It takes either a very brave or very foolish company to enter the browser wars. But that is exactly what AT&T is doing—in a small way. I was just shown a demo for Pogo, a 3D browser based on Mozilla that is in private beta (we should be getting invites in a couple weeks). It is a project that comes out AT&T’s business development group and Vizible, a Toronto-based company whose 3-D rendering engine gives Pogo a very different look than other browsers. (AT&T is an investor in Vizible). “The concept is not to rebuild the browser,” says Vizible founder and CTO Anthony Gallo, “it is to extend it.” For the foreseeable future, Pogo will only be available for Windows machines.
Pogo works like a regular browser, but it manages pages more visually (see screenshots below). Instead of tabs, it has a scrollable strip on the bottom that shows a thumbnail image of each site you’ve visited during your session. A “Springboard” button on the top left takes you to a grid view of your favorite sites—akin to what you might put on your bookmark toolbar. You can also view the rectangular cells in various Coverflow-like animations. You can do the same with regular bookmarks, which are treated as “collections.” You can drag Website images into each collection or associate a collection with a tag. Then any page you tag going forward gets automatically placed within that collection. Your browsing history is also represented visually, as is your search history. For any particular search, every page you click through to gets saved as part of yet another collection—although you can only see one search set at a time.
A big turnoff, though, is that there are also banner ads in the Springboard and other visual modes. And the search bar is limited to Google and some AT&T-owned product-, image-, and Yellow-Pages-search engines. You can’t swap in another search engine, at least through the beta. Oh, and it only works on Windows.
The visual tricks are neat, but at this early stage I am not sure how many people would ditch their existing browsers for better visualizations. Does it let you browse faster or more efficiently than you could before? I am not sure it does. In any case, AT&T would have been better off releasing this as a plug-in for Firefox. But presenting the Web in a richer, more visual way is definitely part of a bigger user-interface trend we’ve been seeing, especially in search (SearchMe, Snap, and ManagedQ come to mind).
Where Pogo is going is more interesting than where it is at this early stage. Imagine being able to manage all your media—video, audio, photos—through the same visual interface. If Pogo allowed me to “collect” Web videos, photos, and music, and manage them in a unified way like I can with media on my desktop, that would be a big step in the right direction. Check out the video below of Pogo in action, which was taken by my colleague John Biggs of CrunchGear. Towards the end you will see some shots of the underlying Vizible technology, which I personally find more exciting.
why name it after a leading gaming site? has the web run out of new names?
Gotta say, it definitely LOOKS cool. But I’m not sure I’d like it…
are they sniffing glue? what is the point of this?
Why would i want to browse the internet on a globe
Not a bad idea but can users’ hardware provide enough support for this type of browser. Some people still can use spacetime.
Need to wait a bit longer to make pogo popular.
Didn’t Excite already try to do this a LONG time ago?
the eye candy will where off sooooooooooooo quick and then it’s just dumb d dumb dumb dumb.
nice beat though!
I think it’s a neat visualization and easy on the eyes, but I highly doubt that many people will make good use of it simply because it probably is more work to manage than the average browser.
Too steep a learning curve in the browser market with respect to security, privacy, multimedia, etc. AT&T is better off approaching Mozilla and Apple in order to partner and incorporate the Pogo technology.
Looks cool, very bad business move. Good luck to AT&T.
Did i see a pepsi ad there? (0:36)
I work with visualization researchers, and one thing I’ve learned is that designing a good visualization is HARD. To me, it looks like a few of these Pogo visualizations have potential, but most of them won’t add anything to the user experience.
Good luck to them, anyway.
This is another one about to bite the dust!
AT&T
Fell out of their tree
Hit every branch on the way
And landed right on Pepsi.
I need ads in my browser
Ads in my apps.
Ads on my cell phone.
Ads in my craps.
Spinny, swirly, nifty globe.
Stimulate my frontal lobe.
Drinking Pepsi, surfing faster
I’ll kowtow to the telco master.
Is this a prelude to cooler cable?
I’ll pay the rates, if I’m able.
Surfin the web and downloading vids.
