| Yahoo! Users Can Now Create and Share Blogs; Share Photos from the Web or a Mobile Device; Recommend Favorites and More |
“Yahoo! 360 will offer consumers an innovative and engaging way for people to share their lives, leverage their community and get the most out of their online experience.”
Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO), the No. 1 Internet brand and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide, today announced Yahoo! 360, an innovative new service that allows people to easily share what matters most to them and keep connected with the people they know -- all in one convenient place. Available March 29 through an invitation-only beta, Yahoo! 360 will provide users with an integrated experience, seamlessly bringing together popular communications, content and community services such as Yahoo! Messenger(R), Yahoo! Photos, Yahoo! Local, LAUNCHcast Music and Yahoo! Groups with new services like web logs (blogs), mobile blogging (moblogging) and other sharing tools for recommending favorite movies, restaurants, music and more. The company plans to add additional features and functionality throughout the beta period.
"Consumers are looking for a new type of service that takes the best of first generation social networking services and successfully integrates it with communications, self-publishing and community tools," said Dan Rosensweig, chief operating officer of Yahoo!. "Yahoo! 360 will offer consumers an innovative and engaging way for people to share their lives, leverage their community and get the most out of their online experience."
The Yahoo! 360 beta is designed to give consumers the control to share what they want, with whom they want, in the way that they want, thanks to unprecedented privacy and sharing controls. Yahoo! 360 will also be the first service to offer a convenient "My Friends" page that gives consumers a full perspective on the latest postings and new content from the people they know. Consumers will also be able to view their friends' blogs on My Yahoo!, with Yahoo!'s Mobile Internet service or through any RSS reader.
Yahoo! 360 also will allow consumers to easily tap their friends to get advice, share knowledge or entertain each other -- to make their Yahoo! network experience even more personalized and relevant. For example, consumers will have the option to first view those restaurants or businesses their friends have rated or reviewed on Yahoo! Local, as well as link to their friends' LAUNCHcast Radio stations and more. Consumers will also be able to easily see all their contacts from Yahoo! Messenger, Address Book and Groups in one place and take these friends with them across the Yahoo! network.
Consumers included in the invitation-only beta of Yahoo! 360 can test out initial features, including:
-- Blogs -- Create a blog, post entries or pictures from mobile devices, view friends' blog entries at Yahoo! 360, My Yahoo!, Yahoo!'s Mobile Internet service or through any RSS reader
-- Photo sharing -- Share Yahoo! Photos content and upload new photos from mobile devices
-- Easy communication -- Send and receive instant messages via Yahoo! Messenger and see when friends are online right from the Yahoo! 360 "My Friends" page
-- "Blasts" -- Share a quick idea, a cool website or ask for a recommendation with the Yahoo! 360 "blast" feature
-- Yahoo! contact management -- Easily manage contracts and stay in touch with friends, thanks to a centralized list of all Yahoo! Messenger, Groups and Address Book contacts
-- Community building -- Search for people with similar interests from across the Yahoo! 360 network
-- Content sharing -- Share photos, reviews, LAUNCHcast Radio stations, groups and more quickly and easily
-- Recommendations -- Recommend favorite books, movies, TV shows and restaurants to friends and associates
-- "My Friends" page - Stay up to speed with the latest blogs, photos and comments from friends all in one central location
Yahoo! is inviting a small group of consumers to participate in an invitation-only beta. During the beta period, these customers are encouraged to provide feedback to help the Yahoo! 360 team evolve and enhance the service. Yahoo! plans to widen the availability of the beta product in the coming weeks. Interested consumers are encouraged to sign up to be on the beta waiting list at http://360.yahoo.com and will be notified when the broader public beta is available.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Yahoo! provides online products and services essential to consumers' lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.
All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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