Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch has launched applications for Apple’s iPhone and iPad and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry devices for clients of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Merrill Edge.

NEW YORK – An NRG exec said his company tapped SAP AG to enhance its customer relationship management platform by adding mobile and social elements to its direct-to-consumer and business-to-business initiatives.

Worldwide mobile device sales to consumers exceeded 1.6 billion units in 2010, a 31.8 percent increase from 2009, with smartphones leading the way, according to Gartner Inc.

Brands are likely to see tablet formats emerge as the leader for all digital display delivered across platforms such as desktop, tablets and mobile. Traffic is the biggest indicator.

Sears Holdings Corp. is letting consumers order groceries, pharmaceutical prescriptions and other products using their smartphones and pick them up at the nearest Kmart or get them delivered.

The ongoing mobile turf war between Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nokia and BlackBerry may change completely with the entry of a new player who will redefine the mobile Internet’s most potent use.

With corporate behemoths such as Starbucks Coffee Co. and McDonald’s Corp. leading the way, 50 percent of consumers will have made a mobile payment of some kind by 2014, according to Juniper Research.

With more big-box retailers and department store chains such as Sears launching commerce-enabled applications for Apple’s iPad and other tablets, merchants must position their offerings to differentiate from competitors.

Whitbread PLC’s Premier Inn, Britain’s largest budget hotel chain, tapped Fujitsu to launch commerce-enabled applications for various smartphone operating systems.

Online food ordering service SeamlessWeb has launched a free commerce-enabled application for Google’s Android that lets customers order food for pickup or delivery using their smartphones.