For you Android users, this new release means that you can now get exclusive sales from anywhere, at anytime, as long as you have your Android out — targeted for the person on the go who wants access to time sensitive sales but doesn’t always have access to a computer & Internet.

Rue La La’s CEO, Ben Fischman, explains why the company developed the Android app:

“A fast-growing number of our members are on Android phones, so we created this app to give them the access they desire.  Members can shop conveniently and with enhanced benefits delivered from their mobile phone.  Shopping is now more accessible and fun.”

Benefits to the app include high resolution photography of items on sale (so you know exactly what you’re getting), fully integrated checkout, a calendar to keep track of sales, and the ability to share sales & invite friends with Facebook and Twitter.

The fact that Rue La La is releasing an app for Android smartphones is a testament that the mobile operating system is a force to be reckoned with, especially in the world of apps.

Download the Rue La La app for Android now.  You can also download it for the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the iPad at the iTunes store.

Fashism.com recently launched an iPhone app, which is taking its popular personal style site to the next level.  People who enjoyed the benefit of this online community, where the major questions are: “Does it work?” and “Which is better?” can now get their style questions answered faster and more effectively.

Fashism.com helps users with style dilemmas by connecting them with other users who are willing to offer feedback.  Once a user uploads a photo of the outfit, piece of clothing or accessory in question, community members can offer feedback by voting whether they love it, hate it, or which looks best.  Additionally, members can leave comments, which can offer additional assistance to the member experiencing a style emergency.

We are happy to share this exclusive interview with Fashism co-founder, Brooke Moreland, who explains the added value that the Fashism iPhone app offers fashionistas who are looking for opinions.

What inspired you to create Fashism.com, and then its new iPhone app?

I decided to create Fashism.com, because I wanted to use it myself! I was in a dressing room and I was very indecisive about an outfit. I really wanted a panel of people to weigh in on my decision to purchase. We built the site first and launched last September. Quickly, we decided that we really needed an app to help facilitate mobile uploads.

What does the Fashism iPhone app do?

The app allows you to easily upload an outfit from your phone camera. You can take a new photo or use one from your photo library. The app also allows for easy browsing, voting and commenting on others’ looks.

What value does your iPhone app offer its customers?

I believe that the value is that our users can easily ask questions and get feedback while they are still in the store dressing room. This is really powerful, I believe, because you are able to get that assurance before you plunk down a bunch of money for new clothes.

FMM Notes: The app, designed in the same vein of Glamour’s Ask A Stylist App, definitely is worth a download and features look. We’ve loved Fashism forever and are thrilled that more indie fashion sites are venturing into mobile territory.

Trendtracker from Trendstop.com lets you keep track of the latest runway looks, fashion news, trend ideas and inspiration directly on your PDA.

The app offers fashion content from the major fashion capitals around the world – New York, London, Milan, and Paris. The app also offers fashion week show schedules and event guides as well.

Download The App

It’s called Shopkick.  It’s for the iPhone, and it’s meant to make shopping more enjoyable and easier than it’s ever been.

Here’s how it works: You earn “kickbucks” just for walking into stores in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago (and also some stores in Miami, Dallas, and Minneapolis).  This includes retail stores like Best Buy, Macy’s, American Eagle and Sports Authority.

With Shopkick, you don’t have to manually check in as you do with Foursquare or Gowalla.  Shopkick automatically knows (thank you, geo fencing) when you enter a shop, and it verifies that you’re actually in the store through the sounds it picks up.  You can also win kickbucks by scanning products with your mobile phone.

You can use kickbucks to get discounts, Facebook credits, or Napster song downloads.

Shopkick is free and available for download at the iTunes store.

Beautifully and intuitively designed; Osfoora allows you to tweet, geotag, upload photos ad videos, handle attachments, create drafts and more. The company is also consistently updating the software and have just released Osfoora for iPhone 1.5.0.1.  With its clean design and its speedy functions, the app is getting rave reviews from the likes of AppAdvice.com and Notebooks.com.

Osfoora is $2.99 for iPhone and $3.99 for iPad, and you can download the app at the iTunes app store.

