Russian Search Engine Yandex Moves in on Smartphones

Yandex NV, Russia's biggest search-engine company, said two smartphone makers will sell Android phones with its services pre-installed, a boon as it seeks to challenge Google Inc. on mobile devices.

Yandex's browser, maps, search, cloud storage and store with 100,000 applications will be the default options on two phones, made by Huawei Technologies Co. and ZAO Explay, that will go on sale in Russia in March, Alexander Zverev, head of mobile ecosystems at Moscow-based Yandex, said in an interview.

The company is seeking to maintain its market share in Russia as local users switch to surfing the Web on mobile devices, with Android smartphones dominating. Yandex is joining other companies that are building their own services on top of Google's Android, including Amazon.com Inc. and Nokia Oyj. Read more...