Branchez-Vous launches customizable start page (2)
Branchez-vous, the “first independent” web media company in Quebec, launched today a new section called mon branchez-vous, which is very similar in principle to Netvibes or Pageflakes. Users can add, remove or change each of the page’s section. There are 35000 pre-selected “news sources”, but you can also put in your own RSS feed(s). There are also other widgets avalaible like upcoming weather.
I have to say I was pleasently surprised. Media companies in Quebec usually have a policy of not to allowing their visitors to go to another rival web destination. Also, you don’t even have to register and give them your email address to use the service, which is again a surprising open move from Branchez-vous. Finally, you can drag and drop the widgets, change the colors, change the presentation, add tabs, etc. To top it, users can also rate a RSS feed, and then this rating will be shown publicly, allowing others to see what’s popular, adding a “web2.0″ mix in the application, even if it’s anonymous.
Of course, this is not exactly world-classs innovation, as it is inspired heavily from Netvibes and Pageflakes. The page also crashed the browser when I tried to open new tabs and load all the others at the same time. But again: this comes from a media company, not from a startup, and they should be congratulated for this.
I have trouble seeing how it’s different from the others - is it just that they’re a media company? Or that they offer to let you not login? Seems like a me-too, imho.
Gabriel, it’s because they are the first to offer this kind of technology in Quebec and Canada (the ability to configure the page, change yourself each section and input a different news feed)
all other news sources like Canoe or CBC have static pages where you can’t change anything.
of course, as I said, this is not different from what’s done in California or Europe, and in a sense you are right with the “me-too”
Leave a Reply