Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile Team Up on Widget Platform

Today Verizon Wireless announced that it and mobile network operators China Mobile, Vodafone and Softbank are forming a new joint venture. The Joint Innovation Lab is meant to focus on creating a single platform for developers to use for the creation of mobile widgets. The widgets should work across a wide variety of smartphones and non-smartphones. The tools being offered by JIL include a common mobile widgets specification; SDKs; and an online repository, distribution and payment mechanism that will allow developers to sell their widgets in more than 70 countries.