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Yahoo's at it again with gaming platform acquisition

Yahoo's at it again.

The online giant has made another acquisition only days after reaching a deal to buy Tumblr. This time around, Yahoo is expanding in the gaming arena with the purchase of PlayerScale.

PlayerScale develops software for cross-plaform gaming that allows publishers and aggregators to quickly scale titles across various platforms. Founded in 2011, the company has over 150 million users worldwide, and it's adding more than 400,000 new users every day.

PlayerScale CEO Jesper Jensen announced the merger Thursday on the company's Web site, saying PlayerScale won't be going anywhere and its … Read more

Yahoo: We're listening to user feedback about Flickr revamp

Yahoo is clearly aware that many Flickr users are unhappy about the photo-sharing site's new look and layout.

On Monday, Yahoo revamped Flickr with a host of changes, including a larger photo layout, new home page and photo stream page, and 1TB of free storage space per person. But Flickr users quickly expressed their unhappiness over the changes. A slew of people chimed in on the site's help forum to give the new look a thumb's down and pleading for a return to the old style.

Users are always thrown by major changes to their favorite Web … Read more

Yahoo's big lean into content to fuel growth

One of perennial questions about Yahoo has been, "What is Yahoo." As the pioneering Web brand slid downward, rebuffed Microsoft's generous acquisition offer and was overshadowed by the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, the question morphed into  "Is the beleaguered Yahoo going to fade away?"

Marissa Mayer, the fifth Yahoo CEO in five years, seems to have a clear view of what Yahoo is, and a plan remove the word "beleaguered" as an adjective preceding its name.

The stock price is up over 70 percent since Mayer took over in … Read more

Flickr users: We hate the new site

Many Flickr users seem none too happy about the new layout, at least according to a heavy dose of comments posted on the site's help forum.

On Monday, Flickr's parent Yahoo unveiled a slew of changes to the photo-sharing site, revamping the familiar style of the home page, photo page, and photo stream page. The company also increased the free storage space per user to a hefty 1TB and updated its Android app. So, what's the problem?

Several users chiming in on the forum say the photos are now too big and "in your face." Others say the large layout makes it difficult to interact with their fellow Flickr users. And some say they just find the new look confusing and messy. Many of them are asking Yahoo to at least offer them an option to use the old layout.… Read more

Flickr's 1TB for photos is great, but how about a smart shoebox?

Last week, Google gave everyone 15GB of space to store their photos. This week, Yahoo takes that to 1 terabyte. You know what? I don't need more space for my photos. I need these tech giants to get smarter about organizing them for me.

I have an entire column I've been meaning to write about my personal journey in trying to organize my pictures. I haven't gotten to it, because like my photos, I haven't sorted it out. It's a nightmare -- and I'm a pretty organized person.

Trusting myself more than software Perhaps … Read more

Flickr's new $499.99 per year 'Doublr' service explained

Yahoo on Monday increased the amount of storage Flickr users get by 70-fold, and at the same time quietly introduced a new pro tier that costs users 20 times as much as the one it replaces.

That plan, dubbed the "Doublr," bumps the 1 terabyte of photo and video storage up to 2 terabytes, and costs $499.99 per year. By Yahoo's calculations, that takes the theoretical limit from 537,731 photos, up to just over 1.07 million full-quality shots. This top of the line program joins a $49.99 per year plan that gets rid … Read more

Flickr's free terabyte not big enough

Eight years after buying Flickr, Yahoo hopes to entice people to take a fresh look at the photo service it let languish, with a fresh coat of paint and a free terabyte of space. Too bad today's photo-sharer has found a home elsewhere and is already accustomed to free.

Monday at a press event in New York, Yahoo announced major changes to Flickr to make the product "awesome again." The biggest change was the addition of a free terabyte of storage, a shift that transforms Flickr from a very restrictive subscription service to something that a majority … Read more

Yahoo wants to make Flickr 'awesome again'

NEW YORK -- Yahoo on Monday unveiled updates to its Flickr photo-sharing site that the company hopes will make Flickr "awesome again."

Among the changes are a new redesign with larger images, the ability for users to upload full-resolution photos, and 1TB of free storage for all users. Yahoo also launched a redesigned Android app for smartphones and tablets, which goes along with the recently revamped iOS app. The changes are available immediately, an executive said.

"The look and feel here is about photos and being unbounded," CEO Marissa Mayer said Monday. "That's what … Read more

Sony teases PS4 ahead of Xbox reveal

CNET Update gets excited about shapes:

In this episode of Update:

- See how Yahoo gets into the Tumblr spirit after buying the blogging site for $1.1 billion. Brace yourself for more ads while Yahoo looks into ways to profit off Tumblr.

- Squint to guess what Sony is showing in this PlayStation 4 teaser video, posted on the eve of the next Xbox unveiling.

- Hold off on buying a new MacBook Air as speculation builds over a new model.

- Fantasize over future tech with bendable, unbreakable screens.

- Drop some knowledge into Pinterest with Rich PinsRead more

The 404 1,272: Where Tumblr takes the cake (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Yahoo confirms $1.1B Tumblr buy, promises "not to screw it up."

- WordPress: 72K blog posts exited Tumblr in one hour over Yahoo deal.

- Tumblr CEO David Karp was on the 404 almost five years ago to the date.

- Australian politician sorry for "liking" Facebook photo of teenager's genitals.

- Nintendo claims ownership over gamer fanvids on YouTube.

Bathroom break video: Smooth McGroove sings an a capella cover of the Chemical Plant Zone music from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.… Read more