By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
SINGAPORE–Internet services firm Yahoo! announced today that it will be launching a beta version of its new mobile phone-based application called Yahoo! Go Mobile 2.0 in 13 countries, mostly in Asia and Europe by Friday this week.
Yahoo! Go Mobile 2.0 is an updated version of the company’s previous phone-only application, which is basically a service delivery client that can be customized by users.
Speaking to reporters at Communicasia 2007 in Singapore, Yahoo! Connected Life Asia vice president and general manager David Ko said Yahoo! Go Mobile 2.0 will be available in 13 countries through telecommunications providers. These are in Canada. Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, Thailand and Vietnam.
Ko said that Yahoo! Go Mobile 2.0 was already made available in the US just recently.
“Yahoo! Go Mobile 2.0 will have better capabilities in terms of deliverable services and relevant content to both the customer and the service provider. We’re fine-tuning these services to enrich the experiences of the customers,” Ko said.
He added that the market for phone-based content delivery will be higher in the coming years as more people, particularly in Asia, would prefer to use phones rather than their PCs for access.
In fact, Ko said that by 2010, there would be 4 billion mobile phones worldwide, compared to just 1 billion for the PC market.
“There are massive opportunities in Asia, which are still untapped. We’re creating opportunities for content and service providers by having them more reachable to people through their mobile phones,” Ko said.
Along with Yahoo! Go Mobile 2.0, Ko also announced the company’s partnership with mobile phone operators in six countries to launch Yahoo! oneSearch, a service within Yahoo! Go Mobile 2.0.
Yahoo! oneSearch, with is basically a mobile phone-based search engine, will be introduced by Globe Telecom in the Philippines, Idea Cellular Limited in India, LG Telecom in Korea, Maxis Communications Berhad in Malaysia, PT Telekomunikasi Selular in Indonesia, and Taiwan Mobile.
