Former Engadget editor in chief Joshua Topolsky’s new tech news site, The Verge, went live Nov 1st.

I’m happy to report that it includes a nicely done mobile version. Based on Vox Media’s proprietary publishing platform, The Verge’s mobile edition has a clean, modern look that I find a lot more inviting than the overly busy desktop variant. There’s a mini-slideshow at the top of the homepage, which, thankfully, is not automated. Below it are thumb-nailed links to recent posts in chronological order followed by a topic menu. Individual posts are presented as a single page without unneeded pagination and include all the images and videos from the original post.

The mobile version renders and works well in all current smartphone browsers including the Symbian and Android browsers as well as Opera Mini. With page sizes hovering around 400 KB, it’s not well suited for typical feature phone browsers.

I did find a couple of areas for potential improvement. There’s no site search in the mobile version, which is something I miss, and the “dots” to go to the next image in the slideshow are too small to hit reliably using touch.

Filed in: Wap Review Directory – Tech/Tech News Sites and Blogs
Ratings: Content Usability
Mobile Link: mobile.theverge.com