Bit Briefs

The number of items purchased via eBay mobile applications tripled during the 2009 holiday season over the previous year, the online auction giant said. Consumers purchased 1.5 million items on their mobile handsets during the holidays, translating to a sale every two seconds–acquisitions include a 23-foot boat ($19,108), a Steinway piano ($10,000) and a Hermes bag ($3,888).  In all, eBay mobile users generated more than $500 million in transactions during 2009–close to 6 million consumers have now downloaded eBay’s iPhone application, and shoppers across 165 countries are now making 750,000 unique visits a day to the site using mobile apps.  Read more at www.fiercemobilecontent.com