14 DAY TRIAL // After signing deals with Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, and LG for availability of Yahoo Services on mobile devices, Yahoo Inc. decided to take on the biggest manufacturer of Windows Mobile devices - HTC.
In its attempt to make Web services available not only on computers, but also on mobiles, Yahoo had signed a partnership with the Taiwanese manufacturer which will virtually include Yahoo services on the most important HTC devices. In a recent interview, Ojas Rege, senior director of Yahoo's mobile phone business, stated: "Windows Mobile phone users tend to be consumers who are relatively data savvy". "They are a pretty attractive group of users both from the standpoint of being early adopters of new services and in terms of advertising demographics," Rege added.
Under the agreement, HTC device owners will have access to different Yahoo mobile phone services ranging from Web search, e-mail, maps and local information to Flickr photo-sharing.
Overall, Yahoo has agreed to run its Yahoo Go service on more than 175 different mobile phone models, including more than 100 models available at the moment. You can find a full list of compatible phones here.
Partnerships with four of the top five mobile handset makers in the world, as well as with the world's biggest PDA manufacturer, seem to place Yahoo in the leading position regarding Web services available for mobile phone devices. The simple fact, even if temporary, will most likely motivate Google, the direct rival of Yahoo, to try and innovate new services for handset owners. The fight between the two giants will most likely have beneficial results towards the mobile phones users.