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Filed under: Windows Mobile, Microsoft

Microsoft to bundle Zumobi with Windows Mobile

ZumobiMicrosoft and Zumobi have announced a deal to distribute the Zumobi interface and widget platform with Windows Mobile. The move isn't particularly surprising, seeing as Zumobi is closely tied with Microsoft, and the zooming Windows Mobile interface was developed as part of Microsoft's IP Ventures Group.

The Zumobi platform aims to tackle one of the problems inherent with cellphone software: it's hard to display a lot of information on a small screen. The interface presents users with 16 easy to see tiles and the ability to zoom in on just 4, or to zoom into a single application. This makes it easy to deal with a large amount of information without using up much space.

The partnership doesn't necessarily mean that every Windows Mobile 5.0/6 device you see from now on will include the Zumobi interface. It will most likely be up to manufacturers and wireless providers to decide whether to use the software. But we're guessing the announcement means we'll be seeing Zumobi on a lot more devices in the future. Currently you need to download the software from Zumobi's site to install it, and we're guessing the vast majority of Windows Mobile users have yet to hear of Zumobi let alone install the platform.

[via WebWare]

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Mobile Minute

Zumobi beta for Windows Mobile launches


Zumobi, or the company formerly known as ZenZui is making its new zooming web browser/interface for Windows Mobile available as a public beta today.

2007 seems to be going down as the year of the zooming interface for mobile devices. Apple released the iPhone with a version of the Safari web browser that lets you see whole pages or zoom in to see a smaller portion. Opera Mini 4 does the same for a variety of devices. And now Zumobi for Windows Mobile provides a zooming interface for accessing web content including Flickr, AP News, and some web-based games.

In the past, mobile browsing meant reading stripped down text-only versions of web sites. This made a lot of sense because cellphones and PDAs have small screens, and typically display lower resolutions than computer monitors. But just because you have a small screen doesn't mean you don't want to access rich content on websites.

The Zumobi approach gives you a screen with 16 tiles, and the option to zoom in so you just see 4 tiles at a time. Click on one to open the associated web app. Zumobi maintains a gallery of applications, so you can remove some of the tiles that come with Zumobi and install alternates. You can also develop your own, and share them with other users.

Zumobi also plans to release a BlackBerry version of its software during the second quarter of 2008, and an iPhone application sometime after Apple releases the iPhone SDK.

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Mobile Minute, Beta

ZenZui mobile UI becomes Zumobi, announces public beta


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.

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