AT&T are about to launch the Motorola Backflip in the next few days. What we are now hearing is that AT&T are going to be dropping Google Search from the Android install replacing it with Yahoo Search. This is the first time we have heard of a Google [GOOG] Android handset not using Google Search by default.
The reason AT&T can do this is because Android is an open platform that allows them to make changes as needed to suit the phones launching on their network. We just didn’t expect that AT&T would drop a core search feature.
We don’t know the full reasons why they would switch the search to Yahoo! and perhaps they are trying to keep Apple [AAPL] happy by keeping google away from their Android phones, but anything right now is just pure speculation.
The phone is scheduled to launch on the 7th March on the AT&T network and from what we see, it appear to be quite a smart little phone and well worth checking out should you need an Android phone on that network.
Via: AndroidCommunity
Not sure if this info helps, but if you get AT&T’s U-Verse Internet access, and go to set up the sub-email accounts, it suggests/requests you configure the “portal” for each email address sign in. It then takes you to a clearly Yahoo! branded web page thoroughly intertwined with At&T . So I’m thinking they have already had a relationship for some while, and Google already knows about it and woulnd’t expect otherwise.
@OhioJoe Thanks for sharing! You could be right in that G already expected it.