Netvibes to open-source its widget platform

Tariq Krim

(Credit: Netvibes)

Netvibes, a developer of customizable start pages, plans to make its widget platform, application programming interfaces, and iPhone version open source, according to CEO Tariq Krim.

"We want to compete with Google widgets," Krim said. "Our container supports Google widgets and every other platform. If we release our code, people will leverage it and grow the reach of our platform."

Krim hopes that supporting a broad range of platforms, including Windows Vista and Windows Live, Mac OS X, Opera, Yahoo, and Google, will inspire the developer community to adopt and innovate on the Netvibes platform.

Netvibes will make money with sponsored widgets, Netvibe Universes, and business services. Opening up the code to developers will enable them to compete on more equal footing with Netvibes as well.

[dorait]

How does it compare with Apache Shindig?

[frougeot]

I would be extremely interested by the same question, I want to create my own Widget engine, is that better to start with the new open source Exposition (I will have to add at least drag n drop), or is that better to start with Shindig, or any other framework ? (portaneo ?, ... ?)
i suppose it depends on the point of view, and maybe exposition and Shindig are not competitor, maybe we can go with an implementation mixing both ...