ZenZui mobile UI becomes Zumobi, announces public beta

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Mobile Minute, Beta

ZenZui mobile UI becomes Zumobi, announces public beta

by Brad Linder Nov 13th 2007

We first heard about ZenZui back in March. The Microsoft-backed company is developing an innovative new interface for mobile phones that lets you zoom in and out of almost every screen. That way you can see an overview of your information or zoom in to see more details. It's sort of like Safari for the iPhone, but for the entire user interface.

While the name sounded a bit funny, ZenZui made some sense, because ZUI stands for "zooming user interface." Apparently the company decided that wasn't descriptive enough, because they've relaunched as Zumobi. If you say the new name out loud, it kind of sounds like Zoom, so there you go.

More importantly, the company is getting closer to launching a working product. You can register today for a public beta set to launch on December 14th. You'll need a Windows Mobile phone to play, driving home the point that Zumobi is an interface, not an operating system. It could theoretically be supported on a variety of different operating systems if phone makers and wireless carriers decide to add the UI to their phones.

Update: The YouTube video we embedded is kind of outdated. If you want a better look at what Zumobi looks like in its current state, check out this Flash demo.

Tags: Safari, user-interface, ZenZui, zoom, zooming, Zumobi

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Tush said 11:23AM on 11-13-2007

Seems a little choppy. Would it work on Windows Mobile devices that are not phones? Hopefully they'd take advantage of my Axim x51v's 16mb vram

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