Yahoo strikes HTC deal

Internet search firm Yahoo,  has struck a deal with Taiwanese manufacturer, High Tech Computer (HTC) to put its software on all HTC phones running Windows Mobile. HTC said the deal would put Yahoo’s software “on millions of HTC devices”.

The move is an aggressive response to Google’s push on the mobile platform: both companies are now vying for eyeballs on mobile screens. Potentially, there are more than a billion mobile customers the biggest internet players are trying to reach.

Yahoo said such deals will allow the California-based company to expand its base by millions.

Marco Boerries, senior vice president of connected life at Yahoo said: “By partnering with HTC to put Yahoo Go 2.0 on its mobile devices, we are bringing the true mobile internet to an even broader audience around the world.”

Yahoo already has a mature base of users on its Go platform which is included in many other handset bundles from other manufacturers.

Yahoo’s services include search, mapping, email and more recently, photo sharing in cooperation with Flickr. While part of the company’s challenge is to get its software pre-installed on phones, Yahoo software is also available for download.