
Yahoo Axis - mxfh
http://axis.yahoo.com/
======
nikcub
So it turns out they accidentally included their certificate private key
inside the Chrome extension package:

<https://twitter.com/nikcub/status/205489752684765185>

Edit: just created a fake package and signed it:

<https://github.com/nikcub/yahoo-spoof>

~~~
atarian
I don't know what kind of damage you can cause with this information, but I do
think that posting this publicly was pretty unethical. You should have
contacted Yahoo and then disclosed the information after.

EDIT: And here comes the downvotes. If you disagree with what I said then you
really should post a response because you're preventing me from understanding
why I might be wrong. If I knew your house door was unlocked, would it be okay
for me to tell everyone in the world before I let you know?

~~~
rurounijones
He caused no damage whatsoever.

Yahoo caused the damage the second they put it up for download and someone
downloaded it, at that point the cat was out of the bag and the certificate
compromised.

When dealing with certificate signing and compromised private certs "Maybe no
one noticed" is not a good enough response.

(I am assuming he used various methods of contacting Yahoo directly as well as
publicly calling them out of course.)

EDIT: Thinking about it he MIGHT have caused damage because maybe no one else
may have noticed before yahoo got the cert revoked, but that chances that no
one else (blackhats for example) noticing before the cert was revoked are very
small in my opinion.

~~~
lomegor
I agree with you. I think it's unethical not to publicly announce this one. I
understand that some bugs may be best treated in private, but compromised
certificates can cause real havoc.

------
atarian
A lot of people here are negatively judging this product on the basis that
it's from Yahoo. I think that's extremely premature and close-minded. Give it
a chance will you?

I personally think the iPad app is fantastic. The ability to pull down search
results and visually see their content was a great idea and I think this makes
Axis much more appealing to use over Safari. I think I'm actually going to
replace Safari with Axis for a while. It's a shame that you can't switch
search engines, but I'm willing to give Yahoo search another shot.

On the other hand, I'm not really impressed with the Google Chrome toolbar. I
think it's annoying to have something overlay my browser on every page I
visit.

I haven't tested out the iPhone app yet.

~~~
KeyBoardG
Agreed. All the hate is unnecessary. Give it 5 minutes before pilling on Yahoo
and the past decisions of it's board.

The idea of taking browsing with you is nice feature that Im suprised hasn't
been implemented so well by other operating system / browsers. As such, I'd
expect Windows8 and WindowsPhone8 to have tight integration and hopefully have
features like this.

~~~
Jaecen
Automatic syncing of bookmarks and open tabs (among other things) is available
on desktop and Android versions of Chrome. It's a feature I use frequently.

~~~
shadowmint
Me too, but to be fair, not many people get the chrome love (since it requires
4.0+)

~~~
zobzu
It also works with all versions of Firefox and on older versions of Android.

Incidently the new beta of Firefox for Android is incredibly much better than
the older Firefox too. And that works on older Android as well, of course.

------
guywithabike
I've never uninstalled a browser plugin so quickly. It really is just what you
think it is: a 2001-era search toolbar, except without the useful list of
search results. Just thumbnails that tell you nothing about the result.

~~~
daenz
That's what rubbed me the wrong way about the video saying over and over "It
_completely_ redefines how you search the web!" No, not really.

~~~
kapitalx
It does completely redefine the way you search the web. It's changing search
results from text to thumbnails. That will be totally useless in many
circumstances, but could be useful in some.

~~~
tolmasky
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SearchMe>

I remember when this came out -- they spent a lot advertising this same
"revolution", there were billboards and everything for it.

~~~
kapitalx
Ah, this will probably fail for the same reasons!

------
nl
"Watch the Ad!"

Is there anything that shows how out-of-touch Yahoo better than the idea of
wasting 1/3 of the above-the-fold space with something that warns people in
advance it is nothing more than an _ad_?

Call it "Learn More" or something - anything but this. Didn't they A/B test
it?

(Or maybe I'm part of the unsuccessful half of an A/B test. Hmm..)

~~~
bishnu
FWIW, Apple's iPad home page features a "Watch the TV Ad" button, although
admittedly it's not quite as prominent as this.

~~~
brntn
Unlike the Axis page, you don't need to watch anything to find out what the
product does.

People watch the Apple ads because they think they're "cool" or "interesting",
not because they're trying to find out more about the product.

------
llambda
So it's a new toolbar? Just what decade is Yahoo! living in?

Edit: What strikes me is how this is being billed: "A Chrome killer" and even
the demo and ad spot use the phrasing "new browser": however this is not a
browser. It may be a /browsing experience/ perhaps but it certainly doesn't
stand to compete with Chrome mano-a-mano. Clearly the true target is search.
But even then: has the world been waiting breathlessly to return to the days
of toolbars?

