Michal Ždanský Yahoo!'s press event took place last night, where the company announced some interesting news. Recently, Yahoo has shown an interesting turnaround - thanks to its new CEO Merissa Mayer, it is rising from the ashes, and the company that was previously condemned to a slow death is healthy and vital again, but it had to go through big changes.
But back to the news. A few weeks ago it was rumored that Yahoo! could buy the social-blogging network Tumblr. At the end of last week, the board of directors officially approved a budget of 1,1 billion dollars for such an acquisition, and the official announcement of the purchase came a few days later. Just as Facebook bought Instagram, Yahoo bought Tumblr and intends to do the same with it. The reaction of users was not very favorable, they were afraid that Tumblr was facing a similar fate as MySpace. Maybe that's why Merissa Mayer promised that Yahoo! does not swear:
"We promise not to screw it up. Tumblr is incredibly unique in its unique way of working. We will run Tumblr independently. David Karp will remain as CEO. The product roadmap, the team's wit and audacity will not change, nor will their goal to motivate content creators to do their best work for the readers they deserve. Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better and faster.”
The biggest news was the announcement of a complete redesign of the Flickr service, which is used for storing, viewing and sharing photos. Flickr hasn't exactly been a benchmark for modern design in recent years, and Yahoo! was obviously aware of it. The new look makes photos stand out, and the rest of the controls look minimalistic and unobtrusive. What's more, Flickr offers a full 1 terabyte of storage for free, making it one of the more convenient places to back up your photos, and at full resolution.
The service will also allow you to record video, specifically a maximum of three-minute clips up to 1080p resolution. Free accounts are not limited in any way, only ads will be shown to users. The ad-free version will then cost $49,99 per year. Those interested in larger storage, 2 TB, will then have to pay an additional fee of less than $500 per year.
“Photos tell stories – stories that inspire us to relive them, share them with our friends, or simply record them to express ourselves. Collecting these moments is part of our daily life. Since 2005, Flickr has become synonymous with inspirational photographic work. We're excited to take Flickr even further today with a beautiful brand new experience that lets your photos stand out. When it comes to photos, technology and its limitations shouldn't get in the way of the experience. That's why we also give Flickr users one terabyte of space for free. That's enough for a lifetime of photos - over 500 gorgeous photos in original resolution. Flickr users will never have to worry about running out of space again.
