To be honest, I have not heard much about this initially. A Widget engine… interesting concept.

Yahoo Inc. on Monday launched a new version of its widget engine, the portal’s platform for running mini desktop applications built by Yahoo or third-party developers.

Along with the release of Yahoo Widget Engine 3.0, the Sunnyvale, Calif., company also unveiled nine new applications that run on the platform, which is available in a Windows and Mac version. The engine is offered at no charge on the company’s Web site.

A widget is a small application that runs on the desktop without the use of a browser. The software often draws content from a Web service. Yahoo, for example, offers widgets that are tied to its search, photo and mapping services.

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