Yahoo Launches New Visual Browser

Yahoo, yes Yahoo of all people, has announced the launch of a new browser or well browser add-on, that takes the text out of your web and makes searching a visual experience. Yahoo Axis as it has been dubbed comes in full versions for the iPad and iPhone, and as plug-ins for the desktop browsers Chrome, Firefox, IE, and Safari.

Axis is a visual search browser extension which overlays search results right in your browser window. Instead of the traditional text-based search results you'd see on Google, Bing or even Yahoo you see visual representations of pages in a carousel or window panes. You see thumbnail representations of the page, or site, and a brief spinet of the content.

Yahoo Axis also allows for device syncing. Meaning searches and results can be synced between multiple devices on the user same account. For example, a search that begin on an iPhone can be continued on a Windows computer with the Axis browser extension installed. Additionally devices on the same account also share favorites, bookmarks and items to be read later.

Yahoo offers three ways to sign into Axis. Users can choose between a Yahoo account, Facebook, or Google+.

My thoughts:

I'm testing it now and have to say this is one browser extension I'll be passing on. The window panes are a nice thought but the pop-up tool bar and the search button that is added to pages was distracting and annoying. I will say I did like the carousel for image searches, the only problem is when you click the link you are taken to the associated page and not the image itself so you then have to track down the image you wanted to view.

If you try it out we'd like to hear your thought. Do you love it or hate it?

Related Articles:

• Here comes Yahoo's own Web browser -- Axis
• Yahoo’s Axis Brings Shared Visual Search Results to iOS and Browsers