Bad news for people with eBay addictions – Volantis Systems have launched a service that allows subscribers to keep close tabs on auctions from their mobile phones. Bad news for everyone else too, because it means that some of the more extreme eBay junkies might feel liberated to leave the house and wander about a bit.
The service is currently very simple, but they have big plans to turn it into a full eBay portal. Revolving around SMS text messages, eBay Anywhere sends users text messages when they are outbid on an item, win the auction or an auction ends.
eBay have offered a similar service for a while, but eBay Anywhere has a feature that stops addicts from having to leap into cybercafes at random times during the day or night: subscribers can text bids straight back if it looks like a long-coveted blackbird pie funnel is about to go to someone else.
Messages cost UK£0.25 (€0.37) as they are premium texts. Volantis hope to be able to include photo uploads direct from camera phones as well as a fully-featured version of the My eBay portal for providing feedback and checking payments.