Where are the Good Mobile Coupons?

Headed out to do some shopping and looking for a few good deals? Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and their accompanying mobile applications, the ability to access geo-targeted coupons from nearby merchants on your handheld device is easier than ever.

Or is it?

In theory, you should be able to go into any store, launch an app and find a coupon for that business which could then be presented to the cashier. We have the technology - it is possible. In practice, however, this sort of mobilized "discount shopping" experience is still quite a ways off.

In Apple's ecosystem alone, dozens of applications are returned when you search iTunes for "mobile coupons." But after some experimentation with a handful of the top names (and a couple of newcomers), the experience was less than desirable.

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