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Yahoo Messenger makes jump to BlackBerrys
By Scarlet Pruitt

BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices will soon come with Yahoo Inc.'s Messenger software installed, allowing user to chat as well as e-mail on the go.

Full color, graphical Yahoo Messenger clients will be installed on the devices in "coming months," BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) said on Monday. The companies will also offer an enhanced version of Yahoo's Mail service for Blackberrys in the future, they said.

The alliance allows Yahoo to get its instant messaging (IM) software onto yet another platform, while RIM gains another feature to offer to BlackBerry customers.

Yahoo already has agreements with a number of mobile operators, including AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc., to offer Messenger to mobile customers. The Sunnyvale, California, Internet company has tailored versions of its Mail service for mobile phone browsers.

Yahoo is not alone in offering its IM service beyond the desktop, as other leading IM providers Microsoft Corp. and America Online Inc. (AOL) have also been wheeling and dealing with mobile providers.

Posted March 14, 2005 04:41 PM |