On August 17^th widgets and mobile developers were able for the first time to gain access to the newest Samsung Mobile Innovator (SMI) portal dedicated to TouchWiz widget technology.

Rapid development and a consistent experience across all Samsung smartphone and feature-phone devices are just two of the benefits we are delivering with today’s launch of the Samsung Mobile Innovator Widget Section.

The Samsung Mobile Innovator Widget portal allows developers to author widgets which are optimised to run on Samsung’s advanced TouchWiz UI. As touch becomes more popular you can find this interface on increasingly more devices across the entire Samsung portfolio, whether they are built on Symbian, Windows Mobile or our own proprietary system which drives Samsung’s feature-phones.
 

Why build Widgets?

Unlike complex native languages widget development utilises the comparably simple web authoring technologies HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Once developed they can be run on any Samsung device running the TouchWiz UI, and indeed, with some minor adjustments any platform or device featuring a web run-time engine. This could be a mobile device from another manufacturer, a PC or even an appliance such as a Samsung Series-7 television.
 

What will you find in the Widget Portal?

• Tools and SDKs
  

  You can download Samsung Mobile Widget SDK, a development environment, which is based on the Eclipse platform, and is designed to help you develop widgets for Samsung mobile devices running the Samsung TouchWiz UI interface.
   

• Knowledge base articles
  

  This area provides you with the information you’ll need to get started building Samsung Mobile Widgets. You’ll find an in-depth overview of the technical specifications and features of our widget implementation and sample widgets.
   

• Discussion Boards
  You can share your thoughts on widgets and your experience developing widgets previously with other program members, or you can discuss your techniques you use when designing a widget interface.

• Testing tools
  

  The Widget Test Page will provide a well documented online interface to upload and download widgets. A developer might publish his/her widgets (making them available to the public with or without charge). The widgets will be certified before being published. Support for tests will be also provided (documentation and tools).
   

We are excited to be launching our Widget site to the Samsung Mobile Innovator community and whether you are a web developer looking to target mobile devices, or a mobile developer keen to explore widgets, we are sure you will find our area useful. Let us know and share your thoughts with other members on the Widget section’s newly created Discussion Boards.