Google’s Android is on pace to compete head on with Apple’s iOS next year when it comes to app downloads if recent download rates continue.

While Apple will continue to be successful in 2012, next year will mark the end of the company’s era of mobile domination, according to Tom Bedecarre, CEO of AKQA.

Apple iAds are mostly still a disappointment to developers, live only in a handful of countries and too few advertisers have gotten involved.

Luxury lifestyle magazine Robb Report is making available an annual subscription to its iPad edition as well as the inclusion on the App Store Newsstand for consumers who have Apple’s latest iOS 5 software.

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs left a mark on the luxury industry not just in the mobile space, but in the way that executives think about design, retail experience, presentation and innovation.

Steve Jobs, the man who led Apple to a phenomenal comeback from a near-death experience and went on to change the way consumers live, work and play, passed away Oct. 5 after a long spell of illness.

If you are in charge of a mobile app or influence decision-making for a brand considering an app, you need to be aware of how platform updates such as the release of iOS 5 affect your plans.

I started writing this article the morning after the media vultures started picking over Steve Jobs’ resignation carcass. Why add more fuel to the Apple fire, I thought.

Since a large number of luxury brands are steadily moving into the mobile arena, it is obvious that the smartphone reign of power has shifted over the past few years, and BlackBerry is decidedly absent.

Watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen is using the mobile version of its Watch Magazine publication to highlight new collections with a quarterly-released application.