Yahoo! plots social-networking application for mobile phones
Yahoo! is preparing to launch a social-networking application for smart-phone users called oneConnect, following successful previews in the US.
The application will allow users to integrate all their contacts from their Yahoo! Address Book and selected social networks onto their smartphone.
They will then be able to send instant or SMS messages, post their status, and view the latest activity from social networks. An initial version is due to be released in the US on Friday (September 26) and a UK version is due to follow early next year.
The initial version will support Bebo, Dopplr, Facebook, Flickr, Friendster, Last.fm, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube.
Mitch Lazar, vice-president of commercial services for Connected Life at Yahoo! Europe, says: “We are dedicated to developing user-friendly mobile services. Yahoo! oneConnect is one example of this, neatly bringing together a user’s favourite social network in one place, therefore removing the need to open many different browsers.
“Ultimately, advertising will go where the audience is, so providing a satisfying mobile experience is key.”
The launch comes as a new report from Juniper Research, revealed ad-funded mobile social networking is expected to be the driving force behind revenues in user-generated content by 2013.
The research forecasts that the number of active users of mobile social-networking sites will rise from 54 million in 2008 to nearly 730 million in 2013.
