Yahoo launches Sketch-a-Search, Yahoo Search apps for iPhone

Yahoo, Google’s longtime rival, has just launched two new and free apps for Apple’s iPhone: Sketch-a-Search and Yahoo Search.

Yahoo Sketch-a-Search allows iPhone users to search and find local businesses without typing keywords. To use the app, you have to “simply draw a boundary on your phone’s map” with your finger – you then get “a bird’s eye view of what’s nearby in a specific area or on a specific street.” The application has a few interesting features, including Shake to Clear – you can just shake your iPhone to start a new search.

For the moment, Yahoo Sketch-a-Search is only available for restaurant searches in the US, but more categories and markets will be added soon. You can download the Yahoo Sketch-a-Search iPhone app starting today, via iTunes.





Also available as of today, Yahoo Search for iPhone reportedly comes with an innovative interface capable of providing “contextually relevant results quickly and efficiently.” The app features Voice Search, Local Shortcuts, Search History and Shake to Clear.



Yahoo Search for iPhone is currently available via iTunes in 22 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia. So, anyone willing to use Yahoo Search on their iPhone instead of the default Google Search?
Via Press release