| dc.description.abstract | Widgets are small standalone Web applications usually designed for a single specific function and quick instant access to Web 2.0 services, Internet content, native resources or device functionality, packaged in a way to allow a single download and installation on a user's computer or mobile device. The Widget concept has been embraced by large players both in the mobile phone and operating system industry; Nokia, Microsoft and Apple have all announced the support for widgets in their products. Furthermore, Gartner states that widgets will be an important mobile application delivery technology by 2009. Widgets are implemented using standard client-side Web technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and XML. The technologies are exactly those who are incorporated in the AJAX development approach. Typical examples of widgets are clocks, weather forecasters, news readers and photo albums. They can be both fun and useful, and float on the desktop for quick and easy access to information or services. The different application areas can be summarized as: accessory widgets (e.g., clocks, calendars etc.), application widgets (e.g., games, SMS, address book etc.), or information widgets (e.g., weather, stocks, news etc.). Widgets may run as standalone applications, meaning outside of a Web browser, or may be embedded into a Web document. The first type of widget mentioned is categorized as a desktop widget or mobile widget depending on the device, and the second type is categorized as a Web widget. Desktop and mobile widgets are executed within a special runtime environment, commonly referred to as widget engine. Since widgets are based on Web technology the widget engines need the same core functionality as a Web browser. Most widget engines utilize a Web browser core, consisting of all functionality needed to render content and execute scripts, as part of their architecture to be able to instantiate and run widgets. This Web runtime renders HTML and CSS instructions, interprets JavaScript code and handles user interaction. The key benefit of widgets is Web technology. The number of developers that master Web development is much larger than the ones mastering native programming languages or Java. In addition, since widgets build on Web technology it is easy to utilize existing Web services provided by Web 2.0 giants like Facebook, YouTube, Google, etc. Furthermore, single purpose applications like widgets encourage the creation of long tail applications and are generally not that complex to develop because of their size. Their user interface can be kept simple, which allows easy and intuitive interaction though the limited input capabilities of mobile devices. Widgets also have the advantage of less data traffic compared to browsing, which result in lower costs for mobile users. The security aspects of widgets are the most alarming, as discussed in the author s paper ( An Analysis of Widget Security ) currently submitted to the NordSec 2009 conference. The current security model is not satisfactory and does not protect the user properly from malicious content or attacks. At its worst attackers may use widgets as an infiltration tunnel to seize control over the user s device. There is a strong need for a security framework that secures the user s device. The OMTP BONDI initiative is currently working on such a framework, but there are still lots of aspects that need elaboration. Research of market-leading widget engines has shown that there are many interoperability problems between the widget platforms. This makes it more difficult to port widgets from one platform to another. Experimentation on porting widgets has revealed that the effort for porting depends on the widget type: widgets which do not access native functions can be ported easily, whereas the effort for porting other widgets is much higher or porting is not possible at all. In addition, widgets that make use of proprietary ways of describing the user interface are the most demanding to port, since creating the user interface is a major part of the widget development process. W3C is currently working on recommended standards for all the different aspects of widgets: packaging format, configuration document language, API, security model/policies, and language to declare the user interface in. To avoid fragmentation, standardisation of widgets has to be progressed. Most of the widget vendors have chosen to follow these guidelines and are currently modifying their platforms to conform to it. | nb_NO |
