M-commerce in the U.S. is currently aimed at people who need to buy something quickly or on the go, and at impulse buyers. But comparative shopping is becoming a big use of the mobile web. Shoppers can now, while in a store, research the product they are looking at and see where else sells it and for what price. Then they decide whether to order it from somewhere else, or just buy it on the spot. U.S. consumers may not be able to utilize all the features that the Japanese and European mobile phone users can, but I’m guessing we won’t be too far behind.

Still regarding as in its infancy, m-commerce has actually been around a number of years. Amazon.com tried it back in 2001, but it was so bare-bones that the company put it on the back burner. Trials of i-Mode in Europe fizzled, one UK telecommunications provider blaming it on the lack of handsets to match the technology. But industry experts agree that with the arrival of the iPhone and its large screen put m-commerce back on the horizon. Now with 3G becoming a standard on U.S. web-capable phones, m-commerce looks to be making a comeback in an ‘m-phatic’ way.