As mobile bookings increasingly become more sophisticated, online travel agencies such as Priceline, Hotwire and HotelTonight are beginning to invest more heavily in tablets to keep up with research-focused consumers. Although tablets are still relatively new to marketers, online travel agencies seem to be one of the industries capitalizing the most on the device's bigger sizes. At the same time, tablets also play a critical role in connecting all of the different screens that consumers use to make travel plans.

General Mills cereal brand Wheaties is activating an ongoing association with sports via a new mobile game that enables users to test their baseball IQ. The Wheaties Baseball MVP Game appears in the PickPointz mobile application, which allows users to predict the outcome of live sporting events. When players make accurate predictions, they earn points that can be redeemed for rewards from brands such as Cabela's, Macy's, Best Buy and Starbucks.

In a new interview, eBay's John Donahoe talks about the future of mobile payments and the company's next set of goals, beyond returning to growth. "In the eyes of the consumer, e-commerce and retail are now one. It's just shopping, right? And that's why you see us taking steps to get more involved in the full commerce environment. An example would be EBay doing one-hour delivery. You buy online, but you get it delivered to you from an offline store. Another example would be PayPal being accepted by offline merchants."

PayPal is rolling out a new trial for British consumers to see if they really can leave their wallets at home. Recently kicking off in London borough Richmond upon Thames, the test includes 12 different merchants set up to accept PayPal payments, according to Sky News. Using the PayPal app for iOS, Android, or Windows Phone, potential customers can see nearby participating merchants highlighted on their mobile phones. They can then check in by clicking on the merchant's name and sliding a pin down the screen.

Shopgate, a mobile commerce platform based in Germany, announced today that it has completed a Series B round of financing with the European investing firms Northcap and Creathor Venture. The company said the funding, in the high seven figures, will fund its ongoing expansion. The company recently opened a branch office in Palo Alto, Calif., in Silicon Valley. The three-year-old company, which develops customized native apps and mobile sites for online shops, serves more than 5,000 merchants and millions of users, according to a news release, and is on track to increase its gross merchandising volume tenfold this year.

Mobile commerce and budget banking app CouProm has announced plans to target the New York tourism market with its discount offering. CouProm is a subscription-based prepaid debit card linked to a mobile app and point of sale system; giving members access to real-time paperless discounts and benefits at more than 250,000 affiliated merchants in the US. - See more at: http://performancein.com/news/2013/08/06/couprom-targets-tourism-sector-point-sale-venture/#sthash.yLqgGJN5.dpuf

China's two Internet giants -- Sina Weibo and its rival Tencent WeChat -- have rolled out new products with more commercial functions, marking the escalation of competition in the Chinese mobile Internet market. The Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo, which received $586 million in investment from China's e-commerce giant Alibaba in April, launched its Taobao-friendly version on Monday. It allows users to log into the online shopping platform Taobao.com via a Weibo account, check prices, credibility and popularity, make payments and share with friends. Also on Monday, Tencent rolled out an iOS update to its popular talk-and-text app WeChat, featuring …

H&M has finally added mobile commerce to its site and mobile application that lets consumers shop the retailer's extensive inventory. The Swedish clothing retailer unveiled mobile commerce in conjunction with ecommerce last week to its digital properties in the United States. H&M's online stores let consumers shop products that are available in-store and buy items in additional sizes as well as online-only items.

Despite mobile commerce delivering some 15% of online retailing globally, two thirds of mobile shoppers abandon their carts at checkout, a worrying study by Jumio has revealed. According to the research, 51% abandon their cart because they don't feel confident in actually making the purchase, while 47% give up because the checkout process is perceived as too long. 23% more give up because the purchase doesn't go through, says the study.

Clutch, a mobile application for iPhone and Android which aims to combine gift cards, coupons, comparison shopping, gifting, and personalized recommendations all under one roof, has raised $5 million in Series B funding, the startup is announcing today. In addition, Clutch is also acquiring ProfitPoint, a provider of gift card and loyalty platforms for merchants. The funding round was led by Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., an investor in technology companies like Beyond.com, as well as in healthcare, as with its recent funding of Medivo, for example. Clutch's previous investor Ben Franklin Technology Partners also contributed to the new round.