The Weather Channel iPhone app, long one of the most popular, has gotten its first redesign since 2009. Nice, but you still can't stop it from raining.

Who is scanning QR codes? Scanbuy says it's 68 percent males.

Eight percent of magazine pages had a mobile bar code during Q1. That’s a move toward the passive becoming interactive.

Coca Cola will use mobile and music in a London Olympics effort to "inspire youth". Included are a wide variety of mobile tactics, including SMS, apps, and more.

Beyond the hardware change, I await a new iPhone most for have-to-have Siri improvement. It’s shocking that Apple heavily advertises such a poor experience.

Speaking of which, there are several “new” reports that Steve Jobs influenced the design of the next iPhone. There is no news here. Product cycles are that far out.

Does size matter (in tablets)? Amazon is looking to turn around its slumping Kindle Fire sales with a screen three inches larger.

T-Mobile makes good points in downplaying shared data plans. Who wants to keep track of the family's consumption?

An Apple board member says an iCar designed by Jobs would've taken 50 percent of auto market. That’s laughable.

American Express’ mobile strategy, like its social efforts, is deeply rooted in measurable sales. Imagine that.

Marketers take note: one tablet generates as many website visits as four smartphones, according to a report.

70 percent of mobile app users pay little or nothing, a study says. It explains how a large number of app makers don't make money.

30 percent of Groupon transactions in North America were completed on mobile devices in Q1. It was 25 percent in December 2011.

Teenagers believe that adults text as much as they do - which means a lot, a survey says. That’s surprising.

Pew says that 18 percent of smartphone owners use a geosocial service to check in to certain locations or share their location with friends. That is a meaningful number (around 30 million), but far from the key element in a mobile “reach strategy”. That would be SMS or the mobile web. Preferably both.

I don't buy report that Siri is missing from the iPad because Apple can't make it look good on tablet. I bet that it’s more about an overloaded system just with iPhone 4Ss.

There were ads for pizza and for free obituary searches on Barnes and Noble page of Mobilized Marketing book.

Given the lack of news at CTIA Wireless 2012 (see previous post), do you think that companies are kicking themselves for missing the chance to be one to stand out?

The Angry Birds follow-up is dubbed ‘Amazing Alex’. The word amazing should be reserved for Angry Birds.

Urban Airship’s CEO says that we have years of education ahead of us when it comes to selling in mobile. Hopefully we’re on the other side of the mountain.

It may be that the loyalty play is more meaningful to Google than its new offers showing up on maps, including on mobile. There is lots of money in remarketing and remonetizing.

Blue Droid RAZRs are due in stores. Remember when pink RAZRs were the hot phone? No, I didn't have one, but I could have by accident (I’m colorblind).

Fast Company says that a company turns your Instagram pictures into canvas wall art that anyone can buy. Can buy or will buy?

We’ve all seen this - mobile devices are increasingly being used as a mother’s helper when her kids are bored, according to eMarketer.

Finally some reason - MasterCard says: "No single (mobile) wallet will rule them all".

Lots of forecasts are out on what will happen in mobile in 2016 and 2017. Big growth in all, but wide disparity in the numbers. Does anyone know in such a morphing category? For presentations, I’ve been asked to focus only on the next six months. That’s really what matters to marketers.

Missed last week's webinar with the Mobile Marketing Association on my Mobilized Marketing book? You can see it here https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/933811590

Should we take the half full or half empty view on this one? According to Harris, 20 percent of U.S. consumers buy via mobile and 62 percent couldn’t care less. Twenty percent of American mobile subscribers is more than 60 million people. I’ll take the half full position this early in mobile. Why, another report says that mobile commerce accounts for 13.3 percent of all online sales – and that’s growing rapidly.

A report says that 80 percent of app developers don't make enough money to support a business. It has been this way since beginning of apps.

By 2016, tablets will outship netbook PCs, NPD says. Significant but it does not signal the death of the computer – it will be more of a co-existence.

Amazon Kindle Fire reportedly slipped to 4 percent of tablet market shipped last quarter vs. 17 percent the previous quarter. If true, more iPads sold in 5 days than Fire shipped in quarter.

