yahoo
Latest
Yahoo still hoping fanboys will jump into its Wii portal
Unfortunately, "Jump in" was already taken. Yahoo's "Brand Universe" initiative remains slogan-less and intentionally under-promoted, still represented by a single brand portal, Wii, supposedly the first of one hundred.The Wii portal quietly launched last fall, attracting a reported 1.2 million visitors during the month of November -- when Wii-ziness was at an all-time high. The portal continues to haphazardly pull in a variety of Wii-tagged content mostly originating from Yahoo-branded sources like Flickr and MyWeb, as well as from social bookmarking site del.icio.us. Not surprisingly, all of the featured game content links to Yahoo Games.After a brief visit, we didn't find much incentive to ever return. Biggest turnoff? No system in place to manage the relevance of the portal's content. Really, one picture of 'Fanboy X' cuddling his Wii is more than enough. Try again, Yahoo. [Via Gamasutra]
Becoming a god of war in 300 [Update 1]
One of our Dream Games was God of War: a mythological beat-em-up that took was rooted in psuedo Greek mythology. Looks like 300 is going to attempt to fill that role for PSP gamers. The game is based on the trials of 300 Spartans that must go against a million Persians. Considering how you'll have to fight to the death, I think it's safe to say that we can expect a lot of killing. As Yahoo! Games explains, "There are showers of red blood and flying body parts."Besides the gore, the game promises to deliver an action experience tailor-made for the PSP. The camera will be automatic, akin to God of War. By using "horde technology," the game will continue to shower you with enemies, although only about six will be on screen at all times. The developers intend to have their battle system have depth as well: "Enemies have conditions to beat and we give you the tools to do it. Then, the player needs to make choices on whom to attack first, what they want to do to the enemy, and then, pile on some other choices regarding health management and your rage. So, very quickly, you find that all your choices are meaningful."300: March to Glory will release February 27th, exclusively for the PSP. Until then, feel free to check out some interesting cinematics from the game.[Update 1: Corrected linkage. Hopefully, the armies of Sparta will spare my life for this error.]
Sony to compete against Nintendo with PSP's multimedia features
After reporting some pretty disappointing losses, Sony is desperately trying to restructure its games division to at least break even. After stating boldly that they will not give up on the PSP, Sony will now seriously push the multimedia capabilities of the system. They've already started developing partnerships with media providers, such as amazon, but it looks like Sony is looking for even larger partnerships.According to MarketWatch, analysts are predicting Sony will partner up with "at least one big ISP, such as Yahoo." Such tie-ins will promote the PSP's ability to download movies, television shows and PlayStation games. The PSP is technically capable of doing a lot, but the goal is to get the word out to the mainstream."It was pretty much a competition issue with the Nintendo so we have to fight back by introducing more attractive applications [for the PSP] by using the network," Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony's CFO, told the Financial Times.[Thanks, nav! Via paidContent]
Vista security too tight on casual games, claims WildTangent
DirectX creator Alex St. John says Windows Vista "breaks" casual games. The WildTangent CEO recently described the arduous process of patching his company's network of games to ensure Vista compatibility. The effort reportedly took a year of working closely with "nearly every major casual game developer.""Parents who choose to use Vista's parental controls are likely to accidentally block access to hundreds of very popular family friendly games that happen not to have ESRB ratings," explained St. John. Casual game networks hosted by Yahoo, AOL, RealArcade, and even Microsoft (MSN Games) could all be affected, according to St. John. Microsoft has yet to comment on the allegations.It should be noted that WildTangent's software is often denoted as spyware by antispyware applications. While the software is generally regarded as harmless, it's often installed without express consent (and remains self-updating); WildTangent also reserves the right to collect personal information for use in tuning its products.
