Google Applets in Spicebird!
The upcoming Spicebird 0.7 will support iGoogle applets. You will be able to add iGoogle's Applets to Spicebird's home screen, along with the current Applets. Most of the current applets on iGoogle work on Spicebird.
You can add an applet by dragging its image on the "Add Stuff" page in iGoogle, into the Google Applet in Spicebird. The image on the right shows a Google Maps applet added to Spicebird's home screen.
Why is it important? iGoogle offers thousands of applets that provide you information and let you access a wide range of services like Maps, Calendar, Sms, weather at a single place. This is precisely what our home screen currently does for services accessible via Spicebird. Now, a typical user would also want to have access to other services spread across the web. So, instead of creating an applet for each of these discrete servies / information that Spicebird in itself does not provide, it is better to add support for a platform like iGoogle which can provide such services. The new Google Applet in Spicebird does precisely that. The screen shot below shows Spicebird home screen containing a Maps, a Date and Time and a Weather applet.
How does it work? iGoogle provides an API for creating applets, using which any one can create an applet that provides access to services on their web site. Spicebird provides its own implementation of this API and places it in a minimal browser environment within the applet. The API calls made by an iGoogle applet will be served by Spicebird's google applet API. Hence this does not require any porting of applets from iGoogle to Spicebird. However there might be a problem with some applets due to controlled environment in which it runs for security reasons, but there would be continuous refinements to make it work with all widgets.
Great feature, but we need Windows builds for testing.
We have many testers for our localization, but more of them have Windows OS.
For us are Windows build more useful then this feature.
Thanks Tomas
I think - after experiencing the instability and missing functionality of Spicebird 0.4beta and havin' an eye on the former? great goal of growing to be a real competitor to outlook, by example:
it's a kind of loosin' the thread, when implementing any kind of gimmick, leaving the basics aside...
No one needs a Google calendar as long as the included Spicebird-calendar doesn't work properly!
No need of weather-forecast, as long as Spicebird thunderbolts aren't tamed!
Wasn't it the baseline, to create ONE application with inherent
counterparts as for PIM? And with that goal, you haven't to contrive wheel for new - you "just" have to implement some two or three
applications reliably&trustworthy, and write a code of implementation for the OPEN SOURCE OS' too..(and no selfextracting/-running exe-file, which isn't assembled with the system at all!)
Sorry if it sounds to be biased - nevertheless I will make a rollback to Thunderbird, my hope is with Spicebird, as I feel it was a good aim to target for a "restricted" All-In-One!
Have a good time, no loss of confidence - and: keep at it!
best wishes, Dierk
I agree with you. There are stability issues with Spicebird 0.4 reported by some users. We are equally worried about it and are working towards making it more and more stable with each release and update.
Apart from adding some new features, one of the main targets for Spicebird 0.7 is to improve the stability. Your comment underscores the need for more emphasis on that which we take very seriously.
Thank you for that really constructive criticism.
Looks awesome! Yeah I can't wait, tell me a release date... ;)
Looks great guys!
Can't wait to try the new built.
Cheers
Good One.. But when is the 0.7 Release ??
I am badly waiting for the release
The release is tentatively scheduled for end of July.
Can I be emailed when the latest Beta is available, I am desperate to try it out.
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