Websites have been found to contain malware targeting Android devices. Having spent time working in the security category, I’ll tell you that it will take a major outbreak for people to care. And, even then, many won’t.

Apple fanboy delight – stat that two-thirds of top U.S. carrier sales in Q1 were iPhones.

The Draw Something app has seen its daily user base drop from 15 million to 10 million. The company drew a blank on an explanation.

Seven of the top ten grossing iOS apps and 6 of the top ten grossing Android apps are integrated with Facebook. Of course, that’s part of the reason that they are top grossing.

I saw that Apple "discussed" putting a keyboard on the iPhone. Is there news here? Would it had launched the product without pondering the possibility?

Social leaped ahead of games on mobile when it comes to amount of activity. Games held the top spot for four years. I wonder if the birds are angry.

One in five want self-driving cars. I'll settle for a chauffeur.

95 percent of independent restaurants don't have mobile web sites, according to a study. I would be surprised if more than 10 percent do anything with mobile.

Twitter has set its sights on two billion users. For me, that's too many "tuna fish sandwich for lunch" reports.

Walmart has brought augmented reality to customers with an app around The Avengers. Will THE mass retailer make AR go mass?

Two thirds won't spend more than $50 per month on mobile data, a study says. Half of smartphone users don't know how much they use. I’m in that 50 percent.

The London Olympics will be streamed live but don't expect real-time posting of user-generated video. That is prohibited by ticketholders.

Something to watch – the U.S. Transportation head says that distracted driving is a "national epidemic". He has called for a ban on using the phone while driving.

Finally a LinkedIn iPad app. It’s surprising that it has taken this long given the iPad user demographic.

Google's ad says Chrome can help you get your ex back. I don't want my ex back. How many do?

71 percent of affluent consumers don't have set spending limit in mobile apps. I wonder if this is more default than by choice.

Ninety-four percent of U.S. bills have bacteria on them, MasterCard reports. Is that enough to move people to use a mobile wallet? Do you think our phones are pristine? Mine isn’t.

Speaking of the wallet, marketers, if you say that the mobile wallet will completely replace cash, your credibility will be lost. Nothing is absolute and this transformation will take years, maybe decades.

Enabling small business to accept payment via mobile is not exclusive to Square, but it may soon have a $4 billion valuation. Coincidentally, the company is processing $4 billion transactions annually.

Ads for viewing singles nearby and for attorneys in area were back to back on my iPhone. I view them as one message to me – sent by my wife.

Travel & Leisure named Seattle the top hipster despite fact that I live there.

We can waste time reading pure conjecture. Case in point: I bypassed three straight stories with headlines saying a company "may" do something. Nudge me when they do.

Apple has lost $56.5 billion in market value in two weeks. That's roughly an eBay, by market cap, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Nokia shared a video taken with its 41-megapixel Nokia 808 PureView. That's the one that won't be available in the States. Are we supposed to think other Nokia products are as innovative? We don’t.

Oh, how the world has changed. National Geographic is covering an Everest expedition on Instagram.

Did you see the story that said cellphone that sees through walls is closer to reality? Ignore the piece. It's a shiny object that won't move your business.

T-Mobile is bringing mobile security to users. The problem is that the issue is not a factor in buying.

Do you think Samsung calling iPhone users "sheep" in ads will get us to switch? I don't think so, either.

A psychologist has created an iPhone app that can manipulate dreams. No, not those kind of dreams. More like the ones where you are walking in the woods. Yeah, I’ll pass, too.

New York City is transforming old phone booths into ‘smart screens’. Kids, they were places to make calls. Oh, you need the definition of a call?

Blackberry 7 is rated the most secure mobile operating system. RIM’s problem is that security is not even a small driver when consumers purchase.

Everyone wants in on the Instagram talk. Mitt Romney talked up Instagram and innovation less than a week after someone signed him up for the service.

Nokia cut its financial guidance due to "competitive industry dynamics”. Was competition unexpected?

Meanwhile, Nokia identified a Lumia 900 software glitch, then offered a fix and $100 credit. It is due to a memory issue. My question - will consumers remember at the point of purchase?

According to an analyst, Best Buy's mobile business brings one third of the profits but accounts for less than 10 percent of the overall square footage in retail stores.

