Yahoo! Inc, in collaboration with Nokia Corp, is offering mobile content for users in Malaysia on the back of an anticipated rise of worldwide Internet users to two billion in 2011 with significant growth expected from Southeast Asia.
Yahoo! Inc’s latest offering–Yahoo! Go, can improve business efficiency and spur the take-up of information and communications technology (ICT) among small and medium-scale businesses (SMB), according to Yahoo! South-East Asia (SEA) managing director Reza Behnam.
Speaking at a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur, He said 60% of Yahoo!’s users were from outside the US and 65% of Southeast Asia Internet users preferred Yahoo!’s services. “With real-time access to e-mails and contacts, SMBs can use this service as a productivity tool via their mobile devices,” he said.
Yahoo! Go integrates the Internet with mobile devices and acts as a single source of information by consolidating familiar communication services such as e-mail, messaging, address book and calendar applications.
Behnam, said the Computer Industry Almanac, released in January this year, had projected a 100% jump in worldwide Internet users from over one billion in 2005 to two billion in 2011.
He said the company’s focus was on extending key consumer services beyond the browser by providing an integrated Web for mobile experience and helping consumers to make the most of their mobile devices.
In line with its aim to tap into the growing segment in the region, Behnam said Yahoo! was now offering Yahoo! Go for users with specific Nokia handsets including the N70, 6680, 6681, 6630, 7610, 6670 and 6600.
Jointly developed with Nokia; Yahoo! Go will be available on select Nokia mobile phones in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. The company also intends to make the service available to other mobile manufacturers in the future.
With Yahoo!Go, users will be able to connect to Yahoo!’s content such as instant messaging and email from their Nokia mobile phones. Behnam said Yahoo! is currently working with other mobile phone companies such as Motorola to introduce Yahoo! Go.
Yahoo! has been actively investing in the development of localized content services for all its South-East Asia sites since the beginning of the year.
The company has been integrating local content for sites in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand to ensure the delivery of country-and language-specific content to users in the respective countries.
“Instead of adopting a one-service-fits-all approach, we provide local relevance that can encourage Internet access and adoption,” Behnam said.
Among the new products and services that Malaysian users can expect this year are Malaysia FIFA World Cup 2006; Yahoo 360, a community service product; Yahoo! Travel, an all-new Yahoo e-mail service; and Yahoo Messenger interoperability with MSN Messenger.
Behnam said SMBs could improve their business dealings by empowering staff with mobile devices linked to the Internet as a way of streamlining communications when they were on the move.
In the past 12 months, Yahoo! had launched local Yahoo! webpages for Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and is looking to introduce more innovative and localized content by year-end.
He said the company anticipated significant growth in Internet users in the South-East Asian region as local governments continued to encourage the adoption of ICT.