For those who can’t make the annual conference this year, PayPal Chief Technology Officer James Barrese has detailed the new changes over at the PayPal Blog, several of which we’ve reposted below.

“Developers should have the freedom to focus on innovating for their customers, not spending time worrying about handling the complex task of payments,” says Barrese. PayPal listened developers who said they wanted better capabilities, he said, so now the business is “doubling down on our developer programs to deliver the best tools in the industry.”

Some of the new tools include:

• Mobile SDK – Everyone knows that mobile is changing the way consumers shop and pay, so we’re expanding our SDK library so developers can deliver great experiences for their customers by reducing friction when it comes to payments. Customers never leave the developer’s app experience to pay and they have more choice in the way they want to pay – simply click a PayPal button or scan a credit card using our card.io technology.
• Developer Website – PayPal is launching a simple, integrated website – https://developer.paypal.com – that gives developers a single location for our sandbox, tools, documentation, and resources they need to build innovative applications.

Read the PayPal Blog for more information.

Panel Sessions: 

eBay Inc’s head of innovation and new ventures, Steve Yankovich, is heading up a presentation titled “Why Shopping Will Never Be the Same” on Tuesday, March 12 at 12:30pm at the Four Seasons. He’ll discuss the intersection of smartphone adoption, penetration, and addiction, and how retailers are leveraging new mobile technologies. He’ll also detail how mobile is affecting online and offline shopping in a dramatic way, thereby helping retailers better connect with their customers.

Developer Lounge: 

eBay Inc.’s PayPal division will be hosting a Developer Lounge at the Austin Convention Center from March 8 through 12. The PayPal Developer team is inviting SXSW attendees to connect and play with our new APIs, while kicking back at the PayPal Lounge. Those interested in getting competitive and knocking out some code, can participate in Speedhacks. PayPal is making it easier for developers to accept payments from more than 123 million active accounts across 190 markets and in 25 currencies around the world, and we’d love to hear from you.

Parties:

What would the SXSW experience be like without a party or two? Stop by PayPal’s shindig at the Mohawk Bar Saturday, March 9 for a chance to catch up with old and new pals, and generally have a good time.

The folks behind the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference have opened up the voting process for which interactive panel discussions will be featured at SXSW 2013. As you can see from the video above, eBay has a strong tradition of discussing new concepts  at SXSW, and the company has submitted three topics for consideration as featured panel discussions for the March conference.

You can help get one or all of eBay’s proposed panels selected for inclusion at SXSW by registering for a free account at panelpicker.sxsw.com, clicking on the links below and giving eBay’s panels, or any one of them, a Thumbs Up. Remember that you can only vote for each panel once, but you can vote for as many panels as you find interesting.

Voting ends Aug. 31, and these are the panel discussions that eBay has proposed:

1.   The Secret Life of Today’s Shopper

It’s no secret that the mobile phone is the shopper’s new best friend. From scoping out the best deals on the hottest products to tracking retailers’ actual in store inventories, the mobile phone is transforming shopping. 
Click here to vote for eBay’s RedLaser guru Rob Veres, who will be joined at SXSW by retail partners to share insights on the secret habits of shoppers armed with mobile phones.

2.   TVs are the New Storefront Windows

How often do you sit on the couch with the TV on and your phone or tablet in hand? There’s a prime opportunity for retailers and advertisers to connect with consumers on their TVs and mobile devices. But what’s the best way to do it? Click here to learn more from eBay and PayPal executives who will be joined by cable network partners.

3.   Why Shopping Will Never Be the Same

We know that smartphones are revolutionizing retail and shopping. So how can retailers leverage these insights and mobile technologies to reach their customers inside and outside the store? Click here to hear from eBay’s Steve Yankovich, who will share tips and tricks on how retailers can compete and win in the new shopping environment.

PayPal News from SXSW
Digital payments are hitting in a big way at SXSW Interactive. PayPal VP for global product and experience, Sam Shrauger, took the wraps off a brand new digital wallet. Touted as a “smart wallet” that lives in the cloud, the service lets you move your money exactly the way you want it to. Shrauger says it’s a departure from the concept of a mobile wallet — or simply transferring your physical wallet to your smartphone or tablet — which doesn’t solve any of our current virtual payment problems. PayPal’s service is a real digital wallet. [via eBay Ink]

Further News
+ A list of the hottest apps and start-ups at SXSW
+ Start-ups at SXSW trying to disrupt the economy.
+ Should social-media startups be responsible for their time-sucking tendencies, an SXSW panel asks?

