A note to everyone reading and enjoying this weekly collection of the best mobile blogging:

We encourage everyone, everywhere on the planet to participate in the Carnival and join our COMmunity of 100+ influential bloggers and writers.

If you don’t have a post to share, then you can also take part by submitting the best blog(s) you have read this week (providing us your unique take on the post and a link back to the back to the site).

You can also sign up to host a Carnival at your own site. Just review the open slots on our Host Calendar and email me (peggy@mobilegroove.com) with your preferences. I’ll be in touch before you take the helm to ensure you understand the nuts & bolts, and get the most out of the opportunity to curate the best of mobile blogging.

In the lineup this week:

• Lynette Hundermark over at Gadgets and All Things Digital takes a hard (and hands-on) look at the new LinkedIn iPad App.
• Lisa Ciangiulli over at Optism explores how companies can reward and shape consumer behavior. What will commerce and marketing look like now that shoppers can earn value (loyalty points, free airtime etc) in exchange for participation (paying attention, ranking/rating, advocating and/or committing to a brand-sponsored charity event).
• MobyAffiliates — always a great source for lists, directories and practical mobile advice — brings us a roundup of the best mobile app promotion agencies, networks, and tools for marketing and distributing mobile applications.
• Joy Liuzzo makes her debut over at MobileGroove (where she is regular contributor on all things related to consumer behavior and research) looks at the emergence of Mobile Sentient Beings, and what brands and marketers have to do NOW to keep our trust and head off the public backlash destined to happen if privacy breaches continue.

Thanks again to out host Advantix Solutions, which is also hosting webinars focused data security and the impact of mobile apps on business. Check out their Webinar series, Mobile Data Security & Applications in the Enterprise.

[READ COM #269 HERE]

As she writes in her blog: “In our dynamic industry, we’ve found that keeping abreast of what ecosystem members are saying is critical to staying on top. That’s why we published our Permission Marketing in the News blogs for almost two years! Now, we’re happy and honored to be a Carnival of the Mobilists host — and we’ve got a great collection of articles to suggest to you this week.” We’re proud to have her ­— and look forward to having Optism host a COM again soon. You can keep up-to-date on her blog and the great job her team does curating the mobile news you need to know on Twitter @Optism.

Meantime, let’s get this party started with a line-up of the posts that made this week’s COM:

• Martin Wilson over at Mobileweb Company gives us his take on responsive web design and why it falls short when it comes to designing for mobile. It’s a great read (and makes a strong case against any approach short of developing a comprehensive mobile strategy), and was chosen by Optism as Post of the Week.
• Christopher Reynolds at mobyaffiliates provides us advice on how to best promote iOS and Android mobile apps. If you’re serious about making money from apps, then you’ll want to check this article out.
• UX Magazine’s Sachendra Yadav looked at how one app company uses onboarding as a strategy to turn customers into loyal customers.
• Over at Mobile Payments Today, Bruce Burke gives us new perspectives on the highlights of his recent Social, Mobile, Payments conference. Is it all a ‘numbers’ game in the MoSo space? Read on and find out.
• Steve Litchfield over at All About Windows Phone walks us through phone camera innovations and their impact.
• MobileGroove and partner UNTETHER.tv bring us a new episode of M-Pulse. This time the focus is design and the guest is Arturo Toldeo, Senior User Experience Design in the Windows Phone Design Studio. There’s also a nod to our fave Mobilist Tomi Ahonen for his new list of the largest mobile social networks to date by size. A worthy global resource indeed!
• Michelle Manafy, MobileGroove contributor, gives us her take on a new report about how (and why) Digital Natives switch media, devices, platforms 27 times an hour. What can content companies and marketers do to grab their attention? Michelle has some straightforward advice.
• Dean Bubley over at Disruptive Wireless takes a hard look at where rich communications suite (RCS) is in terms of adoption and implementation, and pays special attention to RCS-e and the Joyn services recently unveiled and branded as such by the GMSA.
• Kerry Skemp, Marketing Director at SnapHop, gives a break from the stats and heavier side of mobile to provide us a lighter look at mobile inspired by observations from a bicycle race. Simple and elegant common sense.

