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Microsoft funded startup ZenZui has changed its name and the name of its Zooming User Interface for smartphones to Zumobi, a word it says better reflects the nature of its mobile Web platform.

Zumobi, which debuted at last spring's CTIA Wireless show, plans to make a beta of the browsing solution publicly available on December 14th. You can Register for it at the company Web site. A beta of the Zumobi SDK will be available to developers at the same time.

Although the client beta will only be available for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 smartphones - no surprise there - Zumobi plans to release Blackberry and (more broadly compatible) J2ME versions during the second quarter next year.

Zumbobi works very differently from traditional browsers. It reduces the Web to bite-size chunks through a modular interface made up of tiles. Users select, access and customize these tiles according to their interests. The idea is to make it easy for people to bounce in and out the information they want or need quickly.

In addition, the tile widgets can be personalized to show a user’s photos, blogs, and friends, and not just generic Web content.

In a bid to make Zumob a communal experience, Zumobi allows users to share tiles with each other.

Zumobi says its Zooming User Interface, first developed by Microsoft Research, is based on years of Human-Computer Interaction research. Since it is highly adaptive, the interface can adjusts to different devices and modes (e.g. portrait, landscape, numeric keypad, touch screen, QWERTY keyboard board, or traditional up/down/left/right navigational controls), according to the company.

Because servers on the backend are constantly updating and caching selected Web sites, when users go to access one by selecting a tile, it loads quickly, is current and is accessible even when they’re not within range of a wireless connection.

And since all data runs through Zumbobi's severs, it is centralized. This allows the company to deliver to a highly contextual and personalized route to interested consumers for advertisers and marketers. The success of these endeavors is vital to the long term viability of Zumobi, as Zumbobi is based on revenue sharing.