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March 11 2006

ebay have launched on O2’s i-Mode in the UK.

Through the service, eBay users will be able to access their personal account, ‘My eBay’, and search as well as bid and buy in real-time for their preferred items. eBay is the world’s leading online marketplace.

This new service is the result of an upgrade to the existing SMS-based buyer and seller alert system - eBay Mobile Alerts - which Volantis also designed, built and hosted. Mobile auction fans will now be able to use their PC password and user-ID on their mobile handsets. The service can be accessed on i-Mode by going to www.ebaymobile.co.uk

“With this improved service our users now have the possibility to interact with the eBay community when they are away from their PC” said Pat Connolly, Head of the Strategic Partner Group, eBay.co.uk, “The new offering makes us the first company to provide real-time bidding and buying functionality in the UK on mobile handsets. Volantis’ unique solution and broad commercial experience is helping us capture the significant mobile content growth opportunity.”

“eBay is an established leader in defining the future direction of the Internet,” said Matthew Harris, Chief Executive Officer of Volantis. “And we are pleased to partner with eBay to help them define and develop compelling offerings for their mobile strategy. We look forward to expanding this relationship and helping grow eBay’s mobile product offering.”

The new service includes a number of innovations:

Search
A comprehensive keyword search provides matching results for items in the UK. Results are displayed with item title, current price, time left and ‘buy it now’ price; the items are ordered by time remaining until the bid ends.


Item listing
Each item is displayed with up to 13 data points, including the item title, the ID, the image, the current price, time remaining, end date, the seller’s name, plus feedback score, postage and packaging preferences (via a link).

Watch item
This feature bridges the end-users PC experience to the mobile by letting them follow and track the progress of highlighted and pre-selected items.

My eBay
This personalised service stores data pertinent to the user’s interest and for display purposes mirrors the information of the ‘Search’ feature. It contains a list of items that are bid for, watched, sold and have been won.
The new eBay service was developed utilizing Volantis Multi-Channel Server and is supported by the Company’s Managed Services Group.