Yahoo has made its Yahoo Go for Mobile service available on devices that run Windows Mobile software, including the Motorola Q and Microsoft’s PocketPC.
Through the deal, Yahoo expects to extend the mobile service it launched earlier this year to several million more potential Windows Mobile users. Previously, it was available only to users of Nokia phones running the Symbian operating system.
Key features of the service include:
- Yahoo! Mail — Easily manages and stores messages on mobile devices and provides receive notification for incoming mail
- Yahoo! Search (Local, Web and Image) — Provides Local search, full Web search and Image search to view billions of pictures
- Yahoo! Photos — Automatic upload of camera phone pictures to a Yahoo! Photos account, view and manage all albums saved on the Web account and download photos from albums directly to the mobile device
- Yahoo! Address Book and Calendar — Easy entry, management and back-up of contacts and calendar events
- Yahoo! News, Sports, Finance and more — Quick access to the full range of content services including Yahoo! News, Sports, Finance and Movies.
“By bringing Yahoo Go for Mobile to to Windows devices, we’re opening up the service to a whole new set of consumers,” said a Yahoo spokesperson. Windows Mobile runs mainly on high-end devices favored by professionals, including the Palm Treo, the T-Mobile MDA and the HP iPAQ, in addition to the Motorola Q and Pocket PC.
Windows Mobile comes with Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Outlook and select MSN features such as Hotmail and Messenger. Windows Media phones still represent only a fraction of the wireless market. And users have to be willing to download the Yahoo mobile software to those devices.
“For Yahoo to be successful with this application they will need to get handset manufacturers and carriers to have it embedded on the device before the customer makes a purchase,” said Weston Henderek, a wireless services analyst with research firm Current Analysis
Yahoo signed deals earlier this year with Motorola and BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion to have Yahoo Go for Mobile pre-loaded in certain of the companies’ devices. But no Motorola or RIM devices with Yahoo Go for Mobile have shipped yet.
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