MSNBC.com debuts news ‘laboratory’

Cory Bergman May 5th, 2008

Called Newsware, it’s MSNBC.com’s “laboratory for news-infused games, tools and other experimentation.” For example, this is Spectra, a “customizable kaleidoscope of news” which allows you to navigate on a 3D plane…

More tools explained in the press release below…

Redmond, Wash. – May 5, 2008 – Delivering on its promise to provide consumers with “A Fuller Spectrum of News,” msnbc.com today launched NewsWare (

“Msnbc.com thrives on digital experimentation,” said Catherine Captain, vice president of marketing at msnbc.com. “Now, NewsWare gives us a laboratory for games, tools and other innovations. It makes perfect sense for the msnbc.com audience. Our news explorers love to engage with news in multiple ways while absorbing msnbc.com’s range of rich, interactive experiences unlike any other news organization.”

With the launch of NewsWare, msnbc.com combines its existing tools such as podcasts, RSS feeds and mobile applications with the unveiling of its latest news-infused digital innovations including Spectra, NewsBlaster and NewsScroller, intended to excite the imagination of msnbc.com’s news exploring consumers. Building on the success of msnbc.com’s breakthrough interactive offerings, including the NewsSkimmer screensaver, NewsBreaker online game and NewsBreaker Live, the first-ever interactive cinema crowd game, NewsWare provides a one-stop-shop where consumers can access all of msnbc.com’s customizable news tools.

Spectra: Customizable Kaleidoscope of News

Spectra, a news visualization tool, gives consumers an alternate way to navigate msnbc.com in a three dimensional viewing state. Spectra offers comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news coverage, user customization, dynamic browsing and human body interaction. Developed with SS+K [New York] and Fluid Dynamic Media Design [Amsterdam], Spectra’s alluring design displays msnbc.com’s news headlines, fueled by RSS feeds, as colorful, graphic whirlwinds of movement and continually updated live headlines. Users can choose the news categories that interest them most, save stories to Spectra’s NewsCollector for later reading, filter their news by keywords and select various viewing states. In one viewing state, viewers with webcams trigger movement of the content and categories of headlines based on the motion of their body and the color of their clothes.

NewsBlaster: Smash Orbs to Capture Headlines with Online Game and Facebook Application

NewsBlaster, inspired by the rapid-fire nature of online news, is msnbc.com’s latest RSS-fed online game involving a race against time to smash orbs holding live msnbc.com news headlines. To play, consumers use precise aim to match colors and capture falling headlines to gain bonuses, extra lives and awareness of current events. The NewsBlaster game, created by SS+K with Fuel Industries [Canada], is also available as a Facebook application to share and compete with friends.

NewsScroller: Build-Your-Own News Ticker

NewsScroller is msnbc.com’s latest news widget. This animated, portable, build-your-own news ticker enables consumers to fully customize their news headlines and color scheme to fit their preferences. Consumers can simply “grab it” and embed NewsScroller anywhere on the web from their blogs to their personal homepages or their favorite social network profile. With NewsScroller, news enthusiasts decide what’s most important to them, choosing the stories that interest them most.

“We’ve coined a phrase, ‘news infusion,’ to capture the essence of what msnbc.com is accomplishing with NewsWare,” said Captain. “We constantly challenge ourselves to surface msnbc.com content in new ways that are surprising yet meaningful for our audience. NewsWare is our platform to achieve this, a place for msnbc.com to innovate; a place for our users to explore.”