• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 26, 2006

Yahoo and Nokia announced a partnership Tuesday to co-market new Nokia phones that facilitate a simpler exchange of information between members of Yahoo's photo-sharing community Flickr. Exactly when the phones--which Nokia is calling "multimedia computers"--will be available in the United States has not been determined, a Yahoo spokesman said.

Without having to install or download additional applications, Flickr members will be able to upload full-size photos to their accounts directly from the phone's camera or image gallery applications. Another supported feature is the ability to add comments to the photos that are uploaded from Nokia Nseries devices.

In broader terms, Yahoo first announced its partnership with Nokia in January. Yahoo is working with many phone makers, and service providers--Intel, AT&T, Cingular, and Motorola, among others--to more easily reach consumers beyond their computer screens in the future.

Also, in early March, the photo-sharing startup Netomat optimized for Flickr to deliver Flickr updates with images and text to mobile phones. Now when a Flickr group has new content, subscribers to the free service can receive the image resized for mobile phones along with any associated text. netomat hub members can also invite friends to their Flickr hub for group chat about the Flickr content.

Yahoo bought Flickr in March of last year, when the startup was just a year old. As in the case of Flickr and Del.icio.us--the bookmark-sharing site Yahoo bought in December--the Internet behemoth has earned a reputation for acquiring promising startups for their devoted community of users as well as their intellectual property. Flickr's team, for instance, contributed significantly to the look and communal sensibility of Yahoo Answers, the question-and-answer site it launched late last year.

Last year, Nokia sold more than 100 million camera phones, making it the world's largest manufacturer of digital cameras.