Apple has filed two patents for travel apps.  The first patent is for an app that would help to book and check in for flights, as well as offering flight and airport details.

The second patent is for an app that would help to check in and check out of a hotel, request room service and give details about the local area.  With both patents, Apple would likely partner with major airline and hotel companies.

Additionally, Apple is filing a patent for a fashion app that would give store recommendations and reviews, inform users about promotional events and help users shop.

While Apple is keeping mum about its exact plans, some fear that Apple might monopolize the app market with its money, size and clout — bringing innovation to a halt and killing out apps like TripIt, Kaya, Wanderlust and TopGuest, not to mention all the fashion related apps in existence.

However, there’s also a possibility that Apple’s apps might make life easier when it comes to traveling and shopping.

If their patents get approved, will Apple try to stifle out similar apps, or will Apple’s apps bring in a new era of better travel, hotel stays and shopping trips?

Alison Loehnis, NET-A-PORTER’s VP of Sales and Marketing, says: “We are extremely excited to be launching our iPad app. With it we are giving our customers the amazing opportunity to shop through the NET-A-PORTER magazine in a new and innovative way with the ability to interact with the product while on the go.”

With the NET-A-PORTER magazine app, users can:

• Shop complete looks direct from the glossy shoots in NET-A-PORTER’s magazine
• Watch exclusive video content including runway shows and interviews with the world’s leading designers
• View exquisite, high quality images of items
• Share product suggestions with family and friends
• Feedback about their shopping experience
• Read it, watch it, shop it, wherever you are!

NET-A-PORTER.COM will also be offering a selection of iPad cases from brand partners including Burberry, Bottega Veneta, Gucci and Marc by Marc Jacobs. Available to download free from Apple’s App Store

Up until recently, many marketers have thought that UK was running closely behind Japan, China and Thailand. According to bigmouthmedia, the UK isn’t as far along as we thought.

bigmouthmedia, one of the UK’s leading search marketing agencies, has released a research study that more than three quarters of the UK’s big brands do not understand the value of a visitor via mobile compared to other digital channels.

The research, which polled the views of key decision makers at leading UK companies, shows that despite a significant 89.2% of respondents sharing the belief that mobile marketing will become increasingly important over the next 12 months, very few have fully embraced the channel. Reflecting the uncertainty with which many businesses regard the emerging the field, 70.3% of those surveyed currently don’t have any engagement with mobile marketing at all.

“We are at a critical point in the evolution of mobile marketing. A growing group of organizations are starting to derive competitive advantage from their early mover status in the channel, yet the vast majority of companies have yet to gauge the impact it is likely to have on their business,” said Simon Heyes, Head of International Sales Operations at Bigmouthmedia.

“There are no benefits to be derived from being slow on the uptake. With the mobile channel set to become increasingly influential over the next few years, companies need to move now, engage with the medium and start building the campaigns that are going to keep them ahead of the game.”

Despite an apparent lack of engagement with the channel the research revealed a keen awareness of the potential advantages, with 75.7% of respondents citing increased brand awareness as the main benefit of undertaking mobile marketing, and 67.6% believing increased customer engagement to also be a major benefit. Over 60% also believed that increased traffic, leads and sales were also a major driver.

Bigmouthmedia’s survey – conducted amongst a large group of large and medium sized enterprises – showed that just 5.4% companies describe themselves as being “heavily involved” in mobile marketing at the current time. Another statistic to emerge is that while they considered the channel increasingly influential, 75% of the respondents claimed not to know the relative value of a visitor from mobile compared to other channels.

“What is clear from our research is that while the vast majority of businesses accept that mobile is going to become a critical part of the marketing mix, there is a great deal of uncertainty over how to approach the channel, and in particular how to get buy in from the wider organization. Companies know they need to get on board the mobile bandwagon, but a lack of clear understanding is holding many back from exploiting its potential,” said Heyes.

Another recent forecast from Morgan Stanley found that at the rate its usage is accelerating, mobile internet use will overtake desktop internet use by 2015.

