Widget action

Proprietary widget platform Widgetbox just got some competition, and it's from Rupert Murdoch - that must be a bit scary. Fox's SpringWidget is like Widgetbox except its widgets will run in its (Windows-only) desktop client too. Widgets still have to be rewritten (or written from scratch) for the platform so this is still a pretty old skool, closed application but it's certainly more evidence that widgets are a meaningful new category and  that businesses in this area will attract funding and big partners. I guess the Murdoch connection will be important here and may influence MySpace's readiness to support competing widget platforms.

The Windows connection is profound enough for SpringWidget to use that green hillside wallpaper on their homepage and it's odd to see a multi-line requirements statements like this in a 2.0 app:

System Requirements: Windows XP with Service Pack 1 installed or Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 installed, or newer. A connection to the internet. 512 megabytes of RAM is recommended.

Maybe Ivan saw the launch in San Jose and can tell us a bit more once he's over his jetlag.

Comments

[Ivan]

Sure did see it launch and impressive it was too. They have a good SDK for anyone to build widgets for Springbox. Widgets built using this will run in MySpace. However, the unspoken (or unanswered) question revolves around what terms and conditions will Fox impose on widgets in MySpace that compete for dollars with Fox. My view is that widgets that succeed in MySpace will be either dead or owned by Fox over time.
That said, the platform is funky. And I guess that widgets built with it will happily run in Snipperoo. I'll take a look.