Posts From the Week
+ Introducing PayPal Here: The Future of Commerce for Small Business
+ Social Commerce: Over 1 Million Vehicles Registered with eBay Motors “My Vehicles” program
+ PayPal unveils new Digital Wallet at SXSW 2012
+ eBay unveils standalone “Watch with eBay” app for iPad at SXSW
+ eBay Inc. at SXSW: An Overview

Looking Back on eBay Ink
March 18, 2011: Backstage with Chromeo at RedLaser’s SXSW Kick-off party. I’ve been in Austin for 6 days now meeting with partners, colleagues, peers, mentors, customers and all-around great people. The information overload is high to be sure. I’ve attended press conferences, parties, meetings, presentations and demos every day since I got here and I’m in the process of compiling everything I’ve learned into some blog posts to share with you all. First up, however, I wanted to share some images and cool insights into one of my favorite bands at the moment – Chromeo. They headlined the RedLaser party on Sunday night at SXSW and before they took the stage, the eBay Mobile team and I joined the band backstage to talk music, eBay and feedback scores. It turns out that they’re big fans of eBay too. Patrick Gemayel (aka P-Thugg) is the man behind their eBay account and according to him he has a feedback score of 247 at 100% positive. What’s even more impressive is that he revealed to us that every piece of equipment in their recording studio was purchased on eBay. Essentially, two of my favorite albums were recorded – thanks in some small part – to my employer. Pretty neat. They took the stage in style and rocked the night away for all in attendance. I managed to get a front row spot to snap this pic during their opening song…

eBay InkWeekend Roundup is a summary of news and updates around eBay, PayPal, Social Media, Technology and E-commerce. Let us know what interests you.

Sam walked through his entire demo for the Ink audience and I’ve split the interview into two parts.

Here are some of the highlights of what you’ll be able to do:

Separate the purchase from the payment: Buy something in a store, take it home and decide later how you want to pay for it. PayPal is the only wallet that will offer a 5-7 day grace period for consumers to change their minds.
* Switch from one funding source to another
* Decide to pay over time in installments
* Apply different sources of value (gift cards, airline miles, loyalty points, etc.)

Personal Lists: Search for items, compare prices and create lists of things you want to buy for a variety of situations.

Found Money: Your wallet will find deals and coupons for items on your personal lists once you’re in the store. Forgot about that coupon you were saving? The PayPal wallet won’t.

Spending Rules. Create specific “set asides” like travel funds, set rules by purchase amount, tie specific payment instruments to specific merchants – all in your wallet, without setting up any new bank accounts or opening any new credit cards.

You can learn more about it over on the PayPal blog.

Check out our eBay at SXSW overview for details of all we have going on here this week.

For those of you on Twitter, please follow our @ebayinkblog handle for live-coverage of everything eBay here at SXSW and check out the hashtag #eBayatSXSW.

Cheers!
RBH

Check out the demo video of the app in action:

The standalone Watch With eBay app features:

• Watch With eBay: Couch commerce enthusiasts can tune into their favorite shows with a new, enriched version of Watch With eBay. The new standalone app includes a program guide consumers can use to access content related to their favorite television shows in real time with the ability to curate content by category. Shoppers will be able to browse designers from the red carpet of this year’s award shows or find sports memorabilia for their fan collections, plus much more.

• Shop Like a Star: Fans of television, film, sports and music are invited to shop through the lens of their favorite stars. Through eBay Celebrity – a unique shopping destination that combines celebrity experiences, memorabilia and merchandise with philanthropic causes – Shop Like a Star provides an inside look at featured celebrities’ favorite items, while eBay curates shopping results related to the celebrity picks and provides the option to donate to a benefiting charity at check out. Some celebrities will interact with consumers through original content, video and message boards.

A reminder that eBay Inc. will be at SXSW Interactive all week. Check out our eBay at SXSW overview for details.

For those of you on Twitter, please follow our @ebayinkblog handle for live-coverage of everything eBay here at SXSW and check out the hashtag #eBayatSXSW.

Chat soon and happy Monday!

Cheers,
RBH

I sat down with RedLaser GM, Rob Veres, to chat about what’s happening here in Austin this week:

Rob’s panel, Taming the Market in your Pocket, is from 9:30 – 10:30am on Monday, March 12 in the Sabine room of the Hilton Garden Inn. The hashtag to follow along with that particular panel is #TameMarket. Rob will be joined by Tamara Mendelsohn of Eventbrite and Michael Shim of Groupon. The panel will be moderated by Andrew Vilcsak of Airnbnb.

eBay booth
Stand 501, 503, 505, 507, 600, 602, 604, 606

PayPal
Sam Shrauger, VP of Global Product & Experience, PayPal will be giving a sneak peek of the all-new PayPal wallet.

From his PayPal Blog post:
During my session, I’ll demo an intelligent wallet that will do for digital money what internet mash-ups did for digital information: free it, so you can connect it, filter it, personalize it, share it and make it work the way that you want it to. Because PayPal’s wallet is digital – not just mobile, digital – it lets consumers do things with their money that have never been possible before.

