The folks at Yahoo have been working very hard lately to get back in the game. The company made some major acquisitions, changed its logo and stepped into some new arenas. Its all part of a bigger plan. Today the company takes its mission forward with the launch of a new Yahoo Mail application for iPhone and iPod touch. Not only does the app aim to make the email experience more simple, but it also takes on Google Now in the process.
To keep relevant information at users’ fingertips at all times the new application has been designed with a focus on simplicity, Yahoo says. There’s a new panel at the bottom of the screen which houses icons for Mail, News and Today. This panel essentially groups together all news, information and communications that users might need to access throughout the day.
The Mail icon evidently brings up all emails. From here users can compose and send new emails or catch up on the ones they’ve missed. Right next to the Mail icon is News. It is essentially a personalized visually rich stream that pulls together all sorts of news, from celebrity gossip to latest happenings in the political world.
The Today icon reveals Yahoo’s Google Now rival. Here users will find information they “care about most every day.” The idea behind services like Google Now is to understand the users’ preferences and offer information accordingly. In Today users will find stuff like their local weather to latest stock quotes, sports scores and even a news digest. Granted that its not as powerful as Google Now right now, but evidently Yahoo is taking baby steps into that direction.
The new Yahoo Mail app for iPhone and iPod touch will be rolled out in the App Store to U.S. users over the next couple of weeks.