And now a word about NOOWIT, “your digital world in a multidimensional magazine form.”
It sounds interesting, doesn’t it? NOOWIT is a “now century” feed reader-slash publishing platform unlike any you will have experienced so far. Really. A so-called “adaptive information filter”, NOOWIT goes a long way toward organizing a user’s information universe, and to hoeing the weeds of information overload, all from inside a classy walled garden magazine. The service is pretty close to an “all in one” for media consumers, and another channel for publishers too.
About ten years ago the world of tech development seemed to want to produce an “all in one” platform or service to attract a host of users (traffic), and for pretty obvious reasons. For a spell Yahoo! and a few other companies actually did provide such communities where a wealth of interaction loosely occurred around a central business idea. Then came MySpace and Facebook, and ten thousand (seemingly) aggregators fell by the wayside. Our digital world became more homogenized (it morphed) into what are essentially several big gardens full of people. Okay, and a huge and fragmented series of city streets outside Facebook, Google Plus, and good old Yahoo exists still too. However, nobody has really created “a garden” really rich in individual experience and utility, not with true consumption and distribution of rich content in mind.
Enter the Greek beta startup NOOWIT. The first time user of this creative new platform will, no doubt, begin by trying to compare it to other reader-publisher tools of a type. Then, shortly after signup those same users will get entangled in the sheer gripping organizational function of the HTML5 reader/writer application. The short version of what NOOWIT does is, it transform feeds ( from any source) into smart digital and intuitive magazines to render a real time, personal, and very relevance content machine.
Okay, maybe that explanation was not so simple, but it is a true depiction of a new idea in adaptable information absorption. Note I put the emphasis on “intuitive” up there. The kicker for users of the platform is the founders powered the tool with so-called artificial intelligence (AI). The algorithmic heart of NOOWIT then, is a smarter learning system to render your needs. In point of fact one of the founders, Nikolaos Nanas, has a Phd. in AI. We'll speak with him about deeper systems capability as time permits, but it’s significant to note the focus here.
For the reader (consumer) of content, NOOWIT really does solve the information overload problem by not only tailoring the consumption experience, but by “learning” preferences and “adjusting” to a user’s evolving interest stream. What you do with NOOWIT is publish your own expandable and intelligent magazine, and in just a few minutes too. Surf and add stuff via bookmarklet, browse from within the garden, and Voilla! This is the best form of news and info aggregator to date, and in many ways. On the reader end of the spectrum I spoke with Co-founder and Chief Engineering guru Christos Spiliopoulos about some things that make NOOWIT special from a reading standpoint, here’s what he had to say;
“Well, many of our efforts have focused on creating a user experience distant from the commonplace. NOOWIT provides an outstanding reading experience, one that is truly personalized. The platform offers an indominable navigation aesthetic for users, and in this we feel we have successfully refined and streamlined how people can sort through information.”
Now, on the publisher side of the value equation, the platform affords users several key advantages. First and foremost, NOOWIT let’s you transform (integrate) your WorldPress blogs into the system, putting your content into rich and functional magazine form. From within the system content is not only transformed into a more visually stunning form, but where tablet or mobile phone consumption is concerned, far more “maneuverable” and enjoyable to read and see too. Another key feature is the what I would call “visual spatialization” where the relevance (to you) of an article is intuitively displayed size wise on smart devices. In other words, your best and most relevant content not only comes to the forefront, but it takes up more “screen” space too. The bottom line here is, fully creative and customized publisher magazines, within the NOOWIT magazine stand, afford a fine opportunity for exposure if the community expands as it should.
Dedicated iPhone, Galaxy, Xperia or other smart-device users will grasp instantly how NOOWIT’s intuition will reward them. Other publisher features allow for visibility and monetization opportunities such as audience targeting and functionality features. Like I said, the first time user will naturally compare NOOWIT to some previous iterations of “all in one” magic such as Flipboard (for the web), Instapaper, Tumblr, even Zite, Wavii, Trapit, Prismatic and so forth.
The comparisons will be natural, but in the end I found the new beta tool to be a refinement and conglomeration of those aforementioned tools, easily differentiated for sure. With Google Reader going bye bye next month, the NOOWIT folks would seem to have created a better mousetrap, and it’s not even out of private Beta yet!
Stay tuned, we'll decipher the actual AI benefit and report back soon.....
