Verizon Wireless announced that it plans to join the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) established by China Mobile, SOFTBANK and Vodafone to “help accelerate the uptake of innovative mobile technologies on a mass-market scale.”
Primararily, we’re talking about mobile widgets here, which seem to be the hot topic these days with Microsoft and Samsung announcing their platforms, recently. That said, the JIL will launch later this year a range of tools for developers — including a common mobile widgets specification; developer kits; and an online repository, distribution and payment mechanism.
Aside from allowing web-based widgets, the JIL will also enable developers to access both handset and network functionality such as the address book, camera, location information and billing in a secure environment…