Yahoo released a new browser toolbar today for IE and Firefox which lets you add icons for your favorite Yahoo apps and Websites. When you click on the icons, you get a drop-down preview of your favorite sites, mail, stock quotes, or news feeds without having to go to those sites directly. It is only real-time in that you can check for the latest updates without going to those sites. From the Yahoo blog.
Small previews drop down from your toolbar, giving you real-time information without ever having to leave the page you’re on.
The toolbar is completely customizable, so you add from a large Websites or apps you want to keep handy. But if it really wants to be real-time, Yahoo needs to make it easier for you to preview your personal activity stream across sites. Other add-ons such as Friendbar try the streaming ticker approach, which I find too distracting. But perhaps a drop-down stream preview or built-in notifications when new items appear in your stream (whether that is Twitter, Facebook, or something else) would be preferable.
Yahoo also made search faster from the toolbar, incorporating some search assist technology from its Inquisitor acquisition. It suggests refined queries as you begin typing and sites that you’ve clicked on in the past. (The Inquisitor app for the iPhone is also worth checking out).
awesome!
We dont have space for toolbars. That too very much scarcity in vertical pixels. They should do browser button instead of a toolbar.
Its looks like with copy idea from Windows Live wave 3 toolbar.!!
Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Doesn’t work with Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 at this time.
Officially, we don’t support Firefox 3.5 yet. Unofficially, it seems to work fine. You can bypass our download screen and grab toolbar directly from http://tinyurl.com/nyrwup .
I am TOO tired of this noise around “Real Time”
.
Does anyone even want something like this?
I know people with 4 and 5 toolbars, it is these same people who will download this and it will end up taking 11/3 of their screen~
Yahoo FAIL.
Way to use 1995 technology (a toolbar… really?) to address the 2009 web (real time data). Way do people use crappy, hoggy toolbars anyway?
So what do you prefer ? A full Adobe Air app ? Yeah, that doesn’t take any space… or how about just a constant tab open on each site? A toolbar is still a perfectly excellent way to integrate stuff. Why don’t you install one first before saying anything? Both Yahoo’s and Google’s bars are highly successful and keep getting good upgrades. I access most of what I need from Yahoo’s toolbar: Facebook, RSS Feeds, Flickr, and others… all within one click, and often, without even having to open a page. How is that “old technology not addressing today’s needs” ?
This is interesting, I like the faster search option.
If you are looking for a simple, light, faster toolbar with no server attached to monitor your browsing, and access Y, G, or B/M/L use AAfter toolbar
http://download...4-10809361.html
Don’t sensationalize the “Real time” thing. Same tactics to grab attention. Nothing much in the product though.
Every time I her a “Yahoo”-News I picture an old guy trying to cathc up! Someone, who is always late and always so yesterday
The ‘late’ and ’so yesterday’ comments always make me think of Facebook, the iPhone and Firefox along with many other products and services that were not first to market, but became major (or dominant) players.
I think one thing that people forget about with Yahoo! is that they have an entire ecosystem, so many times they are providing a new service or product to serve their existing user base, not necessarily attract new people or early adopters.
Yahoo ist just NOT sexy anymore. And I correct my previous comment: Yahoo is more like an mid-age women, who realizes, that her best years are over and tries to catch up with younger women.
But really: I could save Yahoo so easy!
First a new Logo, than second yahoo.com is only a search engine with a searchbar – just like Google. Ditch this whole “Portal-Thing”.
They could add a Link on the Homepage who sais: Take me to the portal. And than the portal would be yahoo-portal.com or something like that.
They’ve clearly copied Windows Live Toolbar.
I dont think that people will use this much. This will not excite much…
A half decent coder could’ve come up with something like this in half a week.
That’s all the innovation Yahoo can muster?
On another topic, I got myself a hotmail account today…and man am I surprised. They’ve taken gmail’s interface and done twice as good with it
we have a financial crisis.
good articles for a slow news day: http://wwwiamned.com
Toolbars are a waste of space and a PIA. I use one. Grudgingly and it’s stumbleupon because it delivers unique value. Beyond that, who wants or needs another redundant waste of space spying on you?
And, yahoo even now has a BUZZ, where it seems as if they are trying to replicate DIGG’s social news submission service LOL
oh right, Buzz. Hasn’t that been around for over a year? And didn’t it eclipse Digg’s traffic months ago? Yahoo! is dumb… trying to replicate Digg’s social news submission service. LOL.
I’m staying away from this on principle. From what I was told, Yahoo laid off all of the U.S. developers working on toolbar and gave their jobs to people in India. To add insult to injury, the U.S. workers were required to train the Indian developers otherwise they would lose their severance. I’m sure the people in India are happy, but F Yahoo for screwing over people who put years of their lives into the company.
Yahoo must remain independent! At all costs! Don’t you understand? Don’t you understand the sacrifice that needs to be made in order for that to occur?
And what happens when the Indians lose their jobs to the Polish? And they lose their jobs to Sudanese?
Its a global world. Join, or perish.
It’s virus when i install Yahoo toolbar ..woww ….deleted ..
Does not work with Firefox 3.5 RC1…
When did TechCrunch start publishing press releases about inconsequential products and with no analysis. The post about the Firefox merchandise is even more weird. Has this become PR Wire?
I use http://www.facebooktoolbar.us and it works out great! give it a try the one I use is made by ask.com