Yahoo! has just announced the creation of an open widget platform for mobiles, similar to the one currently available for desktop PCs, along with a beta for version 3 of its ‘Go’ software. The new version of Yahoo! Go doesn’t include any really big changes except for a new advertising model which allows for users to ‘interact’ with advertisers seamlessly. That means that you can call an advertiser instantly if you’re interested in their wares.
The new mobile widget platform, however, opens up any phone compatible with Yahoo! Go to a potentially massive array of handy, free content. What Yahoo! is doing, effectively, is making it easier and more attractive for small-time developers to get their software into people’s hands. By setting up a new, open platform, they have cleverly sidestepped some of the compatibility and platform specific issues which dog mobile software development.
The SDK won’t be out for a few weeks (so it’ll be some time before you can have any decent new widgets installed) but this long-awaited news finally puts some flesh on the bones of Yahoo!’s mobile strategy. It’ll be interesting to see whether developers embrace the new platform.
