Yahoo Maktoob has launched its revamped homepage with a personal, intuitive design for both its English and Arabic editions in the Middle East and Africa region.

The new Yahoo Maktoob experience is a smart design that is functional and optimised for easy, everyday consumption, and is fast and consistent across PC, tablet, and smartphone, said Dawn Airey, senior vice president, Yahoo EMEA.

“Since our homepage is our front door -- this is of course, the next natural place for us to focus as we continue our commitment to great design.

“We know our users want fresh information fast, in a way that gives them choice and control, yet maintains some elements of what’s familiar to them. That’s exactly what we are sharing today with the new Yahoo Maktoob experience,” she added.

“Whether you are browsing the top stories; checking your email; posting pictures, checking the weather or even finding out what the stars have in store for you.  All your daily habits are within easy reach on one page,” Airey continued.

“The award-winning Weather App and the refresh of Flickr and Yahoo Mail are further examples of how we are reimagining Yahoo, always keeping the user at the center of what we do.”

Yahoo Maktoob also announced a partnership with leading producer of original video content in Saudi Arabia, UTURN.

Starting in April, Yahoo Maktoob will launch a UTURN channel under its video platform Yahoo Screen, featuring UTURN’s new productions throughout 2014, including leading comedy series, a library of UTURN’s best video content, as well as exclusive content that includes behind the scenes videos.

This partnership extends UTURN’s reach to Yahoo Maktoob’s large user base of 60 million monthly users across the Middle East region, and is the latest addition to its premium video offering.

Features of the new Yahoo Maktoob homepage include:

•    New real-time news feed, letting you experience a virtually endless feed of news articles

•    The stream of news also offers a ‘save for later’ functionality

•    New utilities that highlight our daily habits and spotlight the latest information from Yahoo Weather, Finance, Flickr and more; and that can be customised for each user

•    Cleaner design that’s easy to navigate

•    Ease of use with the familiar search box, quick links to Yahoo Maktoob properties and the ever popular Today Module

•    More information in less space (surfacing headlines and summaries in an easy to read snapshot)  - TradeArabia News Service