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BBC begins phasing out Flash with new HTML5 iPlayer trial
Now that Chrome and Firefox are treating Flash like an unwanted guest, online companies are weighing up whether supporting the browser plugin is worth their time. The BBC currently utilises it for its popular iPlayer service, but it's already working on an alternative. The Beeb announced today that it's launched an open beta for its new HTML5 player, giving you the option to watch your favourite shows from any browser, whether you're using your smartphone (which ties in nicely with its Android beta), tablet or PC.
Twitch goes full HTML5 in 2016, revamps private messages
Twitch is revamping its live-streaming systems in 2016, starting with a rollout of HTML5 video players and controls in Q2 2016. This means Twitch is officially ditching Flash. Second, Twitch's private-message program, Whispers, is getting an update that pops out personal messages so users don't miss them. Plus, these conversations will transfer from web to mobile and vice versa. Twitch will also allow streamers to create custom thumbnails for their past broadcasts and highlights. All of this info comes courtesy of today's TwitchCon 2015 keynote address.
Chrome will block obnoxious Flash ads starting September 1st
Back in June, Google shared the good news that the Chrome browser would soon be smart enough to "intelligently pause content that aren't central to the webpage" that you're visiting. It's a welcome change that should help to continue marginalizing the annoyance of Flash. Fortunately, that blessed new feature is ready for prime time. On the Google+ page for the company's AdWords advertising program, Google said that a Chrome update coming on September 1st would make Flash-blocking the default state for users.
YouTube makes new desktop player available to everyone
YouTube just got a facelift -- it's not a complete reconstruction, but it's definitely more than just fillers to smooth out wrinkles. The Google-owned video sharing service has rolled out its new HTML5 desktop player to everyone after a few months of testing. When you play a YouTube vid on your computer, you'll notice that the control bar at the bottom is replaced by a transparent version that disappears a few seconds after you stop moving the mouse pointer. Its icons are larger and bolder, the loading bar is thinner and the transition animation to load the Quality and Subtitle drop-down menu is a lot smoother. The player looks generally better throughout, but feel free to check and judge for yourself.
Twitch starts dumping Flash for HTML5
Twitch is ditching Flash. The first step is a redesign of its video player controls, swapping out the old Flash model for shiny, new HTML5 and Javascript controls. Twitch videos are still Flash-based for now, but this is all in preparation for a full HTML5 player. The new controls will be rolled out gradually to all users, and you'll notice them on channel pages first.
Hone your drum machine skills with an HTML5 808
For the aspiring DJs and living room producers, there's now a way to craft your drum machine chops with nothing more than your favorite web browser. An HTML5-driven site lets you choose between iconic instruments like Roland's TR-808 and TR-909, alongside Elektron's Machinedrum, the LinnDrum and a regular ol' acoustic kit for the luddites. In addition to turning nobs to get the perfect sound, you can save samples for use during your next studio session. What's more, when you're all finished, the site allows you to export loops as a WAV file that can be employed in a more robust production app. If you'll recall, there's also a web-based MPC that'll let you try your hand at piecing together samples used by J Dilla and Kanye West. With these two tools in your browser, there's really no excuse for not exploring that music habit.
Chrome's 1,000th web experiment visualizes all the others
Google has offered a ton of Chrome Experiments to show what modern web technology can do, but it's doing something special for the 1,000th project -- namely, visualizing all the other projects. The effort lets you browse six years' worth of browser-based art, games and other creative works in multiple ways, including a tag-based timeline and a live code editor. To top things off, Google has redesigned the Experiments site so that it scales properly on everything from phones to desktops. You probably won't have time to explore every single web snippet, but it's worth a visit to number 1,000 if you're wondering what you've missed.
Now that YouTube has jumped to HTML5, here's what Steve Jobs said about Flash
Today, YouTube announced it will now default to HTML5 when a video is loaded rather than using Flash. For years, Apple has been criticized for not allowing Flash on its iOS devices, leading Steve Jobs in April 2010 to release an open letter explaining Apple's position on the subject. You can read the whole letter here. Inside, Jobs addresses the technical issues associated with Flash and Adobe's criticisms of Apple for not using the platform. In light of YouTube's transition to HTML5, however, it's worth pointing out the close of the letter: Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short. The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple's mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 250,000 apps on Apple's App Store proves that Flash isn't necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games. New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Five years later, it's interesting to see this transition continue to take place, this time at one of the most popular websites in the world. Head over to Apple's site for the complete text of the letter.
