The browser as a platform for stand alone web applications - Opera Widgets

Opera Widgets are web applications running entirely in the browser and is available to Opera Desktop users in windows with no chrome.

Widget developers have the full set of standard web technologies available for creating widgets ranging from toys and single-purpose tools to full blown applications. Opera Widgets enjoy a relaxed cross domain security model allowing HTTP access to data from multiple servers not on the local network. This enable creating mashups running wholly in the Web browser.

Opera Widgets are served as single file archives for easy distribution and installation on the client. Opera offers a web site for widget developers to distribute their widgets, http://widgets.opera.com/. Developers can thus make their tools and toys available for users without having to operate a web server of their own.

Opera has made Opera Widgets available for device manufacturers integrating the Opera browser into products like set-top-boxes and will make Widgets available for mobile phones.

The specifications for Opera Widgets have been submitted to the W3C as the basis for discussions and standardisation: http://www.w3.org/TR/widgets/

This presentation will discuss:

• the Opera widgets technologies including the distribution format and DOM extensions available to widget developers.

• issues related to creating widgets running on Desktop computers and mobile devices, including user interaction and network, and how this form requirements for further development of current web technologies.

• how technologies from the WHAT-WG Web Applications 1.0 specification is used

• generic server side support for Opera widgets and other client side web applications.

• how this all comes together to form a new model for Web based end user services.

The presentation will also show some examples of widgets running on various platforms.

Opera is continuously developing the Widget technology, applications and related services. The presentation will be updated to reflect the current state at the time of the conference.