Opera

Opera Widgets technology enables small, often single-purpose, applications built using open Web technologies to provide useful information or services to end-users. The entire Web application is delivered (by download, push, or pre-installation) and can run locally on virtually any device like a native application without launching a browser or directly accessing the Web.

How Opera Widgets work

1

A Web developer can make an Opera Widget from scratch or adapt a widget made with proprietary technology, such as Apple or Yahoo!

When done, the files are packed into a file archive with a .zip or .wgt extension so they can be downloaded as a single file to the Opera browser client.

Folder with documentsFolders to .zip or .wgt file
2 Widgets emulator

Once ready, or during development, the developer can test the widget in the Opera Widget Emulator, or in actual devices with Opera 9.5.



3 Archos running a widget

When the widget is complete, the Web developers can publish to http://widgets.opera.com/, distribute from their own sites and send via e-mail, Bluetooth or file share.


Basic requirements

The Opera Web applications platform with JavaScript Device extensions API

Using the extensions APIs in the Opera runtime, widgets may be deeply integrated into the phone-operating system and power an advanced-user interface, combining on-line and locally-stored information.

Graph

"We are confident that au one Gadget (based on Opera Widget technology) will be a key application for our mobile phones, Furthermore, for mobile application developers, au one Gadget is an easy-to-use application platform. Many content providers have already decided to create their original Gadget. With Gadgets technology available, mobile phones can become almost anything the users want." - Takashi Nagashima, general manager, Consumer Service and Product Planning Division, KDDI