Honorable mention goes to Russell Buckley (the original COM founder) who wrote a thought-provoking piece about the real future for traditional middle class professions in a Digital Age. Optism submitted it on his behalf — and I’m glad they did. It’s a must-read, especially for parents and teachers as they council youth.

[READ COM #268 HERE]

Meantime, here is a lineup of some of the posts that made the COM this week.

James Coops over at mobyaffiliates shares a new, and evolving list he calls the ‘Best Mobile App Developer Directory. It includes iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 and HTML5 developers, grouped by geographical region. If you don’t see your company or name on the list, then contact James.

MobileGroove columnist Jeff Hasen — one of the leading CMOs you need to follow to get the inside track on mobile marketing trends and developments — draws from his recent book (Mobilized Marketing: Driving Sales, Engagement, and Loyalty Through Mobile Devices) to provide some practical advice on how marketers can learn from regions to execute a successful strategy. A surprise: Asia may be a hotbed of ideas and innovation, but marketers shouldn’t assume marketing models and approaches that fly there will yield the same results everywhere…

We welcome COM newcomer Natasha Hutchinson over at Adfonic who tells us why marketers must shift their media budgets to mobile. It’s packed with insights and stats — which is why it is also WIP’s Pick of the Week.

Finally, WIP share an interview it conducted with Gary Yentin, CEO of AppPromo, on how to get known (and discovered) without a massive marketing budget.

Next week the COM touches down at Optism with a special focus on the hot topic in mobile: commerce.

[READ COM #267 HERE]

Posts that made the COM this week include:

• Steve Litchfield recommends a recent from post from Ewan Spence making a case for Microsoft Windows Phone. A timely post indeed if we consider recent data from ABI Research’s showing that Microsoft is gaining significant momentum. According to senior analyst Aapo Markkanen, “One message we hear from many developers is that, purely technically speaking, Windows Phone is actually a rather appealing platform. And if it turns out to be a platform for relatively high-end devices, avoiding the fragmentation pitfalls of Android, it won’t even need to achieve a remarkably large market share to attract a vibrant app scene. The arrival of the first Windows 8 tablets, as well as Windows Phone’s upgrade to the Apollo iteration, should also give it a boost, since developers can reuse their code to launch on various screen sizes.”
• James Coops at MobyAffiliates dissects the OMGPOP’s game, Draw Something. A great post chock-full of usage and download statistics, revenues and financials.
• Mark Bridge at The Fonecast gives us the inside track on RIM.
• MobileGroove and UNTETHER.tv submit the 10th episode of their weekly video show M-Pulse. This time the guest is Bango CEO Ray Anderson, who talks about recent deals (Amazon, RIM, Facebook) and what developers need to know to ask for (and get) money from their customers.
• MobileGroove guest columnist Hillel Fuld shares his three tips for developers serious about generating more clicks and — ultimately— more revenues from their mobile apps.
• Lynette Anthony-Hundermark ­— who is a true Mobile Passionate — puts experience before technology and makes a strong case for the importance of user experience (UX) first. Our newest (and certainly most lively!) Mobilist also shares the details of her UX Masterclass Conference. So read one and enjoy!
• Tomi Ahonen is back this week with another thought-provoking post. The title says it all: The ‘Cliff Theory’ ie How Handset Makers Die, why in Mobile Phones do Companies Collapse so Rapidly (Siemens, Motorola, Palm, Nokia, Blackberry and Windows Mobile). It’s not a light right — but it is easy to see why Tomi’s blog was named a must-read destination for all things mobile by Forbes(!)

And, finally, Tego Interactive’s Pick of the Week goes to COM veteran and enthusiast Antoine RJ Wright, who shares worthwhile insights about the need for a contextual UI, or smart interface.

 [READ COM #266 HERE]

And before we move on  — allow me to cover some important housekeeping items:

1. We are still looking for a host to take the helm April 16th — so step up to take the helm! Please email me at peggy@mobilegroove.com or mobilists@gmail.com if you want to take the slot.
2. Further to my emails and ‘nudges’ please send in your image (thumbnail), your Twitter handle and a 50-100 word description of what you do so we can add you to a new page that lists Mobilists and all the people who contribute their ideas and insights. THANK YOU.
3.  And don’t forget to follow the COM on Twitter (@TheMobilists) and spread the word!

