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Yahoo Updates Konfabulator

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the pathName-cget-widget-story dept.

An anonymous reader writes "InformationWeek is reporting that Yahoo! has released a new version of Konfabulator, now rechristened 'Yahoo Widget Engine'. From the article: 'Widgets are useful to portals because they can draw users to their services directly from the desktop, without first having to launch a browser. By providing a more direct route, portals are trying to increase the use of their services, which are tied to online advertising. Yahoo rival search engine Google Inc. also offers widgets.'"

2 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. Re:OK, so? by lpangelrob · · Score: 5, Informative
    Is this a marketing version number upgrade, or what?

    Well, no. But first of all... Google has widgets?

    There's been a lot of widget-developer-friendly changes. See the version history for all of the 3.0 pages. The biggest change has been the introduction of a substantial number of Yahoo! related widgets. More than a few people have basically said Konfabulator/Widget Engine sold out to Yahoo, but to be honest, they're slick, useful widgets if you're the sort that depends on them.

    The changes mostly have to do with an increase of speed (built-in XML parser), a better arrangement system involving frames (good things here, as opposed to in HTML) and a little smoother around the edges.

    --
    -Rob

    Biblical fiscal responsibility

  2. Microsoft's take by teslatug · · Score: 5, Informative

    Microsoft is also dabbling in widget's, or as they call them gadgets. There is a long video interview about the "gadgets" and their version of Dashboard.