Operator Orange claims it will offer “the world’s largest collection of mobile widgets” following a deal with widget provider Netvibes that will see the vendor’s catalogue of nearly 200,000 widgets available to Orange’s 130 million customer base. Netvibes’ offering will be available on Orange widgets, a service featuring on 80 percent of handsets shipped by Orange. It will also be available on djinngo mobile, an Orange service open to any mobile phone user in the world. The mobile widgets will also soon be available to Orange customers in its recently launched Orange Application Shop.

Unlike applications, which are advanced software programmes that generally run on high-end devices, widgets are simpler, lightweight programmes that make minimal use of a phone’s data connection and can run on lower-end devices. Orange plans to create a software developer kit to encourage the launch of as many new widgets as possible.