Web giant Yahoo on Monday announced that it was opening up its mobile software and services to outside publishers and programmers. The idea behind the "open" strategy, which has been deployed many
times and in different variations by numerous companies over the last six months, is that the software developing masses can help create more and perhaps better mobile software than Yahoo. The move
falls in line with CEO Jerry Yang's mission to make the struggling Internet giant the "starting point for the most consumers" on the Internet.
So how does an open platform help? Yahoo
wants innovative software developed on top of its home page and cell phone software programs like email, news, weather and chat. However, it's not an exclusive arrangement: If say, MTV developed a
program to run on Yahoo's mobile home page, the media giant could deploy the same program on Google's home page; Yahoo is hoping users choose its services.
"If Yahoo really wants to
become the starting point for everyone, it cannot be only about Yahoo," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president of the department that operates Yahoo's mobile division.
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