Yahoo!'s War on Google Hits Mobile Arena

By John Conroy | Published Jan 8, 2008

Yahoo! is to open up its mobile platform to developers in a desperate bid to steal a march on Google on the Mobile Web.

The move was announced at the CES in Las Vegas and is just one of a number of Mobile Web initiatives launched by the beleaguered company, which sees Mobile as the medium-term battlefield where the war with Google will be won or lost.

The launch of the Yahoo Mobile Developer Platform is the device which, it is hoped, will turn the tide for Yahoo. Third-party developers will now be able to use the platform to develop widgets and apps which will be accessible through Yahoo's Mobile distribution vehicle, Yahoo Go.

The development framework is designed to compete directly with Google's open Android platform. Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications, and also a free SDK for developers. Launching sometime in the first quarter of this year, it's a name we are sure to be hearing a lot more of in 2008.

Meanwhile Yahoo! Go has gotten a lick of paint, an all-new UI, and a range of new features like personalized start pages incorporating mail, calender and other widgets.

And, as if all that wasn't enough, the company announced that it will be able to display advertising on Go for the first time.

It's like Rocky and 'Eye of the Tiger' all over again, isn't it?

Click on for the full story on Android, Yahoo! Go and the Yahoo! Mobile Developer Platform.