widgets 1.0

Next Task Manager Widget 1.0.1 Review

If you think "Noonien Soong" when someone says "Android doc," you might be a Trekkie (and fiercely proud of it). But if you hear "Android dock" instead, maybe you're thinking of Next Launcher, an Android-based app dock and launcher. If you use Next Launcher, you'll certainly want to take a look at Next Task Manager Widget, a free 3D plug-in for Next Launcher from GO Launch Team. We tried Next Launcher with and without Next Task Manager Widget installed, and the plug-in definitely improved the docking app's 3D performance. Though Next … Read more

Gold/Silver Spot Price Widget 1.0 Review

Though gold may not fluctuate as much as the dollar, it's nice to keep track of how prices are doing. Gold/Silver Spot Price Widget delivers updates right to your home screen for both gold, platinum, and silver. It doesn't let you customize much about its appearance, but the prices are updated often and prove to be pretty accurate.

Gold/Silver Spot Price Widget features a simple, 2X2 whiteboard with the prices for gold, silver, and platinum. The price appears to be price per ounce, but it doesn't tell you how it's measuring the price or … Read more

Apple's patent exclusion could roil Web standards

On March 5 Apple dropped a small bombshell on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards body, excluding one of its patents from the W3C Royalty-Free License commitment of the W3C Patent Policy for Widgets 1.0. The patent in question covers automatic updates to a client computer in a networked operating environment.

The announcement has generated no apparent response, yet could portend serious consequences. The Apple exclusion could mean that a W3C standard on widgets (or, really, any standard in the Web Application Group) at W3C that uses or includes something which touches this patent will either need to … Read more