A new study shows that the appetite for mobile commerce is at an all-time high, with consumer confidence diminishing previous fears over security of payments - 3% compared to 27% a year ago.

Mobile-equipped travelers waited until after 5 p.m. to book their New Year's Eve hotel, pointing to the growing trend of last-minute bookings, according to a recent study. More than half booked their rooms after 2 p.m. and many waited until after 9 p.m. to make their reservations.

A survey of retailers shows that Google is poised to win the "mobile wallet war." More than half of respondents said they believe Google would come out on top when it comes to mobile payment systems.

Almost three-quarters of U.K. businesses are now optimized for mobile commerce, according to a new survey of more than 1500 online businesses in the U.K. the study showed a steady rise in the past 12 months with more businesses championing mobile apps and optimization.

A new partnership will allow users in 11 countries to purchase games, music, video and other content through one-click, direct carrier billing on the Opera Mini browser. the one-click mobile payments capability will be available to more than 200 million mobile users.

J.C. Penney Co. continued its upward trek on the Keynote Mobile Commerce Performance Index for the week ending Jan. 27, moving up up five positions to No. 10, up from No. 21 earlier in the month. The ratings are based on the percentage of the time m-commerce sites home pages load completely and successfully.

Foursquare has released a companion mobile app for businesses so they quickly update customers about new products, deals or other news. Business owners will be able to view recent check-ins, turn specials on and off, and check business data.

Latinos are masters of social shopping: they leverage mobile, social media and friends and family to share their shopping experience before, during and after. Latinos are smartphone-natives and thus have higher expectations and limited patience. "E" doesn't stand for electronic anymore, it stands for everywhere.

With Barnes & Noble revealing plans to close numerous stores and Target introducing a new price-matching policy recently, the retail landscape is quickly evolving and mobile is part of the reason why. Mobile's convenience drove record mCommerce sales over the holiday but, even more importantly, was how mobile influenced shopping behavior from researching products online, in-store price comparisons, exclusive offers and more.

The menu of mobile commerce services at Starbucks will increase this year, with mobile tipping as and new ordering tools in coming months. The company also plans to leverage its mobile and social media efforts to drive consumers to its Teavana stores.