Yahoo used its recent "Hack Day" to springboard its opening of substantial chunks of code to software developers, highlighted by the application programming interface (API) of Yahoo's widely-used Web e-mail. Yahoo said the Web application code release, aimed at spurring new interfaces and other features, and ties to third-party applications, was among the biggest ever opened to developers, and would be generally available by the end of the year.
Yahoo, like Google and Microsoft, may be attempting to make its popular Web portal a platform for Web services that include not only its own applications, but also third-party software and services for sales, marketing and more, said Interarbor Solutions Principal Analyst Dana Gardner. "It's a trend Google's been aggressively on, and now we're seeing others step up to bat," he noted. "In a way, it's 'me too,' but if anybody can take a leadership role after saying me too, it's Yahoo."
While e-mail may be a good place for the Yahoos and Googles of the world to start, Gardner added, he would like to see more opening and integration of calendar applications, which would deliver a significant production benefit to business.
News source: Tech news world
