It is shaping up to be a banner year in mobile sales for eBay. This week, the online marketplace’s CEO, John Donahoe, revealed that eBay will have done $5 billion in business this year via mobile phones. eBay owned PayPal isn’t far behind with $3.5 billion in mobile payments for the calendar year.

The smartphone boom and corresponding popularity of eBay’s mobile applications have made this impressive feat possible. Donahoe admits that that eBay’s applications for iOS, Android and Windows Phone have been downloaded in excess of 56 million times.

“We are seeing profound change in how consumers are behaving and will behave. We believe we are at an inflection point,” Donahoe reportedly said this week at the Open Mobile Summit. Our perspective on mobile is that it’s not incremental, it is another screen in the shopping experience. It’s a consumer that is coming back more frequently and shopping more because now it can be done at any time of the day. We know it is driving consumer engagement and customer value.”

The eBay chief added that e-commerce is a $350 billion business, representing 4% of total retail. The industry is losing its “e,” Donahoe suggested, noting that retail and e-commerce are now becoming fused together as “the line between online and offline is blurring.”

“We believe that there will be more changes on how consumer shop and pay in the next three years than there have been Read more... [eBay Sees 5 Billion in Mobile Sales in 2011 via Mobile Apps Smartphones]

Groupon is enjoying the largest IPO by an Internet company since Google.

According to an insightful new report from Bloomberg Friday morning, Groupon is entering Wall Street with financial guns a’ blazing.

Groupon has raised $700 million in its initial public offering, according to an unnamed source close with Groupon who spoke with Bloomberg. If accurate, that figure would represent a 30 percent larger chunk of funding than that which Groupon sought.

With that much cash behind the venture, the biggest online-coupon provider has topped earlier valuation projections and now sits at $12.7 billion.

The Chicago-based provider of online daily deals sold 35 million shares at $20 each, said the person, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. Groupon had offered 30 million shares for $16 to $18 apiece.

The shares trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol GRPN.

For now, Groupon is offering only a small percentage of its stock to the public (4.7 percent in total).

Read more... [Groupon Rakes in Big Cash Ahead of Long Awaited IPO]

The folks behind Yelp – the uber-popular digital destination for detailed local business reviews – have announced that a customized version of the Yelp mobile app is now preloaded on all Samsung Exhibit II 4G, T-Mobile myTouch and T-Mobile myTouch Q smartphones.

Since being founded in San Francisco in July 2004, Yelp has become a widely recognized, trusted, and digitally ubiquitous resource for digging deeper into the quality and general reputation of a business and its services.

According to details made available today by Yelp, the new app for T-Mobile Android devices features some pretty nifty filters to make searching for a business (and its associated reviews) even easier and faster than it already is.

Additionally, there is a new “saved search” functionality, which allows users to save search filter settings (e.g. open now, free wifi, price range, and outdoor seating) and use the same criteria over and over without having to re-enter the specific filters, for frequent searches.

“As smartphones become more ubiquitous we’re finding that increasing numbers of consumers are turning to Yelp on their mobile devices to find amazing businesses nearby,” says Andrea Rubin, Vice President North American Marketing. “Through this relationship and the new features we’ve created for T-Mobile users, we hope to increase the ease of use and decrease the amount of time and taps that it takes for someone to find a great local Read more... [Yelp Delivers Mobile App to Handpicked T-Mobile Smartphones]

Late Apple chief Steve Jobs received top honors among video game industry professionals in a new survey that shows Jobs to be the “most influential person” in the video game industry today.

The survey of 1,000 industry insiders gave the top spot to Jobs, who “won” the poll by plurality with 26 percent of the vote.

According to the London Games Conference, which sponsored the survey, here are the top five winners:

• Steve Jobs 26%
• Gabe Newell 16%
• Shigeru Miyamoto 7%
• Tim Berners-Lee 4%
• Mark Zuckerberg 3%

Similarly, here’s what the respondents said were the top five products to shape the modern video game landscape:

• Apple’s iPhone 17%
• Nintendo Wii console 7%
• Xbox Live 3%
• The original PlayStation console 3%
• Steam 2%

“In just over three years the iPhone and the App Store have transformed what consumers expect of games, and how the industry makes and sells them – today, download games have come to the fore. Steve Jobs, the iPhone’s driving force, was the ultimate independent developer – uncompromising in his vision, with unquestionable influence, and hugely artistic and commercial results,” says Michael French, editor in chief, MCV, the leading trade magazine of the video games industry.

Read more... [Just How Important Are Apple’s Mobile Devices to Video Gaming]

The iPhone 4S is has already shattered all previous iPhone sales records. Incredibly, during the new iPhone’s first week of availability (in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., France, Germany, Japan), more than four million units were sold.

And just one week ago, another 22 nations were added to the list of iPhone 4S-carrying markets – a list poised to grow even further next week.

Beginning Friday, Nov. 11, the iPhone 4s will arrive Hong Kong, South Korea and 13 additional countries (Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania and South Korea.)

As of this writing, the iPhone 4S is available in 29 countries. Apple says the iPhone 4s will be for sale in 70 countries total before the end of 2011.

For residents of Hong Kong, South Korea and the other nations listed above, pre-orders begin this this Friday, Nov. 4th. However, Apple announced on its website today that pre-orders are not available in Albania, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro and Panama.

During Apple’s earnings call earlier this month, CEO Tim Cook said he believes the current quarter will bring with it all-time record quarterly iPhone sales.

