Amid Yahoo's efforts to strengthen its hand in mobile search, it's paring down its smartphone application development efforts, enabling it to concentrate instead on apps for the Apple iPhone.

Beta testers of Yahoo's mobile Java-based app this week received an e-mail stating that Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) "ceased development" of the application and that, for now, the company will "focus efforts on the newly launched Yahoo Mobile experience for browsers and for the iPhone."

Yet Yahoo officials said that the company isn't entirely abandoning the effort to create mobile apps for other platforms, and reports indicate that it may be planning to create one with a different design than its now-scrapped application.

For now, at least, the latest developments mean that users without Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhones will have to access Yahoo's mobile content through its recently redesigned mobile site.

The news comes on the heels of the official launch in April of Yahoo Mobile Web and its iPhone app, which marked the latest in Yahoo's ongoing efforts to expand its strength in wireless Internet and mobile apps -- already established as fast-growing sectors for developers and online firms.

In the past year, the pioneering Web portal and search engine has focused on efforts in third-party mobile application development and mobile search.

Yet Yahoo insists that this week's news isn't a sign of retreat.

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