Nokia, Yahoo team up on mapping

May 25, 2010|Associated Press

NEW YORK — Nokia Corp. will run mapping and navigation services for Yahoo Inc., an acknowledgement that the slumping Internet company has not kept up with Google Inc. in the increasingly important area of location services.

Yahoo will, in turn, provide e-mail and instant messaging on Nokia phones as part of the partnership, announced yesterday.

Yahoo has been working to focus on its core businesses — creating and licensing content, selling online ads, and providing messaging services — while turning to partners to run some of its other offerings.

Last year, the company entered a 10-year Internet search partnership with Microsoft Corp. in an effort to whittle away Google’s leadership.

Yesterday, Yahoo said it will drop its Yahoo Personals brand for its dating service and partner with Match.com, a standalone dating website.

The maps deal with Nokia, the world’s number one maker of mobile phones, covers both phones and computers.

Yahoo and Nokia would not disclose financial details of the deal, but they both stand to benefit from the other’s reach and expertise.

The services will start to become available later this year and will be offered worldwide in 2011.

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