Nokia today announced WidSets, a phone manufacturer-independent Web 2.0 service, that automatically multicasts preferred RSS feeds and user-generated content.

"Immediate access to information is expected by people today, thus we wanted to make it easy for everybody, from an individual blogger to a web service provider, to automatically have mobile access to website content," said Dieter May, Vice President and Head of Nokia Emerging Business Unit. "We also believe WidSets will be attractive to new users who are not so familiar with Web 2.0. The easiest way to get started is to visit the WidSets website at www.widsets.com, create an account, browse the Library, and start exploring the service."

WidSets allows users to build a Content Library, freely choosing from RSS feeds to blog posts to photo uploading sites that are multicasted to any new generation Java enabled mobile devices. 

Widsets Templates allow users to include their own websites or blogs, for their own private use or that of others they choose. Collaborative filtering allows the community to enrich the Widsets Library by providing suggestions for new content that a user did not know about. 

"We wanted WidSets to be fun to use, so we based the user interface on great-looking and dynamic mini-applications called widgets that automatically receive updates from websites that people normally visit several times a day," continues Dieter May. "Whenever the information on a community, blog, or news service is updated, the widget notifies the user about it, so that the information can be viewed right away, regardless of where the user is located.  And if users can't find their favorite internet service on WidSets, they can easily create and publish widgets themselves, and share the content with others."