Abstract: Information about participants in an auction are received and analyzed along with information about products to be auctioned and other information to generate an interest gauge. The interest gauge may reflect the interest of a buyer, a seller, an auction house or any other entity in the auctioning event. Based on the interest gauge, the operations of the auction can be augmented and/or modified to be optimal in view of revenue generation, products moved, and a balance between the two. For instance, the buyer interest gauge could be used to create packages of items to be auctioned in a combinatorial auction.

Abstract: Automatically identifying the depreciated value of an asset by first receiving the identification of a target asset. A data store can then be accessed to obtain purchase price, salvage and lifespan values for the asset. Depreciation factors related to the target asset are obtained from the data store. For each identified depreciation factor, a current depreciation impact value is created. The current depreciation impact values are summed and then normalized. The depreciation of the asset over a current period is then calculated by taking the difference between the purchase price of the asset and the salvage value of the asset and dividing that by the difference between the lifespan and the normalized sum of the current depreciation impact values.

Abstract: An integration of components into a platform that enables the provision of a dynamically adjustable auctioning environment. The platform may include a data store, a search engine, an application interface and one or more network accessible applications. The data store operates to receive and maintain real-time data from one or more sources, such as participants in the auction as well as non-participating entities or systems that generally have relevant information. The search engine interfaces to the data store and is configured to receive requests, construct searching criteria, query the data store, receive query results and provide the query results to the one or more requesting elements. The data accumulated is accessible in real-time for altering the operating environment as well as providing data input to connected systems.

Abstract: Multiple simultaneous auctions can be monitored and participated in using a single bidding device operated by a single remote bidder. A multi-windowed environment allows for the display of active bidding windows and docked bidding windows. The active bidding windows are fully functional bidding windows and include auction status, product information and the like. The docked bidding windows provide a subset of the information but, nonetheless provide real-time auction status information and allows for bidders to enter bids into the auctioning process without having to move the bidding window into an active status. A customer-identifier selector of identifier allows the remote bidder to associate a customer with a particular bidding window. The customer-identifier advantageously helps the remote bidder to track who purchased items are associated with, as well as providing control structure over the bidding process.

Abstract: An environment is established in which a variety of participating entities, including but not limited to auction houses, manufacturers, third party product and service providers, individuals, etc., can interface and benefit from the vast amount of data that is naturally collected or assimilated in the process of evaluating products to be introduced to an auction line.

Abstract: An electronic inspection report system includes a dynamic integrity checker. Upon reception of inspection data from mobile devices, the data from similar and related fields is cross-correlated to identify any inconsistencies or discrepancies. This data is also compared with third party data that may be related to the item or similar item.

Abstract: Multiple simultaneous auctions can be monitored and participated in using a single bidding device operated by a single remote bidder. A multi-windowed environment allows for the display of active bidding windows and docked bidding windows. The active bidding windows are fully functional bidding windows and include auction status, product information and the like. The docked bidding windows provide a subset of the information but, nonetheless provide real-time auction status information and allows for bidders to enter bids into the auctioning process without having to move the bidding window into an active status. A customer-identifier selector of identifier allows the remote bidder to associate a customer with a particular bidding window. The customer-identifier advantageously helps the remote bidder to track who purchased items are associated with, as well as providing control structure over the bidding process.

Abstract: An integration of components into a platform that enables the provision of a dynamically adjustable auctioning environment. The platform may include a data store, a search engine, an application interface and one or more network accessible applications. The data store operates to receive and maintain real-time data from one or more sources, such as participants in the auction as well as non-participating entities or systems that generally have relevant information. The search engine interfaces to the data store and is configured to receive requests, construct searching criteria, query the data store, receive query results and provide the query results to the one or more requesting elements. The data accumulated is accessible in real-time for altering the operating environment as well as providing data input to connected systems.

Abstract: The ability to participate in an active auction is enabled for remote bidders by allowing the remote bidder to use a bidding device coupled to an active auction through a network. The remote bidding device receives live audio from the auction with minimal delay, and can receive and provide bidding information to the auction in real time. As such, the remote bidder can participate with equal standing as local participants.

Abstract: An environment is established in which a variety of participating entities, including but not limited to auction houses, manufacturers, third party product and service providers, individuals, etc., can interface and benefit from the vast amount of data that is naturally collected or assimilated in the process of evaluating products to be introduced to an auction line.

Abstract: An electronic inspection report system includes a dynamic integrity checker. Upon reception of inspection data from mobile devices, the date from similar and related fields is cross-correlated to identify any inconsistencies or discrepancies. This data is also compared with third party data that may be related to the item or similar item.

Abstract: An electronic inspection report system includes a central report generator and a data collection device. The central report generator is adapted to produce multiple types of inspection report template. The central report generator is adapted to select a type of inspection report template to provide to a data collection device based upon various criteria. The central report generator is adapted to receive electronic information from various databases and format the information such that the information can be used in inspection reports. While inspecting an item, an inspector uses a data collection device to access an inspection report template and fill in fields of the inspection report template. The data collection device can be configured to check the consistency of information carried in fields of the inspection report and signal the inspector when some of the information is inconsistent. The central report generator can include a repository of completed inspection reports.

Abstract: Multiple simultaneous auctions can be monitored and participated in using a single bidding device operated by a single remote bidder. A multi-windowed environment allows for the display of active bidding windows and docked bidding windows. The active bidding windows are fully functional bidding windows and include auction status, product information and the like. The docked bidding windows provide a subset of the information but, nonetheless provide real-time auction status information and allows for bidders to enter bids into the auctioning process without having to move the bidding window into an active status. A customer-identifier selector of identifier allows the remote bidder to associate a customer with a particular bidding window. The customer-identifier advantageously helps the remote bidder to track who purchased items are associated with, as well as providing control structure over the bidding process.

Abstract: Live media content is delivered in substantially real-time to a player device from a streamer and through a content delivery network. The streamer receives live media content and encodes and streams the content over the content delivery network. The content delivery network is configured to provide minimal buffering. A player device accessing the streaming channel receives media frames and buffers the frames while rending the received frames in order of receipt. If the buffer is loaded to the point that the currently rendered data lags the actual live feed by more than a threshold amount of time, the player skips over one or more video frames to bring the rendered content more current. For instance, the buffer can be flushed and more recent content can be received from the content delivery network.