Sony Ericsson launches cross-platform packager tool for WebSDK

Billed as an example of its commitment to cross-platform development, Sony Ericsson has launched the latest version of its packager tool for its WebSDK toolset designed to help developers build their apps into a single native shell.
The firm claims v1.2.1 - now formally labelled a packager to better described its true functionality - goes beyond WebSDK's original tools to further aid studios looking to work on apps that can run on both Android and Symbian.
Multi-platform might
"WebSDK Packager is a great tool for someone who has great expertise with HTML CSS and JavaScript and is adept at creating web applications, but is not familiar with the complexities of the mobile environment," the firm says in a post on its developer blog.
"WebSDK Packager allows Android developers to create mobile web applications by packaging their web components inside a native shell for Android.
"For Symbian developers, WebSDK Packager uses the PhoneGap API with web runtime widgets. This truly enables developers to write code once and deploy on multiple platforms."
Easy does it
Originally developed in partnership with the PhoneGap open source community, Sony Ericsson claims its decision to refresh WebSDK - which works on Windows or Mac OS platforms for development - is part of a wider strategy to simplify cross-platform development.
"Sony Ericsson supports cross-platform web development and sees this as an important enabler for developers to create exciting new services across web and mobile," the entry concludes.
"Sony Ericsson announced support for PhoneGap framework in 2009 and our WebSDK Packager as part of a broader approach to simplifying the application and services development on mobile devices for developers."
[source: Sony Ericsson]