Yahoo! ditches digital newsstand for iPads

Yahoo! shuttered its fledgling digital newsstand for iPads on Friday in what it said was the start of a product purge intended to make the floundering Internet pioneer more nimble.

Livestand was launched in November as a way to turn tablet computers into personalized magazines rich with stories, images and video suited to individual tastes.

It was intended as a platform to allow magazine or newspaper publishers big or small to deliver content matched with the interests of people who log into the Yahoo! online venue.

"It's a digital newsstand, your digital newsstand," a Yahoo! executive said at the unveiling last year.

Livestand was among the first products to be targeted for elimination under the auspices of a turn-around plan outlined by executives of the Sunnyvale, California-based company.

"We've decided to discontinue or consolidate a number of products across Yahoo!'s technology platforms over the course of 2012," a message at the company's corporate blog explained.

The process includes scrutinizing "what's working and what isn't."

Livestand for iPad didn't make the cut despite positive feedback from users, according to Yahoo!

"We have learned a lot from Livestand and are actively applying those insights toward the development of future products that are better aligned with Yahoo!'s holistic mobile strategy," Yahoo! said.

"We are pivoting to a mobile-products-first development model and there's no doubt that one of the biggest, if not the biggest, priorities for us is to innovate for the mobile user."