Or it could be integrated into Google's e-mail and instant messaging applications, giving users a bridge between their phones and Google's online services.
Another innovation is the automatic translation of Web sites and creation of "bilingual e-mail" to help teachers, students and parents communicate and bridge the digital divide.
These days using a Yahoo e-mail address carries all the cultural cachet of carrying a Zune, signaling membership in the bridge-and-tunnel crowd of the tech world.