RockMelt browser launches for iPad

RockMelt web browser that burst onto the scene in 2010 aimed to build your online social connections into your everyday Web browsing experience. As a result, feeds from your Facebook friends draped your home page, but in a way that did not feel too cluttered.

RockMelt was built on the foundation of Chromium, the technology behind Google's fast Chrome browser. And it had the backing of Marc Andreessen, an Internet pioneer who kick-started this whole browser business in the early 1990s with Mosaic.

Now after what the Silicon Valley company says was an eight month endeavor, RockMelt is launching a browser for the iPad. As with its Mac and PC siblings, RockMelt for iPad is social. It is fun to look at. And it is meant to let you get to your content in a way that is faster than opening an empty window, pulling up the keyboard and then entering a Web address. Indeed, even big fans of the iPad don't necessarily love typing on the tablet.

You're greeted with content in RockMelt that is tailored to your interests, served up in large squares with a headline and picture. User can choose to view squares of the most popular stuff on the Web. Or user can choose to customize the interface by category Business, Cute, Foodie, Geek, News, Paparazzi, Sports, Travel and so on.

To make the stuff user share with others on the Web more intriguing, user can add comments or assign what RockMelt calls "emoticodes." user choices for now are "like," "lol," "want," "wtf?," "aww," or "hmm." user should point out that choosing "like" doesn't mean mean you're giving it a "like" in Facebook. Emoticodes for now stay within the RockMelt universe.

Quick take is that RockMelt is more Flipboard than Safari. But it really is its own unique Web animal, and well worth checking out.