ComponentOne, a leader in developer-productivity tools, has announced the 2012 release of Wijmo: a kit of UI widgets for HTML5 and jQuery development.  The centerpiece of this release is the stunning data visualization widgets, including more HTML5 chart types and new HTML5 gauges.

Originally debuted in the first quarter of 2011, Wijmo extends jQuery UI and provides everything from interactive menus to rich charts. This v2 release offers over 40 widgets with many enhancements to existing widgets.

“This is the most complete collection of tools a Web developer may access for creating interactive websites and applications,” said Chris Bannon, product manager at ComponentOne.

According to a blog post by Bannon, he states, “The power of HTML5 is harnessed in the Wijmo collection and with it your web applications will perform faster, run smoother, and be more engaging than ever before.”

The dedicated website for Wijmo, wijmo.com, has a live demo which lets visitors explore every widget and highlights the specific features of each. In the Grid Demo, which displays the source code used to create it, ComponentOne shows how the Wijmo Grid surfaces the filtering UI for each column of data. “The Show Filter option allows the end user to filter through an infinite number of records efficiently and hassle-free,” said Bannon.

While ComponentOne clearly shows the functionality of the widgets, they also are cognizant of the design aspect of web development. To easily develop a consistent look and feel throughout an application, users may start by using one of the six professionally designed themes included with Wijmo. Optionally, a user may choose from over 30 themes from the jQuery UI project or use ThemeRoller from jQuery UI to create a custom theme.

The Wijmo website describes how Wijmo is split into two kits, Wijmo Complete and Wijmo Open. Wijmo Complete is a commercial kit filled with powerful application building widgets like charts and grids. Wijmo Open is completely free and open source under the MIT/GPL licenses and includes menus, calendars, and more.

Either kit, Complete or Open, ensures the UI created works in every browser and every device without worrying about compatibility issues. Wijmo widgets support these popular browsers: IE6+, Firefox 3+, Safari 3+, and Chrome.

Earlier this week, ComponentOne posted a case study that details how a State College, PA based company, Schoolwires, migrated their applications to Wijmo. The study chronicles Wijmo in the eyes of Schoolwires, from evaluation to implementation and includes cost/time saving results.