Yell.com is UK local search engine for Nokia mobile search solution - 9 August 2005
Yell and Nokia today announced a collaboration which sees Yell.com feature as the UK local search engine in Nokia’s new mobile search application. The ground-breaking application, which launches this month on Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681 and Nokia 6630 smartphones, brings together the UK’s local search engine with the world’s leader in mobile communication.Nokia smartphone users in the UK will have access to Yell.com’s extensive business database of around two million businesses, shops and services and more than 150,000 searchable advertisers. The development offers benefits to Yell.com’s advertisers by further broadening the channels by which consumers have access to them.
The local search feature of the Nokia application has been developed with guidance from Yell.com and will be piloted in the UK, Sweden and Finland. Last year Yell.com launched its own mobile search service, Yell.com mobile – the most advanced service of its kind currently available in UK.
From mid-August relevant state-of-the-art handsets – the Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681 and Nokia 6630 smartphones - will be pre-loaded with the Nokia search application via a memory card in the standard smartphone sales packs, whilst existing owners of compatible Nokia smartphones can download it for free from www.nokia.com/mobilesearch.
With Yell.com integrated into the Nokia smartphone’s interface, users will now be able to easily access business, shop and service information anywhere in the UK – from restaurants and taxis to dry cleaners or locksmiths – all direct from their Nokia smartphone.
Relevant results of a Yell.com mobile search will be displayed in text format on the screen with key contact data – telephone number and address – appearing in a pop-up box as the user scrolls through the list of results. Users can then immediately make a call at the touch of a button or save the number to the handset’s contacts.
And to make searching on the move even easier, Yell.com’s business data has been integrated with a sophisticated mapping solution from AtlasCT and NAVTEQ – which means search results are instantly flagged on interactive mobile maps to help users find their way to their destination.
When travelling between countries, the Nokia mobile search application automatically offers to change to available local search engines – currently Eniro and Fonecta in Finland and Eniro in Sweden.
Martin Wilson, head of mobile at Yell, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Nokia, the world’s leading handset manufacturer, to help it to set up and pilot a pioneering mobile search application. The collaboration is an acknowledgement of the quality and depth of Yell.com’s database and also signifies the next step in Yell.com’s commitment to developing the potential of its mobile technology.”
Harry Santamäki, vice president, Strategy and Business Development, Multimedia, Nokia, said: “Introducing the search application together with leading search engine providers brings one of the world's most popular online activities – online search – to the fingertips of Nokia handset users.
“With this extremely straightforward and easy to use application, users can now expand the use of online search services beyond their desktops.”
UK users of the Nokia mobile search application will also be able to search the web via Yahoo! and also conduct content-based searches via Medio Systems.