~~~
product50
On iOS it is actually a browser. You are being dismissive without even knowing
the facts.

Additionally, Yahoo! has never called it Chrome killer.

~~~
jeffehobbs
I bet you on iOS it's a UIWebView.

~~~
micmcg
I guarantee this is the case. If their desktop effort at a "new browser" is a
chrome extension, no way is the IOS version anything more than a wrapper
around UIWebView.

------
rmoriz
Check the awesome terms + conditions:

<http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/axis/en-us/>

~~~
makmanalp
Wow, they fucked up. If someone uses axis now, can they legally just do
whatever the hell they want?

~~~
jbenz
I took this to mean that there is only one term of use for Axis right now and
it is this: if they ever get terms, those terms will be displayed in that
rectangular box with the rounded corners.

Everything else is fair game.

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veb
The advertisement is a bit of an overkill. I wish there was more text on the
main page to tell me exactly what it is. The advertisement showed me a dude
punching websites.

~~~
madiator
Yes, I couldn't figure out why he wants to break websites! One does not simply
break the things that help him.

------
boyter
I might be alone here, but the ability to do a search then page through the
results without the normal "back, click new result" or opening multiple
windows is a win for me.

The visual preview stuff isn't bad either, and makes it easy to determine is a
site is "spammy" or not.

I just wish I had the functionality in the top search bar not through the
bottom one. If this functionality was built into a forked version of Chrome I
would switch to it in a heartbeat. Add in a way for other search engines to
supply the results and I would be very happy.

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PCheese
The guy in the desktop video would be more convincing if only he would stop
shaking his head "no".

~~~
brd
I thought the same thing, it was seriously distracting for me. Its kind of
amazing that they gave him such little direction about his body language.

~~~
hetman
Yes, seriously it wouldn't hurt the guy to smile to actually make me even want
to believe him.

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latchkey
In the demo video, they show someone doing copy/paste in the browser window to
enter information into the axis search bar. Why not add a contextual menu
choice?

It is the small UX things like this that would really make me want to try it
over just opening a new tab in chrome, typing something in and getting the
results.

~~~
axylone
I noticed that too. Especially since chrome already has a "Search google for
foobar" in the right click context menu.

------
cjoh
When I worked at ask Jeeves, we thought a browser toolbar was how we were
going to beat google, too. In 2001.

~~~
ktizo
Nahh, you beat Google by atomising, securing and crowdsourcing search with
open ranking algorithms that users can edit and share to serve as online
agents. And you do it before Google, or at the very least better.

------
arihant
I like how it collapses quickly and tries to remain as lean as possible. But
there is something fundamentally wrong - my browser already has a search box
on top right..why did Yahoo think adding another one on bottom left would make
me happy?

May a right side panel that reads from browser search box and completely
collapses when I don't search would have been nicer.

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philip1209
The salesperson's habit of shaking his head 'no' while talking makes me not
believe his statements. That, and the fact that he works for Yahoo . . .

~~~
re_todd
Yeah, maybe it was made by interns brainstorming and was never really meant to
be released to the public.

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gdilla
Man, the logo looks way too much like adobe! <http://www.adobe.com/>

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laconian
Not supported for my operating system. (I run Linux.)

I thought this was a browser plugin?

~~~
harbud
Yahoo! never cared for Linux users. Remember the Linux version of Yahoo!
Messenger? It lagged behind the Windows version so much before being quietly
removed. Coincidentally, I never care much for Yahoo! anymore.

~~~
rurounijones
I think the point is he trying to make is that the plugin is for the browser
which should have abstracted away all OS specifics.

I.e. this plugin should work on any OS that the browser does.

------
csomar
The idea is good, an old-fashioned and dead company trying to disrupt in an
attempt to recover.

The execution is terrible. If your product competitive advantage is being edgy
and design oriented (rather than technical[1]) than I expect the end product
and landing page design to be much, much more polished and professional.

[1] I'll accept the design if the disruption competitive advantage is
technical (e.g. sci-fi AI that finds the exact answer to your search or
question)

------
olig15
I like how the itunes reviews were clearly written by the marketing
department.

