What are the key trends with mobile applications and what will Apple, Google, Microsoft, Research In Motion and others do that will affect brands in their marketing and commerce?

Mobile entertainment agency skyrockit’s commerce-enabled music remix application, Romplr, cracked the top five free applications in iTunes two days after its relaunch.

MIAMI – A Nokia exec at the MEF Americas 2010 Mobile Content & Commerce conference said context and relevance are leading the way in the mobile medium, citing a recent McDonald’s geo-targeted campaign as one of the reasons why.

Ubisoft, Square Enix, NCsoft, Fuhu and Sanrio have tapped PlaySpan’s UltimatePay Mobile, a new virtual currency and micropayments monetization widget for various smartphone platforms.

If Apple enables the iPhone 5 with near field communication, it could signal a tipping point for contactless mobile payments.

The mobile medium offers various channels that are ideal for collecting information about merchants’ and marketers’ target consumers, including applications.

Mobile payments have reached a tipping point in terms of consumer adoption in the U.S., according to Obopay’s new president.

Mobile Entertainment Forum has launched a new mobile commerce initiative to help brands and retailers understand how to leverage mobile to drive customer acquisition, retention and conversion.

McDonald’s participated in a pilot campaign showcasing Navteq’s location-based mobile advertising services and achieved a 7 percent click-through rate, while also driving consumers in-store.

Shopping service HSN Inc. is one of the first companies partnering with Microsoft Silverlight to launch a commerce-enabled application.