Yahoo! made three announcements today at 3GSM in Barcelona: the release of Yahoo! Go mobile 2.0 (Gamma), pre-loading on LG handsets, and the launch of its mobile ad network. Yahoo! Go is the mobile part of Yahoo!’s three screen initiative to optimize their services for PC, TV, and mobile.
Yahoo! Go is a downloadable application that gives users access to search, maps, mail, sports, Flickr, news, finance, entertainment, and weather. The application is accessible on over 100 mobile phones, but the new LG deal means it will also come preloaded on many of their new phones.
Yahoo!’s launch of their mobile advertising platform for m.yahoo.com will take place in over 19 countries covering Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The ads will run close to the top of the browser page, allowing users to click through for more information.
What went under in these hectic days at the 3GSM is Nokia´s new and free Mapping Application for mobiles. It was hard to download it because the web page crashes down continously (www.smart2go.com). But now i have it on my phone and i think it´s yahoooooooo! great!!!. I don´t know why they don´t make it more public. The yahoo! map and google mobile map are much slower and less usable.
Funny how cell phones today are in the same conceptual design stage as PCs were ten years ago – major players build thicker and thicker clients. Personally, I find coupling useful Web Services with solid thin client (XHTML MP) is a better solution. This is the route we went and both the development and the maintenance costs are noticeably lower. Will we live to see web 2.0 and even Ajax on cell phones? ;-)
Shuki
Shuki, I totally agree. We’re seeing a huge clash between carriers and developers now. There are a lot of barriers to entering the mobile arena, deck placement and standards compatibility being two of the biggest. I think there’s a huge fear of losing control of their cash cows. I think the “mobile oyster” won’t be cracked until data services become a major priority to carriers and they’re forced to open their platforms to more agile developers.