The have not been many news coming from the Mashup Event that took place at london just yesterday and that was focused on Widgets. but one of the best info and tidbit that has come out from it comes from Last.FM  now owned by the CBS talking about how having a  API help a web service and widgets get  high spread, better reach and more users.
This is already known just by looking how Twitter main usage and strain to the service comes from the sub services and widgets using their API that their web site.
But it is good to have it on record from one of the big players:
CBS-owned Last.fm says 3rd party web widgets hooked into its API added 19 million music users to its user base in January, in addition to the 21 million active users accessing the service through the Last.fm site itself. As a result it has launched a dedicated showcase site to highlight the best widgets and tools. The site opened to developers in 2003 but has not set up a dedicated home for them at build.last.fm. Some of the widgets that have come from this innovation include a tool that shows favourite CD covers on Wordpress blogs, a tool that graphs music preferences and one that tracks listening habits on a user’s mobile phone.
This proves that now you don´t only need to offer widgets fro your services but offer a API so users and third parties can create more Widgets and better widgets. this will of course consume resources from you but if you have a solid business model or are looking to grow enough to be attractive to bigger companies this is a sure way to do it.
Xdrive is a web file storage service like Box.net or the now direct competitor SkyDrive from Microsoft Windows Live Services. Skydrive just launched last week in 38 countries and now bears the same 5 gigs capacity that Xdrive offers for its free users, so it no wonder they have no updated their service and are now offering a better File Management App done AIR as a response to that.
But just as AOL has updated the service and started offering a AIR app, the Xdrive dev community has taken to themselves to offer Xdrive Usage Widgets. so you can download a Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget for Xdrive and a OS X Dashboard Widget if you are user of Xdrive.
Zinc 3.0 is Flash and Flex Fast Development Software suite for those that develop in Flash and Flex and want to make the development process faster and give it High Spread easily by making whatever you develop completely Cross Platform for Windows, OS X and now even Linux.
With this suite you can also enable Flash and Flex Widget, Widget App and Web services as Desktop Apps. this is an alternative to the very same Adobe is doing with AIR. AIR is pretty much a Loader/Launcher Platform to enable Flash, Flex and Web Content as Desktop Application. the difference is that this do not needs of AIR to work and includes it own development platform, tools and software suite to make the apps.
So it is a direct alternative to AIR that right now that while it enjoy of many advantages over current AIR development but that will be only of interest to people really into Flash and Flex advanced development.
While it is hard for Zinc to make as good as it could have been done without Adobe AIR around it is still a powerful, mature and cost efficient enough alternative to check out.
I will be interested to know how it does when things like Thermo and other quick AIR development solutions by Adobe launch now that AIR is finally out.
Yes, a TypePad adjusted wdget, i know that TypePad is rarely talked about but it still got lot of users and this Widget is also the first update to the TypePad Widgets page in a long time so it is worth note it.
I would usually rewrite a description or give further description of what a widget does because mosr of the copy writing in most widget descriptions is either too short or convoluted but since this is not the case with the copy writing for this widget i will quote directly what this widget is about:
Mippin is the fastest and most elegant way to mobilise your blog. By adding the Mippin widget to your Typepad blog, your readers will learn how to access a mobile version of your blog hosted by Mippin. Its totally free and takes just seconds. The result is a mobile version of your site that looks good on everything from a basic web-capable mobile to an iPhone.
So if you are in TypePad, you may want to check this widget out.
In further proof that Widgets are now a commodity and also work as a lure for personal devices, the Sony Mylo 2 now got it`s own Widget Platform and Widget Network.
Starting this March Developer will be able to register into the Mylo Widget Platform and upload their Widgets into the Mylo widget Network.
The Widgets will be XML based according to the now scarce documentation but given the mock up shots it is clear that thanks to the kind of device in questions widgets will be able to be more powerful than those in most cellphones and up in par to High End Symbian and Windows Mobile Smart Phones.
Even then, this new interest for Widgets is not something someone would have expected from Sony but it is clear that the pressure put by Nokia and Samsung along the expected redesign of the Sidekick (mylo si the direct competitor) now that Danger has been bought by Microsoft is what made Sony to respond with this bold move.
Now the only question is if this Widget Network will remain only on the Mylo, my guess is that not and it is just being used and the perfect devise to set up the initial stages of a Sony branded Widget Platform and Network. so i will be not surprised if this widgets spread over to the PSP and even make a jump to SE in the near future.
Continuing from where i left of in my last post about Chumby. the full release of the device is now complete thanks to the latest and greatest update to the Chumby Widget Network up to now that includes all sort of new content, utility and game widgets for use in the device.
We have already seen some Twitter Gadgets (widgets) made in Silverlight, but they didn`t enjoyed of the benefits of having any sort of High Spread qualities or being simple enough for when you just don`t want the quite ugly regular Twitter Widget in your blog or you want to share your status in a simple widget that can go anywhere, even to your Vista Sidebar and Facebook at the same time you use in your blog.
And that is exactly what this silverlight gadget is about, being able to build your own widget/gadget how you want it in a very easy way and that this widget is able to go places.
All of this is possible thanks to Pofly. Popfly is the supreme Mashup editor and Silverlight Gadget maker because it lets you work in a way that you can`t even compare to others and it can take data of Yahoo Pipes and Dapper if you need to start elsewher efor what you are going to do or if you are more on the pro side you can use data directly from Visual Studio 2008 or Expression Studio if what you are going to do is more advanced.
