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Yahoo Buys Up Konfabulator

by , 12:15 AM EDT, July 25th, 2005

Yahoo Inc. has acquired Konfabulator, the software maker who created widgets -- mini applications which monitor weather, sports, news and more -- for the Macintosh in 2003.

Yahoo confirmed the purchase was finalized late last week for an undisclosed price. A Yahoo spokesman confirmed to The Mac Observer early Monday it will continue to develop widgets for the Mac platform.

Yahoo told the Associated Press it plans to expand the range and reach of widgets by creating a number of tools that will allow customers to access Yahoo content via customized widgets, without requiring a browser to see it. In addition, Yahoo plans to give away the Konfabulator software that creates widgets. Konfabulator had been charging US$20 for the software. Anyone who bought version 2.0 of the software since mid-May will be given refunds, said Konfabulator CEO Arlo Rose.

Widgets are becoming more popular, as small, mini JavaScript programs that allow Mac and Windows users to access local weather, stock quotes, traffic information and more from their desktops without having to use an actual Web browser. The large majority of widgets re-feed information from Really Simple Syndication, or RSS feeds, a technology for distributing news on the Web. Many news sites, organizations and Web blogs publish RSS feeds to keep people informed of the latest news, product updates and more.

At present, Konfabulator has available 1042 different widgets for download, many of them produced by individuals who saw a need and created a widget within hours. Apple has 909 widgets available through its Web site for Macintosh users only.

Yahoo is hoping widgets will entice computer users to look at small snippets of content and then click through to more content on its Web pages, thereby selling more advertisements. Yahoo is also hoping it widgets will help increase its current base of 10.1 million subscribers who pay for premium services.

The Yahoo deal "gives us whole new buckets of content to grab stuff from." Mr. Rose said.

Apple began creating their own Dashboard Widgets in June of last year, making it an integral part of Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger'. In introducing widgets -- what Apple first called "gadgets" to not be confused with Konfabulator's version -- Apple CEO Steve Jobs encouraged developers to create widgets using specialized software.

When Apple announced Dashboard Widgets, Konfabulator co-founders Arlo Rose and Perry Clarke, was less than pleased by what he called an "Apple rip-off". Mr. Rose told TMO "It's okay for companies to compete and do products with similar functionality. That's just part of business. What's not okay is for the company making the OS to turn around and give away third-party functionality for free...They have come up with an idea that is a complete rip-off of our product, plain and simple. This could potentially drive us out of business."

Apple denied copying the concept for its widgets from Konfabulator. Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller told CNET News, "The goal (of Dashboard) isn't to be like anything else. It's not his (Mr. Roses') stuff. What we've done is ours."

Mr. Rose and Mr. Clarke went on to release Konfabulator for the Windows platform less than two months after the Apple announcement. Ironically, it could be said that without Apple's decision to also create Widgets, Konfabulator would not have gone ahead and released a Windows version of its product as early as it did and might not have been sold to Yahoo today.

Observer Comments

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Close Name:pourhadi Posts: 55 Joined: 15 Aug 2004
Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:03 am Subject: Wow

Free Konfabulator...neato.


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Close Name:Small White Car Posts: 1960 Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:19 am Subject:

So...they don't say anything about it, but surely Yahoo wants to make a Windows version of it, right?

I mean, they've got to be pretty upset that Google keeps coming out with things like gMail and google-maps and making everyone else look bad.

If Yahoo were to come out with a widget program for Windows that everyone started using it would be a big feather in their cap.


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View Name:Guest
Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:36 am Subject: SWC
View Name:Guest
Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:52 am Subject: confabulator has been on windows for a while now
View Name:Guest
Mon Jul 25, 2005 1:53 am Subject: Runs on Mac and Windows Today
Close Name:Small White Car Posts: 1960 Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:02 am Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
try to keep up


Darn it, I'm supposed to follow Mac news AND Windows news?

