Facebook is about to test a mobile checkout designed to streamline paying for stuff in partner apps. Oh, why not.

In just the last four years, consumers with smartphones have become more comfortable with the various channels of mobile marketing. Getting alerts from local businesses, and even tying them to location-based triggers, may not seem as intrusive as it once did.

At the bleeding edge of targeting sophistication in mobile is the emerging art of geoconquesting. One local mobile ad network is seeing a spike in campaigns that specifically target people in the vicinity of the competition's locations.

Now here is a genuinely useful application of AR -- telling us what the damned buttons and lights on a car dashboard mean. At some point soon, most smartphone users will begin asking why their brand's apps can't do sensible stuff like that.

While it has diminished considerably, the Apple rumor mill suggests that the next generation of iPhone will contain even more elements that help validate and accelerate the mobile commerce model. Like the Corleone family, Apple may prove to have more muscle on the street then some of its competitors think.

Will we see the day when smartphones and tablets will be welcome second-screen devices in movie theaters? Be careful how you answer, because someone is ready to jump down your throat.

In what could be an annual AR event, IKEA's 2014 catalog greatly enhances its augmented features. The furniture brand invites us to try out furniture virtually and even goof around with the technology.

Video, product info, nutrition details, and how-tos are all fair uses of mobile activations. But how about using them to get the right story to a person at the right time and place they are most willing to enjoy it?

OpenTable will begin testing self-checkout in restaurants by the end of the year. The paperless and people-less virtual world virtual transactions introduces a new and challenging social situation -- like proving you paid for something in order to leave a store.

Luxury brands are finding a welcome home on the mobile social networks that leverage visual expression. The tone and mood of these nets map well against the traditional appeals of luxury advertising.