Microsoft's Z Fetish: First Zune, Now ZenZui and its Zoomspace

2007-03-27T05:17:40Z

Microsoft today announced the launch of ZenZui, an independent Mobile Web company. ZenZui offers a patented (by Microsoft) "Zooming User Interface" for mobile phones. The technology was initially developed by the Microsoft Research lab in Redmond, then acquired by ZenZui - who also got venture capital funding from Microsoft IP Ventures to help launch its company.

What is ZenZui?

ZenZui‚Äôs core feature is its 'zooming' interface, which gave rise to its current marketing slogan: "Stop Surfing. Start Zooming." In technical terms, ZenZui is said to have "a high-frame rate zooming user interface [which] employs up to 36 individual ‚Äútiles‚Ä? that are selected and customized by users". On the ZenZui website, they further explain how to use this zooming interface:

"Using a single thumb, you fly in and out of your Zoomspace ‚Äì two simple taps get you directly to any Tile. Through some clever engineering, we constantly refresh your Tiles in the background, so they‚Äôre always fresh, available, and ready to be Zoomed."

]]> Well, it's easier to grok if you view this quick 2-minute video demo on YouTube. Here's a pictorial representation of how it works:

Companies that have partnered with ZenZui for the initial trial include Kayak.com, OTOlabs, Avenue A | Razorfish and Traffic.com Inc.

ZenZui recently closed a Series-A financing round of $12 million, from Oak Investment Partners and Hunt Ventures. And with Microsoft in its corner, it has heavyweight marketing backing too.

Business Model

ZenZui has come up with an ecosystem for its product, which essentially aims to make money by advertisers and marketers sponsoring Tiles. For users, ZenZui will then match "relevant sponsors with each Tile". They describe this model, a little too cutely, as "CPZ ‚Äì Cost Per Zoom". The ecosystem is summed up in this diagram, which I must admit I haven't fully grokked yet:

Conclusion

ZenZui seems like a cool interface for mobile, but the business model is a little confusing to me. I don't quite understand how viewing sponsored Tiles, which are essentially mini-advertisements, will be viral to consumers. The diagram has lots of nice triangles, squares and arrows - but can someone explain to me in plain english how the ecosystem works? Preferably without using the word "zoom"...

Comment from josh on 2007-03-26

2007-03-27T06:31:26Z

Is "grok" the word of the day or something? That's three times you've used it in the last two articles ;)

Comment from Richard MacManus on 2007-03-27

2007-03-27T08:51:32Z

it is? Grok must be my Zoom :-)

Comment from Jeroen Mulder on 2007-03-27

2007-03-27T08:53:14Z

That really looks interesting. I am not interested in the business model, but I would love to see how well the UI works in real life scenarios.

Is it just me or is Microsoft's R&D delivering interesting stuff in the UI department lately? I'm still awed by their Office 2007 UI.

Comment from John Koetsier on 2007-03-27

2007-03-27T18:31:01Z

I love these fancy diagrams for massive business success that * don't * even * mention * the * end * user, as if that was some afterthought that will inevitably just fall into place by magic.

Comment from Jimmy on 2007-04-05

2007-04-05T08:41:03Z

Looks nice but in reality is just an over-hyped bookmarking system. The facility to store 36 bookmarks on your mobile is not exactly a major technological breakthrough. As for the "zooming", I don't think anyone gives a rat's ass.

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