Yahoo

So you've been pining for an iPhone but just can't scrape together the 500 bucks you'll need to buy one?

Yahoo has something new that could help tide you over, and it will certainly breathe new life into an old mobile phone.

It's called Yahoo Go , a free application that's now available for a wide variety of advanced cell phones (including the Samsung Blackjack, the Motorola Q, LG's Chocolate and most BlackBerry models) and is "coming soon" for a bunch of other models (including Motorola's popular Razr and Krzr).

Yahoo Go puts its major functions into a "carousel" at the bottom of the screen that you control with the phone's keypad. From there, you can dial into news, sports, finance and entertainment reports, all of which can be customized by simply adding sources.

Type in "WFAA," for instance, and you'll see a list of online news feeds from Channel 8.

But there's a lot more to Yahoo Go.

You can check your Yahoo Mail account, sending and receiving messages on the go.

You can monitor the latest weather for your favorite spots around the country or even around the world, preset according to your preferences.

There's a mapping tool that lets you plot a route to your next destination with real-time traffic information available as a handy overlay for Dallas-Fort Worth and other major cities.

Yahoo even includes an iPhone-like search function with the maps. Want a hamburger? Type in the word and Yahoo Go displays all the matches in the map area.

Press the numbered key associated with a spot on the map to zero in on an option that sounds good. From that screen, you have access to the address, reviews, and can even press a button to dial the phone number.

Yahoo's OneSearch function is available from just about any screen in the service; when you start typing, it starts searching, and that includes access to any entries that you may have in your Yahoo account's calendar or address book.

That's important, because it means you can use your desktop or notebook computer to maintain your contact list and calendar. Your mobile phone then becomes a remote access point for all of this information.

Yahoo Go also has a fun interface to the Flickr photo sharing service. You can browse through images created by others or link to your own Flickr account to upload and manage the photos from your phone.

Yahoo Go is a very ambitious and full-featured offering, but it's still classified as a "beta" product. That means it still has a few rough edges.

I found its performance a bit sluggish on my Samsung Blackjack phone. I still prefer Google Mobile Search on my cell phone, and I like Google Mobile Maps better than Yahoo's implementation.

But while no mobile device that I've seen has yet approached Apple's iPhone in seamlessly orchestrating all of these functions in a single package, Yahoo Go may be able to give your "ordinary" phone a function transplant. Check the Yahoo Go Web site to see if your phone is (or will be) compatible.

One more thing: Unless you have very deep pockets, don't attempt to put Yahoo Go into action unless you have an unlimited data plan from your cellular provider. That entails a monthly fee over and above your voice plan (typically between $15 and $40). Without it, you may be charged by the kilobyte of data use, and that can quickly run up your bill. a month.

Watch Computer Corner every week on News 8 Midday at noon, or online any time.

E-mail askwalt@wfaa.com