Yahoo Go vs Yahoo Mobile, Explained
April 18th, 2007 MobileFreak
Want to use Yahoo on your cell phone? Great, just use Yahoo Go. Or should you use Yahoo Mobile? Wait, maybe it’s Yahoo oneSearch?
Yes, it is confusing. No, it shouldn’t be. Such is the current world of the mobile web, where companies are stammering to figure out what works, what doesn’t, and what’s the name that subsumes the words mobile, Web 2.0, search, phone, widget, gadget, beta, and yes, now gamma, all into one.
You may have seen our earlier, high-level article on mobile search sites. Today we will focus on Yahoo!’s mobile search services, Yahoo! Go and Yahoo! oneSearch, and when to use them.
Yahoo Go 2.0 (Gamma)
Of the three Yahoo! mobile services, Yahoo! Go is the only one that is actually an app for your cell phone. Navigation is centered around the concept of a carousel, and they let you navigate around that carousel to the widget of your choice. Current widgets include pictures, travel, weather, entertainment, news headlines, and more.
Another widget is the actual oneSearch tool, explained further below, which I have found to be very handy.
Since Yahoo Go! caches a lot of the data, it can be very useful when you are out your network’s service area. To find the phones that support Yahoo! Go, start here. To find the wireless plans that support Yahoo! Go, start here.
Yahoo! oneSearch
URL: http://m.yahoo.com
Like the name implies, Yahoo! oneSearch attempts to provide all the relevant “instant answers” on “just about anything.” The idea is that the information you are looking for should almost always be included in that first set of results. For example, if you are in Chicago for work and are looking to see what is going on that night, a Yahoo oneSearch query for Chicago provides information on weather, traffic, events, news, photos, and city guide links.
To use oneSearch, browse to the mobile site from your phone, then search for any topic. Many of the typical mobile queries are for timely information such as weather forecasts, stock quotes, or sports scores. oneSearch covers these well, but also provides timely information for say, current prices for a digital camera, or even headlines related to a certain person.
If you haven’t tried any of the mobile web services yet, give them a try the next time you are on a business trip. I think you’ll find a new way to use your time wisely.
Entry Filed under: Tools, Yahoo
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[...] in April, we discussed some of the differences between Yahoo! Go and and their other mobile offerings. More Yahoo! mobile news this week at the 2008 Computer Electronics Show, where Jerry Yang and [...]
Ive tried using Yahoo go 2.0 on my Nokia E61….and its way too sloooow to be usable. Im sticking with the internet and and google maps at the moment, much more usable.