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Yahoo! recaps a day of setting the Internet-on-TV movement on fire with Widgets
Okay Yahoo!, we're sorry we teased, we give up, you win. After what certainly seemed on this end to be an endless run of HDTV manufacturers announcing support for the Widget Engine today -- and serving up a hefty slap in the face to Microsoft and others who've been moving the Internet to TV movement for some time now -- all we can do is look over the carnage. Signed up on the app side of platform formerly known as Konfabulator are content providers like eBay, MySpace, CBS, Blockbuster OnDemand (in its first off-2Wire MediaPoint appearance), Netflix, Showtime, USA Today and Twitter, while the Widget Development Kit has opened up to developers interested in putting their apps on the screens of millions. Hardware should street starting this spring from the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony and Vizio leaving the biggest question mark as how the competition and their clumsy external boxes can possibly respond.
Widget Watch: Digg Search Widget
Digg is everyone's favorite social news site (with a decided focus on all things tech). With all the things that get 'dugg' it is hard to keep up, and that's where the Digg Search Widget (for Yahoo! Widget Engine) comes in. The widget can search a number of different Digg categories and can display up to 15 items from any Digg RSS feed. That's not all that this little widget can do, so go check it out.Thanks, James.
Yahoo! Widgets Engine 3.1 available
Earlier this week, Yahoo! released version 3.1 of the Yahoo! Widgets Engine (formerly Konfabulator). As you may remember, Konfabulator (which was purchased by Yahoo! in December of last year) was the first application to bring "widgets" to our Macs. Changes in version 3.1 include: Added support for a new flat file format for Widgets which permits signing or Widget code to enhance security. Added preference to control whether or not the Widget Engine automatically starts up when your system starts. Implemented importNode() from the Level 2 DOM spec. There's more, of course, and you can get the full run-down here. Yahoo! Widgets Engine (gee, that's cumbersome to type over and over) requires Mac OS 10.3 and is free.
Widget Watch: Retrograde3
I know what you're going to say already. "The last thing we need is another clock widget!" While I'm inclined to agree, I will say this: Retrograde3 is one cool clock.It's a Yahoo! Widgets Engine widget that displays the time, date and phase of the moon. You can change the clock's color as well as the "reflection" on its face. One word of warning, however: It's BIG (bigger even than the image at right). Those of you with 12" displays have been warned.
Opera to include its own widgets
Forget podcast overload, I'm suffering from widget overload. There are Konfabulator widgets (now called Yahoo! Widgets Engine) and Apple Dashboard widgets. Microsoft will included "gadgets" with Vista, KDE will soon support Dashboard widgets and a soon-to-be-released version of the Opera web browser will feature its own built-in widgets. Phew.The next preview version of Opera to be released (scheduled for some time this week) will include tools that will allow users to view information drawn from certain websites, like sports scores or weather reports, without having to continually revisit those sites. A dozen "demo widgets" will be included. Integrated BitTorrent search and download will also be a part of the Opera preview release.The idea of widgets written and launched directly from a browser is kind of interesting. I'll have to check this out.[Via MacSlash]Update: It's available now.Thanks, James!
Widget Watch: Frylock
Today's widget is only 90% useless. Frylock is a Konfabulator Yahoo! Widgets Engine widget that floats your favorite box of animated French fries around your desktop in that unique, Frylock fashion. You can even configure it to launch the application of your choice when double-clicked. See? It's mildly amusing and kind of useful. I'd like it even better if it included some audio clips, but beggars can't be choosers. Round out your collection of animation-based widgets with this Futurama collection as well as these from Family Guy.
