Flock is a "social browser" focused on community and sharing and is currently in beta. The first release of the browser is scheduled for Fall of 2006. No precise date has been set. There are several communication and sharing features the browser offers that distinguish it from other browsers on the market.
Photo Bar and Comments
Flock has integrated their browser into social and photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Photobuck, and del.icio.us. This integration allows for seamless viewing and commenting on your friends photos via a photo bar running across the top of the browser. For example, when you move your mouse over a Photobucket picture, you can view all the photos of that person in the Photobar. Users can also add photo buddies in the Photobar, and Flock will indicate when a buddy has added a new photo. Users can also batch upload photos to Photobucket through the browser.
Blogging
Flock browser includes a blog editor that works with most major blogging services, including Blogger, Drupal, LiveJournal, MoveableType, Typepad and WordPress. Users access the editor by right clicking their mouse, and selecting the "Blog this" option from the menu. The editor includes a web snippet feature that allows the user to easily highlight text or photos from any Web page and automatically inserts the content into your blog. The editor also has a tagging function so users can add relevant tags to the post so others can easily find.
RSS Reader
The built-in RSS reader displays an icon next to the address bar anytime a page is loaded with an RSS feed. When users click the RSS icon, the browser displays a preview of the feed into the window with a link to subscribe. A left column also opens up which lets users sort and classify feeds into different folders.
Favorites
The address bar has a blue star icon which when clicked on, allows users to add, tag, and then share the site as one of their favorites. The browser is integrated into del.icio.us and shadows and will automatically store the site as one of your favorites.
Company
Flock was co-founded byGeoffrey Arone and Bart Decrem, and has funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Catamount Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and other angel investors. Several members of Flock, including Decrem, are from the Mozilla Foundation, which produced the Firefox browser upon which Flock is built. They are based out of Mountain View, CA.
Looking forward to V1 on this browser. I like the community aspect, as well as the built-in blog editor. Interesting concept- I wonder if will catch hold in the msypace crowd.
Flock is a "social browser" focused on community and sharing and is currently in beta. The first release of the browser is scheduled for Fall of 2006. No precise date has been set. There are several communication and sharing features the browser offers that distinguish it from other browsers on the market.
