MUMBAI.- Saffronart, the world’s largest fine-art online auction house announced a new mobile version of its website that allows for easy viewing of artworks, jewelry and prime properties from any internet-enabled mobile device. Users can now enjoy optimized mobile access to www.saffronart.com, including viewing of art, jewelry and real estate catalogues, images of lots, real-time auction results, and more. The mobile website launch coincided with the run up to Saffronart’s Spring Online Auction of Modern and Contemporary Indian Art which took place on March 16 - 17, 2011.

The Saffronart mobile website places an emphasis on expanding access to the information that collectors want, while improving the ease and speed of their online experience. The advances in technology and the proliferation of feature-rich smartphones have cultivated a savvy online community of collector enthusiasts who are on the move, and rely on mobile technology to stay connected. In line with this trend, Saffronart was the first fine-art auction house globally to introduce downloadable mobile applications for bidding in auction (including versions for the iPhone and BlackBerry). With the introduction of its mobile website, Saffronart is now providing access to much of the information that is available on its main website, on virtually any mobile device.

To access Saffronart’s mobile website, users need to navigate to m.saffronart.com from the web browsers on their internet-enabled phones.

Key features of the new mobile website include:
• Auction Progress and Results: Convenient access that allows users to keep track of auction progress with information on current bid amounts and bid histories. Users can check auction results after the auction has closed.

• View Sale Catalogues and Lot Details: Users can view auction as well as “Browse and Buy” catalogues, including lot details such as size, surface, medium, material and estimates, and view images. They can view multiple images of jewelry and properties for sale, and read descriptions.

• Search: Users can search auction catalogues by lot number, artist or designer name, material or type of jewelry, to easily find items of interest.

• Personalization: Users can keep track of art and jewelry that they are interested in via their My Gallery and My Auction pages.

Nish Bhutani, COO, Saffronart, said, “We are pleased to offer access to the best art, jewelry and residential properties in a very engaging and optimized format for mobile devices. Saffronart led the way in mobile auction technology by being the first fine-art auction house globally to launch bidding via mobile applications. The launch of the new mobile site is in keeping with our tradition of constantly innovating in order to provide collectors with an exceptional experience and convenient access.”

For users of the iPhone, an upgraded version of the Saffronart iPhone auction application boasting a variety of additional useful features and services was also released. New advancements in the application now allow for a faster and richer visual experience perfectly suited to viewing Saffronart’s auctions’ catalogue. The new version enables collectors to view images in both list and grid formats thereby making it easier to browse through lots on auction. Users can also zoom-in, zoom-out and swipe images with just a few finger taps. With the initial launch of this application in December 2009, Saffronart became the first fine-art auction house globally to launch mobile bidding on the iPhone. This sophisticated software offers all the features of website bidding including placing bids and proxy bids, creating a ‘My Auction’ page, and viewing bid histories. Saffronart’s iPhone mobile application version 1.3 can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes store.

Highlights of New Mobile Website:

• Saffronart Catalogue on a Blackberry

• Saffronart Homepage on an Android

• ‘All Lots’ Page on the iPhone 4

• Saffronart Catalogue on a Nokia