News Lab
|
NEWS lab conical flask logo by Andre Casaclang | |
| Web address | http://lab.news.com.au |
|---|---|
Type of site | News website |
| Owner | News Limited |
| Created by | News Digital Media |
| Launched | November 2006 |
| Current status | Offline |
NEWS lab was the research and development section of the NEWS.com.au website, based in Sydney, Australia.
Overview
The lab lets users comment and rate a number of internet products being developed by NEWS.com.au. The collated feedback is used to assist with alterations to the products' design or function before being released to other websites within the group.
The 14 November 2006 launch coincided with World Usability Day 2006, a global event designed to raise users awareness in regards to product usability.
The lab was closed and the URL deactivated in 2007.
Company Structure
NEWS Lab is the R&D section of NEWS.com.au, the Australian breaking news website run by News Digital Media. The lab concept was created by Charles Brewer and Graeme Merrall and managed by Sigrid Kirk, Group Publisher, News Digital Media.
News Digital Media (known as News Interactive between 1998 and 2006) is the Digital Media division of News Limited, the Australian arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
Richard Freudenstein, formally COO of BSkyB, was announced as the Chief Executive of News Digital Media on 10 July 2006. He formally took up this position on 10 October 2006.
Lab Products
The 4 products launched with the lab were:
NEWS Map: a Google map mash-up of NEWS.com.au stories placed onto a global map. The data is processed via MetaCarta to extract Longitude and Latitude and then a KML file produced
NEWS Cloud - a tag cloud created using zoomclouds.com API to extract the keyword from the last 7 days' worth of NEWS.com.au stories
NEWS River - a formatted page designed to be viewed on a Blackberry, 3G or next generation mobile device. The concept of the river came from internet developer Dave Weiner.
NEWS Widget - a Yahoo! Konfabulator generated downloadable desktop widget powered by 5 NEWS.com.au RSS feeds, 1 feed each from Foxsport.com.au and AustralianIT.com.au