Posts that made the COM lineup include:

Tomi Ahonen brings us another excellent and (predictably) controversial blog focusing on what he calls the “catastrophic situation with Nokia’s smartphones unit and the Lumia line.” Tomi’s blog is also the Pick of the Week.

Mobyaffiliates has a double-dose of mobile advertising insights. One looks at Facebook mobile advertising. The other outlines the pros and cons of rich media advertising.

Jonny Evans over at Orange Business blog brings our attention to a post and infographic expertly identifying the security implications of the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend and the impact on businesses everywhere.

Chetan Sharma brings us another installment of his U.S. Wireless Market Update, providing us insights about the market in 4Q2011 and forecasts for 2012. As with ALL of Chetan’s reports, its an essential read. The next global update will be released in April 2012.

MobileGroove brings us a pair of posts for the two-week period this COM covers. First off is a companion analysis of the latest episode of M-Pulse, the weekly video show with UNTETHER.tv. They welcome Caroline Lewko over at WIP (Wireless Industry Partnership), who walks us through her new must-read guide for developers (PDF). Another post from MobileGroove is a podcast interview with BJ Emerson, VP of Technology at Tasti D-Lite, a company that literally wrote the book on SoLoMo.

The Voice on Telecom suggests that all companies (retailers, banks, the works!) could drive money (and more importantly, stickiness) if they were able to support/enable voice, text messaging and video chat via their own sites.

Anne Thomas provides a post, playfully titled Unrequited love on mobile web, that makes a hard case for mobile-optimized sites.

Nigel Scott submits several posts, but the one that makes this week’s lineup is a hard look at the business value of gamification.

Nigel’s other posts are were:

http://excapite.blogspot.com/2012/03/apple-you-can-bank-on.html

http://excapite.blogspot.com/2012/03/is-network-thinking-for-birds.html

http://renaissancechambara.jp/2012/03/23/android-and-differentiation/

Ged Caroll draws from his personal observations (overhearing a loud business meeting and pitch) and draws our attention to deeper questions about the state of the Android ecosystem.

Steve Litchfield has a double-dose of mobile blogging for us. First, he takes us back 10 years to recount the top 10 Qwerty Symbian phones. The second blog comes from his colleague David Gilson and looks at the evils of Micro SIM cards.

Lynette Anthony Hundermark, new to the COM, sends us two submissions as well. First, she road tests a mobile-optimized site by Four Seasons and critiques its (many shortcomings). Her second post didn’t make this lineup but it does earn an honorable mention. A self-identified ‘Apps Girl,’ Lynette walks us through her first-hand experience with the new Ster-Kinekor mobi site http://www.sterkinekor.mobi/. Check out the post here: http://mystechblog.com/post/8820372116/is-there-still-an-urgency-to-have-apps-when-you-have-a

[READ COM #265 HERE]

And before we move on to the next COM at Tego Interactive next week — allow me to cover some important housekeeping items:

1. We are still looking for hosts for slots in May. Please email me at peggy@mobilegroove.com or mobilists@gmail.com if you want to take the helm.
2. Further to my emails and ‘nudges’ please send in your image (thumbnail), your Twitter handle and a 50-100 word description of what you do so we can add you to a new page that lists Mobilists and all the people who contribute their ideas and insights. THANK YOU.
3.  And don’t forget to follow the COM on Twitter (@TheMobilists) and spread the word!

Posts that made the COM this week include:

