A cell phone is but a communications device at heart, capable of doing a little bit extra such as surfing the Internet, running IM programs, checking your mail, capturing your favorite memories in a digital photo and playing video and audio files when you’re bored, right? Well props to online shopping pioneer Amazon.com who clearly aims to pile on the pressure (and potentially, misery) upon its brick-and-mortar rivals by offering a new online shopping service known as TextBuyIt, letting Amazon account holders to just about search virtually all products on Amazon’s website with the option to purchase whatever captures their fancy.

According to Howard Gefen, director of Amazon Mobile Payments, “With today’s launch of TextBuyIt, any Amazon.com customer can now use any mobile device to shop and buy from Amazon.com, at anytime, anywhere they are. With TextBuyIt, if you’re walking out of a concert and want to buy a CD from the artist you just saw, or if you’re at dinner and a friend tells you about a great book you should read, all you have to do is get out your mobile device, send a text message to Amazon, reply to the response, confirm your order, and your item will be on its way.”

Amazon claims that it takes less than a minute for you to find a product you want, followed by a simple purchase procedure. Sounds pretty neat, especially if you already know what you want, but if you’re someone who loves window shopping (whether virtual or otherwise), I’d strongly suggest sitting down in front of a computer and take your time to browse through Amazon’s millions of items. After all, TextBuyIt is relatively lightweight in terms of text, which means plenty of contextual information apart from items and prices could lead to a potentially wrong purchase if you don’t know what you want. Do you think this service will take off in a big way?

Source: Information Week