MoboTap, a company that you’ve likely never heard of, are the brains behind the Android web browser “Dolphin”. They’ve recently announced that version 6.0 of their browser has been released, and it comes with a new user interface that you can check out in the video below. The key feature of this new version however is “Webzine”. Think of it as an RSS aggregator that shows feeds in a magazine like format, similar to Flipboard for the iPad, but slightly different. We think all of this is rather gimmicky and see no problem with the stock Android browser, but 8 million users would say otherwise. Are you a Dolphin user? Is it really something you can’t live without, or are you simply using it just to be different?
In other news, the MoboTap guys scored $10 million worth of funding in a series A round led by Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners. The money will be used to get people in countries other than America to start using Dolphin. Seems like a waste if you ask us, since Google likes to release new versions of Android every few months, and with said new releases come a whole range of new features and optimizations. Dolphin also lacks the capabilities of Firefox Mobile and Opera Mobile, with both browsers benefiting from the fact that they have an added desktop component so your web browsing experience seamlessly follows you whether you’re on your mobile phone or in front of your computer.
Mobile browsers will at some point in the not so distant future become the main method most of us use to access the internet, so any and all innovation is welcome, but gestures and extentions … come on, that’s been done before. Why not take advantage of all the benefits mobile devices bring with all of their added sensors and what not?