Sony and Samsung are trying to help retailers fight the dreaded, if ill-defined, 'showrooming' effect by limiting the discounts any online or real world seller can offer.

Considering the continued abuse of the QR code, and the prospects for its proliferation among all businesses large and small, it is good to reiterate the basics of QR hygiene.

Amazon appears ready to extend into mobile the ad model it has been building on the Web. While many admire the data the e-commerce giant brings to the party, their biggest strength is in what they do with the data for consumers' benefit.

While everyone else has been fumbling for their m-wallets, eBay and its PayPal have been very aggressively moving into the point of sale. With announcements yesterday involving retailers and payments infrastructure, they may become a real contender offline.

Band-Aid uses augmented reality to activate interactive Muppets animations that help take away the hurt. It is one of the few branded uses of AR that doesn't feel like a Doc Brown lab experiment.

The Rubicon Project says that in buying mobile ad tech and services company Mobsmith, it will help unify Web and mobile ad sales. Publishers will have the opportunity to sell mobile inventory direct to clients and engage in advanced marketplace technologies as well.

According to a new Harris survey of smartphone owners, 40% of them have redeemed a mobile coupon. Daily deals, which often come in via apps and mobile email, are the most commonly used.

Mobile search is being driven by your offline presence, according to Google/Ipsos research. And when smartphone users do look for your brand via the search box, you better make sure you are among the top results, because they aren't looking much further.

Popularity in the Apple App Store is relative. According to new calculations from Distimo, it takes takes 25,300 downloads a day for a free iPhone game to crack the top 25 in its category, but only 300 downloads a day in the weather category.

Vending machines are about to become smart and connected. They could be the next opportunity for mobile devices to activate, interact with and pay for physical world services and products.