Mobile enterprise is slowly kicking laptops and PC’s to the sideline as mobile devices shape the world of communication and information technology.  Millennial Media’s reports on mobile trends for the month of May feature three frontrunners: iPad, Windows Phone 7 and connected devices.

Some notable figures in the research include Apple Inc. as the undisputed number 1 in manufacturers, ranked by impressions with 30.84% share, and is followed by Samsung and RIM.  Apple’s iPhone also remains the premier mobile phone with 16.53% share for the 20^th month–no surprise there. But iPhone’s sister, the iPad, grew 29% month-over-month.

More or less 70% of impressions on connected devices were from MP3 players or mobile gaming devices; 29% came from tablets, showing a strong growth factor around entertainment and the personal cloud.  Connected devices are really driving this consumer level of cloud adoption, making them central to the surrounding ecosystem.  In fact, Cisco’s banking on it, finding a quickening uptake around connected devices.  Expecting connected devices to reach 15 billion by 2015, Cisco’s recuperation will position the company around this booming market.  It’s an interesting thread we’ve been following in recent weeks, where Cisco addresses a series of myths concerning this emerging market.

On the development side, Windows Phone 7 impressions grew 92% month-over-month. Looking at all the revenue driven by apps in the network, iOS apps and Android apps were very close; 45% coming from iOS and 43% from Android.  Android has maintained its position as the leading Smartphone OS on their network for the sixth consecutive month with a 53% impression share.  It’s an interesting medium these two operating systems have come to reach–both are maintaining tremendous pull for mutually exclusive reasons.  The question of who will be top dog is answered in part by developer support.  In the days of SaaS explosion, developers contribute a great deal to this market.

With the anticipated release of HP’s TouchPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 1.0 and the B&N Nook Color, Apple’s iPad sees more approaching challengers in the coming weeks.  Aligning with this trend is the study’s conclusion on these handheld devices: “Tablets were the second largest category on the Connected Device Category Mix, representing almost 30%. In the coming months we expect to see the Tablets category continue to grow due to the rapid adoption of tablet devices.”

Apart from being the largest remaining independent mobile ads business, Millennial Media now introduces a faster and easier to manage and monetize your ads on the network. Today, the company releases new beta developer tools to implement “house ads.”  It’s a way for Millennial to develop its own developer market, building out the niche within the mobile ecosystem the ad company currently occupies.  The fresh dashboard has improved reporting and stats, leveraging an area in which Millennial remains strong–its love of number-crunching.