Google and China Mobile announced a joint venture in setting up an online search technology for China Mobile, a carrier with roughly 300 million subscribers. The new services are expected to be launched early this year. The partnership will include services on the Monternet WAP portal for news, ringtones, videos and games.
Wang Jianzhou, chairman of China Mobile, said: “We are delighted to be providing China Mobile users with mobile and internet search services via our cooperation with Google. Mobile search will help users access the information they need more easily and quickly. This is an important move for China Mobile’s transformation into a mobile information expert
Google is going after mobile search around the world. In Asia Google has partnered with Japanese carriers NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, and in South Korean with SK Telecom, And in Europe Google has teamed with Telefonica, Vodafone and T-Mobile EU.
Google also announced that it would invest in Xunlei, an internet video download service. Althoug Google recently purchased YouTube they are looking for ways to expand their China market share. Google currently has about 1/3 the number of the users of Baidu, the leading search engine in China.
Google did not disclose the size of its investment in the Web site, Xunlei.com, but people close to the companies said Google paid about $5 million for a 4-percent stake in the company.
Resources: Phone Mag – New York Times
David Temple
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