When Microsoft announced its social media-focused Kin phones last month, a big question left unanswered was how it would price the devices aimed at younger mobile users. If priced out of range of their intended audience, Kin devices might not get traction no matter how much positive buzz they've generated so far from early reviews or online chatter.

With Apple reportedly facing a federal an antitrust probe over its iAd mobile ad platform as well as its ban on third-party development tools on the iPhone, Google may be feeling a bit of schadenfreude.

Apple today is trumpeting passing the million-sold milestone for the iPad in less than a month, with demand outstripping supply and the company working hard to get "this magical product" into the hands of more consumers, according to CEO Steve Jobs. But it looks like the magic wears off in one crucial aspect in the 3G version of the iPad released Friday. While the 3G iPad is also off to a strong retail start, with an estimated 300,000 sold through Saturday, early reports on its video capability aren't promising. Compared to the Wi-Fi version, the quality of video-streaming varies depending …

With the epic battle between Apple and Adobe reaching new heights with Steve Jobs' 1,700-word anti-Flash broadside Thursday, where do media companies and stand in this take-no-prisoners struggle? Of course, both online publishers and ad agencies have squawked about Apple's lack of Flash support for the iPhone, iPod and now especially, the more video-friendly iPad. After all, the Adobe format powers most of their high-end digital content and advertising from music videos to rich media units. But compared to Jobs' high-profile crusade against Flash, the response from the media industry has been rather muted-grudging acceptance rather than open war.

News that Apple is seeking commitments of at least $1 million for ad campaigns on the iPhone and iPod touch through its new iAd platform had the mobile ad community buzzing Thursday. That's because to date only a handful of brands are budgeting that much for mobile advertising of any kind.

As their mobile war broadens, Apple and Google aren't just slugging it out with competing ad networks, operating systems and devices. They're both also stepping up their push into mobile applications through respective new acquisitions in the space.

TV broadcasters made a splash this month at the NAB conference in Las Vegas when they announced plans to create a new mobile video service. The ambitious effort backed by a dozen companies including Fox, NBC Universal and Gannett Broadcasting would use existing spectrum to power news and entertainment programming to up to 150 million U.S. cell customers.

With the launch of Oprah Mobile, the daytime TV queen appears to be laying the groundwork for a bigger push into digital media in advance of the debut of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on cable TV next year.

The iPad has already become a key platform for at least one magazine's mobile site. Only three weeks after launch, the Applet tablet accounts for more than a quarter (26%) of the mobile devices accessing Wired.com. Overall, mobile devices account for between 2.3% and 3.5% of the site's traffic. For the past year, the vast majority of Wired's mobile visitors have been iPhone owners, with 10% using the iPod touch and 15% to 18% using other devices.

AT&T and Verizon may be bitter rivals, but first-quarter earnings from the telco titans this week showed both are now deriving a third of their revenue from wireless data services. Nevertheless, both companies have suggested this year that a shift toward tiered pricing on data services is inevitable to curb usage by the heaviest bandwidth-users.