World's leading Email & online service provider Yahoo! and leading mobile phone giant Nokia today announced a worldwide strategic alliance to extend the reach of their industry leading online services and offer people rich experiences that keep them connected to their world and the world around them.
Building on more than five years of collaboration, Nokia and Yahoo! will leverage each others' strengths in e-mail, instant messaging and maps and navigation services, to provide consumers with access to world-class experiences on both PC and mobile devices.
As part of the alliance, Nokia will be the exclusive, global provider of Yahoo!'s maps and navigation services, integrating Ovi Maps across Yahoo! properties, branded as "powered by Ovi. Yahoo! will become the exclusive, global provider of Nokia's Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat services branded as "Ovi Mail / Ovi Chat powered by Yahoo! Nokia and Yahoo! plan to work on ID federation between their services, beginning by making it easy for people to use their Ovi user IDs across select Yahoo! properties to easily access the online content and services they need.
Mr. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO, Nokia said "Delivering great user experiences both online and on your mobile - is what this alliance is all about.We're enabling millions of Yahoo! customers in key markets including North America to discover the unique capabilities that Ovi Maps brings. Similarly, Yahoo!'s online expertise will bring exciting mail and messaging enhancements to millions of Ovi Mail customers across almost every country around the world, many of whom will have their first Internet experience on their mobile."
"What a combination," said Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo!. "We're excited to expand the reach of our best-in-class Mail and Messenger services, bringing personalized experiences to more people across the mobile web, particularly in emerging markets where we are seeding the next generation of Yahoo! users. At the same time, we believe Nokia's strength and continued investment in maps and navigation will greatly enhance our existing products, enabling us to focus on areas that are core to our business."
The Yahoo! and Nokia's co-branded service offerings are expected to become available from the second half of 2010, with global availability expected in 2011.
