Mobile shopping app comes to BlackBerry

Free software for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry builds an online store right into the device, expanding users’ shopping options while saving the trouble of roving the mobile Internet in search of the right product.

Startup 30 Second Software’s Digby offers a selection of items from Amazon.com, Godiva Chocolatier, FTD.com, and other vendors through an interface designed for quick shopping with few page downloads. The software is available now for download either to a PC or directly to a BlackBerry from 30 Second Software’s Web site.

The Austin, Texas, company is one of a growing number of companies, including mobile virtual network operators, that are trying to address the gaps in mobile operators’ content offerings, said Albert Lin of American Technology Research. The carriers need to serve many audiences with essentially the same portal but also keep options limited so they’re not overwhelming. Meanwhile, RIM has been conservative about adding software to its own device so it can stay focused on critical business uses, Lin added. There’s room for BlackBerry tools that acknowledge users’ consumer sides, he said.

Users can look over many of Digby’s shopping options without going on the Internet at all, said Dave Sikora, president and chief executive officer of 30 Second Software. Information on those items, including the books on the New York Times bestseller list and the most popular bouquets and boxes of chocolates, is stored on the phone and updated as often as every hour. Users can search online for some other items, namely in Amazon’s stores for books, movies, music, and a few other categories.

Digby takes advantage of personal information stored on the Blackberry, such as addresses for the user and gift recipients, and can send reminders on special dates such as a wedding anniversary, Sikora said. Users can set up account information in advance, and to make a purchase, they only need to enter a password. Because information on some products is stored on the device, it’s possible to shop while outside of the carrier’s coverage area and complete purchases later.

The company looked for things mobile users want to do more conveniently on their devices and settled on shopping, Sikora said, though it may offer simple interfaces for some other uses in the future. Sikora believes gift purchases will be popular with busy BlackBerry users who are often away from home. The company is now talking with mobile operators about possibly distributing Digby, Sikora added.

The BlackBerry could become home to more such applications. It’s an attractive platform for third-party developers such as 30 Second Software because RIM provides a free application programming interface, and all Blackberry users need to have a data service, analyst Lin said.