March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc., which is extending its products beyond personal computers, released a new version of its mobile-phone software that works with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile operating system.

The new version makes Yahoo Go compatible with portable Windows devices, allowing it to work with a total of more than 175 phones, Marco Boerries, a Yahoo senior vice president, said in an interview. He now expects Yahoo to beat its goal of making the software compatible with 400 devices by year-end.

Yahoo, owner of the most-visited U.S. Internet site, introduced the software in January to get more of its programs into the hands of mobile-phone owners. The Sunnyvale, California- based company today also announced an agreement with High Tech Computer Corp., the world's largest maker of mobile phones using Windows, to distribute the new software on High Tech's devices.

``People buy these devices to use wireless data,'' Boerries said. ``Windows mobile was the only gaping hole we had left for Yahoo Go.''

More than 800,000 people have requested to download Yahoo's Go software, Boerries said. Some may have been unable to do so, though, because their phones weren't compatible. He declined to say how many people have downloaded the service.

The company already has agreements with Motorola Inc., Nokia Oyj, Samsung Electronics Co. and Research In Motion Ltd. to distribute the Yahoo Go program. The partners will add the new software when it's released, which will be ``very soon,'' Boerries said.

Yahoo shares dropped 41 cents to $30.39 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. They have climbed 19 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Thaw in San Francisco at jthaw@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 7, 2007 16:06 EST