The eBay Developers Conference held last month in San Jose highlighted the emerging technologies that help — or will help — sellers and buyers interact with the giant auction marketplace in a variety of ways. And you won't even need to be in front of a computer to keep track of and participate in auctions. We take a look at four products that are sure to raise eyebrows in the coming year.

BiAP Systems, Inc. — eBay on TV Announced in May, Biap Systems teamed up with Time Warner Cable in Austin, Texas to roll out the nation's first set-top box application that works with eBay. According to Biap, 50,000 digital cable boxes in the Austin area have been outfitted with the application.

Using the cable box's remote control, you enter your eBay user ID and a special PIN code to log on to eBay. That takes you to the "My eBay" page. From there, you can search auctions and place bids. If you're outbid, a notice pops up on their television screen, and you're given the chance to enter another bid for that item.

According to Biap representatives at the eBay Developers conference, Time Warner is handling the marketing for the application. "It sees it as a way to move people to its digital boxes," said M. Ellen Dudar, chief product officer. She would not disclose how Biap was profiting from the product, although it's assumed at least part of the revenue would come through eBay affiliate program.

Dudar added that eBay customers appear to be excited about the product. "In four weeks, there have been 8,000 alerts," she said.

Another positive sign the technology is taking off, said Dan Manack, executive vice-president and general manager of TV commerce business, more than 91 percent of the people in the initial pilot (before widespread release in May) said they'd recommend eBay on TV to a friend.

Vendio — Vendio Gallery While Vendio isn't a newcomer to eBay by any means (it's been providing services to eBay users since 1998, formerly as Auction Watch), the company is still doing what it can to remain in the forefront of auction technology.

"We want to help people sell more effectively and sell more items," said Mike Effle. Executive vice-president of sales management

Vendio most popular product to date is Vendio Gallery, an interactive applet that eBay sellers can add to their auctions. It displays pictures and links to all of the seller's items in one of four visually appealing styles: marquee, slot machine, memory game or basic layout.

The utility lets sellers potentially boost sales by cross-selling related items on their listing pages. According to Effle, more than 10,000 people currently use Vendio Gallery in their auctions. He also said that 18 percent of those people have noticed increased sales since they began using the utility. " Vendio Gallery typically lets most sellers sell more without having to hire extra staff."

Vendio Gallery lets you display pictures and links to your eBay items in one of four styles: marquee (shown above), slot machine, memory game or basic.

For more advanced sellers, Vendio is also pushing its new Sales Manager Inventory Edition program that lets sellers bulk list items, keep track of inventory in real-time, automatically cross-sell to buyers during checkout, invoice customers, receive payment notifications, print postage and address labels, send shipping notifications, export shipping info, track orders and submit automated feedback.

Bonfire Media— eBay Wireless

Bonfire Media's wireless application received a lot of attention during the Developers Conference. It lets eBay customers search, browse and bid through their cellular phone.

For a $3.99 monthly fee, people can access My eBay, search, browse through "What's Hot," view full-item listings — include pictures — and receive outbid notices.

CEO and co-founder Alex Poon said shoppers see the same content as they would if they were viewing eBay on a computer. By turning on alerts, their phone will receive a text message letting them know they've been outbid on an item. "We minimized the typing required in order to save time and optimize the experience," said Poon.

eBay Wireless is currently available for Cingular, T-Mobile and Sprint PCS customers, and it should be available for Verizon Wireless customers shortly.

Fatlens.com Taking a different approach to auction interactivity, Fatlens.com offers its own version of a shopping-comparison engine that incorporates auctions in its results. The site's sole target: ticket sales.

According to fatlens.com Doug Gates, online ticket sales are a $4 billion-a-year industry. He said 30 percent of people who've made purchases online have also bought tickets online. "It's a very underserved market right now," he said.

Fatlens.com lists only legitimate ticket brokers and has "no paid relationship" with eBay, said Gates.

Devin Comiskey is the managing editor of Ecommerce-guide.com

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