Yahoo extends cell phone search

A screenshot of uk.mobile.yahoo.com, taken on May 3, 2007. Yahoo Inc. launched a new Internet search system for cell phone users in Europe and Canada on Thursday, designed to provide locally relevant answers.

LONDON (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. launched a new Internet search system for cell phone users in Europe and Canada on Thursday, designed to provide locally relevant answers.

The service, which went live in the United States in March, now covers Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Canada.

The California-based company has been making strides in recent months to overtake rival Google Inc. in the fast-emerging mobile Web market.

"What consumers want from a mobile search is entirely different to what they want on the PC (personal computer)," said Geraldine Wilson, who heads Yahoo's Connected Life business unit in Europe.

With this service, if a user wants to look for pizza restaurants nearby, he or she can type "pizza" into the search box on a handset and obtain a list of local restaurants as well as phone numbers with a click-to-call feature, the distances to locations and ratings, Yahoo said.

The service, dubbed oneSearch, also provides news, images, local weather and financial updates.