More than 3,000 people were on hand Wednesday in San Francisco to see the official unveiling of X.commerce at the Innovate Developer Conference.  Now in its third year, Innovate has evolved quickly from a developer conference put on by eBay’s PayPal unit to a broader event featuring X.commerce, which unifies the commerce tools and technology platforms of eBay, PayPal, Magento, Milo and other eBay companies for developers and merchants.

During the keynote, X.commerce announced the launch of its commerce identity platform PayPal Access.  PayPal Access opens the door to increased personalization and a streamlined checkout as consumers can use their PayPal account to login to 3rd party sites.  This provides additional convenience for mobile shoppers where it reduces the need to type your shipping and billing addresses.  Janrain announced yesterday that any website can now offer its users PayPal Access via Janrain Engage.  Janrain has worked closely with PayPal on a tight integration that enables merchants to quickly install PayPal Access while also providing the tools to fine tune what personal data is requested from shoppers.

eBay has been aggressive in its acquisitions this past year, with Magento, GSI Commerce, Zong and Milo taking on new roles as X.commerce looks to build the full commerce stack.  While Magento has been open from the beginning, Milo announced a new API Wednesday that opens up their real-time pricing and local product availability to 3rd party platforms.  Commerce sites offering value-added services like local product availability are better positioned to get shoppers to login upfront with tools like PayPal Access if the benefit is a more personalized shopping experience.

Quick chat with Tim Domke of X.commerce about Janrain’s partnership and the new, improved integration with PayPal.

Looking forward to more from X.commerce as Innovate opens for day 2. Stop by and see us if you’re here.