Yahoo gets personal about the mobile web

Yahoo announced the pending launch of its new Yahoo Mobile service, promising a personalized mobile starting point to the web. Available now as a managed beta program, with a consumer introduction planned for Q2 2009, Yahoo Mobile features an open environment giving consumers the latitude to create a customized user experience bringing together their favorite web content and services. "[Yahoo Mobile] allows you to discover what's going on in the world today," said Yahoo executive vice president Marco Boerries during a press conference today here at Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona.

Key components include Yahoo oneSearch, Yahoo oneConnect (providing access to email, messaging, contacts and social networking sites), Yahoo News and Yahoo onePlace, which enables users to access and manage preferred content from a single location. "onePlace is like a shoebox where you can put anything you like," Boerries said. In addition, a smartphone-optimized version of Yahoo Mobile will include all of the above bells and whistles alongside features including Yahoo oneSearch with Voice, Maps, an integrated version of the Opera Mini 4.2 mobile web browser and enhanced widgets from the web services giant and its partners.

Yahoo will optimize the new solution for devices running WebKit-based browsers (e.g., iPhone and iPod touch, as well as many Nokia Series 60 phones), Opera Mini 4.x, Windows Mobile devices with Internet Explorer Mobile, and the BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Storm browsers. Yahoo will launch Yahoo Mobile in late March across feature phones and iPhone, with other smartphones scheduled to follow in late May. Boerries said an Android version is presently in development.  

 For more on Yahoo Mobile:
- read this release

Related articles:
Yahoo expands mobile search efforts
Virgin Mobile UK inks search exclusive with Yahoo
T-Mobile jilts Google for Yahoo oneSearch