The check-in ritual continues to look for models that provide value, establish real relationships with brands, and avoid pointlessness.

What if retailers could find a way to incent shoppers to scan products in their stores to promote sales of those products to others who are not in the store? That would be true 'reverse-showrooming.'

Some longstanding Web brands are being discovered for the first time by users on mobile platforms because their desktop services become especially powerful and relevant in this new context.

In Manhattan this week, a tale of two industries is playing out at the Javits Center. Upstairs, book publishers were still trying to dial in for a clue to mobile marketing. Downstairs, a blog convention had thousands of self-publishers already speaking to readers across platforms.