eBay's PayPal is talks with Google to add the payment serrvice to Android phones.

Even if Android run phones users can use eBay's Pay Pal payment service to pay for app purchases, it has been reported that the payment service is in talks with Google to make it more integrated with the platform. A report out last week suggests that if the ongoing negotiations go as planned, Pay Pal should be available to Google's Android phones owners by year's end. Android apps purchases currently are made using a credit card or Google's own competitor to PayPal, Google Checkout. PayPal for mobile would work in a more integrated fashion on Android run phones similar to how the iTunes Store works on Apple's iOS devices.
Google's chief competition in smartphones, Apple, uses iTunes to handle payments for app purchases on its iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
To broaden its sphere into the world of mobile payments, PayPal already introduced a new service for apps developers called Guest Payments in June that will let them accept credit card payments using PayPal without requiring buyers to have a PayPal account. With the service, Software developers offer credit card payments for applications, with PayPal electronically transferring the funds between buyer and seller.

For more, see CNET.com

eBay's Half.com iPhone app lets students compare prices and shop for discounted texbooks.

Just in time for the new school year, eBay is venturing into mobile textbooks sales with the launch of a new iPhone app developed by the discount site Half.com that eBay bought in 2003.
Using barcode scanning technology, the app allows users to scan the barcodes on items to find the best deals on texbooks, DVDs, books, video games and more with discounts of up to 50 percent or more off retail prices according to techcrunch.
With the emphasis on textbooks, the app contains access to 80 million active listings from more than 700,000 sellers still according to techcrunch. Users can search items based on set criteria such as condition or seller feedbacks and share deals via Facebook and Twitter.

For more, see techcrunch.com

TiVo Premiere set-top box to offer Web search alongside TVs listings.

Earlier this week, digital video recorder maker TiVo, announced plans to begin selling a new set-top box called TiVo Premiere that will put regular program listings from cable and satellite companies on the same page as related material culled from the Web, according to the New York Times.
The new device will work by pulling alongside regular TV listings of a particular program, all related materials found on the Web, be it merchandises on sale on eBay Amazon, old episodes for rent on Netflix or Blockbuster and videos from YouTube.
The new device is set to go on sale in April and will be available on the company Website and at selected retailers like Best Buy. According to the New York Times, the new device will be available in two versions.
Their is a basic one that stores 45 hours of high-definition programming and will cost $300 and a second version called TiVo Premium XL that can store 150 hours worth of programming at a cost of $500. On top of the cost for the set-top boxes, TiVo will charge a monthly fees for the service starting at $12.95, New York Times said.

For more, see the NYTimes.com

Bigwords is a free iPhone app that helps find deals on texbooks.

On the eve of a new school year, college students everywhere are gearing up to face a dreadful ritual: where to find and how to pay for those ever costly textbooks. With college textbooks averaging $100 a piece, it is no secret that they represent one of the biggest expenses for college students who spend between $700 and $1,100 a year in that category. This is not new considered the fact that a 2004 federal study found that Textbooks prices nearly tripled from 1986 to 2004, rising an average of 6 percent a year or twice the inflation rate. With that in mind, it was just a matter of time before the ubiquitous iPhone and the ever growing Apple's apps store appears in the picture with a solution. It comes in the form of a free app called Bigwords from a company by the same name.
The the app works by taking the burden of searching for availability and price comparisons off the shoulders of users. Whether you are looking to buy a new, used, digital books or just renting, all you have to do is enter the books' titles, authors or ISBN codes into the app vast database and hit the price-comparison button.
From there, the app goes to work searching about 30 different sources like Amazon.com, CourseSmart.com, textbooks.com and figures out the best deal by taking in consideration, factors like shipping costs and any discounts you may be entitled to.
Searches can be customized so to look for books by their condition, exclude books from third-party sellers like the ones on eBay, or from specific stores.
To complete your transaction, you have the choice to stay within the app and do it right there or you can have your "shopping bag" transferred to a PC via e-mail for finalization at your convenience.
To make its point, Bigwords claims that the average saving is 66% for new books and more than 35% over online purchases made without using it.


For more, see NYTimes.com

Some upset eBay sellers are moving elsewhere.

Unhappy with changes made by eBay this past February to the fees it charges and the vendors rating system, some merchants who once used the online-auction site exclusively, are diversifying the services they use to list their inventories. Those are mainly niche sites like Wigix Silkfair, Etsy etc. They charge less, or nothing at all and offer more support, like tutorial videos.