Bling Software has recently launched Active-Phone-Top, what they say is the industry’s first widget based on-device-portal (ODP) solution for wireless operators based on the universal JavaScript authoring standard.
Their idea is obvious – to rely on the open standards and make sure existing web developers have all the knowledge needed to quickly create widgets. In addition, Bling’s solution provides full JavaScript language support that allows for developers to exploit the handset’s underlying resources, “enabling the most functionally rich widgets currently within the mobile industry.” I’m not sure have I understood this correctly, but this sounds pretty much like S60 Widgets, except that the S60 solution is Nokia’s initiative not primarily made for mobile operators but for end users.
Anyway, the Bling Software Active Phone-Top is now available to mobile publishers and wireless operators for commercial use on Java and Brew based platforms. The solution includes:
- Widget Development Kit – a standards based authoring environment for widgets
- Hosted Service – a hosted widget catalog for consumers to choose widget content
- Phone-Top Client – a handset resident widget-browser for consumer use
Now let’s wait and see whether some carrier will jump on board. The “Brew” part instantly makes me think they are primarily targeting U.S. based mobile operators, though I may be wrong…