Yahoo Mobile to roll out in Asia

Yahoo! will launch its mobile web service on smart phones for users in Asia. The service will be available on mobile web, as an application developed for the Apple iPhone and as an application developed for smart phones including those by Nokia, RIM, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola as well as those powered by Windows Mobile.

Yahoo Mobile will be made available through a managed beta programme, with general availability expected in the second quarter of 2009. For mobile web and the iPhone, the service is expected to launch late March 2009. For smart phones, a late-May 2009 release is expected.

At launch, each version of Yahoo Mobile is planned to be available for the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Versions for other countries will roll out over the remainder of the year.

The service will offer mobile search, email and social networking functions accounts and content - websites, sports teams, news sources, RSS feeds, weather, stocks, horoscopes and more - into a single location.
"We believe the new Yahoo Mobile will transform the way millions of mobile users around the world will interact with the internet," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Yahoo, adding, "Yahoo Mobile will enable users to create their own internet starting point on their mobile device so they can better discover, connect to and stay informed about the people and things that are important to them."

"Yahoo Mobile represents significant and continued innovation by Yahoo around creating a compelling and engaging user experience with mobile data services, and especially the mobile internet. Rich and well-integrated offerings like Yahoo! Mobile, offered across a broad range of devices, will play central roles in the rapidly evolving mobile Internet space," said Scott Ellison, VP mobile and wireless, IDC.