Following the closure of its offices in Egypt earlier this year, Yahoo Maktoob has rolled out some recent annoucements to demonstrate new content and customization. Its announcements are't groundbreaking (its homepage will be customized), but the company will be adding new video and entertainment content with coverage of the World Cup 2014 and a new partnership with Saudi video content company UTURN. This Monday at the Ritz Carlton in Dubai, Yahoo Maktoob's regional leads announced that the company would be customizing the homepage, upgrading its Weather, Flickr, and Horoscope apps, while turning its news feed into a stream of real-time content. “The homepage is the front door of Yahoo and we should take good care of it”, said Amina Rached, Head of Media MEA (Middle East and Africa). She added, “the chances of each one present in the room to have the same homepage are very low.” While Yahoo Maktoob sticks to tried-and-true products on its homepage, it's also focusing on coverage of one of the region's favorite events: the World Cup. International VP of Marketing Robert Bridge announced that the company has signed an agreement with Jose Mourinho, the manager of the Chelsea team, to serve as a global ambassador. The company also announced a partnership with the famous Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmi, who will travel to Brazil to cover the event. To further engage football lovers, the tech company has launched an update to Maktoob Football Yahoo!, the Android and iOS app that it debuted last year, fully designed by Yahoo's developers and engineers in Amman. The app offers real-time scores. analysis, stats and game information, as well as the chance to share videos, photos or results via social media. And finally, demonstrating a commitment to original Arabic content, Yahoo Maktoob announced that it will launch a new premium channel on its video platform to feature UTURN’s recent productions as well as exclusive content, such as "behind the scenes" videos; the platform will extend UTURN's reach to Yahoo Maktoob's userbase of 60 million monthly users.
