eBay Mobile 1.4.0 Receives Push Notifications, PayPal payment Features

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Although website auctions have become a less popular pastime, there are still many people looking to auction sites for deals and specialty items. eBay, the online auction innovator, still rank top among auction websites. Knowing the importance of mobile computing, eBay was one of the first companies to develop an iPhone app. Recently, eBay updated their iPhone application eBay Mobile to version 1.4.0. The new version allows for push notification, a popular feature with the availability of iPhone OS 3.0.

Push notifications make the eBay bidder more aware of their bids. The user receives a notification message when an auction is nearing completion or when somebody won an item in auction. As soon as a watched item reaches the threshold, the user can also respond to pushed messages by hitting a button. He can then end the bidding process or make an increased bid.

To allow users to pay from the iPhone, PayPal application is also integrated with this iphone app. The user does not need to go back to a computer to pay for an item. With PayPal integration, the user can pay for the item right on the eBay Mobile app. However, using integrated PayPal application, users cannot buy all the items because if the item requires immediate payment, the bid must be made from a computer or via desktop application.

Other new functions in this version includes:

Recent detailed Seller feedback.

Description search

completed items search.

Companies are striving enhance their businesses by providing mobile apps functionalities. Ebay, by adding push notification functions, hopes complete more winning auctions by making users more aware of bidding actions in progress. Push notifications and PayPal integration also brings convenience to end users. This is a win-win situation, and another great example of the mobile computing revolution.