This browser is clearly for my kids.
I see a number of ideas here that I’d bet will eventually find their place in the web:
- high-density non-verbal information (partly through ‘3D’)
- navigation by means other than clicks
- website icons reduced to brands
- high-resolution display required
The web is still largely a domain of words, and requiring a keyboard to surf is going to eliminate a pretty significant part of the population. I’m interested to see experiments that try to push the envelope, even if its from an aging monopoly.
When you get the invites – invite me!
looks cool
This is hotter then my AZZ
Stupid!
I don’t get these plugins and websites that try to enable visual browsing. All websites pretty much look the same – why bother with a snapshot of it? What is gained by forcing someone to pick a website by having to first think of what it looks like from memory?
And c’mon, CoverFlow works for music because you’re selecting albums by album cover. Using it for a website is like selecting a CD by looking at a page of liner notes. If they have a usability “expert” on staff, he should be fired.
No, please for the love of god no! Just pick an existing browser and extend it. Reuse reuse recycle people! We don’t need another crappy browser with its own non standard compliant quirks. We’ve already got IE for that.
This will only succeed when touch interface hits the desktop in a big way. Whilst were still mouse and keyboard orientated then there is no use in these types of big bang visualization approaches.
Also If AT&T use there cable ownership to in anyway advantage this Browser I’m gonna be an active negative voice for this Browser. They can take net neutrality to a whole different playing field (slow down tcp packets unless the header comes from a POGO browser) !!! Anti-trust !!!
there’s a much better representation of 3D social browsing w/ intra-environment a/v support @ http://www.3b.net – not sure where Pogo is going…i guess we have now met the enemy and the enemy is in fact us (and our inability to recognize true innovation when we see it)…
I was fortunate to see this recently on a live demo. Actually it is very easy to navigate. It is also very easy to organize, browse and surf the web. The visual history is awesome as well. Ten minutes in and all I could think is finally someone has their thinking caps on. Sure it is a little thicker than most, but is that not the point? You spend $2k on a new custom built system and get high speed internet, to do what? Just game? For someone like me that has the need to go in daily and consume as much info in as little time possible, this will save me so much time. Remember the staggering amount of bookmarks that you collect over time only to forget that they even exist? Not any more! I think the point here is that your brain is able to recall an image much faster than a line of text. Tabbed browsing is alright in IE7, but when I’m doing research and have twelve tabs open at once, it’s great to have a row of small screen shots across the bottom to click to. And the ability to visually look through my search history, well I should not even have to explain. I applaud AT&T for trying to move technology forward.
personally I can’t wait for real three dimensional use of my monitor like minority report where he moves stuff all around with his fingers. Saw some company in Utah demo-ing that recently – I cannot WAIT. Stuff like website development flow which is so hard to on a flat dimension, family trees, networks, whatever…
@Czartek
It’s obvious you’re a paid schmuck. Nobody would comment on the superiority of a new product on a techblog by repeatedly comparing it to IE7. Not to mention, “AT&T…move technology forward?” Yeah right, the reason the U.S. is so far behind other industrialized countries in broadband access is because AT&T took the government subsidies and ran.
@TheChris
Well you are certainly entitled to your thoughts, oh highly enlightened master of all human destinies. If the only way to express your feelings is to immediately cower to name calling, well I then truly understand your level of ignorance. I was not paid for my comment, but my comment was at least an educated one based on actual knowledge of the subject from which I was speaking.
Has everyone lost their senses – cover flow is okay and everything but why is that the new UI meme? As previous commentors note 3D rendering via a client of 2D pages may provide an initial WOW but have virtually no real utility. I think the demo on the video actually shows that this is slower than using boring old single dimension technology. Just the name points out these guys are clueless.
Dude that sounds dumb to me!!! I would rather they did not soil the name of my most favorite website ever!!!!!
Well to be honest today I received email from http://www.searchme.com to become beta tester and I must say that I am very impressed with the 3d web search now what would it make difference between 3D browsing and 3D searching.
~Make Money Professional Aggregation~
It’s the Browser not the OS anymore but I’m not sure why AT&T thinks they can play in this game/war.
