Yahoo Opens Mobile Platform, Launches iPhone oneConnect

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Yahoo on Wednesday announced that it would open up its Blueprint mobile platform for Java, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices, as well as mobile Web sites. It also announced the launch of oneConnect, a mobile social service and messaging client, for the iPhone.

The announcement was made at the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment conference in San Francisco.

"Yahoo Blueprint solves the most challenging problem plaguing today's mobile landscape—now with one click, you can write once and have mobile services run across a critical mass of devices and operating systems, potentially reaching millions of users," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president of Yahoo Connected Life, in a statement.

Blueprint promises faster development time, an interface that optimize content, a feature set including maps and location-based services, and compatibility with thousands of devices, according to Yahoo. Most importantly Blueprint claims to be truly open, not limited to just Yahoo.

The company is currently using Blueprint to develop its own iPhone applications and is in discussion with Apple to make Blueprint for the iPhone available to other developers. While Blueprint contains a full SDK for third-party developers, it also houses Yahoo's own mobile offerings.

The latest release, also announced at CTIA, is oneConnect, available in preview for free on Apple's iPhone App Store. With oneConnect, users can manage their various online presences all in one place, including integrating contacts, sending instant or SMS messages, and viewing the latest activity from their favorite social networks. Yahoo first announced oneConnect in February, although Lucas Mast, a spokesman for Yahoo, said that the iPhone is the first platform that oneConnect has appeared on.

Both Blueprint and oneConnect are available now.

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