MSNBC - Stay Informed Just by Having Fun
NewsWare is a laboratory for news-infused games, and other tools that totally change the way you read news on the web. This lab is part of MSNBC Newspage, that want to help their readers to get different experience while reading the daily news.
NewsWare looks like a bunch of widget and goodies that you want to try. In particular, I liked the game area - it mixes live MSNBC headlines from the vast library of RSS feeds, into some truly addictive game play. Games can be played on the site, or can be added as Facebook applications.
Click to play.
Readers can also build their own news ticker and stay plugged into MSNBC news from their personal pages (Netvibes, iGoogle etc.,). Or, stay connected with the topics they care about and the latest breaking news, via Mobile, Email, or Instant Message.
But the most interesting application I've tested on NewsWare is Spectra: A visual newsreader that merges the news spectrum and the color spectrum into an expansive news viewing experience.
I have never seen anything quite like this:
Overall, it is pretty clear that MSNBC very much aware of today Web progress, and since the moment you go onto their main page, you can see the clean layout, the flexible design, the sharing option, and more. Really, a great usability that makes it easier to explore the site.
I really recommend you to try NewsWare, it's absolutely different from newspage sites we're familiar with today.
4 Comments:
Thank you Orli.
pretty cool, I really liked the Specta application. I read like 15 headlines, which is much more then my avrege.
Well, first of all I have to say, that this Spectra app is really stunnishing and came completly unexpected to me to see such "new style" thing developed by some Microsoft branch :-o
There is even an "Add to Facebook" button! Wow, seems some guys at MS woke up (or are finally allowed) to participate in Web2.0.
BUT: Some huge disadvantage of Spectra app is that you cannot save your selected news-sources to a user account! Or did I miss sth out?
It took me about 10 minutes to browse and select the categories. But where's the use if I had to do this everytime I want to use the app? WTF?
Another cool feature would be to import your own OPML file of your favorite RSS sources to be displayed within Spectra.
Impressive: They even learned to write the word "beta" behind the sitename (equals 100% increase in coolness)!!
Are we threatened of a takeover by Microsoft-Web2.0-geeks now? :-)))
Thanks for this. Hadn't seen Spectra before and am jazzed to see something new in news.
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