Of course you have to have a smart phone to use the new tool, but Bonforte adds more than 90 percent of US Yahoo Mail users use their smartphones to access their mail accounts.  The users will still be able to reach their mail account through traditional methods, in the event their phone is lost or their battery has died.

Right now the service in only available for Yahoo Mail and Sports, but the company says it plans to expand the feature into the company’s other services in the near future.

Analysts are saying Yahoo needs something that could be described as a “killer product”, noting the company is still facing slower revenues and pressure from investors to move the business forward.  CEO Marissa Mayer has undertaken a re-vamping of the company’s mobile properties as an effort to move the firm forward in the business of smartphones and tablets.

Yahoo is looking to Mail as a service that can bridge that gap to the newer smartphone users.  Another new feature is the ability to import outside e-mail accounts, like AOL and Hotmail, and a feature to let you look at attachments side-by-side with messages.

Bonforte adds, “Yahoo Mail has always been the center of what Yahoo is.  The success of the product is very important to the success of the company.”