WidgetPad Inc., a provider of collaborative developer environments for
hybrid Web-based mobile applications, today announced WidgetPad for
iPhone. WidgetPad for iPhone helps developers easily create native
applications using standard Web technologies such as HTML 5, CSS3 and
JavaScript, and distribute them as stand-alone applications via the
Apple iTunes store. WidgetPad is also a collaborative, open-source
environment that allows thousands of developers to share source code
and learn from each other.
By taking advantage of emerging new standards, such as HTML 5,
WidgetPad takes the complexity out of creating native applications and
eliminates the need to learn platform-specific API sets and tools.
Available through the Web via a Software as a Service (SaaS) model,
WidgetPad for iPhone allows developers to create fully interactive,
media-rich mobile applications. These applications can leverage all of
the iPhone’s advanced hardware capabilities (GPS, accelerometer,
compass, etc.) by simply accessing WidgetPad.com through standard
browsers – Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Upcoming versions of WidgetPad will enable developers to seamlessly
port these applications to other smartphone devices such as the Palm
Pre and Blackberry.
"With the smartphone market growing so fast and being so competitive,
it has become difficult to predict its future. This uncertainty is
making it tough for application developers to choose one particular
platform to invest their engineering resources in. WidgetPad eliminates
this complexity by allowing developers to create hybrid Web
applications and distribute them as stand-alone applications across
various app stores," said Satoshi Nakajima, President and Founder at
WidgetPad Inc. "Furthermore, WidgetPad offers an open-source,
collaborative environment that makes it very easy for JavaScript
developers to share source code. Our goal is to make this environment
the premier outlet for developers that want to learn how to develop
interactive applications using HTML 5."
Key Features of WidgetPad for iPhone:
* Editing: Source code editing for JavaScript, HTML 5 and CSS (with syntax highlighting)
* Resource management: Uploading of various resources (image, sound, and other JavaScript and CSS files) and project management
* Code Sharing and Forking: Automatic sharing of all public projects
* Secure cross-domain scripting: Easily create mash-up applications
with existing Web services accessing Web-service APIs over the domain
boundary securely
* Application previewing: Run the application on a PC/Mac browser without the iPhone (Safari compatible)
* Publishing: Developers can choose to publish applications to iPhone
either via a generic WidgetPad client (free), or as their own branded
applications (free or paid)
The basic version of WidgetPad for iPhone, which is free, allows
developers to distribute their applications to iPhone users via a
generic WidgetPad client (also free). The source code of those "public"
applications will be automatically shared among other developers (MIT
license), creating a great learning and collaborative environment for
developers. The premium version of WidgetPad for iPhone, available
later this year, allows developers to create "private" projects and
distribute stand-alone applications to the Apple iTunes store.
"With strong support by Google and Apple, it’s very clear that HTML 5
will eventually become the standard development platform used to create
interactive applications for smartphones, eliminating the need to
develop applications in C++, Objective C and Java. We want to
accelerate this movement by offering Widget for iPhone today," said
Nakajima.
