SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. subscribers can use their phones to access photos, e-mail, instant messaging and address books from their Yahoo Inc. accounts.
Yahoo’s latest effort to expand into wireless uses a Nokia 6682 handset that can also receive custom news, weather and sports. The AT&T Yahoo Go Mobile service will be available in AT&T’s 13-state service area as well as through Cingular stores in Austin, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and Los Angeles.
Cingular is jointly owned by AT&T and BellSouth Corp.
The offering, initially announced last month at the Consumer Electronics Show, marks yet another way for Cingular users to receive custom Internet information on their phones. Last fall, the carrier overhauled its MediaNet service, expanding the offering to include personalized news, sports, weather and financial information as well as a local search engine. InfoSpace Inc. powers the MediaNet service.
“We’re blurring the lines between the PC and the wireless phone so that consumers can stay in touch, check e-mail, get updates on news and weather—minute to minute, day by day—regardless of where they are or what screen they are watching,” said Scott Helbing, chief marketing officer of AT&T’s consumer division.
The service also follows Yahoo’s strategy of partnering with operators to garner premium placement on the deck. Google Inc., on the other hand, is hoping to lure wireless users away from carrier decks with a portfolio of offerings including a customized wireless Web home page.
The Nokia 6682 sells for $200 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year subscription. The phone includes an MP3 player, data storage with removable memory and a digital voice recorder.
