Between Google envisaging our computing future through a browser on its Chromebook machines and Apple accustoming us to app-filled screens, the familiar PC desktop and its installed software appear to be under threat.
Now SweetLabs, a San Diego start-up, has come up with the idea of planting something of a Trojan Horse called Pokki in our taskbars and attacking the traditional desktop with web apps that empower a new generation of developers.
The apps are built on HTML5 web language, which is becoming increasingly capable of matching the look and abilities of fully fledged Apple or Android-style apps and PC desktop applications.
This raises not only the question of whether desktop client software and native apps are still needed, but also whether app-creation tools such as Adobe’s Flash and Air or Microsoft’s Silverlight are necessary.
The power of HTML5 also means developers can create apps for Apple’s devices that do not need to be approved through its App Store – they are accessed through the browser via a bookmark icon (Google’s Gmail works this way and the Financial Times recently introduced a web app for the iPad that mirrors the look of the App Store version).
Anyway, back to Pokki, which “brings the app experience to the desktop”, in the words of co-founder and chief executive Darrius Thompson.
Ironically, Pokki is a small piece of desktop client software itself, which installs itself into the Windows taskbar as a small acorn icon.
Clicking on it opens up a windowed web app store of pokkies. For the beta launch this week, eight are on offer and are intended as a Sweet Labs’ showcase, aimed at inspiring developers to create and add their own.
The pokkies include Gmail, Facebook and Twitter apps and a feed reader. Once installed, they appear as icons on the taskbar and expand as pop-out windows when clicked on.
Sweet Labs is looking at expanding them to different sizes such as full screen or chat windows, depending on their nature, and it is working on improving a notifications system and grouping the apps into categories as they expand across the taskbar.
The startup envisages users being able to buy a new computer and have all their apps instantly available to them through Pokki.
Apps will go through an approval process, but there are no plans to charge for them or for Sweet Labs to take a cut at present. The beta service only works with Windows currently, but other platforms will be added in the coming months.
For now, Pokki’s ambitions are restricted to helping web developers and giving them at least one new platform for their creations.
“A lot of the web developers are left out [of the desktop] because it requires you to be more of a software engineer knowing things like C++ [computer languages],” Mr Thompson told me.
“So we’re making it easy to build applications with HTML5 and making sure that developers can get their apps distributed.”
