Social Media addicts will find RockMelt an interesting browser substitute.
The new browser is bringing social networking to the daily browsing experience. Built on top of Chromium (Google Chrome’s Platform), Rockmelt integrates updates from Facebook, Twitter, email and other applications. Users can see their Facebook notifications, messages and status feed on their browser’s frame. They can also share content or pages that they are browsing. Other features include a ‘view later’ button and a ‘quiet’ button which eliminates all the social distractions from RockMelt’s browser.
RockMelt launched officially in November 2010 and is now working on its third version. Its main novelty is the recent collaboration with Facebook. Both companies are working together to make Facebook features seamlessly integrated. After much talk about a ‘Facebook browser’, this collaboration seems like a natural step.
The startup based in Mountain View (California) is supported by Marc Andreessen, an ex-Netscape executive and currently a Facebook board member. Netscape main architect Robert John Churchill is also leading the project on the technical side. The team wants to change the nature of browsing. It advocates a shift from webpage based to an experience focused on real-time data streams and sharing features.
RockMelt scores 1.88 on our dashboard. It recently peaked due to the announcement of collaboration with Facebook and it is expected to keep growing after this significant endorsement. The browser has already contributed to the death of its main competitor – Flock – but must stay aware of further competition from updates and add-ons on widely used browsers like Chrome or Mozilla.