Nimbuzz lets you call your IM buddies
We've all been there -- you need to get in contact with your friends; they're not answering their phones. You know they're online, but you need to have an actual voice conversation. Well, rejoice, our frustrated friends -- for Nimbuzz plans to bridge the gap between instant messaging and cellphones. Its currently-in-beta (no surprise there), free-to-download app supports "more than 500 [Java-enabled] mobile devices" and allows you to call and initiate voice chats with your buddies on Google Talk and MSN / Windows Live Messenger. In addition to keeping you on top of your online friends, it lets you make international calls to other cellphones at local rates, so long as whomever you are calling also has Nimbuzz installed on their device. Besides that, you also get free text messaging and the ability to have Group Calls with up to five buddies on your contact list regardless of how they are connected, and Nimbuzz says it is currently working on getting your AIM, ICQ, Yahoo! and Skype friends into the mix. Now that you know, we hope you don't mind as we run and make a few overdue calls to our pals across the pond and in the far East.
Microsoft, Google, and others developing code of conduct
It's not often you see a group of companies like this working together on something, but Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Vodafone look to have put aside their differences and sat down with each other in an effort to address concerns of privacy rights and freedom of expression relating to their various business dealings (most prominently those with China), joining with a group of nongovernmental organizations to develop a code of conduct that each will follow when such issues arise. While there's no indication when the code of conduct will be finalized or go into effect, the groups working to develop it certainly lead quite a bit of credibility to it, with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, Business for Social Responsibility, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders all having a hand in its drafting. What's not so clear, however, is what, if any, consequences the companies would face should they violate the code, only that they'll be held "accountable for their actions."
Yahoo! Messenger sneak peek
There was a time when Yahoo! Messenger on OS X, well, sucked. That time has long since passed thanks to the great Mac focused team that Yahoo! has created (the Mac team may be small, but they are passionate). I was able to sit down with Matthew Skyrm, Director of Product Management for Yahoo! Messenger, and take a look at what Yahoo! is cooking up for the next beta. It looks good folks, really good.The UI won't be changing too much, but it will be modified to allow for some new features: Tabs - this one is huge. We all know tabs, and the team decided to go with the classic one IM window with tabs on the bottom. If you close the window, it only closes the Tab that you are currently in (which is a nice touch). Voice chat support - one of the most highly requested features it would seem. You can make free computer to computer calls and you can even call phones (and have a phone number associated with your Yahoo! Messenger) thanks to Yahoo! Voice. A new notifications section - one of the nice things about Yahoo! Messenger is that you can IM someone who isn't online and they'll get that IM when they sign on. Sadly, that means if you haven't been online in a while you can face an onslaught of windows when you start up Messenger. Tabs remedy this somewhat, but the good folks at Yahoo! went one step further and create a new section in Messenger that will show you, in your buddy list, any IMs you might have missed. You will find your voice mail here, yes you will be able to get voice mail on Yahoo! Messenger. Archiving - finally the next beta will offer a way for you to archive your messages, and not just in an ugly text file. It is clear that the team spent some serious time on the UI for the archives, and it shows. The archives also offer full Spotlight integration so now you can search your IMs just as easily as you can search the rest of your Mac. I tried to get a firm date for the release of this beta, but that Matthew is cagey. He told me to expect it sometime in the next several months because he would 'rather be vague than late.' Fair enough. This beta of Yahoo! Messenger is looking to be a very compelling upgrade, my only complaint is that I didn't get one bit of Yahoo! swag. Perhaps next Macworld.
More on Yahoo! oneSearch and Go for Mobile 2
Jerry Yang's appearance during the iPhone intro made several of us say "What are these new mobile services that he's talking about?" Turns out that Yahoo! oneSearch and Go for Mobile 2.0, discussed in the New York Times (reg req) today, were introed at CES on Monday. One item in the NYT article caught my eye, a quote from a Yahoo! exec:"We view the mobile Internet today as entering an era where the PC-based Internet was in '96 or '97," said Steve Boom, Yahoo's senior vice president for broadband and mobile. "It is just on the cusp of taking off." C'mon... is that REALLY your name, "Steve Boom," or are you a Macworld keynote joke?Go for Mobile is described on the Yahoo! corporate blog as "a swirling carousel of little widgets" that provide access to your Yahoo! contacts, local search, weather and other goodies pushed to your phone. The oneSearch module for "mobile-optimized search" is intended to give you a more intuitive, quick search for on-the-move use. You can download the beta from Yahoo! by pointing your mobile browser at http://get.go.yahoo.com/ today, or take the tour.Yahoo! is serious about promoting these services; if you were at CES, you could have gotten free Coldstone ice cream from their booth. Yum.
