eBay to launch for Windows 8
05 Sep 2012
New Microsoft-approved app is built for touch-screen tablets and computers
We’re not the only ones with a serious thing for new-look Windows – the eBay juggernaut has turned its attention to Windows 8, the new tile-based OS built for touch-screen tabs like Microsoft's own Surface, as well as desktop computers.
The online giant has confirmed its eBay app for Windows 8, designed in close conjunction with Microsoft to work tightly with the interface’s streamlined design and unique system of notifications in ‘live’ home screen widgets.
Though Windows 8 will power desktop computers as well as tablets, the look and feel of the eBay app is much closer to its mobile versions than the full-blown website, with swipeable sections for Buying, Selling and Searches and contextual menus where you can swipe vertically for one action and horizontally for another.
Swiping out from the right hand side automatically brings up a comprehensive search window where you can apply various filters and even perform a barcode scanning search (but not on items to sell).
As with the eBay app on other platforms, sellers can post a listing in about 60 seconds – which is actually much faster than listing on the main website, at least based on our attempts to hawk our worldly possessions.
Jonathan Gabbai, head of international mobile products at eBay, said that the rapid adoption of the mobile app had lead to an upswing in individual consumer selling, with the company predicting a record US $10billion (£6.3 billion) in stuff bought and sold over mobile. In the UK, eBay’s biggest market in Europe, something is purchased through a mobile app every second.
The first eBay mobile app launched in 2006 with the first iPhone, and the company has clocked up 100 million global downloads across iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry and Symbian.
The Windows 8 eBay app is currently in the Windows Marketplace – though with a paucity of actual Windows 8 devices, you’ll need to have a developer’s account to actually check it out before 26 October when the first Windows 8 tablets hit the shelves.