First Adobe Apollo based Associate Widgets

Amazon.co.uk Associate yourminis has just launched the first Adobe Apollo (alpha) based Amazon.co.uk desktop widgets.

Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system runtime being developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, HTML, JavaScript,etc.) to build and deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) to the desktop.

To install desktop applications based on Adobe Apollo (e.g. widgets) end users must simply have installed the Adobe Apollo Runtime (similar to the principle of having to install the Flash Player plug-in in order to view Flash content in a webbrowser).

Amazon.co.uk Associate yourminis has now created the following two Adobe Apollo based desktop widgets:

a) Amazon.co.uk wish list (>> Wish list widget):

This widget allows you to search for the name of a user (e.g. first name and/or surname) who has saved a wish list on the Amazon.co.uk website. All matching wish lists on Amazon.co.uk are shown (as long as the user has published his/her wish list).

When a wish list is selected, the system lists all of the products on this wish list using the Yourminis widget. Once the widget settings (size, colour, format, etc.) have been customised, the user can then copy the wish list widget as an Adobe Apollo application to their own desktop.

The products shown on the wish list can then even be viewed from the user€™s desktop if the user is offline. Clicking a product on the wish list loads the product details page for the selected product from Amazon.co.uk in a Web browser.

The following screenshot shows the Amazon wish list widget on a (Mac OS X) desktop:

 
b) Amazon.co.uk search box widget (>> Search widget):

The search box widget enables users to search for products on the Amazon.co.uk website. Search results are displayed directly in the widget. The user can then call up the corresponding product details page on the Amazon.co.uk website by clicking a specific item.

Once the widget settings (size, colour and format) have been customised, the user can then copy the search widget as an Adobe Apollo version onto the PC or MAC desktop (see screenshot above, bottom widget).

These two Amazon.co.uk widgets created by yourminis can also be displayed on standard websites and can even be transferred to the latest social network website (e.g. MySpace) with a single click. This process is made easier by the fact that Adobe Apollo applications, use the same technologies (HTML, Flash, JavaScript, etc.) as standard websites. Both webbrowser versions of the widgets can be found below:

We look forward to being able to present further desktop applications/widgets created by Amazon.co.uk Associates soon.

Both of the widgets presented here were created using Amazon Web Services.  

 

Comments

[Ken]

I wouldn't worry, Steve - especially when you see that their widget only shows the RRP. Would loved to have used these on my site, but hey, if they lock it down to only use their associates ID, there isn't much Amazon can do about it.

A good post, nonetheless.

[Marcus]

Hi Steve,

yourminis.com is an Amazon associate and they have built these widgets using Amazon Web Services and they included their own associates ID. The widgets of yourminis.com show perfectly what kind of applications every Amazon associate can build by means of Amazon Web Services.

We are looking forward to present you even more interesting applications/websites build by Amazon.co.uk associates based on Amazon Web Services on the affiliate blog.

Marcus

[steve]

it does not allow the amazon associate reference to be added so no good for affiliates at all :(