I agree with the author. This is a Firefox plug-in candidate but a full blown browser, dont think so.
Loading it up with ads is probably another mistake.
Im also not sure if a telco has a clue as to what to do with an idea like this if it were to take off. Big business culture will likely kill this if it gets off the ground.
Czartek is a total schill. Looks like he was shoveling straight marketing spiel. Never seen that comment name ever (in 20 months).
I think it could be good. There’s definitely a lot of room for improvement in the way we store and recall favorite sites. Del.icio.us is going in the right direction, but a well-done GUI could be very usable. I guess it will depend how well it works. If it’s based on Mozilla, I see no reason it can’t succeed.
Very COOL app, but reality check required.
(1) Why isn’t this a firefox plug-in???
(2) Money is in the mass market. This is VERY pre-mass-market-chasm. Mass market still getting used to tabbed-browsing. This app way TOO early.
(3) Even if it were not too early (and it IS), this app requires change in user-behavior. Changes in user-behavior are NEVER easy.
(4) AT&T = distribution of innovative products. NOT. Enough said.
My advice to Visible/company that created this app: Cool stuff (audience hand-claps) but in this specific case you can’t make money on cool stuff. Hope AT&T gave you enough money to buffer your burn. Sell company asap.
@Spero Lucem, that site you recommended is crap compared to pogo. Pogo is the best looking thing to come along since iPhone. You naysayers are backward looking people. Try to think forward.
From the video it would appear they are using technology licensed from SeaDragon. It’s nice to see it used with video rather than text and images as previous demos of SeaDragon have shown. I definitely think this is a step in the right direction. Even if AT&T doesn’t follow through, the code has been written and someone else with more clout in the browser market could grab this and run with it.
Unfortunately, innovations like this usually end up being licensed further with agreements for ad space and whatever other limitations they want to add to it, and then they just die off as people go back to the adless browsers we all currently use and love.
I do think this is a good branch to explore in an age where lots of information needs a new way to be viewed efficiently. Natural Selection will tell.
I think it’s a good attempt. Futuristic movies have 3d screens for browsing, ..why not let companies take the initiative to create it for the web and internet? Not sure about the whole 3d hype of the future, but it’d be nice to see what they can do.
I swear we came out with this in 2002, but it was for the TV.
http://www.drea...eamix_Final.wmv
I like the way it looks. Would like to play with it. A few years back, I tried an IE clone that functioned in a cube. I liked it but there was too many bugs and I think the company went under.
Unfortunately, the majority of “average” users that I have come in contact with don’t understand the idea of using multiple applications or browser windows. Many, many people run every app in full screen mode and can only see one app view at a time. Trying to show them that they can keep multiple , smaller windows in view is an exercise in frustration. They just don’t grasp it. So I doubt browser experiences like what AT&T is playing with would work for most people.
When the iPhone came out I wrote a blog post (link below) that discussed an ongoing change on user interface paradigms. This is just another example of what I discussed on the post. Will this instance be successful? who knows … but it is undeniable that a big change is approaching.
http://www.fabi...ct-development/
only useful one is bottom left. the gridded one. They should throw all the other ones out– which are at best annoying — and concentrate on variations of that. There are variations of that one that could be very interesting and perhaps useful, but judging from the visual imagination that these guys display, they wont figure them out. im open to be proved wrong.
if this application had a stupid web 2.0 name like melbo or something you guys would all be drooling over this offering.
it’s AT&T your negativity is coming from, not the idea or the product itself.
I don’t see why it’s beyond the realm of reason that AT&T would be developing new technologies such as browsers- they ARE a technology company. I’ll cite Bell Labs (google it, friendos). They’re faring well in that netflix prize for recommendation engines (think search algorithms).
Maybe they messed up your phone bill a few too many times but you can’t hate on a company for dabbling in ideas – isn’t that what we’re all reading these blogs for?
p.s., I’m not paid to say this but I am compelled to reject some of the ignorant dismissal of ideas based on the companies presenting them (Microsoft gets similar smarmy responses).
