SubscribeCongrats Netvibes, Sohu Launches UWA-based Open Widget Platform
Sohu has quietly launched Open Widget Platform. It is compatible to Netvibes’ Universal Widget API, and has some extensions. Here’s the developer’s guide. And some applications are already sitting in the gallery.
Frankly, I don’t feel widget is a good name for a platform, because widget is all about outsourcing part of your webpage to the third party. A widget is mainly for displaying purpose, enriching your content for sure, but it slows your website without providing a lot of real benefit.
This certainly is not the same thing as Facebook’s application platform, in case you are confused. There’s no relationship exposure API in the specification. You have reason to doubt if Sohu blog, the container, has much data on this. At this stage, it’s just in mashup level.
Speaking of API, this morning Friendster announced the directory of its third party applications. Yobo has a widget in the directory.
Thanks Tan Chenhui for the tips.
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Thank you, Luyi.
Gang Lu - Netvibes.com
OpenSocial Coalition Faltering…
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[…] On the other hand, open API from big Internet companies in China, such as Taobao and Sohu will encourage more companies to follow this trend, and it will help to inspire more innovative small ideas. We are happy to see it happens. […]
[…] 另一方面，国内象淘宝、Sohu 这样大的互联网公司开放 API 将会鼓动更多的公司顺应这一潮流，并且这有助于激发更多的灵感。我们很高兴看到这一切。 […]
[…] The good news is that the change is happening. Sohu Blog has launched an open widget platform in late 2007, Nokia widsets, the mobile widgets, has over 2 million users in China by Feb. Even QQ, it is said, is studying and want to learn from Facebook’s developer platform. We should also notice that the number of widgets on these platform are still very limited. Sohu Blog only have about 350 widgets available including 51 developed by Sohu itself, Nokia Widsets has about 1200 Chinese widgets available so far. Obviously, the idea of widgets has not reach its tipping point in China, even after big companies as Sohu has joined in. When will it be? maybe when QQ or Baidu open their developer platform, which I don’t think will happen in near future. […]