Yahoo adds new social features to its renamed mobile app

Yahoo has overhauled its main app for smartphones and tablets, adding more "social" features aimed at people who like to share and chat about their favorite topics online.

The revamped app, now called Yahoo Newsroom, will offer a general news feed and more than 200 specialized channels that users can choose to follow on particular topics — such as a favorite celebrity, political issue or breaking news event. The format encourages users to post comments on news items Yahoo suggests for each topic, as well as on links that users find and re-post from other news sites.

Yahoo's overhaul comes as it's preparing to join a stable of Internet properties owned by Verizon. The telecommunications giant is buying the struggling internet company for $4.8 billion.