Handset makers agree to JIL widget specification

The carrier-led Joint Innovation Lab project announced that four handset manufacturers have agreed to support its widget specification in devices beginning next year.
The device manufacturers include LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Research In Motion Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sharp Corp. The JIL founding members include Verizon Wireless, Vodafone Group plc, China Mobile and Japan’s Softbank.
The agreement is expected to provide a range of JIL widget compliant handsets that will allow developers to create applications that can be rolled out to the carriers, which currently serve more than 1 billion customers around the world. JIL compliant handsets are already available in China and part of Europe, with more expected to hit the market next year.
Speaking at The Telecom Council’s TC3 meeting last month in San Jose, Calif., a representative from Vodafone said the JIL did not want to become a standards body, but was interested in providing carriers with a greater share of revenues generated by the sale of mobile applications.
Verizon Wireless has said it plans to launch a branded application store that it expects to include on all of its handsets.