• Tomi Ahonen over at the must-must read Communities Dominate blog brings us a valuable collection of data and insights. Promising all the stats and facts we need for 2012, this post keeps its promise.
• Mobile Insider’s Steve Smith shows that encouraging customer engagement isn’t just a focus for brands. It’s also a must for politicians. The title of his blog says it all: From Obama to Brands: Leveraging Participatory Engagement .
• Matt Kapko at Eye on Mobile reveals the real story (and the real human cost) behind our mobile devices — in particular the plight of the workers at Foxconn in China who produce mobile devices for Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and many more.
• Peter-Paul Koch on the QuirksMode blog voices his frustration with how mobile manufacturers — and smartphone OS and browser vendors — fail to provide developers with the devices (and support) they need to deliver sites and apps for the myriad of different platforms.
• Sticky Smartphone brings us a fascinating history of cameraphones — well timed and prompted by Nokia’s announcement of the new Nokia 808 Pureview.
• James Coops at MobyAffiliates has started making a useful list of mobile marketing and advertising agencies. He’s counted 88 so far, so contact him if your company isn’t included.
• Simon Andrews on the Addictive Mobile blog argues the time is NOW for mobile operators to stop being dumb pipes and become smart innovators.
• Lars Cosh-Ishii of Wireless Watch Japan asks whether Felica – Japan’s m-wallet/contactless payments system has plans for overseas expansion.
• TheFonecast.com’s James Rosewell considers the impact of Microsoft’s Windows 8, the new operating system that will bring — among other things — touch to the PC world.
• David Rogers at the Mobilephonesecurity.org blog uses an interesting anecdote to drive home the point that security is only as good as its weakest link.

Andy can’t pick just one Post of the Week and so the honors go to Matt Kapko — for the post that moved us most —and Tomi Ahonen — for the post that educated us most.

[READ COM #264 HERE]

• Peggy Anne Salz provides an analysis of her regular video show with UntetherTV. This week they continue their in-depth examination of the opportunities for mobile voice services and innovation.
• MobileGroove guest columnist Michelle Manafy draws on her new book, Dancing with Digital Natives, to give businesses advice on how they can best motivate the Millennial generation.
• Yomi Adegboye over at the Mobility Blog offers us a personal post about his own plans to go “mobile-only.” It’s a fascinating read and gives us insights into the evolving mobile market in Nigeria.
• Dave Olsen via Mobile in Higher Education blog recounts his experience with responsive mobile design and links to a number of sources that are currently leading this debate.
• Dmitry Namiot from Russia gives us an inside view on mobile app that blends Facebook and Google search.
• Johnny Evans from Futurity Media shares a detailed infographic all about NFC, on behalf of the guys over at Orange Business.

[READ COM #263 HERE]

Posts that made the COM this week include:

• Over at MobileGroove guest columnist John Stevens from 2ergo draws from how mobile has impacted our shopping experience to identify key do’s and don’ts you need to consider as you create and execute your mobile strategy.

• MobileGroove’s Peggy Anne Salz in collaboration with UNTETHER.tv kicks off a month-long look at mobile voice and the real impact of Apple’s Siri. Their guest is Bill Meisel, President of TMA Associates.
• WIP shares their interview with Peter Lindgren, CEO of VISIARC. They discuss Duudle, a multiplayer app that was developed at Nokia World’s Hackathon.
• Sticky Smartphone dissects the Google/Motorola Mobilty patent claims against Apple.
• Oren Levine over at Mobile in DC identifies a new kind of user (what he calls a “digital omnivore”) and discusses the challenges this imposes on developers as they seek to develop multi-platform mobile solutions.
• Antoine RJ Wright prods readers to explore ways to “go mobile” with their Bible studies..

Tego Interactive, which is perhaps best known for its business consulting on mobile strategy and development of mobile apps chooses two outstanding posts as its Pcim of the Week — both related to mobile apps.

• MobyAffiliates gets the honors for its analysis of how to best use a mix of ad networks for maximum results when monetizing your Android apps.
• Meantime mobiThinking gets kudos for providing us useful data on the growing importance from the get-go.

[READ COM #262 HERE]

Posts that made the COM this week include:

• Bruce Burke provides us a comprehensive overview of mobile payment solutions.
• Andy Favell, editor of mobiThinking, brings a double-dose of key industry data points. The first summarizes handset and smartphone figures from Canalys, Strategy Analytics and IDC. The second post delves into just how many page views come from mobile devices. The number ma surprise you.
• James Coops, a regular contributor to COM, provides us a detailed review of mobile ad networks for media buyers and affiliates.
• AntonieRJWright is back again with a post about how passé phone numbers really are.
• Tomi Ahonen weighs in on the anniversary of Stephen Elop’s ‘Burning Platform’ memo. Without a doubt a long, but essential read if you want to dissect what has gone awry (and why) at Nokia.
• Peggy Anne Salz and co-host Rob Woodbridge interview Chetan Sharma in this week’s episode of M-Pulse. They talk mobile payments, mobile commerce and mobile mega-trends. Exactly what you would expect from Chetan, one of the industry’s most insightful mobile analysts and authorities — full stop.
• Martin Geddes, a newcomer to the COM, asks if telecoms hasn’t hit its peak and reached its “maximum share of the economy.”
• Dean Bubley takes aim at the GSMA’s RCS and VoLTE initiatives, arguing that its time to embrace fragmentation, not fight it.
• Ajit Jaokar provides us his thoughts and analysis of white space network success stories and their future implications.

