Browser 2.0 AT&T Pogo

For a while now some creative people in the design industry are looking at ways to improve the web browser. There are basically two paths to take when it comes to looking at this subject. The first one goes like this. Why would we bother people with browsers? How really cares about them? A browser is invented in a time an age in which we had no other choice than to reveal information through a peace of software like a browser. Right now in 2008 technology is speeding up to a point in which we can do almost every data request without a web browser. So get rid of that horrible peace of technology...
That is one way of looking at web browsers.

But the people with AT&T are looking in an other direction. Why not make this peace of software better, easier to use, and more friendly. I bet that was the general idea at At&T when they hired Fi to work with them on Pogo. A new, modern browser with a strong visual approach to internet surfing.

For me, I ran into a web page that was promoting Pogo. An I subscribed as a Beta user. And after some weeks in received an invite to join the Beta testers community which I did. I installed the browser and I was pleasantly surprised about the way it was taking over setting I had created in other installed browsers like Firefox. The complete bookmark-section was imported and became visible in some sort of dock which reminded me of the Apple dock. Great concept that dock-thing and very useful. The look and feel of the Pogo browser is great. A typical peace of Fi craftsmanship. Nice icons designed in a very specific style. Great way of working with color in the different parts of the application, nice animation especially in the 'history' section. All visual aspects are well done just like you can expect from a company like Fi.
But (yeah there is a but here) the whole browser is quite slow. And the way in which you have slide through your bookmarks is not really handy. For me as a bookmark-junkie it is like hell. First I have to slide through my bookmark collections. When I reach the collection I was looking for I get twelve thumbs for the first twelve sites I bookmarked in that collection. With two arrows on the top of my screen I can click my way deeper into my selected collection. Not very handy. Where you can slide (yes, with a small slider) through your history, you have to click through your bookmarks. Next to that, even do it is great to see thumb-visuals of my bookmarked websites when in scroll over them I like a description-field with the name of that particular site. Because I don't remember by the looks on a thumb-visual which website I bookmarked. Sure I can click on a thumb to get at information but by doing so I created a small pop-up for that thumb which I have to click away to continue. To many clicks if you ask me.

A great feature in this browser is the 'springboard'. This is like a multi-paged homepage,... I don't have any other way to describe this feature. It allows me as user to create a splash-page in which I can store all my favorite sites. Do not mistake 'all my favorite sites' with my bookmarks this is different. Say I like to read a certain blog everyday, I can attach it to the springboard. I like to visit a movie portal every day, stick it next to the blog on the spingboard. And I like to check my Gmail account regularly, there is my third springboard item. Springboard is a really handy and cool feature.

In staid of a tab-system which you can find in almost every web browser these days Pogo has a very nice looking site-dock at the bottom of the application screen. This dock shows thumbs-visuals of the sites you selected. You can add websites to that dock while working. A great way to actually see the sites you would 'normally' select in a tab-system. This dock can be opened and closed depending on the users needs or preferences. This part of the application fits perfect in the whole visual approach of the Pogo browser. Nice detail, you can read the name of the sites in the dock by scrolling over the thumb-visual.

When I look at the Pogo browser in general I believe this is a nice peace of software. Not to far away from what users would expect a browser to be. The development team did a great job using techniques that where available. Especially when you look at all the dock-like features there is no doubt Apple and Apples approach to UI solutions was an inspiration for these guys. The big question I have has more to do with the reason why this browser was developed in the first place. Why would a company like AT&T start a project like this? Everyone knows that most of the computer users work with the browser provided by the operation system of choice. Meaning the manority for users works with MS Explorer. I know Firefox is doing very well (13.8% of all use in June 2008 according to Futureshock.com http://www.future-shock.net/html/showStats.asp) but with figures like that even these guys are still no real competition to Microsoft Explorer. And looking at the way Pogo is created I don't see no reason why companies like Mircosoft and Apple would not 'copy' the best Pogo features for there own use in the future.

Links:
http://www.pogobrowser.com/
http://www.internetcommunicators.com/

The Man