Last Wednesday, we mentioned Windows Mobile 6.5 will come with widgets support. Now we have more details to share.
First we know the official name – they will be simply called “Windows Mobile Widgets,” and they will rely on the latest draft of the emerging W3C standard for mobile widget applications. Since new Internet Explorer Mobile 6 will power-up these widgets, developers will be able to use standard web technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript; as well as Flash and ActiveX controls, which is kinda cool.
Finally, and this is where it gets cool – widgets can be designed in a manner that users don’t even realize it’s a widget. Rather, widgets can get the look and feel of a full-blown native application. If you remember, Nokia’s S60 widgets work in the pretty much same manner, although they were never adopted on a wide scale.
What we don’t know, however, is whether Windows Mobile Widgets will be available for older Windows Mobile 6 smartphones and PDAs, or this will be an exclusive feature to the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5. When you think about it, if all WinMo 6.x phones will get a 6.5 upgrade, maybe that down compatibility isn’t that important. Any thoughts?
[Via: the::unwired]