Yahoo announces Go for Mobile 2.0, beta hits today
A cornerstone of Ed Zander's keynote address this morning centered around Yahoo's exploits in the mobile space. Its first serious foray, Go for Mobile, wasn't really much of a game-changer in either of its major flavors (Windows Mobile and S60) for a simple reason: the app wasn't much more than a thin facade over a handful of Yahoo WAP sites. That's all good, though -- it's coming back strong with version 2.0, and this time, it looks like there's a little more special sauce mixed in. Yahoo's working closely with Motorola to deliver Go 2.0 out of the gate (hence the keynote tie-in), which we get the impression will find its way onto many of Motorola's upcoming models before they even leave the factory. Unlike the first version, Go 2.0 looks like it provides a fairly rich experience, partially thanks to integration with Yahoo's also-announced "oneSearch" mobile search. The system attempts to provide the user with "answers" rather than simply a series of links -- relevant content that is related to the search terms like stock prices, weather, and movie times, much of which can be integrated with a device's location-based services to provide local results as well. Though the beta is available as of today on a good number of devices, Yahoo is definitely playing up the Motorola angle, peppering its website with shots of the HSDPA-capable V3xx and V6 maxx models. Look for the compatibility list to expand significantly over the course of the year, and with the V3xx getting hyped like this, we wouldn't be surprised to see Cingular's rendition of it roll out any minute now.
Live at the Yahoo press conference
We're here live at the Yahoo press conference, where they're talking about their efforts in mobile internet. Marco Boerries, SVP Yahoo! Connected Life, just started in about Yahoo's interest in providing content and services to users across a range of devices via its new Java-based client running on Motorola, Samsung, Nokia and RIM phones. * Mobile devices outnumber PCs worldwide; internet is going mobile. Users want services optimized for their mobile phones, not just a PC sync experience.* Yahoo! Go 2.0 mobile user experience -- uses My Yahoo! settings and personalization. Changes you make on your phone are mirrored back to your My Yahoo! account* Localization -- search localization, tailors search results to your current location.
DS Lite shortages only momentary, says Nintendo
Based on a report from Yahoo! Games, Nintendo has responded to holiday shortages for its DS Lite by stating "Nintendo DS Lite proved to be a huge hit for holiday shoppers, which undoubtedly resulted in some spot shortages in various regions. As with all our products, we're working to keep the supply chain filled to meet consumer demand, and the DS Lite should be more readily available over the next couple of weeks." Now, we weren't really hunting down DS Lites during the holiday shopping season, so we cannot comment on availability in our region.However, we were fairly sure that the DS Lite was readily available. Have there been shortages of the handheld in your neck of the woods? Have you had to resort to online purchase recently due to lack of product on your local brick-and-mortar outlet's shelves?
Associated Press must have Steve Jobs' phone bugged
How else could they have come up with this insightful and super-newsy headline?Hmm, "expected" -- not a strong verb. How about "we'd bet our pants on it?"In fairness to Rachel Konrad, who undoubtedly did not write the headline, the article itself is pretty well done; it discusses the metameme of Apple product introductions in the iPod age, which can have cellphone company execs quivering in anxiety even before we know the iPhone's real name. We all can remember when Apple wasn't considered a serious technology company, and the Macintosh was derided as a 'toy computer.' Times have changed: this week there are tech reporters having to make a tough choice between covering Macworld, where the big news is coming from, and everything else.
