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Yahoo! acquires Konfabulator, offers it for free

updated 06:55 am EDT, Mon July 25, 2005

Yahoo! buys Konfabulator


Yahoo! today , a software maker that provides a computer platform for monitoring the weather, stock prices and a wealth of other customized information without opening a web browser. The AP reports that the deal was finalized late last week for an undisclosed price and offers Yahoo! access to a toolbox of mini-applications--called widgets--which were introduced in 2002 for the Mac, later created for Windows, and were used by Apple to build Tiger's Dashboard concept. Yahoo! will offer the $20 software for free to all users as a means to drive traffic to its website and introduce users to its plethora of web services.


by MacNN Staff

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  1. coldfusion1970

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2004

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    07/25, 07:33am | report spam | Reply |

    The price is right

    Wooo hoooo, thats saved me 20 dollars. I was just about to buy Konfabulator as some of their widgets arent available in Dashboard yet ...

  1. Rosyna

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Aug 2001

    0
    07/25, 08:41am | report spam | Reply |

    Dead, Dead, Dead

    Much like AOL's purchase of Winamp (Nullsoft) and Lycos' purchase of Sonique, I have a feeling this thing is going to be littered with adware and then it'll slowly die over the next few years. The countdown for Sun's acquisition of Watson has already begun.

    Just saying.

  1. lmhaffner

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Apr 2002

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    07/25, 11:01am | report spam | Reply |

    Last word?

    "Apple liked the concept so much that it includes a widgets dashboard in the Mac's operating system."

    Hehe... I wonder if the wire writer thunk that up all himself or the Konfab guys injected it in the PR/interview.

  1. Jeff Edsell

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: May 1999

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    07/25, 11:31am | report spam | Reply |

    So what will happen first

    Will Yahoo open Konfabulator to run Dashboard Widgets, or will Apple open Dashboard to run Konfabulator Widgets?

    (Or most likely, someone will write a hack to let Dashboard run Konfabulator Widgets.)

  1. SomeToast

    Senior User

    Joined: Jan 1999

    0
    07/25, 11:41am | report spam | Reply |

    re: So what will happen..

    (Or most likely, someone will write a hack to let Dashboard run Konfabulator Widgets.)

    There's already such a hack. It's called "Konfabulator."

  1. pastusza

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Nov 1999

    0
    07/25, 01:12pm | report spam | Reply |

    I think this is cool

    I wonder whether Konfabulator will now outpace Dashboard with the number of Widgets available over the next year. I mean, why develop a Dashboard widget, when you can write a Konfabulator widget and have it instantly be cross platform. I think Apple is going to need to add a Konfabbulator compatability layer to their widgets.

    This is what Apple gets for not simply buying Konfabulator outright. Now Windows users have free access to one of the cool new features of OS X.

  1. msuper69

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Jan 2000

    0
    07/25, 03:08pm | report spam | Reply |

    Windows Only

    I bet'cha.

  1. Marook

    Forum Regular

    Joined: May 1999

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    07/25, 03:47pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: I think this is cool

    Why would people Suddenly start to make widgets for Konfabulator just because Yahoo! bought it??? Makes no sense...

  1. dru

    Senior User

    Joined: Apr 2002

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    07/25, 03:50pm | report spam | Reply |

    Yahoo paid too much

    Whatever Arlo & co. got it was too much for Konfabulator. Wonder what he'll do next.

  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

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    07/25, 06:02pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: I think this is cool

    I wonder whether Konfabulator will now outpace Dashboard with the number of Widgets available over the next year. I mean, why develop a Dashboard widget, when you can write a Konfabulator widget and have it instantly be cross platform. I think Apple is going to need to add a Konfabbulator compatability layer to their widgets.

    I don't see how this changes Konfab's development prospects. It would be nice if they worked in Dashboard, but, who cares. Dashboard is generally worthless as it sits now (the whole "separate layer" thing is just plain stupid - Konfab works better in this regard).

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