msnbc.com – Review

Our rating:

By: Zumobi Inc.

Version #: 1.0

Date Released: 2009-06-26

Developer:

Price: 0.00

User Rating:

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Once I heard that Rachel Maddow had her own iPhone app, I figured it was only a matter of time before someone wised up and gave MSNBC.com an app all its own.  It’s pretty flashy.  It looks something like a jukebox except with news rather than music.

The app is part of something called the Zumobi network, which is probably response for the design of the app.  Props to the Zumobi Network because I don’t think any news organization would put together this sort of design on its own.

Fundamentally, it’s a news feed of course.  You can click the flow text on the bottom to make the articles move on their own as you scan the headline for ones that interest you (plus the occasional banner ad.  Hey, the Zumobi Network has to eat too).

The app has settings which allow you to log into Twitter and see the MSNBC feed.  Also, you can control the speed at which the news flows by.

My biggest complaint is that the news isn’t categorized and it apparently can’t be filtered.  If I only want to read about entertainment or sports, I’m out of luck.  You can, however, share articles with other people and there is video on the site.

Overall, it’s a nice app to download and certainly beats having to open Safari and navigate to MSNBC.  But other news readers out there are done better and I would not use this one as my primary information source.

Pros: Good, original look.  Thoughtful features.

Cons: Can’t control or filter the articles.