Furthering a week already teeming with significant acquisition news, Adobe Systems Incorporated has just revealed at its MAX 2011 technology conference that the software giant is acquiring Nitobi Software, a private firm known primarily as the creator of PhoneGap and PhoneGap Build.

PhoneGap is a popular open source platform for building cross-platform mobile applications with HTML5 and JavaScript.

According to the formal announcement from Adobe, with PhoneGap, Adobe will “offer developers the choice of two powerful solutions for cross-platform development of native mobile apps, one using HTML5 and JavaScript with PhoneGap and the other using Adobe Flash with Adobe AIR.

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Apple made a significant announcement today in relation to iAds with the introduction of “iAd Producer,” a Mac App that gives anyone the opportunity to create rich media mobile advertisements for iOS devices.

Similar to Google’s App Inventor for Android, iAd Producer allows users to easily create ads using a point-and-click UI while the software automatically manages the HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript behind the scenes.  Simply open the app, choose which device you’d like to develop an ad for (iPhone or iPad) and a use the visual editor to place the various elements.

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Firefox is set to release an Android-version of its popular open-source mobile browser in the coming months- setting the stage for Mozilla, makers of the widely popular Firefox desktop browser, to become an equally dominant player in the world of mobile browsing.

A mobile version of Firefox has long been a desire for the droves of Mozilla faithfuls, and has been in the works for what seems like an eternity.  Honing the feature-set made popular with the desktop version, the mobile version is set to be a world-class mobile browser, taking full advantage of all the latest improvements and technology in mobile browsing.

With support for HTML5, CSS, Javascript and tabbed browsing, Firefox mobile will be the latest and greatest mobile browser available, but extending its reach is what Mozilla is focused on more than anything.  Being available on Symbian and Windows Mobile devices was the first step, but porting a version to Android will put it in the spotlight and expose the benefits to both parties.

According to AdMob’s latest mobile metrics report, Android was the #2 smartphone platform in the US in the fourth quarter of 2009 with a 27 percent share of mobile requests, or exactly half of the 54 percent share belonging to iPhone OS devices.  Though the iPhone continues its smartphone dominance, Android is growing at a break-neck pace, and could position Firefox mobile as a leading smartphone-oriented browser for the endless amount of upcoming devices sporting the Android OS.

Though inclusion on the iPhone, iPod Touch and the upcoming iPad will never happen due to Apple’s lock-down, Firefox mobile has a bright future.  As mobile browsing and operating systems continue to consolidate and a less fragmented experience evolves, Firefox will emerge a clear leader as it has in the desktop space.

There’s been healthy competition recently between makers of so-called “full Web capable” mobile browsers from the likes of Opera, Mozilla and others, but who will come out on top once the dust settles?

Skyfire, a mobile browser we’ve kept our eyes on for a while now, is ramping up its efforts and making a few changes internally to better compete in the increasingly crowded segment of mobile browsing.

Along with recently hiring former Travelocity CFO Jeffrey Glueck, the company has closed a series B round of funding in the amount of $5M, raising its total capital investment to $22.8M since its inception.  To put it simply, the Mountain View-based company has big plans for its browser.

As you’ll remember, Skyfire is still the only free browser available that includes support for PC-Web capable technologies such as Flash, Silverlight, Ajax, JavaScript and many others- bringing a true full-Web experience to mobile devices once and for all.  The only problem has been that it’s not available for a wide range of platforms- only Windows Mobile and Symbian for the time being.

The company has plans to introduce a Blackberry version soon, with other platforms hopefully following suit.  With so much going on internally at the company, Skyfire will undoubtedly make its mark soon.  With competition also ramping up its efforts, Skyfire needs to bring its exclusive technology to as many platforms as possible before others sweep in and steal its thunder.