not physical stores to compete with Apple's gleaming temples of technology?

Is mobile the newspaper industry's new savior? Martin Nisenholtz, who leads the New York Times Company's digital operations, told Bloomberg Tuesday that the beleaguered newspaper is likely to begin charging for acccess to news on mobile devices as a precursor to doing so on the Web.

Two years ago, CBS promised to "light up" midtown Manhattan with the launch of the CBS Mobile Zone, a WiFi network for connecting laptops, cell phones and other devices to the Web for free. The hot spot would would stretch more than 20 city blocks from Times Square to Central Park South and from 6th Avenue to 8th Avenue. So, does that mean all the people now lounging in lawn chairs and milling around the closed-off Times Square have the added benefit of fast Internet access? Not necessarily.

Looks like the iPhone hasn't lost its mojo after all. Apple announced today that more than 1 million iPhone 3G S had been sold during its debut weekend, well ahead of analyst expectations. Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster earlier today had upped his estimate of 3G S sales to 750,000 from 500,000, but still came up short.

No wonder Starbucks was willing to hand out free coffee at the Apple Store Friday morning (to the less than ovewhelming crowd). Is the iPhone losing its buzz? Becoming just another shiny interface in a sea of smartphones?

While the iPhone 3G S set to hit stores Friday, the long-awaited arrival of Apple's upgraded smartphone is topic No. 1 in the mobile world. But the latest metrics report from mobile ad network Millennial Media shows that in May the current iPhone slipped to No. 2 in mobile ad impressions behind the Samsung Instinct.

Is the iPhone a guy thing? And the iPod touch, for that matter? According to a new study by comScore based on data from AdMob, more than 70% of users on both Apple devices are male. Shouldn't the iPhone, with its user-friendly features, zillion apps and fashion accessory status hold at least as much appeal for women as men?