NEW YORK – Retail giant Macy’s ran a multichannel activation targeting male users of USA Today’s mobile properties with the goal of driving traffic in-store.

Analysts predict an increase in malware – malicious software – and other security threats that hackers spread through mobile devices, especially as sales of smartphones continue to explode worldwide.

Thirty percent of North American shoppers have smartphones, and men are more likely than women to use mobile coupons and QR codes, according to a Better Homes and Gardens survey.

Mobile bar code scanning applications have been used by 28 percent of smartphone owners, according to the third-quarter 2010 Smartphone Intelligence survey by Kantar Media’s Compete.

The growing use of smartphone technology and the economic downturn have encouraged cost-conscious consumers to explore alternative retail channels such as mobile to secure bargains.

ABI Research predicts that by 2013 application downloads via smartphones will peak.

Mobile banking and payment service provider ClairMail Inc. has extended its clients’ mobile Web experience to Android and BlackBerry devices.

A study by market research firm Data Innovation Inc. found that nearly 70 percent of respondents had used at least one mobile banking and/or payments service in the past three months.

Bango has launched Bango Credit Card Payment to help businesses and individuals charge mobile phone users for their digital content and applications worldwide.

Consumers using Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphones can now download Slifter, a free ad-supported location-based mobile shopping tool.