Motorola Inc. is the lucky winner of a handset deal with Google Inc. as the Internet giant turns its considerable focus toward wireless.
Motorola said it has designed a handset with a Google button that connects users to Google’s wireless Internet services. The company expects the Google-button phone to be in the hands of users sometime in the first quarter. The company didn’t offer details about which of its phone models would sport the new Google button.
“Many of our customers have been asking for mobile devices integrated with their consumers’ favorite online search services,” said Scott Durchslag, corporate vice president and general manager of Global Products for Motorola’s Mobile Device business. “Our relationship with Google provides an opportunity for us to offer a high quality mobile search experience-one familiar to and loved by millions of users across the globe.”
“Access to information is imperative for people on-the-go,” said Nikesh Arora, vice president of European Operations at Google. “Whether checking the local weather or locating the restaurant of their choice, consumers today require personalized search services that are tailored to their needs. With immediate access to Google, millions of Motorola users worldwide will be able to quickly and easily find information that’s important to them.”
As the Consumer Electronics Show winds up in Las Vegas, there is much speculation about Google’s direction in the technology arena. Some suspected Google would announce plans to produce a $200 laptop with its own operating system (which the company has denied), while others looked for Google to announce a plan to enter the telecom market.
In other news, Google competitor Yahoo Inc. stepped out of its Internet browser habitat with the launch of Yahoo Go, a suite of personalized communications, entertainment and information services for mobile devices, TVs and PCs. The company’s chief executive, Terry Semel, introduced the new products during his keynote address at the CES show.
“Yahoo Go allows us to free the best of what the Internet has to offer from the confines of the browser and provides consumers with fast and easy access to the essential products and services they know and love,” said Semel. “Yahoo is well positioned to provide a seamlessly connected experience that delivers the services our hundreds of millions of loyal users want-whenever, wherever and however they want to connect.”
The company said it has developed relationships with Intel Corp., AT&T Inc. and Nokia Corp., among others, in order to bring Yahoo Go’s services to consumers.
“Yahoo Go will make consumers’ personally relevant information available to them anytime across their mobile phone, TV or personal computer,” said Marco Boerries, senior vice president of Connected Life at Yahoo. “By making Yahoo Go open, we are giving consumers the ability to easily access not only the Yahoo services they find most vital, but also the universe of information available from across the Web.”
The company said Yahoo Go Mobile will be available within a few weeks and combines built-in e-mail, messaging, search, address book, photo, calendar and news applications. All of the data for these applications is stored via Yahoo’s Web site, so if a subscriber loses their phone, their personal information is not lost. The data can be synched with a new phone. The company said Go Mobile will launch with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in some U.S. markets as well as in 10 European and Asian countries. The applications will be preloaded on Nokia Series 6682 phones in certain markets, and on Nokia 6600-series models internationally. Yahoo also has a deal with Motorola Inc. for preloaded applications.
Yahoo Go TV lets users access content and entertainment-related services from PCs connected to TVs running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows XP, or from devices running Intel’s Viiv technology. The application gives users access to certain cable programs and movie clips, allowing them to record and store the data on their PCs. Yahoo said its Go TV will be available within a few months.
Lastly, Yahoo Go Desktop delivers PC services that don’t require an Internet browser. Lightweight files called “widgets,” exist on a user’s desktop and perform tasks, such as searching for Wi-Fi hot spots, checking e-mail, finding a contact address, or viewing the user’s calendar. Yahoo noted that the widgets are built on an open platform, giving other developers the ability to distribute their own widgets.