A word from me, Peggy Anne Salz, COM Coordinator and Connector: James did a great job hosting but failed to chose a Pick of the Week. Allow me to suggest that honor should go to Tomi Ahonen, for his informative and biting analysis. As always, Tomi has produced a post that’s a lot like marmite. You either love it or you hate it. Either way, read the post and the comments and comments and add you voice to the conversation.

[READ COM #261 HERE]

It’s great to see such an eclectic collection of posts, and a good time to stress that ANYONE ANYWHERE on this planet can participate in the COM, a weekly collection of the best of mobile blogging currated for our growing community to read and enjoy.

Simply submit your best blog about mobile by the end of each Sunday. If you don’t have a blog, then submit the one you enjoyed the most. The Carnival host will post the ‘winners’ on their site, and share the link with us all via email, Twitter and a post at this site. So get involved and follow @TheMobilists for the latest posts and updates coming from the COM and its members.

Posts that made the COM this week include:

• Volker on Mobile takes a look at the story around Facebook’s recently announced IPO and draws our attention to the lack of focus on mobile marketing advertising. Could it be because it would ruin the user experience? Read his post and join the conversation.
• Sticky Smartphone looks at the dismal situation RIM now finds itself in — and looks for the root cause of the problem.
• Meantime, Mobile Industry Review reminds us that Blackberry did quite well — at least in the U.K. market — this last holiday season.
• Belen Pena looks at the connection between handset usability and software usability. Even a wonderfully designed website will feel difficult and cumbersome when used with a phone plagued by usability issues.
• David Olsen reviews the new book Head First, Mobile Web, a great resource for anyone looking to get into mobile Web development or just eager to brush up on their skills.
• Ajit Jaokar provides his perspective on the local mindset in the MENA region towards mobile and connected services. His first-hand insights into developments including a social learning application are an essential read if you want to understand more about this region,
• Peggy Anne Salz from MobileGroove shares her analysis of this week’s M-Pulse video show (a collaboration between untetherTV and MobileGroove), which features GigaOm’s Kevin C Tofel.
• Mobile Advance joins the COM with their summary of the 2011 Mobile Ministry Forum Consultation (which Antoine also took part in). The result of this collaboration: plans to develop training resources to equip ministries and local believers to implement mobile ministry, publish online courses in feature phone formats, develop a taxonomy for mobile ministry, develop a Smartphone app for SMS crowd-sourced broadcasting, and the list goes on…
• AntoineRJWright‘s own contribution for the week is a rant about the state of mobile in the U.S.
• James Coops provides us his view into the profitability of Android app advertising. Android surges ahead of other platforms, but there are huge questions marks over what mobile developers can really make from monetizing their apps.

Finally, Antoine has done us all a service by curating some of the outstanding posts from around the Web. They weren’t submitted to the COM — but let’s hope this extra exposure will encourage these and more mobile passionatas to get involved in the COM on a regular basis.

• Kent Nguyen talks about the work it takes to build an iOS app
• GigaOm has a report from Mobilizing Mobile by Igor Faletski, CEO of Mobify
• Wes Allen talks about a culture of being ‘always on’
• Forum Oxford has unveiled its forum redesign
• Nigel Scott asks if Facebook is disrupting Windows
• Ray Kurzweil asks if bypassing the Internet is a good idea when it comes to  innovations in mobile/social
• Martin Sauter reasons why the U.S. needed to move to LTE before Europe
• Tomi Ahonen digs into Nokia and its decision to sell off their mobile ad unit
• Mobile Active tells us how the Mobile Learning Toolkit can enable effective mobile-interactive educational experiences

[READ COM #260 HERE]