Introducing Yahoo! Mobile - Your Starting Point to the Internet

Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced the upcoming launch of its new Yahoo! Mobile service - a highly-personalized mobile starting point to the Internet. Yahoo! Mobile will be available on the mobile Web, as an app developed for the Apple(R) iPhone(TM), and as an app developed for smartphones from Nokia(R), RIM(R), Samsung(R), Sony Ericsson(R) and Motorola(R) as well as those powered by Windows Mobile(R). Yahoo! Mobile initially will be available today through a managed beta program, with general availability expected in Q2 2009.

"We believe the new Yahoo! Mobile will transform the way millions of mobile users around the world will interact with the Internet," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Yahoo! Inc. "Yahoo! Mobile will enable users to create their own Internet starting point on their mobile device so they can better discover, connect to and stay informed about the people and things that are important to them."

With a rich design and interactivity that leverages the capabilities of today's mobile devices, Yahoo! Mobile will offer an open environment within which consumers can bring together their favorite content and services from across the Internet. Consumers will be able to:

 

• Discover: via results from Yahoo!'s award-winning mobile search, editor-selected content, and new maps tools.
• Stay Connected: through access to their email and social network accounts from the most popular Web providers, as well as instant messaging, address book and calendar tools.
• Stay Informed: by bringing together favorite content - websites, sports teams, news sources, RSS feeds, weather, stocks, horoscopes and more - into a single location.

 

"Yahoo! Mobile represents significant and continued innovation by Yahoo! around creating a compelling and engaging user experience with mobile data services, and especially the mobile Internet," notes Scott Ellison, VP Mobile and Wireless, IDC. "Rich and well-integrated offerings like Yahoo! Mobile, offered across a broad range of devices, will play central roles in the rapidly evolving mobile Internet space," he added.

KEY FEATURES OF YAHOO! MOBILE

The mobile Web and iPhone(TM) versions of Yahoo! Mobile are planned to include the following features:

Discover

 

• Yahoo! oneSearch(TM) - Yahoo!'s award-winning mobile search service providing the most current, relevant answers you need.
• Today - The most interesting stories buzzing on the Internet right now, selected by Yahoo!'s editorial team.

 

Connect

 

• Yahoo! oneConnect(TM) - Yahoo!'s service designed to provide consumers everything they need to stay in touch with the people about whom they care:
  • Email - Access to Yahoo! Mail and other popular email service providers, including Gmail(R), Windows Live(TM) Hotmail and AOL(R) Mail.
  • Pulse - Access totheir social networks, including Bebo(R), Dopplr(TM), Facebook(R), Flickr(R), Friendster(R), Last.fm(R), MySpace(R), Twitter(TM) and YouTube(TM).
  • Yahoo! Messenger - An upgraded version of Yahoo!'s popular mobile instant messaging service.
  • Yahoo! Address Book - Keeps consumers' contacts always handy and in sync.
  • Yahoo! Calendar - View, add and edit appointments when users are away from their PCs.

 

Stay Informed

 

• Yahoo! News - Breaking headlines across popular topics.
• Yahoo! onePlace(TM) - Access and manage your favorite content, all from one location. Its "Add Anything" functionality is a simple-to-use search and browse process that helps users find and add what they want. Consumers can add their favorite interests from a growing selection of popular categories including news topics and sources, RSS feeds, weather conditions, sports scores, stock quotes, websites/blogs, horoscopes and movie theaters.

 

The smartphone version of Yahoo! Mobile will include the above functionality, plus:

 

• Yahoo! oneSearch with Voice(TM) - Allowing users to launch searches by simply speaking.
• Maps - Powerful improved tools that let consumers locate, learn about and get directions to points of interest.
• Opera Mini(TM) 4.2 - An integrated version of the world's most popular mobile web browser, with easy return to the Yahoo! Mobile app, that launches when web site access is needed.
• Widgets - Enhanced mobile-optimized experiences for services from Yahoo! and other brands. Users can browse, add and remove these at anytime according to their tastes.

 

AVAILABILITY OF YAHOO! MOBILE

A managed beta program for Yahoo! Mobile has started today. Consumers interested in participating should enter http://mobile.yahoo.com [1] into their phone's browser.

Details on the upcoming general public release for Yahoo! Mobile are as follows:

For the mobile Web:

 

• Launch timing: expected late March 2009
• Devices: those running WebKit-based browsers (e.g. iPhone and iPod touch, many Nokia Series 60 and Android devices), Opera Mini 4.x, Windows Mobile devices with Internet Explorer Mobile, and the BlackBerry(R) Bold(TM) and BlackBerry Storm(TM) browsers

 

For iPhone:

 

• Launch timing: expected late March 2009

 

For smartphones:

 

• Launch timing: expected late May 2009
• Devices: hundreds of select models from RIM, Windows Mobile, Nokia S60 and 40, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola.

 

At launch, each version of Yahoo! Mobile is planned to be available for the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Versions for other countries will roll out over the remainder of 2009.

Yahoo! Mobile will feature Yahoo!'s industry-leading display advertising from major global advertisers.

Visit the Yahoo! booth at Mobile World Congress to see Yahoo!'s latest mobile products - 7B26, Hall 7. For more information and screenshots of the Yahoo! Mobile product suite, please visit http://mobile.yahoo.com/newsroom [2].

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. (YHOO -- M)

For more on Yahoo!'s mobile news please visit http://mobile.yahoo.com/newsroom [3].

Yahoo!, the Yahoo! logo, Yahoo! oneSearch, Yahoo! oneConnect, and Yahoo! onePlace are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo! Mobile (including without limitation the statements contained in the quotations from management in this press release), as well as Yahoo!'s strategic and operational plans. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the possibility that the expected implementation of Yahoo! Mobile, including its planned features and platforms, described may be delayed, may not ultimately be implemented, or if implemented may not be successful; consumers may not accept or respond as positively to Yahoo! Mobile as anticipated; and competitors may offer similar competing services. Yahoo! does not intend, and undertakes no duty, to update this information to reflect future events or circumstances. More information about potential factors that could affect the Company's business and financial results is included under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, as amended, and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, which are on file with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov [4].