Aren’t you forgetting the Princess Phone? There would be no America had their not been the transistor…and the Princess Phone.
looking cool
i am watting for this cool browser.
The telcos are looking for ways to make more money off of the tube connecting you to the internet. Placing ads in an application that previously wasn’t supported by ads may not work, however. The product needs to provide enough value for me to switch to an ad-subsidized product and 3d effects are not enough.
Retards. They should fire all the US employees and outsource operations to India then such a stupid thing would never come up.
I definitely see this revolutionizing the way we experience the web, I mean AT&T’s really gone out there and said “We’re going to be innovative…We’re going to be cool…We’re going to be 3D”.
And this is really what technology is all about…pushing the envelope, progression, and going out there and saying…We AREN’T afraid of change…We’re going to go for it!
I will bet my mortgage (note: housing and credit crisis may result in home foreclosure in the interim) that this Pogo thing will turn into a big zero in under 24 months. These guys, as well as SpaceTime, Searchme and others, are trying to turn a very basic and effective utility (search) that delivers an amazing experience for 99.9% of Internet users into a fancy swirling, twirling 3D widget. Come on. This may be appealing to Techcrunch readers, but do you honestly believe that your 40 year old mother of three in Iowa needs, wants or will use a 3D browser. Survey says….”deadpool”.
I feel all “Hackery”, “Lawnmower Mannery”, and all “crazy computer oriented movie with gimmicky UIery”.
Harry “very chinkery” Wang
I’ll take derek’s bet.
Conventional search engines are measured by 2 main criteria today: relevance and speed. The visual search engines will improve on both counts because they will redefine those equations. Where speed is currently measured by the time it takes to render the results page, the visual search engines will speed the time it takes to find the webpage you want to go to. So the equation will change from a search results page rendering to a user finding and getting to the right webpage. For example in the current equation, a user may get a quickly rendered search results page but then have to click and visit 3 pages that are link farms before he or she finds the most relevant web page. In the visual search paradigm, a user will instead skip over the link farm pages and more quickly find page he or she wants to go to. So while the visual search results page may take more time to render since it is heavier with graphics, the time to find the solution will be speeded. And because we are all emotionally attracted to certain visual characteristics, we will be more likely to find a site which we “connect with” if we can see a visual preview of it. And as a result the relevance of that page to the user might be improved.
Pogo, Searchme and others will change the playing field for google and other search engines. For now google has the edge on longtail of searches since they have indexed so many more pages and have a much more developed ad model which adds additional value to searchers who are looking to buy a product or service. But Visual Search is a game changing approach. And in the long run it will overpower almost any advantage the text search engines have today. I for one would pay more for a click in a visual search where my brand can be better matched to the consumer than I would for a customer coming through a text link.
Of course it also dramatically changes the seo equation. Link farms and automated pages will be automatically recognized as such and rendered impotent.
Techcrunch readership love the cutting-edge – this browser is the leading-edge. But, to quote a previous comment, a 40 yr old mother is never going to use a browser like this.
My take is that this product is the likely the result of the ‘tail wagging the dog’. AT&T invested in Vizibal. AT&T and Vizibal then likely brainstormed as to how to best use AT&T in their capacity as an investor. So, they came up with this ‘great idea’ to ‘build a new browser’. Pitched AT&T hard on this ‘great idea’ and voila — you now have a new browser. My guess is the actual delivery / shipment of this new ‘browser’ satisfied some written business objective that some AT&T VP committed to in their yearly review; ie: this browser justified some weird macro AT&T objective to produce ‘cool technology’ – note emphasis on technology and not on making money.
The software world is littered with companies that have produced these cutting-edge tools. It doesn’t matter for AT&T. Their investment will have zero impact on their financials (I am sure it isn’t even a rounding error of a rounding error). I do feel sorry for the company though. Cool cool stuff. Probably generated alot of buzz inside the company — all software companies love to build cool stuff. But ultimately, the only thing that matters for a company is for products to produce profitable cash flow. Is this browser going to produce that profitable cash flow??
Deadpool.