Yahoo!'s latest mobile software, 'Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0', was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday, alongside the announcement of its new partnership with Motorola. This new service aims to allow users to find information such as the latest weather updates, news, stock quotes and sports news with greater speed and ease. Along with this PDA style content, users can find customised versions of Yahoo!'s more familiar software in the shape of Yahoo! oneSearch, Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger.
Similarly, Google have announced its aim to provide Samsung users with access to its Google Maps technology, Google Search and Gmail features - undoubtedly signalling just the beginning of a large partnership.
Yahoo!'s Mobile 2.0 software was available almost immediately for download following the announcement, which, according to Yahoo!, has been rebuilt from the ground up to provide a suite of services with focus on speed, simplicity and personalisation. An interesting inclusion to the software is a feature traditionally found only online - localisation. Yahoo! is aiming to attract users by incorporating technology that will customise and localise the search results to the user's location. Yahoo! Mobile can interpret a user's search pattern and group results according to its perception of how it would be of most interest to that particular user.
Scott Durchslag, corporate vice-president of product and experience invention at Motorola commented on the announcement:
"Consumers crave cool experiences on the coolest devices and the desire for seamless connectivity has never been stronger. Integrating services like Yahoo! Go 2.0 with Motorola devices enables consumers to stay connected with the people, places and information they want, whenever they want it."
Clearly, those to really benefit from the technology will be the users themselves. PDA solutions have been a mainstay for some time and whilst several cell phone manufacturers have explored the marriage of PDA and cell phone with mixed success, this new partnership provides the first chance for average cell phone users, who don't require a fully fledged personal information manager solution, to take advantage of software customised for their preferred cell phone.
Both Yahoo! and Google are moving to create a symbiotic, all-in-one solution that will allow users to manage their online calendars, email and search, not only from the comfort of their own home but also on the move with their cell phone. And while the mobile internet market is still very much in its infancy, recent developments - such as the launch of Apple's iPhone - are sure to attract significant attention from the world's biggest search engines. It certainly shouldn't be long before a winner emerges from the race.
