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’s 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 ’tiles’? 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’ two simple taps get you directly to any Tile. Through some clever engineering, we constantly refresh your Tiles in the background, so they’re 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’ 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”…
Originally published on ReadWriteWeb (archived copy)