Widget Apps In The Future For Java Mobile I went to the mall yesterday and was overwhelmed by the number of new gadgets on display in all the stores. Everywhere I looked, I saw phones – smart phones galore. I couldn’t help myself – I had to get one and immediately played with it the moment I got home. I am quite happy with it as it is everything. I did notice one thing, though – there seems to be a lack of widgets.

That is why I was quite happy to read about the latest thing that the guys at Java are working on. According to reports, Sun Microsystems, the company behind Java, is working on two specific technologies that are aimed towards the mobile market. This is what Computer World has reported:

Sun Microsystems is readying two technologies to better enable the mobile trend: Java On Device Portal (ODP), for widget applications, and the JavaFX Mobile runtime, due next month as part of the JavaFX rich Internet application platform.

“[ODP] has two primary functions,” said Eric Klein, Sun vice president of Java marketing. “The first function is to make it easier for Java developers to quickly create these small widget applications using a consistent framework, and the second part is an on-device portal that lets that widget appear and be dynamically delivered.”

How long do we have to wait till we actually get our hands on the technology? They are due to unveil JavaFX Mobile in February during the Mobile World Conference. ODP is up and running and they expect some carriers to be offering this in the very near future.

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Widget lovers, hurry on over to Searchles.com because they have just released a new widget. Dubbed the Related Content Widget, it is designed for blogs and web sites and aims to help them become “stickier.” That is, the widget helps to keep users stuck to your site AND also helps you make money while at it!

So what is the Related Content Widget about? Here are some salient points from the Searchles web site itself:

In-Depth Search Technology – The technology behind this widget goes beyond basic tag-matching and text search. There’s no need to even tag your posts! We do the work for you and determine relevancy by spidering your site’s content and analyzing relationships between extracted concepts in order to retrieve the most comprehensive set of relevant posts in your site’s archive.

We could all certainly use this kind of widget – imagine not having to come up with the tags ourselves!

Make Money from Targeted Ad Revenue – Our widget serves in-widget contextual advertising from Snap. Opt-in to set up an account with us and share the ad revenue 50/50.

Fifty-fifty may not seem that good but put that on top of the user friendliness aspect of your blog or web site and you can appreciate its value.

I think my favorite point is this:

Greater Accuracy – We’re going to go ahead and say it. Our accuracy is better than other plugins you will find out there. We have deployed our technology on sites such as the Washington Post and the Denver Post.

Accuracy is everything when it comes to widgets showing related content. If you want to see just how accurate this widget is, check out their blog. Oh did I already mention that this widget is for free?

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HDTVs are the rave these days and in spite of the fact that they fetch very high prices in the market, a lot of people are getting them more and more. As a result, new applications are being developed for them. If you’ve got a Samsung HDTV, you’d be at the edge of your seat to get your hands on this latest widget, which is the result of a partnership between Rallypoint Systems, Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Dubbed Internet@TV – Content Service, the new widget focuses on the ultimate fantasy sports experience. The fantasy sports widget will be available for use in all of Samsung’s flat-panel HDTV items released in 2009. The Internet-enabled TV services offered by Rallypoint can be activated at the moment of purchase, or if you have higher EQ and can afford to wait, the services can be activated once the HDTV is installed in your home.

What does the widget do? PR Newswire has the details:

“There are over 20 million active fantasy sports players dying for the killer app on the television. Rallypoint allows them to view real-time sports updates, review player stats, and make player substitutions from their television simply and easily,” said David Adams, VP Business Development at Rallypoint. “Samsung’s Internet@TV – Content Service is an excellent way for these fans to watch and participate in the game at the same time without having to change the channel or use a clunky laptop.”

Dubbed The Ultimate Sports Fan experience, Rallypoint’s TV widgets service will provide detailed sports information, statistics, fantasy draft-style leagues, pick-’em games, brackets, and other popular sports-related games to Samsung flat-panel HDTVs. Rallypoint will provide new widgets and updated player content as each sports season arrives, starting with fantasy league widgets for US professional baseball leagues in April 2009, and then football, baseball, basketball, racing, and soccer throughout 2009 and 2010.

Knowing how sports fans value the best viewing experience on their TVs, this widget is going to be icing on the cake.

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