[http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yahoo!-axis-a-search-
browser/...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yahoo!-axis-a-search-
browser/id506520874?ls=1&mt=8)

------
ricardobeat
The iOS version looks genuinely interesting. I bet they would have better
success if they made it a real browser on desktop too, they could have used
Chromium, like Rockmelt did.

------
itsprofitbaron
Yahoo Axis isn't actually a browser its just a plugin which shows in the
bottom left hand corner of your existing browser.

However despite the advanced knowledge regarding the launch of this, Yahoo!
Axis software license and service terms[1] states:

"Terms will go here."

There's a screenshot which shows it incase they update the page[2].

[1] <http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/axis/en-us/>

[2] <http://i.imgur.com/19asR.jpg>

------
ethank
Shouldn't Yahoo focus on the products they are neglecting (i.e., Flickr)
rather than introduce more products to then neglect?

~~~
drgath
Flickr has had 5 or 6 major updates this year, including a rebuilt uploader,
redesigned photo page, a new justified view, social album browsing,
integration of a new photo editor, and more. So, there is a lot of work being
done at Flickr. See announcements @ <http://code.flickr.com/blog/>

If there's anything specific you'd like to see, leave a reply.

~~~
ethank
A much better iPhone application. I think there was a whole article about
that.

------
ereckers
I don't want to pile on, but after watching both videos on my Android the
screen just goes black when it's done playing. I actually had to press my
power button to get the screen back, unlock the phone and then backout from
the popup player. I can't remember this happening to me before.
Revolutionizing indeed.

------
rmATinnovafy
This reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer is given the job of
designing a new car for his brother's auto company.

I just wish Yahoo would wake up and realize that they don't have to compete
with Google. They can be successful if they focus on being themselves. Sadly,
it may be too late.

------
lukejduncan
How can they expect to compete? Of the people who actually use yahoo products
are they tech savvy enough to care about browsers? I imagine (maybe
incorrectly) that yahoo users are mostly former employees and "normals" who
use whatever their kids install on their computer

------
bluedevil2k
I fear this is too late for Yahoo. I don't think the "Google Killer" is going
to be some incremental change in how search is done. It's far too late for
that. It would have to be Earth-shattering, and I didn't feel anything shaking
when I watched the demo video.

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pdenya
The "Desktop" download just installs a chrome extension that adds a yahoo
toolbar at the bottom.

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olalonde
Everything is broken on that page for me, can't watch the videos or download
the software.

------
tuxidomasx
I'm seeing more and more serious apps that are relying on browser extensions
for a main part of their functionality.

It's a trend that I think has been gradually picking up speed over the years
(as extensions have gotten a little easier to manage)

------
mrschwabe
Anyone non-US is able to try the iOS version yet? In Canada here, the iPad app
doesn't show up on the App Store and the direct link from Yahoo throws an
error.

------
samirahmed
Has anyone found any keyboard shortcuts for using it?

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togasystems
Is there any other products currently that can sync your desktop to your
mobile device? I haven't been too successful finding anything.

~~~
jonursenbach
Chrome and the Chrome Beta on ICS have this built in.

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dnyanesh
Yahoo Axis for desktop is just a fancy toolbar that sits on the bottom instead
of top. #justsayin

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rplnt
It seemed fine on the mobile (err, I mean on iOS), totally pointless on
desktop though.

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DigitalSea
Maybe they can use Yahoo! Axis to screen future CEO qualifications...

------
prezjordan
What's the font on the landing page? Is that... Times New Roman?

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earwolf
My god - Yahoo at it's most clueless yet. The final death wail.

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mrgreenfur
Did someone put makeup on him in addition to the dee-vee?

------
redemade
how to make chloroform… creepy. did anyone else notice that in the "ad"?

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sturmeh
No thanks. :\

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wavephorm
Yahoo? No thanks. Just go away, patent troll.

------
derleth
Axis countries during WWII.

Axis of Evil.

Axis Chemical, because early adopters are Batman fans.

Why this name? What _positive_ associations does it have?

~~~
qwerki
"a new way to access/axis the web".. they keep mentioning it in the demo
video.

~~~
zach
"If you have a question on your mind, just type in whatever the thing you want
to axis!"

------
saket123
Ohh Yahoo..Why not release a Android version so that Android users can take it
for a spin. Why such a behavior from a big company like yours?

------
hk_kh
Hi, I am Scott, and I am here to kill your family while I seamlessly trend
around a scroll list of nothing on my iThing and the camera pans to a first
plane of my face.

------
mxfh
<http://l.yimg.com/mk/micro/img/axis-icon64.png>