Read more... [iPhone 4S Mania Continues to Sweep The Globe]

To gear up for the pan-European release of the movie Green Lantern this summer, mobile advertising powerhouse Millennial Media teamed up with Warner Bros. and their agency, Odyssey Mobile Interaction, to create a unique rich media mobile campaign to drive engagement and mobile views of the film’s trailer.

It was determined that Millennial wanted to give consumers a visual experience that was reflective of a superhero film like Green Lantern, and decided to deliver an expandable rich media banner that let consumers “imprint their fingerprint” on the ad to bring up an HD trailer for the film. Since the film was released across Europe at different times during the summer, it required staggered and localized campaigns to support the unique release schedule. As such, the initial campaign launched in the UK in mid-June, and crossed Germany, France and Spain before ending in Italy at the end of August.

The collective campaign turned out to be extremely effective, as consumers responded positively to the interactive nature of the creative. In the end, a total of 20 percent of consumers who clicked on the banner engaged with the “fingerprint scan” and over 70 percent of those users went on to watch the trailer. Chris Gale, of Odyssey Mobile Read more... [Millennial Media Details Successful RIch Media Mobile Campaign for Green Lantern Debut Across Europe]

3Seventy, a leader in mobile marketing and mobile CRM engagement solutions, has launched a new weekly video series aimed at offering quick and straight-to-the-point updates on the latest trends, tips, tricks and tactics in mobile marketing and mobile engagement.

Each video is led by 3Seventy VP of Sales, Andy Kennedy, who has a long history as a sales and marketing strategist — particularly in the mobile space. The video series grew from a need for a new kind of mobile marketing resource — one that differed from the endless stream of re-hashed and less-than-stellar whitepapers and other content we see everyday.

Each video in the series is 60 seconds or less in length and dives right in to what matters most for brands, publishers and others wanting to leverage the mobile channel to engage users in new and creative ways.

The first video in the series [embedded below] provides a quick intro into the mobile engagement space and provides a quick introductory glimpse into custom mobile apps, the broader mobile ecosystem at work and the various methods and channels of engagement available today.

Mobile Marketing Watch is honored to be the home of 3Seventy’s new weekly video series, which begins today and will run weekly on Tuesdays. More information on 3Seventy can be found here, and each video in the series will also be hosted on 3Seventy’s Read more... [3Seventy Debuts New “MobileMinute” Video Series – Watch it Weekly Here on MMW]

Talk about a strict social media policy. As it turns out, Apple fires employees who criticize the Apple brand on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social networking site for that matter.

Word surfaced this week that Apple reportedly maintains a very strict policy when it comes to social media use among its employees. One report Tuesday suggested that Apple will fire any employee who utters a negative word about the company and its brand through social media channels.

“In general,” reads a new report from ifoAppleStore.com, “Apple retail employees are allowed to post on the Internet, but cannot include the company’s name or mention their employment at Apple.” News of Apple’s stringent policy surfaced following an employee’s termination after posting critical comments about Apple online. The Apple employee in question (named Crisp) appealed to a UK labor advocacy following his dismissal for “gross misconduct.”

Jamie Hamnett of the law firm Addleshaw Goddard LLP says Apple “made it absolutely plain throughout the induction process that commentary on Apple products, or critical remarks about the brand, were strictly prohibited.”

Hammett noted that the tribunal took into account that such comments “would be particularly damaging for Apple as image is so central to its success.” Therefore, “Apple successfully argued that it was justified and Read more... [Twitter Facebook Posts Can Get You Canned at Apple]

Is it the mobile industry driving the growth of NFC or are consumers the primary impetus for NFC gaining ground in every direction?

According to “Mobile Payment: Technologies and Business Models,” a new report from Parks Associates, NFC (Near Field Communication) will become a standard feature on smartphones over the next few years as consumers respond to the convenience of the “mobile wallet” for making payments.

In a press release issued Wednesday, the international research firm reports its latest findings, which reveal that almost 50% of U.S. smartphone owners find an NFC-enabled mobile wallet application appealing.

“The convenience of e-Wallet solutions, specifically for eliminating the need to carry multiple or any credit cards, is driving the majority of consumer interest,” says Harry Wang, director, mobile research, Parks Associates.

Already 16% of smartphone owners use PayPal or other types of e-Wallet solutions as their preferred method for mobile payments, and one in four Millennials regularly use their mobile phones to research products or services prior to a purchase.

These factors will create a commerce opportunity on smartphones of more than $800 billion U.S. in 2015 and boost business for merchants, retailers, financial institutions, and mobile carriers. Industry heavyweights Amazon.com and eBay reported robust mobile Read more... [Consumer Demand Proves Driving Force Behind NFC Mobile Payment Solutions]

The long wait is over. On Thursday, Google rolled out its official Gmail app for Apple’s mobile device line – iPhone, iPod touch, and, of course, the iPad.

In a blog post today on the official Google Mobile Blog, Matthew Izatt, Product Manager for Google, says the new app will make accessing your email more convenient than ever.

“We’ve combined your favorite features from the Gmail mobile web app and iOS into one app so you can be more productive on the go,” Izatt writes. “It’s designed to be fast, efficient and take full advantage of the touchscreen and notification capabilities of your device. And it’s one more reason to switch to Gmail.”

According to the features outlined so far, Google is obviously concerned with speed, as the folks behind Gmail admit that “We want to give you the information you need quickly, with minimal effort and distraction.”

Among the time-saving features advertised:

• Get alerted to new messages with push notifications and sounds
• Find an email in seconds with search across your entire inbox
• Autocomplete Read more... [Google Finally Rolls Out Long Awaited Gmail App for Apple Devices]