In data released today, Nielsen found 21% of fans globally who plan to follow the World Cup would track the tournament at least partly on the Internet via their mobile devices and 9% through mobile applications. But given the nearly 5 billion mobile devices globally, and the fact that mobile devices have become the primary means of accessing the Internet, 21% doesn't seem that impressive to me.

In announcing its shift to metered pricing for mobile data in place of its $30 unlimited plan Wednesday, AT&T said the move would "make it more affordable for more people to enjoy the benefits of the mobile Internet." In the near-term, perhaps. But as AT&T and the other major U.S. carriers ready next-generation networks that can deliver data much faster and allow customers to consume much more data than they can now, the new tiered plans may not look as attractive.

Last year the term "summer of smartphones" began surfacing to describe the unprecedented wave of smartphones and mobile app stores launching from companies including Apple, HTC, Palm and Nokia. Comparisons were also made to the seasonal release of blockbuster summer movies as new smartphone debuts became media-fueled events in their own right, with devoted fans and early adopters lining up outside stores to be among the first to get their hands on hot phones. A year later, some of those big device premieres turned out to be duds -- but smartphones sales are still surging, and a new line-up of …

And if the government expands its reported antitrust inquiry into Apple's new developer agreement banning the use of non-approved tools like Flash in applications, it could end up hampering its iAd initiative, which is geared to in-app ads. The reported demands of $1 million or $10 million annual commitments from advertisers for iAd could also soften after the platform's initial launch period this summer. Not exactly.

Mac tops PC, again. True to their human avatars in the long-running Apple campaign, Apple this week casually bested Microsoft to become the world's most valuable tech company, at least judged by the size of its market cap.

Android may have edged out Apple's iPhone operating system in the U.S. smartphone market in the last quarter, but it's still far from conquering the world.

If TechCrunch's Michael Arrington had his way, Google would be selling cheap Android-powered cell phones with Google Voice out of 7-Eleven stores around the country. With the company's high-end Nexus One failing to find a sizeable customer base at $530 a pop, bring on the Google phone for the masses!

It looks as if AT&T is daring the Federal Communications Commission to take stronger action on early-termination fees. In a letter to customers dated May 21, the carrier said it planned to raise the ETF on smartphones and netbooks from $175 to $325 starting June 1.

Following a vaguely worded invite to a press conference sent out by Yahoo Thursday, word leaked out via Kara Swisher's BoomTown blog that the company is planning to announce a broad partnership with Nokia. The alliance is expected to entail Yahoo building email, search and other applications and services into a variety of Nokia devices.

A new online ad forecast from market research firm IDC predicts mobile advertising will grow nearly 10-fold in the next 10 years, to $1.8 billion from $220 million this year. That's strong growth, but such forecasts don't necessarily capture the full amount of investment going into mobile.