• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 9, 2010

Advertisers wondering when mobile will catch on might want to take a big breath and hang on. Two separate reports released Thursday reveal that mobile device use, from smartphones to tablets, continues to increase.

Smartphones are now owned by 49.1 million people in the U.S. as of the three month ending in May -- up 8.1% compared with the prior three months, according to a comScore MobiLens report released Thursday.

Mobile browser use also continues to rise. Browsers were used by 31.9% of U.S. mobile subscribers in the three months ending in May, up 2.3% points. Sixty-two percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device -- up 1.4% points. Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 30% of the mobile subscribers, up 2.1% points from the previous period. The number of social networking sites or blogs accessed through a mobile device rose 2.6% points to 20.8% of all mobile subscribers.

The Research in Motion (RIM) mobile smartphone platform led in the U.S. with 41.7% share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.4%, and Microsoft with 13.2%. Google grew 4% points to capture 13% of the market. Palm rounded out the top five with 4.8%. Despite platforms losing share to Google Android, most continue to gain subscribers as the overall smartphone market grows.

That growth isn't limited to smartphones or mobile phones. Similar to early adopters of high-priced tech products, those visiting the U.S. Yahoo network on the iPad are ages 30 to 54. Yahoo users ages 30 to 34 make up 17%; and ages 45 to 54, 16%. About half of those using Yahoo on the iPad have relied on the search engine and its content for at least six years.

Apple iPad users are 2.8 times more likely to search for investment-related information than the average U.S. Yahoo user. As more people access Yahoo on the iPad, the interest in business and investment topics continues to rise. In the most findings, connecting to investment-related information rose 46% in the United States in the past two months.

Adoption is not limited to the United States. With the May availability of the iPad in nine countries, Yahoo also tracked international users, and compared characteristics of those in the U.S. to elsewhere in the world.

Yahoo iPad users on Yahoo outside of the U.S. show similarities in adoption. Males tend to outnumber females in Japan 4:1, but overall, international use skews similar to the United States.