Yahoo! invigorate mobile Internet market

Yahoo! to extend Yahoo! Mobile to Asia Pacific market. CommunicAsia 2009 showgoers stop at the Yahoo! booth to try Yahoo! Mobile features such as email and instant messaging.




At CommunicAsia 2009 last week, Yahoo! announced the availability of localised versions of its new mobile homepage in nine countries - Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Italy. (Unfortunately, Thailand is not on the list.)

"There is a great opportunity in Asia market, perhaps even greater than the US, because it's more likely that most of users in Asia will start their online experience on a mobile device instead of on a PC," according to Yahoo! Mobile Asia Pacific managing director Matthias Kunze.

He said the worldwide reach of four billion mobile phones today, together with the future growth of smart phones, has signified a huge potential for Yahoo! Mobile, compared to the one billion PCs and 1.5 billion television sets worldwide.

Having offered an open environment where consumers can bring together their favourite content and services from across the Internet, Yahoo! Mobile has encompassed three foundations enabling users to discover, experience, stay connected and stay informed through their mobile devices, he said.

"With the launch of Yahoo! Mobile, lots of local content will be available as a default service to users," the managing director told the news conference.

Yahoo! Mobile contains features such as Yahoo!'s mobile search service, news stories, email, instant messaging, a calendar, address book, customisable content and feeds from social networks.

Yahoo! Mobile senior vice president David Ko said consumers have adopted Yahoo! as a starting point to the Internet on mobile devices.

"With the new Yahoo! Mobile, we're invigorating the mobile industry and creating consumer demand for compelling Internet services across a variety of mobile platforms," he said.

The Yahoo! Mobile environment allows users to bring together all their favourite online content and services.

Featuring customisable homepages and localised content, Yahoo! Mobile can now be accessed on over 400 models with HTML-enabled mobile browsers.
By: SASIWIMON BOONRUANG