Sorry, not enough hours in the day. I've gotta choose one and I've made my choice. Thanks for the heads up, that's how I learn about these things.


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Close Name:mloader Posts: 21 Joined: 03 Sep 2002
Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:23 am Subject:

Yahoo! will make it mainstream.


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Close Name:Syntax_Error Posts: 58 Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Mon Jul 25, 2005 10:05 am Subject:

Quote
mloader wrote:
Yahoo! will make it mainstream.


And then they will charge for it...


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Close Name:Billy K Posts: 297 Joined: 06 May 2004
Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:14 pm Subject: It'll be Interesting...

...to see how Yahoo incorporates this in their services. I have a Yahoo account (came with the DSL) and I never look at their portal, or even my "My Yahoo" page. Everything they do lately is just so hard to sort through. It's like they just heap more and more stuff on top of the stuff they already heaped there. I guess that's their way of staying competitive. Maybe I'm just too accustomed to Apple's interface, but Yahoo's offerings hurt my eyes.

Oh, and P.S. Konfabulator didn't invent widgets. Apple did. They just used to be called Desktop Accossories, and they weren't java-based.


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Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:58 pm Subject:

Yahoo? They're still around?


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Close Name:DrShakagee -   TMO Forum Mod Posts: 941 Joined: 14 Jun 2001
Mon Jul 25, 2005 4:01 pm Subject: Re: It'll be Interesting...

Quote
Billy K wrote:
and they weren't java-based.


And they still aren't "java-based".


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Close Name:Billy K Posts: 297 Joined: 06 May 2004
Mon Jul 25, 2005 4:28 pm Subject: Java?

I'm not programmer, but it was my understanding that both Konfabulator and Dashboard ran off javascript.

From Konfabulator's site:
Konfabulator is a JavaScript runtime engine for Windows and Mac OS X that lets you run little files called Widgets that can do pretty much whatever you want them to.

From Apple Developer Connection:
Despite the fact that widgets look like applications to the user, widgets are powered by web technologies and standards such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

No?

Quote
DrShakagee wrote:
Quote
Billy K wrote:
and they weren't java-based.


And they still aren't "java-based".


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View Name:Guest
Mon Jul 25, 2005 4:45 pm Subject:
View Name:Guest
Mon Jul 25, 2005 8:00 pm Subject: Widgets aren't all that.
Close Name:jacrav Posts: 268 Joined: 04 Jul 2001
Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:53 pm Subject: Where does this come from ?

"The large majority of widgets re-feed information from Really Simple Syndication, or RSS feeds, a technology for distributing news on the Web."

Please, somebody explain to me what this means …


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Close Name:jacrav Posts: 268 Joined: 04 Jul 2001
Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:55 pm Subject: Maybe they aren't all that …

… but I like mine, both in Dashboard and Konfabulator …


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Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2063 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:27 pm Subject: Dashboard ain't Konfabulator ...

There have been several well-done articles explaining the essential differences between Dashboard and Konfabulator. Dashboard uses essentially the webkit, while Konfabulator uses a special version of javascript. By all accounts, Dashboard is a LOT easier to program. To see the difference in programming requirements, note how many Dashboard widgets have come out in a few months compared to Konfabulator.

Also, Rose shouldn't talk about "rip-offs." His older program, Kaleidoscope, was a "rip-off" of earlier "skins" programs. He took it to new heights, no doubt, but I had a "skins" program for OS 7.1 before Kaleidoscope was available. Ditto for Konfabulator: conceptually, it's little different from Desk Accessories, plus there have been many floating window accessories for years before Konfabulator (e.g., CopyPaste's palettes). As creative as Rose is, he seems to want to claim original credit no matter the history.

The "proof," if you will, that Rose did not invent the concept is that Rose did not--and probably could not--patent the concept of widgets. If he had, then Apple would be infringing and he would be suing. Notice that he's not suing, just stamping his feet and holding his breath.


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