Online retailer Amazon.com launched a new service yesterday called Amazon.com Anywhere aimed at allowing users to shop over the internet from various wireless devices.
The service's debut was timed to coincide with the US launch yesterday of 3Com's Palm VII handheld organiser device with wireless communication capabilities, Amazon.com said in a statement.
The new service allows customers to securely shop and check the status of auction items at Amazon.com's Web site "anytime, anywhere" the company said.
In related news, Amazon.com yesterday also announced the acquisition of Convergence to further boost its wireless capabilities. Amazon.com will take over Convergence, which makes software for accessing the internet, in exchange for equity valued at about $US20 million, the company said.
The employees of the Atlanta-based company will relocate to Seattle to support Amazon.com Anywhere, the company said.
Amazon.com Anywhere has also signed agreements with handset manufacturer Motorola and AvantGo, the company said.
In addition, Amazon.com also said that it has joined the Wireless Application Protocol Forum, an industry group aimed at developing a global standard for wireless data and electronic-commerce transactions over the internet.