Yahoo to launch internet for mobiles

PARIS: Internet giant Yahoo is to launch its new generation Internet portal for mobile phones in 12 countries on Friday, the company said.

Yahoo Go Mobile 2.0 will be pre-installed on most new models that come out on the market in coming months, said Christophe Parct, director general of Yahoo France.

The new portal will be launched in India, Britain, Canada, France, German, Indonesia, Malaysia, Italy, the Philippines, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam.

"We are aiming to have several million users by the end of the year," Parcot told.

An English language portal was launched in the United States in January and is mainly financed through advertising.

Yahoo, Microsoft, Google and others have all been aiming new services at the mobilephone market.

Yahoo's portal will be pre-installed on all new Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, RIM (Blackberry) and HTC mobile phones, the company said.

On top of surfing the Internet the portal can also be used to consult email, roads and satellite maps and other internet services.