iGOZMO

I just came across a UK online technology magazine called iGIZMO

http://www.igizmo.co.uk/

It is one of the slickest uses of Flash 10 I've seen to date. It combines a page layout style similar to Adobe Acrobat PDF viewer, with a page navigation system utilising thumbnail views down the left-hand side, and a double page spread of the magazine pages on the right.

Where it gets interesting are the pages themselves. Rather than being the traditional boring flat printed page of PDFs, this online magazine utilises all of the abilities of Flash 10 to create a fully interactive magazine. Each page contains audio, animation, popup information links, scrolling navigation boxes, and embedded video.

This all works very well to create a very slick user experience, which manages to convey the information much faster than a traditional printed format can, while utilising much less real estate for each article per page.

In the current issue, the exploration of the PS3 is the best example of how well designed the interactivity of this online magazine is, with videos running, playing short video reviews from the magazine reviewer, plus loads of other videos showcasing various elements of the PS3. There are also loads of other things going on on each page, from visual animations and sound effects, to interactive navigation within the pages.

Take a look and see what you think. And best of all, it's free!

(From the homepage, click on the magazine cover to load the interactive magazine).