Social media’s luster got scuffed up a tad today amidst a new report from Monetate.

The company, which promotes itself as a “customer experience engine that leverages big data to create personalized online experiences,” published its latest Ecommerce Quarterly (EQ1 2013) report.

This quarter’s report takes a deep look at social commerce trends. And the news isn’t all that good for social media.

According to the report’s findings, social media is lagging as direct traffic source to eCommerce websites and for online purchases, despite brand investment.

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On Tuesday, Acision published new research indicating that 8 in 10 US consumers now use multi-service messaging.

Acision, finds that 79% of Smartphone users are today using multiple messaging services, including SMS, MMS and IM/Over-the-top (OTT) applications, to fulfill their messaging needs.

“Despite dramatized media headlines indicating the death of SMS, our research confirms that while OTT messaging service usage is on the rise, SMS is still regarded as a key service by many consumers in the US,” explains Russell Grahame, SVP and General Manager of Acision North America.

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Electronic publishing has scored another huge victory over traditional publishing houses that typically require upwards of six months to prepare a new book for national distribution to bricks-and-mortar retailers.

This week, a new work from SE Publishing – the bestselling celebrity biographer of Tom Cruise, Steve Jobs, and Kiefer Sutherland – released the hottest new digital tome on Amazon: Angelina Jolie: From Crazy to Courageous, an unauthorized biography chronicling the iconic film star’s controversial past, her courageous double mastectomy, and the latest insight into what’s next for the celebrated humanitarian and Oscar winner.

The biggest story, however, may be that electronic publishing has once again illustrated its supremacy over traditional physical print publishing.

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Aggressive is, indeed, an appropriate word to describe how one emerging power in the mobile payments space is expanding into retail.

Quickly becoming a favorite provider among entrepreneurs, independent contractors, and businesses of all shapes and sizes, PayAnywhere announced Monday that its professional grade mobile point of sale solution is more widely available now than ever.

This morning, PayAnywhere issued a press release touting a new partnership with D&H Distributing.

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Following weeks of countdown fanfare, Apple has announced that its App Store has reached 50 billion downloads.

This number, the tech giant reveals, counts the number of individual application downloads, and does not include re-downloads.

The lucky individual who downloaded of the 50 billionth application will receive a whopping $10,000 iTunes gift card.

50 additional winners will receive a $500 iTunes gift card.

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Millennial Media has produced another must-read Mobile Mix Report.

This month’s report points to some interesting growth trends, including the fact that Amazon increased impressions 125 percent from the previous quarter.

Android tablets now make up nearly 50 percent of tablet impressions. But it wasn’t just Amazon that ruled the day.

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According to the latest data compiled by independent analyst firm Canalys, total smart mobile device shipments for Q1 of 2013 reached 308.7 million units.

In the Canalys report, smart mobile devices include notebooks, tablets and smartphones.

Canalys’ worldwide estimates indicate year-on-year growth of 37.4%.

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