Update: Yahoo tells WebProNews that it plans on implementing features similar to the new search features for other categories beyond news and entertainment, but would not get specific at this point.
Original Article: Yahoo Chief Product Officer Blake Irving is currently giving a talk about Yahoo’s product strategy moving forward. He is talking about the company’s plans for the fall.
According to Irving, Yahoo has 600 million users worldwide, across its entire brand. That really puts Facebook’s over 500 million into perspective, considering how much younger that company is.
So what’s on the way from Yahoo? A new Mail experience more focused on performance and speed, for starters. Over the next few weeks, users will have access to the new beta. Yahoo promises a "cleaner, sleeker" interface, a faster experience, better anti–spam features, the ability to view and update Facebook and Twitter pages from the inbox, and enhancements to features like video, photo sharing tools, and a new version of Yahoo Messenger.
Irving says the Mail experience has been changed "from the ground up."
Then there’s search. Yahoo is launching new rich search results for entertainment and news. For movies, music artists, or celebrities, results will combine images, news articles, videos, tweets, events, and ratings. For news, they’ll include videos, images, articles, and tweets on a single page.
Additionally, the Trending Now lists will be accompanied by slideshows.
A few other things Yahoo says to expect this fall include:
– Twitter integration on Yahoo that lets you link your accounts to update across both networks
– A new Yahoo app for the iPad and other tablets with personalized news, info, and other updates
– Customized Content ads
– New Connected TV partnerships (they announced one with Toshiba yesterday)
Irving says, "While you can’t always see ‘under the hood’ as a consumer, you should know that we’re delivering a number of planet-scale technology components to make it all possible. For example, we have built our products on global platforms and one of the world’s largest cloud computing infrastructures. What this means for you is more features and enhancements for the products you love — sooner and more often."
Which new Yahoo offerings are you looking forward to?