Wireless device charging is coming to some Chryslers. Will they prevent all those coffee spills that come when we fiddle with plugs?

It isn't the size but cost that may doom Toshiba's 13-inch tablet. It is $650 at the low end. Consumers will buy this why?

AT&T has rethought its Rethink Possible tagline. It has evolved to “It's what you do with what we do”. Makes sense because mobile is personal.

Some predict apps will lose favor as the mobile web advances with HTML5. But Juniper sees twice as any app downloads by 2016.

American Idol gets lots of credit for the use of text messaging. Will it do the same for Shazam? Of course, Shazam was part of the Super Bowl telecast, but you may have been in the guacamole at the time.

I’m vain enough to wait for augmented reality contact lenses. I say no to Google glasses.

The Masters switched to a free iPad app this year. Surprising given the organizers live in another age on so many issues.

There are enough mixed reviews of the Nokia Lumia 900 that we'll have to see for ourselves. So much is riding on it for Nokia and Microsoft.

Nokia’s 41-megapixel camera has come to America, but you can't buy one. It’s ironic that the company’s show-stopping innovation can't be marketed.

You now can take a picture of junk mail with PaperKarma and an app unsubscribes you. I love mobile.

Shazam says its gets more activity during live TV than Facebook and Twitter. It attributes it to the availability of "bonus content". Isn’t that what we get from our social networks? Or should?

"Listening, invention and personalization" are essential to Amazon's mobile strategy, according to the company. It’s essential for everyone else, too.

On the first day of availability, there were 2,000 downloads a minute for Instagram for Android. Want another wow? Overall, there are 30 million users uploading more than five million photos each day.

Thirty-four percent of surveyed high school seniors own an iPhone, double the percentage of year ago, according to Piper Jaffrey. Even more intend to buy. Some believe the device isn't cool enough for teens. It’s time to rethink that. Also, the implications for other manufacturers are obvious.

Seventy-one percent of iPhone users employ Wi-Fi versus 32 percent for Android owners, comScore reports. The disparity supposedly had to do with overseas data plans that limit Android connections that way.

The only saving grace about the absurd speculation on the iPhone 5 is that it takes attention away from next iPad.

Save May 15 for the next Mobile Mixer, hosted by Hipcricket in our Kirkland, WA, offices. We’ll be talking about the learnings from my Mobilized Marketing book.

I’m amused that every mobile wallet announcement is judged as end-all or not. This is a long-term play, 4-6 years for the tipping point, according to American Express.

Beyond anti-wrinkle cream and eyelash enhancements, I’m staying young through reverse mentoring. A 29-year-old is co-architect in many of my new media efforts. Plus, last week, I learned lots about social from a 25-year-old who is as old as many of my socks.

My brother followed this course recently when he received advice on setting up his wireless router from our 12-year-old nephew. My bet is my brother was wearing 12-year-old socks that day.

I received texts three straight days from the Obama campaign. Yes, I opted in, but the frequency is way too much, especially this far from Election Day.

Next year they should do Day of Unplugging on April Fool's Day. Then I'm in.

The NPR April Fool's headline said Tweets To Shrink To 133 Characters. That’s nothing to joke about. Our full voices will be heard.

According to several studies, more than 70 percent of mobile users say they want a deal. Yet LivingSocial is away moving from offers to push convenience in the form of takeout and delivery. I’ll take 25 percent off in exchange for a relatively short wait. And I’m far from the only one.

Is there an app to get my wife to go with me to new Three Stooges movie? I hear that there's Oscar buzz around this one.

Groupon restated its earnings after seeing a spike in holiday returns. I contributed by giving back two of the three flying trapeze lessons my “friends” thought I would enjoy.

Some (not me) say the best days for text messaging are over. A posted column said that SMS is a "new global phenomenon”. It is at neither extreme. 

Two thirds of mobile devices purchased in last three months were smartphones. Has your marketing shifted similarly?

American Express says that mobile payments are 4-6 years from a tipping point. The contrast to the hype around the concept is striking – and accurate.

AT&T says its Nokia Lumia 900 launch will be bigger than an iPhone introduction. It may be in marketing dollars spent, but certainly won’t be in excitement generated.