Nokia has introduced widget support for the S60 operating system,. We think this is a significant move for the company, enabling developers to use familiar standards-based web technologies to personalise internet content and present it as ‘lightweight’ icon-based applications on the mobile.
Widget support comes in a package called Web Run-Time that will form part of S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, set for release in the second half of 2007.
Tony Cripps, Senior Analyst at Ovum points out the significance of Nokia’s espousal of conventional web development tools. “This is a big plus point ... Sticking with standards helps to avoid alienating developers by allowing them to use existing skills, a factor that counts against many of Nokia’s erstwhile rich mobile application technology rivals”.