Product Pulse – May 22, 2009

Posted May 22nd, 2009 at 5:43 pm by Nicki Dugan, Blog Editor

 One Comment / Filed in: Product Pulse

It’s elementary… Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, was born 150 years ago today. Holmes and his trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson, mastered the art of observation and deduction to solve crimes in 56 stories and four novels. But what we want to know is whether Mr. Spock is truly a descendant. Here’s the code we cracked this week:

• Buzzing the world: There’s news and there’s news people really care about. That’s what Yahoo! Buzz helps you filter. And now the site has made it even easier to keep tabs on what your contacts and the greater community find most interesting. As part of a fresh redesign, a new “Buzz Updates” tab surfaces the submitting, voting, and commenting activity from your friends and others. And given Yahoo! Buzz’s runaway success as the (insert shameless self-promotion) most popular social content service in the US, Yahoo! Buzz got its passport and just landed in India. Now readers all over India can keep tabs on what’s hot in everything from Bollywood to business in Bangalore. More here.
• Just tell me: The iPhone is truly the one thing I’d want on a desert isle, but let’s face it — its keyboard leaves something to be desired. That’s why Yahoo! Mobile just launched voice search for our Yahoo! Mobile iPhone app. Now you can search for anything — flight numbers, restaurants, gas stations, web sites — by just moving your mouth. You can also customize your “My Interests” tab with your voice — just click on “add anything” and say the topic you want to explore and add to your page. Our voice-enabled search is now available on more than 80 different devices/platforms – from Blackberry (including the newest ones) to Nokia to iPhone and Windows Mobile. Download the app or your update.
• Catch that play?: You can read about sports online, but it’s video that really gets the adrenaline flowing. Yahoo! Sports just revamped their video player so you can do more with the play-by-play. It now has a larger viewing window and you can watch videos in full screen. You can also share links or embed your favorite plays in your blog or what-have-you. And handy big thumbnails make it easier to browse through the video library. Check out this Lakers’ dunk. And then go get air sick.
• Group update: Six months ago, you might have noticed activity updates from your friends popping up in places like Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Profiles. They’ve included activity on Twitter, Flickr, Yahoo! Buzz, MyBlogLog, Yahoo! Music, delicious, and more. This week, Yahoo! Groups joined the fray. Now the questions, answers, advice, and photos you share with your group can also become an update for your Yahoo! connections, offering more airtime for the content you’ve created. And don’t worry — you have complete control over what you want to share. Read more here.
• Make it green: If you fancy yourself a MacGyver type and have an idea for a great new “green” gizmo, get thee to Yahoo! Green’s new “Make It Green” campaign. We’re searching for the best new green products and do-it-yourself projects so we can turn them into real products. What’s in it for you? A chance to star on the PBS TV show Everyday Edisons, a check for $2500, and the glory of knowing that your little planet-saving idea is lining the shelves of stores. Not particularly inventive? That’s ok — just go give a thumbs up to whatever idea you like best. You’ve got until June 30th. Check it out.

Subscribe to the RSS feed (or add it to My Yahoo!) to get this Product Pulse every week.

Tagged: iphone, Product Pulse, yahoo! buzz, yahoo! green, yahoo! groups, yahoo! mobile, yahoo! sports

Rate: (Average: 3.57 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Post a Comment Bookmark This Digg This

One Comment Add your own

Lorenzo | May 22nd, 2009 at 7:11 pm

Great so we can share all these updates with…..the people who sign up for Yahoo Profiles? 2 family members can’t even sign up because all they get is a “this profile has been deactivated by an administrator” because I was the admin. on an at&t dial up account I canceled months ago and unmerged. These may have been things to cheer about years ago on Yahoo 360. I can’t even get an rss feed to share my Yahoo updates on my personal website. bleh. What’s the point?

Post a Comment:

• Name (required)
• Mail (will not be published) (required)
• Website

Notes: Please note that Yahoo! may, in our sole discretion, reject comments for any reason we deem appropriate. Links of value to readers are welcome, but please use them sparingly - wield spam and you're banished forever.

This is a moderated site and comments will appear if and when they are approved. We will review the queue several times daily, so please don't resubmit if your comment doesn't appear immediately.