Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search iPhone App Keeps It Local

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Yahoo! launched two new iPhone apps today at the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas. The Yahoo! Search iPhone App appears to be somewhat similar to search features that were found in its all-around app that was released over a year ago—namely voice search and current location search—but focuses solely on searching while dropping the news, e-mail, and social networking features.

It’s the other app Yahoo! launched that appears to be a bit more unique. Called Sketch-a-Search, “You simply draw a boundary on your phone’s map to discover local businesses within that location,” according to the press release. It’s currently only working for restaurants based in the US, but Yahoo! is planning to add more categories “on an ongoing basis and extend to international markets in the near future.”

Yahoo! is already behind rivals Bing and Google when it comes to location-based search apps for the iPhone but the ability to define a more specific area and filter restaurants “by cuisine, ambiance, and star rating,” may entice some people to take the app for a spin. Then again, there’s also the Yelp app to contend with when it comes to location-based restaurant searches.

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