NEW YORK – Utility company NiSource is deploying a crossplatform mobile strategy because it recognizes that its customers are increasingly relying on their mobile devices to manage their finances.

The thing that is becoming crystal clear in mobile implementation: it is not easy to do. Marketers and retailers that want an easy path to mobile will be disappointed.

Nearly all the applications in the Apple AppStore, Android Marketplace and BlackBerry App World are native applications, with 44 billion app downloads projected by 2016.

SAN FRANCISCO – A Brown Shoes Co. exec at the Mobile Shopping Summit said that 85 percent of mobile purchases come from the shoes.com mobile site and not its applications, proving that retailers should focus on having a Web presence before jumping on the app bandwagon.

While Web 2.0 delivered plenty of new tools and resources for creating and distributing content online, there was really only one new distribution channel – the browser. Not so now.

Orbitz Worldwide Inc.’s corporate travel group Orbitz for Business has launched a mobile Web site that lets business travelers search and book travel from their smartphone.

Mobile gamers are very social – and very valuable to brands and publishers, according to a MocoSpace survey of 10,000 smartphone users of its mobile social network.

Coming to a decision between the mobile Web and a standalone application means finding the right balance between three factors.

Coffee and baked goods chain Dunkin’ Donuts has introduced a new version of DunkinDonuts.com with the goal of making the Web site more mobile-friendly.

While mobile food ordering is still nascent, quick-service and fast-casual restaurant chains that have launched mobile applications with ordering capabilities have boosted the frequency and average size of customers’ orders.