Yahoo! launches Mail and Messenger for Android, & new iPhone Mail and News.

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 01 July 2010 16:12

Your IT - Mobility

Yahoo! has announced immediate availability of Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger apps for Android, along with a Yahoo! Search Widget for Android, and new HTML5 versions of Mail and Yahoo! News site for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

David Ko, senior vice president, Americas, audience, mobile, and local for Yahoo!, said: "by harnessing the latest in HTML5, we're making it easier than ever for consumers to access fast, reliable, and feature-rich Yahoo! experiences across some of the fastest growing platforms in the market."

The Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger Android apps are available globally as free downloads from the Android Market. They require Android version 2.0 or newer.

Yahooo! says that, "in addition to providing a robust consumer experience, the Yahoo! Mail app for Android offers advertisers an opportunity to reach a highly engaged mobile audience." Samsung is the inaugural advertiser.

The Yahoo! Search Widget for Android provides one-click access to Yahoo! Search, via a Yahoo! Search box installed on the home screen.

According to Yahoo!, "With voice search for easier input, Search Assist for quick suggestions and recommendations, and auto-locate technology to deliver locally relevant results, the Yahoo! Search Widget quickly provides the answers a consumer needs."

The Yahoo! Search Widget is also available as a free download from Android Market, but is presently available only in the US.

The new HTML5 versions of Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! News for iPhone and iPod Touch are claimed to provide a faster and more sophisticated mobile browsing experience than earlier versions.

Yahoo! Mail for iPhone and iPod Touch is available globally in 28 languages and Yahoo! says it will be available for other Webkit-enabled browsers in the future.

Yahoo! News includes "an all-new layout with animated visual effects and navigation that uses touch gestures to deliver a compelling news experience.

However the iPhone or iPod Touch version is available only in the US. Yahoo! says is expected to become available in additional countries and on additional devices, but has given no further details.