YouTube begins transition to HTML5 for default playback
YouTube announced yesterday that videos on the desktop website will now default to HTML5 when loaded. In other words, HTML5 is kicking Flash to the curb. So much for all the pundits and analysts who a) thought Apple abandoning mobile Flash was a strategic mistake or b) believed Apple would eventually cave in and support Flash on the iPhone. Four years ago, we wrote about YouTube's early support for the HTML5 <video> tag and how it performed compared to Flash. At the time, there were limitations that held it back from becoming our preferred platform for video delivery. Most critically, HTML5 lacked support for Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) that lets us show you more videos with less buffering. Over the last four years, we've worked with browser vendors and the broader community to close those gaps, and now, YouTube uses HTML5 <video> by default in Chrome, IE 11, Safari 8 and in beta versions of Firefox.
YouTube defaults to HTML5 on the web
If you've been hoping for YouTube to drop the notoriously buggy Flash video format as its default player, well, good news. Nearly five years after the streaming giant started supporting the HTML5 standard for its videos, it's finally now its player of choice. That means from now on, YouTube will use the HTML5 <video> format by default in most modern browsers -- that includes Chrome, IE 11, Safari 8 and beta versions of Firefox. Why the wait? Well, YouTube says in a blog post that it was waiting for HTML5 to mature and improve -- it was still fairly experimental back then. Now, however, the standard is widely adopted and has plenty going for it, like the support for live broadcasts and a more immersive fullscreen view. Seeing as HTML5 is not just in browsers but smart TVs and other streaming boxes too, this news has been a long time coming. Which makes us wonder how long Flash has left before it's gone altogether.
Humble Mozilla Bundle: Try in your browser, redeem at Steam
Humble Bundle adopts a new approach with its featured offerings today with the The Humble Mozilla Bundle, a collection that lets you test drive HTML5 versions of featured games in your browser before you commit to a purchase. The pay-what-you-want package includes Steam-redeemable copies of Terry Cavanagh's Super Hexagon, Dejobaan's Aaaaa! for the Awesome, Hemisphere Games' Osmos, Secret Exit's Zen Bound 2, and Hitbox Team's Dustforce DX. Beat the average (currently $5.25) and you'll also get Voxatron and FTL: Advanced Edition, while purchases that exceed $8 will additionally unlock Democracy 3. Full versions of all games included in the Humble Mozilla Bundle are playable in HTML5-supported browsers upon purchase. The package will be available through October 28. [Video: Humble Bundle]
Netflix support comes to Ubuntu through Chrome
We told you it was coming, and now it's here! Canonical announced today that its popular Linux distro Ubuntu now supports Netflix playback through Chrome. If you're running a fully updated install of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, 14.04 LTS or later you can simply go install Chrome 37 right now and immediately start enjoying Netflix. (Provided you're a paying subscriber, of course.) There's no word on if or when support might be coming to other browsers, so sorry Firefox fans. That being said, Mozilla is one of the main contributors to Network Security Services, which is key to Netflix support on Linux, so it probably won't be too far behind.
Netflix support is making its way to Linux, finally (updated)
Linux users, you've been very, very, very, very, very, very patient. And now, your patience is being rewarded with Netflix support on your OS of choice. For the longest time Netflix relied on Microsoft's would-be Flash competitor Silverlight. But, of course, support for the plug in was practically non-existent on the open-source OS. Now, with Silverlight fading, and Netflix embracing the power of HTML5, your wish of watching flicks in your favorite distro (be it Ubuntu, Mint or Arch) may finally come true. Paul Adolph from Netflix posted a message to Ubuntu developers, telling them that, "Netflix will play with Chrome stable in 14.02 if NSS version 3.16.2 or greater is installed."
Virgin Media's TiVo UI is getting a welcome makeover
If you were one of Virgin Media's early TiVo adopters, you won't have noticed the user interface change much over the last four years. Well, Virgin's decided it's high time for a significant redesign (with TiVo doing much of the legwork), and it'll begin hitting several thousand set-top boxes next week, with a wider rollout starting late October. We were treated to a preview of the update today, and the visual differences are immediately obvious. The red background has been ousted by a new "plum" colour (that's purple, to you and me), and is joined by a new font and minimalist logo that's part of Virgin Media's ongoing rebrand. The whole menu system is displayed in a higher-resolution than before, too, but it's not just a reskin, and should be quicker and slicker to navigate.
