Zong offers mobile payment subscription

Mobile payment start-up Zong is extending its offering to include subscription-based services, states CNET News.

Gaming site OMGPOP, News Corporation and photo-sharing site Photobucket have signed on as introductory partners. Instead of entering credit card billing information, subscribers to OMGPOP and Photobucket can bill their subscriptions directly to their phone bills by entering their cellphone numbers and then responding to a confirmation code.

Previously, the Zong service could only be used for one-at-a-time micropayments rather than subscription-based services.

Police are using eBay to sell off 'bling' bought by criminals, says the Mail Online.

In the first online police sale of its kind, valuable items bought by villains with their ill-gotten gains are being auctioned off to raise cash for crime fighting initiatives. The haul being sold off by Leicestershire Police has attracted dozens of bids.

Bargain hunters have rushed to snap up cheap electronic goods, including a 47-inch LCD television for £345 (R4200) and Xbox and Sony PS2 computer consoles for £46 (R540) and £21 (R250) respectively.

UK shoppers spent £3.8 billion (R45 billion) on the Web during August, a 16% year-on-year growth, despite a monthly dip in sales, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-retail sales index, says Computing.co.uk.

According to the IMRG report, the August numbers are “closely in line” with previous seasonal trends. Shoe retailers were the best performers last month, with sales rising by 3%.

The report says retailers are making ”the greatest strides” to improve their online propositions, with better usability features, more use of Web 2.0 tools and more convenient delivery and return models.