TechMeme is all atwitter this morning over Microsoft’s launch of Wonderwall. The browser-based app shows a wall of celebrity photos with links to short blurbs and more pics. Kara Swisher says it has “an ‘iPhone’ feel combined with a flipping-through-a-magazine tone.” Others have latched on to Microsoft’s foray into celebrity gossip content. Personally, I think it looks like a weak attempt to emulate the Cooliris platform for scanning photos and video. Slick? Wonderwall feels sadly static to me. Innovative? It’s treading content and platform ground that other companies have already walked.
Microsoft’s Wonderwall is lacking little touches like the feel of movement Cooliris gives when your scroll, and the interface is too busy for my taste. There is an aspect of discovery with the app, as you can click on photos that appeal to you and learn more, but Cooliris executes this function much more cleanly. New discovery categories appear on Cooliris all the time. For example, the top of today’s menu has Valentine ideas for him and her and funny ads (a la the Superbowl) available online. The one downside for some people with Cooliris is that you have to download the application. Compared to Wonderwall, a little downloading is well worth the effort.
Bonus video I found on Cooliris today after the jump: a banned Canadian ad for breast exams. :)
It’s better that you (female), than I (male) embedded that YouTube ad. Ha. Oh, and I commend Microsoft for trying new web stuff like this, Photosynth, etc even if they stumble along the way.