Physics' best-known lectures are now available to everyone on the web
Ask professors about important physics lectures, and they'll probably point you toward Richard Feynman's famous 1964 talks. They led to one of the most popular physics books ever (over 1.5 million English copies sold) and helped generations understand concepts like quantum mechanics. They've been available to the public for a few years now, but there hasn't been an easy, legal way to read them online... until now, that is. The California Institute of Technology has finished publishing Feynman's lectures in a free, HTML5-based viewer that lets you read on any device with a modern web browser. Even the equations and diagrams are visible on small screens. You're sadly not allowed to grab offline copies, but these web versions may be perfect for brushing up on the fundamentals of energy and matter before a big test -- even if you have to study on your smartphone. [Image credit: Associated Press]
Microsoft unleashes 'Settlers of Catan' on the web
Microsoft has something of an extracurricular activity: When it's not releasing Office for iPad or updating Windows, it has a habit of helping other companies build websites. Its latest project is a web version of Settlers of Catan, the popular board game, which it co-developed with Bontom Games. As with previous Microsoft-backed sites, the appeal is that anyone, even Microsoft haters, can use it: The web version will run in any browser that supports HTML5 (in other words, not just IE). That's obviously a different approach from the existing Settlers of Catan apps for Android and iOS, which are of course reserved for people using those platforms.
A newer kind of web tracking is almost impossible to stop
You may think you're thwarting advertisers and other nosy web citizens by blocking cookies and invoking Do Not Track whenever possible, but that apparently isn't good enough. Researchers have just documented a newer web tracking technique, canvas fingerprinting, that's nearly impossible to stop. As it's simply drawing a unique, hidden image using standard web code, you can't just filter it out using higher privacy settings or ad blocking tools. You can sometimes opt out of personalization and targeted ads by installing a cookie, but you're otherwise out of luck unless software can start identifying and blocking these fingerprints.
Google search now tells you when websites won't work on your phone
Many websites are built for mobile devices these days, but you'll still run into the occasional page that refuses to run. Wouldn't it be nice if you got a heads-up before you wasted a click? As of today, you will: Google search now warns you when a site isn't likely to work on your hardware of choice due to incompatible content, such as Flash. You can still visit if you're convinced everything will be A-OK, or if you just have a masochistic streak. However, the new search policy may leave some site designers scrambling -- now that Google is discouraging mobile users from visiting pages that insist on proprietary plugins, companies may have to switch to web standards like HTML5 if they want to get your business.
Breach is a completely modular, hackable and open source web browser
When it comes to surfing the web, our options are limited: the market is dominated by three or four mainstream web browsers, all of which share major similarities in design and function. Unless you want to build your own browsing program, you're stuck with their modern browsing paradigms. For San Francisco programmer Stanislas Polu, that wasn't good enough, so, he created Breach -- an open source modular web browser designed to allow anybody to tweak and modify it on a whim.
Netflix worked closely with Apple to bring HTML5 video support to Safari in OS X Yosemite
So long, Silverlight! Apple on Monday announced that Safari on OS X Yosemite will support HTML5 video streaming for Netflix. Translation? Users can enjoy the majesty of Netflix without having to fiddle with any external plugins. On top of the added convenience, the transition to HTML5 video will offer much improved battery life to the tune of two extra hours of 1080p streaming on a MacBook. In a blogpost highlighting the news, Netflix relayed that it worked closely with Apple to implement the upcoming transition via HTML5 Premium Video Extensions. We've been working closely with Apple to implement the Premium Video Extensions in Safari, which allow playback of premium video content in the browser without the use of plugins. ... We're especially excited that Apple implemented the Media Source Extensions (MSE) using their highly optimized video pipeline on OS X. This lets you watch Netflix in buttery smooth 1080p without hogging your CPU or draining your battery. In fact, this allows you to get up to 2 hours longer battery life on a MacBook Air streaming Netflix in 1080p - that's enough time for one more movie! Finally, a Safari announcement even non-techies can get excited about.
