Day: March 20, 2009

“Microsoft has announced that the version of Windows Mobile scheduled for release later this year will include support for a class of small web-oriented applications called widgets.A post on the development team’s official blog from Jorge Peraza confirmed the earlier rumors of Windows Mobile Widgets.As Peraza described them: A good way to think of a Windows Mobile Widget is as a “Portable chunk of the web” or just basically a rich internet application. Widgets are written using all the web technologies we know and love (HTML, CSS, AJAX, JavaScript) and, since they are powered under the covers by our new internet browser, they have full access to flash and other ActiveX controls available on the device (Like MediaPlayer).The interesting thing about our Widget Platform is that it allows them to look and feel, to the end user, as a normal standalone application does; they have their own start menu icon, they show up as an individual apps in task manager and, most importantly, they have full control of the SK menu bar as any other application would (just easier J).Peraza also said that Windows Mobile Widgets will be in compliance with the emerging W3C standard for mobile widget applications.The next version of Microsoft’s operating system for high-end phones isn’t a major upgrade, but it will include significant changes to its appearance.It will be more fingertip friendly, with many on-screen elements enlarged so users can select them without a stylus. Windows Mobile 6.5 will also have more of a focus on consumers, as the Today Screen has been modified to include items like a music player and photo viewer.” via brighthand.com

“Hot on the heels of their new Mobile site, YouTube has now also released an official (native) S60 client application. It is compatible with most S60 3rd Edition phones. The video quality is good, and looks to have been optimised for QVGA screen resolution. There’s a basic interface to browse and search through YouTube’s extensive video catalog. All videos are shown in full screen, but widescreen videos are shown in a ‘letter-box’ format. Read on for more information and screenshots. The application allows you search for videos, or view lists of the top rated, most viewed and most recent videos (as seen on the web version). Choosing any of these loads a list of videos with an image ‘carousel’ at the top of the screen. You can quickly browse through the available videos, viewing both a thumbnail, a short description and miscellaneous information about the video.Selecting a video opens and starts playing it in landscape orientation. Pressing any key shows the standard YouTube controls. You can then change the volume, play/pause the video or jump forward and backward through the video.You can download the application by visiting m.youtube.com in Web and following the download link near the top of the page. However, currently the application appears to be restricted to Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.The client is not currently fully compatible with S60 5th Edition (Nokia 5800, you can’t enter search text, and other issues), but it is safe to assume this will change in due course, in addition to other countries being supported.Power users may like to bear in mind that the interface is relatively basic when compared to donate-ware Mobitubia. For example there’s no way to ‘Save’ clips, but for most users it will be more than sufficient.” via allaboutsymbian.com