San Dimas is a Desktop Application that can be used whilst offline in order to manage your eBay activity (track items, etc). San Dimas is downloadable, which means that all the graphics are stored locally and
this is especially handy in 3rd world countries where Internet Bandwidth is a problem, as the app fetches minimal information from eBay’s servers. You can place bids, track items, search, view & a whole lot more.

It’s been built on the Beta version of Adobe’s Apollo – which is currently in beta. There have been many misconceptions over Apollo, Microsoft’s Silverlight & AJAX – and without going into details, all I will say that they are 3 very different technologies – none of which, in my opinion, will negate the other at this
point. AJAX is still the predominant standard for Web Based Applications within a browser.

San Dimas is basically a giant desktop widget, that allows you to access multiple sections of eBay’s site – without being in a browser. This what I would call a “Rich Desktop Application” (RDA) which is very much unlike Synthasite, which is a “Rich Internet Application” (RIA).

Given that San Dimas is a desktop application – and very lightweight at that – it allows eBay to bundle what is effectively their Website on the Desktop with other downloadable applications, as well as partnering with companies like Dell for distribution onto New PC desktops – this opens up a new world of opportunity. This is purely my own thoughts, as eBay have not announced distribution channels.

Apollo eliminates the need for a Web Browser – and I’m expecting the world’s first 3D Website to be built using Apollo!

Currently, however, the Right Click function gives the user no additional options in the Beta – but I’m told that in the full release, that will change.

To develop San Dimas, eBay worked with a company called Effective UI, based in Colorado – which started out with 2 Developers & 1 Designer – and the team has grown to 4 Developers & 1 Designer.

Hats off to eBay for pushing the envelope here and getting straight onto the Desktop! This will also help them steer customers away from searching Google and having to pay on a PPC basis…how long until the rest of the marketers out there catch on?

1. The program will be based on remuneration through the eBay Affiliate Program.
2. In addition, I’ve had some discussions with Chris Zaharias on his blog – I’m all pro, he’s con – let’s see who’s right in 12 months time!
3. Let me reiterate how impressed I am with what eBay have done, it’s one step closer to my blog last year on “The Future of Search Engines“.

Alok Bhanot, Vice President of Architecture for eBay presented the Technical Vision for eBay.

“Technology Vision of a Trusted Ecosystem”

Building the Ecosystem – The evolution of eBay Technology Platforms

Alok discusses the evolution of the eBay Platform, very graphically and quickly – so I’ll skip through it.

Assets & Opportunities – Opening up the possibility space

Users are becoming more engaged with Blogs, Wikis, Online Communities & Social Networking. The implication for eBay must be that application features must be simple and flexible, and the user experience must be seamless across platforms.

Development infrastructure is becoming commoditized: Web Hosting, Lamp Stack, Developer Frameworks, Open Source. Features & Value to the end user become key differentiators. Commoditization is lowering barriers to entry and allowing more competition into this space.

Services are maturing: Notifications, New API’s & Mashups. Generically useful and flexible components are needed and will sit on some reliable infrastructure.

Monetization Models: The key here is variety. There is a lot more today whereas 5 years ago, there was no way to monetize traffic, today there is. eBay is looking at Pay Per Lead, Paid Search (with Yahoo) and Affiliate/Reward Programs. The implication here is that there are simple and clear monetization models with strong application support.

Addressing the implications:

Requirements: Features. Scalability, Revenue & Trust.
Capabilities (respectively): Services, Data Management, Monetization Capabilities, Reputation infrastrucure

Delivery Mechanisms: API’s, SDK’s, Testing Environment, Open Source Components, Sample Applications, Public Forums, Developer Support, Technical Documentation, Solution Marketing

Opportunities:

Ratings – displaying seller ratings on 3rd party sites
Payments – API via Paypal
Presence – availability of contact info
Call –between publisher and seller
Contextual Ad Placement on websites
Mobile
Relevant Search on Mobile
Trading on Mobile

eBay’s Vision:

Trusted Ecosystem – Community – Services – Platforms

Platforms:
• Manifest Products and Features
• Built using Services, potentially from disparate areas

Greg Isaacs takes the stage again to discuss the way forward.

eBay is focused on accelerating developer success. Included removing API fees. eBay’s marketplace is an ever evolving platform, with over 100 Seller API’s. Entreprise Mashups/Widgets allows developers to combine API’s to develop unique combinations. There are over 40+ buyer API’s which is compensated by the affiliate program.

Accelerating the buyer experience.

eBay Just Announced the imminent release of the following API Calls:

GetProduct API
GetSearchResultsExpress API
GetContextualKeywords API Beta
PlaceOffer API Pilot – Mobile
ShoppingCart API – White Labels
Prostores Developer Network