14 DAY TRIAL // On Monday, leading mobile phone maker Nokia and Internet giant Yahoo! announced a strategic partnership aimed at expanding the reach of their services and at offering users the possibility to easily stay connected with people that matter most to them. According to the duo, the new agreement builds on their long collaboration and will focus on e-mail, instant messaging and maps and navigation services on both PC and mobile phones.
“Delivering great user experiences – both online and on your mobile – is what this alliance is all about,” said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO, Nokia. “We’re enabling millions of Yahoo! customers in key markets including North America to discover the unique capabilities that Ovi Maps brings. Similarly, Yahoo!’s online expertise will bring exciting mail and messaging enhancements to millions of Ovi Mail customers across almost every country around the world, many of whom will have their first Internet experience on their mobile.”
The alliance enables Nokia to become the exclusive, global provider of Yahoo!’s maps and navigation services, integrating its Ovi Maps on Yahoo! Properties, which will be branded as “powered by Ovi.” At the same time, Yahoo! is to become the exclusive, global provider of Nokia’s Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat services, which will gain the tag “powered by Yahoo!” In addition, the two companies aim at working on ID federation between their services, offering users the possibility to use their Ovi user IDs across select Yahoo! Properties for access to the services they need.
“What a combination,” said Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo!. “We’re excited to expand the reach of our best-in-class Mail and Messenger services, bringing personalized experiences to more people across the mobile Web, particularly in emerging markets where we are seeding the next generation of Yahoo! users. At the same time, we believe Nokia’s strength and continued investment in maps and navigation will greatly enhance our existing products, enabling us to focus on areas that are core to our business.”
Yahoo! and Nokia are set to work together for the delivery of compelling Internet experiences targeted at the needs of a wide range of people, including consumers, developers, operators and advertisers. Co-branded services are expected to become available starting with the second half of the ongoing year, and should reach global availability during the next year.