“In many ways the UK is behind many other markets when it comes to mobile adoption, with territories like Japan, the Philippines and Thailand already using mobile internet services much more than their European counterparts. In many organizations mobile has taken a back seat because the focus is still on mainstream digital strategy, but British companies can’t afford to make the same mistakes they did with the social media revolution, which commerce has only just got to grips with after three long years,” added Heyes.

You can follow bigmouthmedia on twitter @bigmouthmedia.

The Gilt for Android App offers Android users the ability to browse and buy from Gilt sales directly from their phone.  In addition, the app will allow for:

• A Closer Look at Sales:  Through the use of pinch and zoom technology Android users have the ability to see products up close and flip between portrait and landscape views.
• Never miss a sale again: See start of sale notifications in the Android status bar.
• Get ahead of the curve: Browse upcoming sales and add favorite sales to the phone’s calendar.
• Invite Friends: Show friends the app’s Quick Response (QR) code to allow any friend with an Android-powered phone to scan and get the Gilt app. Or invite friends to join Gilt via email, Facebook, Twitter and more.
• Countdown to Sales Clock: Install the gilt sales clock widget on your home screen to know exactly when sales start.

“The Gilt for Android App was specifically designed for Android-powered devices,” said Jag Bath, Vice President, Product Management, Gilt Groupe.” Android users can now shop Gilt sales, preview upcoming sales, and invite friends from anywhere via multiple messaging channels, including sharing the app via QR code. In addition, unique to Android devices is the Gilt widget, which is always viewable on the phone so that Android users can see today’s sales even if they don’t have the Gilt app open.”

The Gilt App for Android is available for free at http://www.gilt.com/apps/android.

Mobile Commerce Daily reports that retailer JCPenney has launched a multichannel marketing campaign. What’s exciting about this campaign?

Well, it merges augmented reality and video into mobile experiences for teens. The campaign features ads that will run via Apple’s iAd, mobile coupons and a new iPhone application.

“Through our mobile marketing initiatives, we able to reach teens where they are and provide them exciting, media-rich, interactive content that allows them to explore and discover the JCPenney brand,” said Kate Coultas, a spokeswoman at JCPenney.

JCPenney is part a select group of companies that are allowed to reach consumers through Apple’s new iAd concept.  The launch of an interactive back-to-school ad will appear when iPhone and iPod Touch customers use an application on their device.

The iAd features a Style Mixer, an interactive experience that enables users to scroll through mix-and-match outfit combinations:

When iPhone and iTouch customers open an application (JCPenney is targeting music, entertainment and lifestyle apps), a scrolling JCP Teen banner will appear at the bottom of the screen, inviting the user to interact.

When the user touches the banner, a JCPenney fashion photo takes over the entire screen, mimicking a Polaroid photo developing as the application loads.

Once loaded, the iAd will provide an expansive environment for teens to interact and play with multiple features, including:

• A Style Mixer for scrolling through mix & match outfit combinations.
• A “Shake-to Shuffle” feature will allow for surprise outfit combinations.  Favorites can be voted on and saved, with product details texted back to users to serve as shopping references.
• Another feature includes a Style Dial, which will show the user looks by trend (ex. military) or lifestyle (ex. date night).
• Other features include a behind-the-scenes video of the BTS broadcast spot, music downloads and more.
• Additionally, a store locator feature will offer a geo store location feature.

Users will also be offered the opportunity to download the new JCPTeen iPhone/iPod Touch app, which will immediately download on their device rather than through a re-direct to the iTunes store.

As part of JCPenney’s back-to-school promotion with Seventeen magazine, JCPenney will be the exclusive retailer for its augmented reality experience on Seventeen.com.

Through the view of a Web cam, Seventeen’s augmented reality experience will simulate JCPenney merchandise items into a real world environment, allowing users to virtually try on an item, then link to jcp.com for purchase.

This campaign will be exciting to watch unfold, they’ve started it correctly with the explanation of the target market, how the components work together and what the goals are. The only thing we’re not thrilled about, the haul videos. We’re watching this one.

This article was summarized from Mobile Commerce Daily. Read the full article on their website.