SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Yahoo Inc. took yet another step onto the wireless playground, inking a deal to preload its Go for Mobile service on “tens of millions” of handsets from Motorola Inc.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The application, which includes Yahoo-branded mobile services including e-mail, search, contacts and local information, are to be embedded on phones that will be shipped to the Americas, Europe and Asia. The companies said they plan to work together to market the new handsets, which are scheduled to come to market in the first half of next year.
“Consumers are no longer tethered to just accessing the Internet on their desktop computer,” said Yahoo Senior Vice President Marco Boerries, “so we are bringing the best of Yahoo’s services to the device they always have with them.”
While many wireless players— especially operators—see Yahoo and its Internet brethren as direct competition, Motorola has been quick to embrace Web-based behemoths. The handset manufacturer forged an alliance last year to preload Yahoo offerings on Linux-based devices, and has partnered with Google Inc. to produce handsets with a Google-branded “hard key” that takes wireless Web surfers to the company’s popular search page.