This Silverlight Twitter Gadget in particular was done by Rohan Thomas on Popfly in a matter of minues and he explains you how do it yourself if you want to re-do it, or you could direclty tweak it in Popfly now that it is open to everyone. but reading Rohan post first is still recommended:
Here is a JavaScript to add the lolcats (icanhascheezburger.com) daily image to your blog or site.
The widget/code is designed to display the newest image posted to the icanhascheezburger.com web site. When they update their site…your widget updates.
Sweet!
This is a simple and quick widget to add. Just pop over to GathAdams.com to grab the code. You might want to look at how the code was put together. You may be able to do something similar with your favorite…who knows what?
There is no need for your visitors to be using any type of corresponding chat software. They can simply click on the badge to start a conversation with you!
No more using the likes of Plugoo or relying on Meebo to interact with your readers. (this is an Iframe widget)
Here is one question though…Will this type of chat be saved to your Gmail like a regular chat between two users of Google Talk?
A great way to measure how successful something is to start counting how many Marketing, Advertising and Business articles start to appear around a subject or product in just one week on a certain Field.
In this case Marketing is the name of the game for widgets, or so was last week even if it took some days after for most to notice.
imedia connection Michael Leis got a great article about how including widgets into the marketing layout of a product campaign no matter if it is a TV show or even Clothes can enhance the engagement of a consumer or viewer by connecting relevant information from the product and add some level interaction with the overall user experience with what is being marketed.
Something that in turns means more money and better mindshare.
all of this are already given points for many but reading a detailed account on a real case scenario always helps to put what is already known in hand with what happened and how you perceive what is being used as a example helping you tune your knowledge in the matter.
The recent report that states Netvibes only has around 5% of the global marketshare in start pages don`t make netvibes want to slow down at bit, they are dedicated to get to a 10% all by themselves and they know the only way for that to happen is to continue to evolve as fast as they have done in the last 2 years. 2 years ago the thought of netvibes having a entire ecosystem on its own would have read as a insane claim but now it is not.
Netivibes now got the most extensive Widget Library around just this Friday over the Netvibes Developers blog they announced you will be able to create your own widgets from any page you want thanks to Automatic Parser that will be able to convert any page into a UWA widget. this means you will be able to use that widget pretty much everywhere you want.
you only need the url of the page and off you go, 3 steps later and you will get your UWA widget done and ready.
If this reads as something familiar or known is because it is..this is the way Clipmarks or Listas from Live Labs work.
The only difference is that they do not have the High Spread Distribution model offered by the UWA platform from netvibes and that is reason enough for this to triumph over them and also because neither Clipmarks or Listas Offer any comparable Widget to users from the data collected in their respective services.
This Widget generator service is just the kind of thing that could finally lure some users from their competition and it is now just a matter of seeing how the new Netvibes Engine (ginger) works for them.
As with any new industry to enter the web,widgets have been under the spotlight pretty much everywhere, from newspapers to all kind of blogs that have embraced them just this year as they have gained more and more of place in common internet use.
So there is not a surprise that with late 2007 surge of widget ad networks and new monetization models triying to be adapted to widgets, new studies would come out of that.
That is the case of a report made by eMarketer where they look at widget common internet usage spread and also focus in how social networking has affected widget use at first and how now widgets and widget apps use are affecting social network. not exactly in those words but is one of the conclusions anyone can get to once you look at Bebo, Friendster and Hi5 started to use them as a lure for new users to come and old users to stay after the Facebook application platform effect has permeated the web, so has after effects that have driven widget used further and further.
Of course the report itself is not free as is expected but a quick and condensed introduction article is free to anyone to read since it serves as the presentation for the report.
Recommended reading for every one wondering if widgets are just a fad or not.
While we are getting to the point where automatic widget editing is starting to offer enough customization controls to keep most happy. this has not reached mainstream yet and that is why we still have to find way to be prepared and do some things on our own.
I believe in making it easier for all of you if it cames to the very situation. so if ever felt or were asked to do a personalized widget either for your own blog for the one of friend and had to pass because you could not get you head around it, well i got a simple tutorial that will make you able to do a Flash Widget in no time.
All thanks to Fabio Sasso, a Brazilian Designer that has uploaded a very simple tutorial so you can learn how to make a custom RSS blog badge in flash. Create an amazing widget for your blog
Last week imedia connection posted two Widget Related Articles, one passed without much notice but one is making the rounds already in the Widget Blogs. in this post i am referring to the one that got noticed written by Nikole Brake, and it is about 4 best practices when launching a Marketing campaign or simply a service in widget form to maximize the impact it can have::
1.-Are you ready to let go? 2.-Serve a purpose, and serve it fresh
3.-Stick with standards and partners you know
4.-The distribution question
The article points are well rounded even if simple and are quite concise and economical in the way there are worded so i do recommend giving the article a read.
With their unique tag cloud style search suggestion widget they have created a cool addition to any blog. Now they have taken this uniqueness a step further and created “Quintura Site Search”.
It’s the same, cool tag cloud style suggestion widget. Now it searches your site or blog exclusively.
Adding the Quintura site search to your blog is a snap! All you need to do is sign up for the custom site search here and once you are approved you can paste the code in your blog.
This is a Javascript widget. You may not be able to have JavaScript widgets on your site depending upon your provider. You can still include Quintura’s search widget on your blog. Using their Flash embed search widget you should have no problems with JavaScript restrictions.
Just go to Quintura.com and click the “Embed” button. Then choose JavaScript or Adobe Flash for your code.
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