Yahoo launches OneConnect iPhone software

by Jennifer Whitehead, Media Week 11-Sep-08, 16:00

LONDON - Yahoo has launched a preview version of its Apple iPhone software that will allow users access to services such as instant messaging and e-mail, from a single application.

Yahoo oneConnect is available only in the US, with wider access scheduled for early 2009. It is initially available for iPhones and will be adapted for other devices over the coming months.

The service enables users to integrate contacts from Yahoo E-mail, iPhone and social networks, see what is happening on sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and make a list of favourite people to follow more closely and contact more easily.

Yahoo is the latest company to launch an application that capitalises on the huge popularity of the iPhone, with the Apple website currently having more than 2,000 applications listed.

Apple sold six million of the first version of the iPhone, launched in 2007. After launching a faster version in July, the company is now producing up to 800,000 phones a week, according to reports.

Yahoo! is previewing the new service at CTIA Wireless in San Francisco.