His presentation, Why a Mobile Wallet Isn’t Going to be Enough, is on Tuesday, March 13, from 12:30 – 1:30pm in the Rio Grande room of the Hilton Garden Inn. You can also follow all discussion around the PayPal Wallet using the hashtag: #PPWallet

Don Kingsborough, VP of Retail, PayPal will be participating in the From Leather to Smartphone: The Wallet Evolves panel on Tuesday, March 13 from 5:00 – 6:00pm in the same room as Sam Shrauger’s presentation (see above). He will be joined by Jim Mccarthy of Visa and Steve Schultz of Pageonce. The panel will be moderated by Lauren Goode of AllThingsD.

TWITTER:
Follow these eBay Twitter folks for live-updates from SXSW:
@ebayinkblog
@paypal
@ebaymobile
@redlaserapp

I’ll be live-tweeting and reporting on-location from all eBay Inc. events using the hashtags: #eBayatSXSW and #sxsw

FLICKR:
All photos throughout the week will be uploaded to the set:
“eBay at SXSW 2012”

Thanks all and stay tuned.

Cheers!
RBH

Cheers,
RBH

Clark Sell, Microsoft Senior Developer Evangelist, and Jonathon Gabbai, from eBay, discuss Internet Explorer 9. Jonathan, Senior Global Innovations Manager at eBay, reveals how he drives traffic to eBay sites through Internet Explorer 9 browser integration, leveraging IE9 features such as dynamic jump lists and pinned sites.

First up, however, I wanted to share some images and cool insights into one of my favorite bands at the moment – Chromeo. They headlined the RedLaser party on Sunday night at SXSW and before they took the stage, the eBay Mobile team and I joined the band backstage to talk music, eBay and feedback scores.

It turns out that they’re big fans of eBay too. Patrick Gemayel (aka P-Thugg) is the man behind their eBay account and according to him he has a feedback score of 247 at 100% positive. What’s even more impressive is that he revealed to us that every piece of equipment in their recording studio was purchased on eBay. Essentially, two of my favorite albums were recorded – thanks in some small part – to my employer. Pretty neat.

They took the stage in style and rocked the night away for all in attendance. I managed to get a front row spot to snap this pic during their opening song…

I’m in the process of uploading lots of other images from the night and will share on flickr shortly.

Cheers!
RBH

I’ll be live-blogging using the @ebayinkblog Twitter feed and will post updates here on Ink. I’m also going to guest tweet for the RedLaser team so please be sure to start following @redlaserapp too if you’re not already. My 7-day, on-location assignment will come to a close with an exclusive conversation with recording artist Lupe Fiasco live from the RedLaser booth. In all, it’s a pretty packed schedule but here are the key events:

Sunday, March 13, 2011
11am – 9pm
eBay Hangover Party and Speed Hack
* 11am: Hangover party starts
* 12pm: Introductions by eBay, Plug and Play and Alcatel-Lucent
* 1pm: Info sessions and office hours
* 2pm – 4pm: Speed Hack Track One (two track options, see below)
* 4pm – 4:30: Demo Hack Track One
* 4:30pm – 6:30pm: Speed Hack Two (two track options, see below)
* 6pm: Happy Hour Starts
* 630pm – 7pm: Demo Hack Two
* 7:30: Hack results and prizes
To find out more information and to see a detailed schedule: http://ebayspeedhack.eventbrite.com/

Sunday, March 13, 2011
10:00pm
RedLaser Party with Chromeo – SXSW
Please join us in celebrating the launch of RedLaser’s presence at SXSW 2011! To take things up a notch and kick off the interactive week, the RedLaser party will include performances by Chromeo and Peanut Butter Wolf!
RSVP and find out more information: http://redlaserparty.eventbrite.com/

Tuesday, March 15, 2011
11:00am
Town Lake Ballroom, Radisson
What’s In Your Virtual Wallet
I’ll be moderating a Q&A discussion with Laura Chambers, director of mobile for PayPal and Rob Veres, GM of RedLaser / eBay Mobile. We’ll be taking questions direct from the audience and I’ll also ask any questions you may have so please feel free to include in the comments section below.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011
12:30pm
Hill Country CD, Hyatt
Why PR’s Future May Not Look Like PR
I’ll join Edelman’s David Armano (@armano) on stage to discuss the evolution of PR in the social media age. With advances in networks, online communities and the ability of the average individual to become their own content producer and influencer, the face of PR is changing, shifting the focus from communications to engagement in increasingly public spaces both online and off. The hashtag for that discussion is #FuturePR

Wednesday, March 16, 2011
4:00pm
RedLaser Booth 139, 141, 143
I’ll be interviewing recording artist Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) and taking questions from the audience. His latest album, “Lasers” has been in heavy rotation on my iPod since it came out last week and I’ve been playing “Coming Up” a lot to my two little girls as I head out on the road for a week. They love it!

I’ll also continue to cover ecommerce news remotely and update any eBay-specific information here as usual.
Cheers,
RBH