Russian search giant Yandex has released its Android home launcher, Yandex.Shell. It is available free of charge in 28 languages for users worldwide through Google Play or on Yandex.Store, the company’s own Android app marketplace which launched in February.
Released today, the Yandex-flavored launcher includes a homescreen and a revamped dialer with address book, as well as several useful features including instant search and broad possibilities for customization of the user interface. One of the main elements of the interface is a 3D carousel that makes switching between homescreens more intuitive and fancy.
Earlier this year, Yandex released Yandex.Shell as a B2B offering for Android device manufacturers. The company expects to generate revenues from pre-loading the launcher on devices, while promising that the product will remain free for end users.
Yandex’s International Media Relations Representative Vladimir Isaev told East-West Digital News that the company is negotiating with several phone vendors, as well as with mobile operators, to include Yandex.Shell into devices built for them. Also, the launcher is already being pre-loaded into several Android phones sold by Russian mobile providers MTS and Megafon.
Yandex.Shell is a product of engineers who came to Yandex as a result of its acquisition of SPB Software, a famous Russian mobile software developer. In November 2012, Yandex paid $38.4 million for the company.
The launcher was initially announced in February 2012 for Yandex’s key markets — Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. Since then, the launcher has been downloaded more than 1.1 million times, the company claims.
In addition to Yandex.Store and Yandex.Shell, the search giant’s mobile strategy includes a wide range of Android and iOS apps, from Yandex.Taxi to Yandex.Music. Moreover, the Yandex search engine itself is offered by default on all Windows Phone smartphones shipped to the CIS countries and Turkey, as well as on Samsung’s smartphones running Bada OS shipped to Russia.
Update June 18, 2013.
As a continuation of its journey into the world of mobile, Yandex has released its browser for Android smartphones and the iPad. The browser has a combined address and search box and is powered by Turbo technology, which makes browsing over weak Internet connections much easier. All downloaded and uploaded data is compressed, so web surfing becomes faster and — for some users — cheaper. Yandex expects to launch versions for Android tablets and the iPhone this fall.
