It's be nice for it to be a widget like from Home Depot. You've made me think of more definitions of the word :-)
Google defines it as "Android widgets are mini apps that run on your Android Home screen. Your phone comes with several by default, including a Home screen tips widget and a clock, but you can download more widgets from the Android Market. "
They are apps displayed on your desktop with which you may interact. For example scrolling through facebook postings in the facebook app without need to actually open facebook. Or a calendar widget which looks at your calendar and displays upcoming events without needing to actually open the calendar to see them.
Basically widgets save you from having to leave the desktop to see information or interact with your device. They can also be ways to individualize and make your phone/tablet more attractive. They also cause increased battery drain so there are negatives :-)
Here's one of my desktops: It's basically all widgets because I made my own icons and had to install another program that allowed me to link differently sized icons and applications together. The music program is also an app in that you can press buttons on it to play,pause,skip in the music and there are also widget in another corner which allow me to turn off the eifi by pressing the button.
