• by January 9, 2006

Yahoo! on Friday launched Yahoo! Go, a new service that allows consumers to connect to all of their Yahoo! Internet-based services through multiple devices. Think about it: connecting anywhere, anytime. Internet-based services. Internet-based applications and software.

The new Yahoo! Go brand includes the Yahoo! Go Desktop, Yahoo! Go Mobile, and Yahoo! Go TV applications. The service will distribute consumers' Yahoo! content--photos, e-mail, and address books--no matter what device consumers are using, as long as it is connected to the Internet. It sounds plausible. It sounds marketable.

Yahoo! Go Desktop application is designed to link wireless phone and TV services to PCs. The Yahoo! Go Mobile application will be installed on select Nokia and Motorola wireless handsets starting this spring. Yahoo! is partnering with AT&T and Cingular Wireless on Go Mobile.

Yahoo! Go TV will allow consumers to link their Yahoo! contact lists directly via their TVs, view digital photos, and check news, sports, and other Yahoo! services from the same account they use on their PC or mobile phone. Mmm. This sounds vaguely familiar, kind of like Microsoft's WebTV venture from a few years ago. We surely hope the Yahoo! Go suite of services will be marketed better than WebTV was.

We were heartened to see that Yahoo! Chairman Terry Semel emerged from behind closed doors to launch Yahoo! Go at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Actually, we didn't actually see him, though our intrepid contributor Jonathan Blum was on the scene and can vouch for it. We're not sure where Semel's been these last few months--power-lunching at The Ivy? Brokering deals at The Staples Center? Negotiating on the red carpet? After all, Yahoo!'s chairman deployed some old-fashioned Hollywood pyrotechnics at the Consumer Electronics Show. He invited Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Cruise to help him launch Yahoo! Go.

In fact, the glitzy launch reminded this here Minute of several momentous product launches from Microsoft. Remember all that star power? All of which leads us to wonder whether Yahoo!, in some way, shape, or form, aspires to be the next Microsoft. We're not talking about any of the software giant's troubles. We're talking about its heft, its ability to make things happen, to gather partners, to press forward, and to be on the cutting edge. Even if it takes Microsoft a few tries, it typically always keeps pushing.

Both Yahoo! and Microsoft want to create and market suites of Web-based services, applications, and software. While Yahoo! is clearly more media-savvy and media-centric, both companies have a history of working with media and technology partners. Both have a strong commitment to software engineering, both are committed to the Web and search, and both have expressed a desire to work with partners to create new platforms. Both companies also want to extend their prowess beyond the desktop.

Microsoft can be a difficult partner at times. But guess what, Microsoft and Yahoo! will be working together more closely than ever this year. The question is: which one needs the other more? And, just how will Yahoo! market Yahoo! Go?

So, back to the question: Is Yahoo! turning into Microsoft?