Nokia and Yahoo team up against Google

It has been said that Nokia and Yahoo make perfect mobile partners. Countering Google and fast track the Nokia's move into web services. The two companies are expected to get closer this week, with Yahoo holding a press conference today hosted by CEO Carol Bartz. This will showcase "an exciting announcement about providing global consumers with rich online and mobile experiences, and bringing forward a new era in keeping consumers connected."

According to sources, this will be a partnership with Nokia, somewhat on the lines of Yahoo's recently extended alliance with Samsung to bring a host of mobile services to the Korean giant's phones, spanning various operating systems. In Nokia's case, the collaboration is called 'Project Nike' (after the Greek goddess of victory, not the sportswear firm) and will bring Yahoo search, email and applications to Nokia Symbian and MeeGo devices. This will see these apps preloaded on various Nokia products, and even a fully Yahoo themed handset, somewhat like Nokia's lower profile Skype and Facebook gadgets.

The opportunity to team up against Google is obvious. Yahoo is becoming intimate with the companies who control almost 60% of the world's handsets (even on Samsung's Android range, Galaxy). There is a conflict of interest between Nokia and Yahoo - in particular, Nokia wants to build up its own software brand Ovi, even while it also needs to have big name services on its phones, and become a serious mobile application player quickly. These dilemmas explain why sources say the two firms have been in on-off talks for years.
As for Samsung, the Korean firm will preload branded Yahoo apps including Mail, Messenger, Front Page, Search, Flickr and News, expanding a three-year old agreement.