Vodafone unveils widget developer support

Vodafone is launching Widget Zone

Mobile operator Vodafone has unveiled a new initiative designed to give developers access to tools and support to help them create mobile widget technology more easily.

Widget Zone allows developers in the Vodafone Betavine community to experiment with ideas and interact with their peers, said the firm.

The initiative also features the Vodafone Widget Manager Beta, which from February next year will allow developers to publish and push out to customers beta versions of new widgets created in the Widget Zone.

Steve Wolak, head of Betavine, Vodafone Group R&D, argued that widgets will become a "key touch-point" for how consumers use the mobile internet.

“Widgets enable users to access a more personalised mobile web experience, and the introduction of the Widget Zone and its future integration with Vodafone Widget Manager Beta will allow developers to build and share their widgets with a substantial audience," he added.

“Crucially, potential widget creators only need a grasp of basic web code to start putting their ideas into action, and we believe this opens up the development field to students and hobbyists as well as professional developers.”