Marissa Mayer gets her Yahoo moment

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Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer speaks during her keynote address at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. (Reuters)

SummaryYahoo CEO unveils handful of new products, possible rival to Google Now, at CES in Las Vegas.

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer unveiled a handful of new products, including a competitor to Google’s predictive search technology for smartphones, in a debut appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show that drew a big crowd.
The former Google executive, who took the reins at Yahoo in 2012, has moved aggressively to revamp the struggling firm’s business with acquisitions and a renewed focus on its media offerings.
Yahoo’s services attracted more than 400 million monthly mobile users for the first time last fall, Mayer said, surpassing the 390-million mobile users it announced in October. Speaking in a keynote at the annual technology industry gathering in Las Vegas, Mayer announced Yahoo’s acquisition of Aviate, a company which makes a smartphone app that automatically brings up relevant information or other apps to suit a user’s activity.

“Imagine if your phone can deliver the right experience to you at the right time instead of you having to search for it,” Mayer said. “What if your phone suggested music and map apps when you got in your car or fitness apps when you got into the gym?”
The technology, which Mayer said will be rolled out under the Yahoo banner this year, appears similar to Google Now, which the search giant introduced in 2012.
While Yahoo’s revenue growth has yet to pick up under Mayer’s leadership, the 38-year-old CEO has brought pizzazz back to a brand considered by many to be past its prime