Dash adds Yahoo! local search to GPS
Upstart Dash Navigation announced today that it's signed up Yahoo! as a partner for its forthcoming Dash Express GPS unit/service, with the company set to provide its Yahoo! Local service for some location-sensitive car-based searching. For those not up to speed, Dash is aiming to bolster the humble GPS navigation unit by pooling the collective awareness of all Dash users on the road, wirelessly transmitting traffic information back and forth in real time to provide up-to-date road conditions (for a more detailed Dash primer, you may want to take a gander at our own Ross Rubin's two recent columns on the company's plans). The addition of Yahoo! Local looks to further round out the company's offerings, letting drivers search for nearby business or products, as well as get restaurant ratings and other information, along with the ability to redirect their route to any given destination at the push of a button. Dash itself is apparently still on track for a launch in California this spring, with a nationwide roll-out to follow later in the fall.
Yahoo Music Video Player beta now Mac friendly
A tip o' the sparkly New Year's hat to Download Squad for noting that the beta version of the Yahoo! music video player is now OS X-friendly, both in Safari and Firefox. Yahoo's player lets you pick videos for your playlist from an extensive library and creates recommendations based on your choices. For what it's worth, I didn't pick this playlist myself. Really. I don't like The Fray, and OK Go... fine, I admit it, I'm just old.While you can't resize the playback window, the video quality is pretty good, and the sound (obviously important) is fine. If you're frustrated with VH1's Windows-only video library and tired of searching YouTube for tunes, the new Yahoo! player might do you good.
Metareview: Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops
Are you happy to see me? Or is that just a Snake in your pants? Solid Snake goes portable in a big way. Get ready for the biggest non-shock of the year: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is good. Very good. In fact, it's THE killer app that Sony fans have been waiting for: 1UP (95/100) - "All this translates into a game that essentially pushes the PSP in all of its features: graphics, portability, Internet, extra hardware doohickeys, and multiplayer. Sure, it might have hiccups (occasional ghosting, quirky A.I., the one analog nub), but Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is not only a fine MGS title -- it's also a damn good showcase for the PSP.". IGN (90/100) - "It's been a long time coming, but this is what Metal Gear Solid fans, and indeed PSP fans have been waiting for: a title that demonstrates what the technology of the PSP can actually do, with a solid action title to boot. The GPS and WiFi scanning feature is excellently implemented, the online and single player modes are deep, and there are plenty of things to do by tracking down and recruiting new soldiers from various places. This is one of the games to add to your collection if you have the PSP.". Yahoo (80/100) - "This is one of the PSP's best multiplayer titles, giving you essentially a two-for-one experience. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops isn't a must-have for everyone, but most gamers recruited into its ranks will be satisfied." The game has shipped to retailers, so expect them in stores today or tomorrow. Rush in to your game store, and tell us what you think about the game!
Sprint launches Mobile Email client
Sprint-Nextel (the company that has one messaging problem after another) has introduced a new combined email client for several of its current phones. With Mobile Email, Sprint customers can access their AOL, Windows Live, and Yahoo! accounts from their handsets. Mobile Email will also be able to add access to other POP3 and IMAP accounts, allow users to set up alerts when new mail arrives, and compose and save email for later use even when they are out of coverage. With this being a zero cost application to download, Sprint is hoping to increase users' dependency for mobile data which will drive other application downloads. Don't be too worried that Gmail didn't make the list of included clients as the POP support should have you covered.
