• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 9, 2006

In its most aggressive attempt yet to transcend consumers' computer screens, Yahoo! late last week announced a slew of partnerships and the launch of three new services--"Yahoo! Go Mobile," Yahoo! Go TV," and "Yahoo! Go Desktop." New corporate partners include Intel, AT&T, Cingular, Nokia, and Motorola, among others.

Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel unveiled the Yahoo! Go initiative during a keynote speech Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Starting later this year, the service will allow users to access their Yahoo! accounts from mobile phones and TV sets.

Semel's speech followed a week of announcements from Yahoo!'s rivals, each detailing their efforts to move beyond desktop computers and into consumers' living rooms and mobile lives--clearly the next frontier for growth-hungry Internet juggernauts like Google, America Online, and Microsoft.

America Online announced its partnership with Intel on Thursday. Speaking with OnlineMediaDaily regarding the deal, AOL Media Networks Executive Vice President Kevin Conroy said: "The content will be the same, but the presentation will be a remote control format." Google jumped on the Viiv bandwagon, too, it said Friday--making Google Video accessible over Viiv-ready devices.

Yahoo! Go Mobile combines built-in e-mail, messaging, search, address book, photo, and calendar and news applications. The service--which is expected to launch with AT&T and Cingular Wireless in a number of U.S. markets (and 10 countries throughout Europe and Asia)--will be preloaded on Nokia Series 6682 mobile phones (and other Nokia 6600-series models internationally).

Motorola, meanwhile, announced on Friday its plan to sell phones with pre-installed software from Yahoo! and Google, making it easier for users to access specially formatted services and content from each portal.

While its launch date is still months away, Yahoo! Go TV is expected to enable users to consume content from PC-connected televisions running on Intel's new Viiv technology.

Similar to a digital video recorder like TiVo, Yahoo! Go TV is designed to enable users to search through, view, and even store ad-supported video from participating content providers--plus weather, sports scores, stock data, and news from My Yahoo!.

Like AOL and other content distributors that are partnering with Intel, Yahoo! is customizing its services--music, photos, video--to Intel Viiv-specifications so users can view their Yahoo! photos on an LCD TV, for instance, or watch properly formatted Yahoo! video on their mobile device.

ESPN.com and MTV's Overdrive Web channel have already agreed to make their offerings available over Viiv-equipped devices. Additionally, Intel and NBC Universal announced late last week that they were partnering to offer on-demand broadband video streams of the upcoming Torino Olympics Games to Viiv PC owners. Laptop users with Centrino also will be able to select specific Olympic moments for on-demand viewing. P> The first Viiv-compatible computers and laptops are expected to begin trickling to market over the next several months. TVs, Internet-ready DVD players, and other devices, however, are not expected to debut until the second half of this year.

Yahoo! Go Desktop, meanwhile, gives users the ability to access a number of its services--Flickr photos, Yahoo! Messenger, news, search, address book, and calendar--on their desktops by opening a browser using "widgets."

This past summer, Yahoo! acquired Pixoria and its data-tracking Konfabulator software, giving Yahoo!'s users access to Pixoria's open platform for running widgets.

Separately, in another attempt to transcend consumer desktops--more in line with interior design than gadget design--Yahoo! has partnered with Sheraton Hotels to remake some Sheraton lobbies in Yahoo!'s yellow and purple image. Yahoo! has already outfitted two hotels in Boston and San Diego with free Wi-Fi access, desktop computers, and printers, as well as a distinct Yahoo! look and feel. There are no immediate plans to redo additional Sheraton lobbies at the moment, a Yahoo! spokesman said.