Both Google and Yahoo have recently announced new mobile phone initiatives. The focus that both companies have recently put into the emerging market for delivering consistent services and content, proves the importance of mobile strategies at both companies.

This will no doubt be a challenge to handset manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Samsung, and Nokia, as they scramble to compete with high speed data carriers like Sprint, Verizon, Cingular, and emerging MVNO's on applications and content.

Based on these announcements, Yahoo is sticking to its core capabilities by increasing the capability to deliver on several different application platforms. Google on the other hand, has a broad agenda to embrace ownership of the wireless network itself, and has even filed patents that cover faster cellular data transmission. The key mobile announcement by Google at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show was a deal with Motorola to offer single button access to its search engine from selected Motorola handsets. The two companies have signed a three year deal in which Motorola phones will be carrying Google in order to boost usage of cellphones for internet access. It is expected that Google will pursue similar relationships with other mobile phone handset manufacturers.

Yahoo, continues to take a slightly different approach than Google, as it launches Yahoo Go. It is taking a more applications focused view, and is seeking to offer integrated services that could make it the center of a user’s mobile experience.

"The handset majors, once unquestionably the strongest brand owners in the mobile value chain, have in the past few years been fighting to defend that position from the increasingly high profile branding of their operator customers, with activities like Vodafone Live! As handsets evolve beyond being mere voice instruments to carry complex content and services, the situation is only getting more perilous for the phonemakers, as content and applications providers’ brands also vie for attention. The threat to the handset manufacturer’s brand, and therefore some of its competitiveness and value, is particularly clear in the MVNO virtual operator sector, where operator and content brand can be merged, as in the case of Disney or sports broadcaster/MVNO ESPN."

-via The Register