Linksys introduces CIT310 DECT phone with Yahoo! inside
Nothing gets our heart pumping quite like a new VOIP handset, and when it's a dual-function model that can connect to a landline too, well, we sometimes have trouble containing our excitement. The latest system in a seemingly endless parade of similar products comes from Linksys, whose CIT310 supports Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, and looks a lot snazzier than some of the other phones we've seen from this company. Based on the DECT standard, the CIT310 hooks up to your PC's USB port and your regular telephone line, allowing you to make and receive both Yahoo! and POTS calls anywhere within range of the base unit. Additional features include zip code-based business searches directly from the handset's small color screen (including one click calling) and local weather info in case your weather station, TV, PC, thermometer, and newspaper all happen to crash simultaneously. This model will available for an even $100 exclusively through Amazon until sometime in January, so you should be able to pick one up in a bricks-and-mortar store right after you've finished returning all those other VOIP devices you're bound to receive this holiday season.[Via Geekzone]
Cingular launches "Cingular Music"
Well, it looks like that WSJ rumor we ran yesterday was pretty much spot on. Cingular is indeed launching a music service today, and we must say the scope of their undertaking is quite impressive: integration with three separate music stores, along with supplemental content aplenty. For starters, a Cingular Music phone can work with Napster to add subscription tracks from your computer with a $15 a month Napster To Go account, and you can also access the new Napster Mobile, which allows 30 second previews and song purchases, but it looks like the songs are only downloaded to your PC, and will be transferred to your phone later. The good news is that those tracks only cost $0.99, quite a bargain compared to most current mobile services, but of course you're not paying for those hefty data charges, and you're not getting the track right when you want it. The Yahoo! Music offering is quite similar to that of Napster, with $12 a month buying unlimited subscription track usage, but phone-based song purchases still being downloaded to the PC, for syncing with your phone later. There doesn't seem to be much of a mobile slant to eMusic's DRM-free MP3 offerings, just added integration with Cingular, and 50 free tracks with the purchase of a W810i or W300i. A free 60-day trail of Napster is also available to Cingular customers. Cingular says all of this music store integration is "allowing consumers to extend their existing music libraries not rebuild them," but the lack of mobile song purchasing straight to a handset seems to sort of miss the point. But wait, there's more! Cingular is also announcing 25 channels of XM radio for $9 a month, that MusicID song identification service we mentioned yesterday, Music Videos, and all sorts streaming music and music related content. Cingular music will be supported by the upcoming Cingular SYNC (Samsung A707), along with the LG CU500, Cingular 3125 and those two Sony Ericssons we already told you about. All this should be going down November 6-ish.
Yahoo launches Wii section
Yahoo, which may be shouted in excitement over a most pleasurable circumstance or described as an internet giant, is a word most people recognize as being the latter. And, coincidentally, that is the Yahoo we're referring to here.In recently updating their games section to include the Wii, Yahoo has rolled out the red carpet for Nintendo's console. With an entire page devoted to the Wii, nifty features such as a countdown timer, flickr feed showing all photos that have been tagged with "Wii" and community section where those curious with questions on the console and its games can get community input make it a nice place to browse. Overall, it's a very cool page, although we must say it is no Wii Fanboy.
Cingular teaming with Napster and Yahoo to roll its own music service?
According to The Wall Street Journal, those in the know are predicting Cingular to announce a music service for its cellphone network as early as tomorrow. It seems that despite rampant rumoring of an iPhone and related wireless iTunes service, Cingular is taking things into its own hands -- with a little help from Napster, Yahoo and eMusic. Initially the service will just involve rolling out PlaysForSure functionality to handsets so that they can play subscription tracks from the major non-Apple music services, but Cingular is also planning a wireless music store with pay-per-track and all-you-can-eat offerings. The phones will also purportedly feature Cingular's "Music ID" tech that will allow a user to hold the phone up to a speaker and have the song playing automatically matched with the Napster database and available for purchase. Of course, there's enough room in the world for more than one music service, and right now it appears Cingular is fine with squeezing both Apple and the PFS onto its network. The word is that (as rumored) Apple and Cingular have signed a deal to co-develop an iPhone, and the same article predicts a January launch at the Macworld Expo. Apple also has recently been awarded a phone-related speech recognition system that adds even more fuel to the fire. Being the seasoned iPhone rumor-mongers we are, we'll take all of these reports with a few grains of salt and sit back to see what actually happens.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Read - Cingular to announce music service [Thanks, Maurice]Read - Apple and Cingular forge iPhone deal [Thanks, Ben]
