Google's proposed $750 million acquisition of AdMob looks at first glance like a move sure to extend its online ad dominance to the mobile realm. But Google isn't the first major Internet player to gobble up a mobile ad network to gain an early advantage in the space. In 2007, AOL bought Third Screen Media and Microsoft acquired European-based mobile ad company Screen Tonic.

The typical Radio Shack outlet may not resemble an Apple Store, but soon they'll have something in common -- the iPhone. The electronics chain disclosed late last week it will begin selling the signature Apple device later this month at stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth and New York City metropolitan areas later this month.

Google has a new mobile partner -- Best Buy. Under a new initiative, associates at the electronics retail giant will install the online giant's free Google Mobile App on all compatible smartphones, including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and S60 devices.

Catch Verizon's new commercial for the Droid that began airing in primetime this week? You couldn't be blamed for at first thinking it was another blockbuster movie trailer, opening with a formation of stealth fighter jets sweeping out of the clouds and dropping mysterious metal pods that hit rural parts of the country and splash down in the ocean like streaking meteors. Subtlety isn't the approach here.

Mobile ad budgets are headed up next year, according to a new study. Nearly one-third (31%) of ad agencies expect to spend between $100,000 and $250,000 on mobile advertising in 2010, compared to 22% a year ago.

Bored with Web 2.0 already? Welcome to mobile 2.0. A new study from Yankee Group proclaims the start of a new era in mobile technology defined by dynamic pricing for usage, the spread of applications and easier integration of networks, devices and apps.

New data suggests worldwide mobile phone sales may finally be rebounding. Mobile phone shipments totaled 287.1 million units in the third quarter, down 6% from a year ago, but up 5.6% from the second quarter, according to technology research firm IDC.

The summer of smartphones has turned into the holiday pre-season of smartphones. Another wave of high-end devices is hitting the market this fall led by the Motorola Droid from Verizon Wireless and including the BlackBerry Storm2, Motorola Cliq, HTC Hero, Samsung Moment and a slew of other Android-powered phones.

AdMob's latest metrics report out today highlights some of the dramatic changes on the mobile ad network in the two years since it began releasing data. For starters the volume of ad requests it handles monthly has grown more than six-fold - from 1.6 billion to 10.2 billion, as of September. Those figures also represent a geographic expansion from 16 to 64 countries.

With the formal unveiling of the Motorola Droid Wednesday, buzz mounted online that Verizon Wireless may have finally found an answer to the iPhone. The sleek smartphone boasts a large screen, slide-out keyboard, a free navigation service and the debut of Android 2.0, the upgraded version of Google's mobile OS.