Yahoo today announced a deal to expand the role of its services on cellphones of the world's second-largest handset maker Samsung. Under the partnership, Samsung will distribute Yahoo!'s services on Samsung mobile devices - including those running Samsung bada and Android platforms. Through this partnership Samsung will distribute Yahoo! services, including Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Front Page, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Flickr, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Contacts, Yahoo! Calendar, and Yahoo! Weather on Samsung's mobile devices globally, currently planned to begin in May 2010.

"By making our most popular Yahoo! services available on Samsung mobile devices around the world, we're providing consumers with personally relevant mobile Internet experiences that make it easy for them to stay connected to what's important to them and explore the full potential of their device," said David Ko, senior vice president, Audience, Mobile and Local for Yahoo!. "We're thrilled to deepen our relationship with Samsung and look forward to continuing to drive the global adoption of mobile Internet services."

"We want to provide our customers with the best possible services designed to enhance their mobile experience," said Kenny Lee, vice president of content planning at Samsung. "Our relationship with Yahoo! continues to grow and benefit our global consumer base, who wants access popular Yahoo! services from their Samsung phone."

Samsung phones may come pre-loaded with one or more Yahoo! branded services:

- Yahoo! Mail - Access your favorite Web mail features: Read, reply, compose and send mail; view attachments; get to your personal mail folders; and organize messages by customizable groups.
- Yahoo! Messenger - Message your friends in real time: view their availability and see their status messages; update your own status; and show your style with emoticons, avatars, or photos.
- Yahoo! Contacts and Calendar - Look up and/or add contact information and update your calendar.
- Yahoo! Mobile Front Page - Bring together your favorite content and services from anywhere across the Internet to one location.
- Yahoo! Search - Get the information and answers you need when you are on the go.
- Yahoo! Flickr - Take, share, and discover photos and videos; geo-tag photos; and email them to your Flickr account from your Samsung phone.
- Yahoo! News - Get the news you're interested in on your phone. Choose what is relevant to you from a complete list of news categories, including entertainment, sports, business, technology, and more.
- Yahoo! Finance - Follow broad market indices or a specific company and read the day's top news, research, and analysis to keep up-to-date about the financial world.
- Yahoo! Weather - View current weather conditions or a three-day forecast; search for weather conditions by city; find sunrise and sunset times; and get wind, visibility, humidity, and barometer readings.

The role of mobile services and software has increased sharply since Apple and Google entered the industry, forcing traditional phone makers like Samsung and Nokia to hurry to build up their offerings.