Sunnyvale, California — Last week, Internet search pioneer Yahoo has unveiled two new search applications for the iPhone at the C.T.I.A. conference in Las Vegas, which allow users to speak or doodle their search terms rather than type them. One of the applications called “Sketch-a-Search” app, does what the name implies, letting your fingertip inscribe a shape on the map that will become your searching area. In addition to a more generic Yahoo Search iPhone App, is an integrated search service for the Apple iPhone and includes a number of interesting features.
The new app also delivers a variety of new local tools and elements that can enhance a Yahoo search based on a user’s current location and also add related maps using location-based technology, including voice search and “Shake to Clear,” which performs exactly what the name describes: clears the last search when you shake the phone.
Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search, is even more nifty feature highlighted at a February search event held by Yahoo at its Silicon Valley headquarters, functions by empowering the users to draw a search limits by accessing a map of their local area and drawing a shape over the area they are interested in with their fingertip, which will then present them with details such as opening hours and contact information.
Yahoo Sketch-a-Search allows users to search by drawing a location on a map.
Today, many search engines provide this cool feature. But, what is more fascinating about Sketch-a-Search is that empowers the user to “lasso” a particular portion, and restrict search results to it. The app will then displays local content, including restaurants and businesses, without a user having to know the name of an area or neighborhood. In addition, the app also filters restaurant results by cuisine, ambiance and star rating, Yahoo said.
In case you want to keep off a certain area, or search for businesses in a broader pattern. Pressing the green button on the graphically rich interface engages the map, and you are free to doodle away on the native Google map. The location-based app pre-loads your map depending on your current location, but you can easily switch to a different city.
Although the service is currently confined to restaurants, coffee shops and some hotels for now, but Yahoo is planning to spread out its offering to other local conveniences, like gyms, gas stations, pet stores, retail shops, and even real estate, like apartments. These results can be further filtered by star rating or by category.
Yahoo Search, which associated the features that you wuld expect from Yahoo’s Web search, has been further improved with voice search, a feature Google has had for some time. Local search is there too, with results from Yahoo Local, Yelp, and CitySearch. Users can also shake the iPhone or the touch to clear results. The Yahoo Search app is available in 22 markets across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
The announcement of these new applications and other recent mobile content demonstrates Yahoo’s relentless efforts to stay involved in the growing mobile space.