There's been no shortage of hype and hot air surrounding the release of the Droid, from the $100 million ad campaign Verizon launched to promote the phone to the latest Apple ads firing back at Verizon's "iDon't" spots attacking the iPhone. That's not to mention the myriad head-to-head comparisons between the Droid and the iPhone that have been posted online and whether the Motorola device will emerge as a true challenger to the smartphone crown over time. One area where the Droid already appears to be having an impact, though, is in mobile advertising.

Boost Mobile, Sprint's prepaid unit, today touted the release of its latest handset -- the Motorola i410 -- a no-frills flip phone for anyone not in the market for an iPhone. Boost offers several other Motorola phones, including the higher-end Clutch, sporting a full Qwerty keyboard. But like other prepaid services, it doesn't offer a true smartphone, like the new Motorola Cliq or HTC Hero sold by Sprint for contract customers.

Reflecting its status as de facto broadcast service, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone announced yesterday the company had changed its signature question from "What are you doing?" to "What's Happening?"

AT&T finally responded in kind to Verizon Wireless's ad campaign comparing the two carriers' 3G coverage. Good thing. AT&T's own attack ad follows on the heels of a judge yesterday denying its request to force Verizon to pull the ads it alleges are false and misleading. Unfortunately for AT&T, its new ad won't do much to make people forget the red and blue coverage maps of the Verizon ads.

Mobile marketing is tough enough without having to struggle to define it. The term itself is self-explanatory, right? Like long-haul trucking or indoor plumbing. Apparently not. To clear up any confusion, the Mobile Marketing Association has helpfully released a new definition of the term.

AdMob isn't waiting on the sidelines for the Google deal to close. The mobile ad network has introduced interactive video ad units for iPhone applications.

Mobile ad network Millennial Media has closed a third-round venture funding of $16 million led by New Enterprise Associates and including Bessemer Venture Partners, Columbia Capital, and Charles River Ventures. With the capital infusion, Millennial said Monday it plans to become profitable, accelerate European and international growth, expand its engineering and sales staff, and enhance its mobile media technologies.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless are set for a courtroom showdown next Wednesday over the Verizon ads comparing network coverage between the two companies which its chief rival says are false and misleading. The Verizon ads have clearly gotten under AT&T's skin. But instead of pouring resources into a legal against Verizon, with an uncertain outcome, why doesn't AT&T try to come up with its own cheeky ads to counter Verizon's?

Following the launch of its revamped mobile site earlier this year, Yahoo Thursday introduced its new mobile home page for the U.S. Hispanic audience -- Yahoo Mobile en Espanol. The move underscores efforts by Web publishers, wireless operators and marketers to cater to the large and highly engaged Hispanic mobile population.

Verizon Wireless' much-publicized ad campaign for the Droid is premised on pointing out things you can do with the Motorola smartphone that you can't with an iPhone, like use a physical keyboard or a 5-megapixel camera. But the iPhone can do things the Droid can't, like sell millions of devices.