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Apple's HTML5 showcase
Apple has published a new Web page meant to promote and show off the features of HTML5. There are seven sites featured in the "HTML5 showcase," each demonstrating a different function: video, typography, a photo gallery, transitions, audio, 360º product view, and VR. Each demo includes some aspect of interactivity. For example, the typography demo lets you insert and manipulate your own text, while the video lets you scale the movie, apply a mask, and change the perspective. In addition, each demo explains how it was made and offers sample code from the Safari Dev Center. Note that Safari -- mobile or desktop -- is required. Apple has picked its horse and is sticking with it. It's a nice demonstration of what can be done with HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Here's the money quote: "Standards aren't add-ons to the Web. They are the Web." [Via Daring Fireball]
Apple puts HTML5 where its mouth is
Looking for even more HTML5 samples to see what all the fuss is about? Good, 'cause Apple just went live with its HTML5 showcase page. Naturally, it took a veiled jab at Flash in the process: "Standards aren't add-ons to the web. They are the web." Samples include video, typography, photo galleries, transitions, audio, 360 degree object manipulation, and VR implementations including the source code so devs can tinker around for themselves. Now hit up the source for a taste. Update: Apple's offering a developer link that lets you play with the demos in Google's Chrome browser.
Smokescreen makes Flash content visible on iPhone and iPad (video)
Mind you, it's just a preview release, but Chris Smoak's Smokescreen does exactly what it promises: enable Flash content to play on Apple's iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad. Kind of. Here's how Smokescreen gets around using a Flash plugin as described by Simon Willison: "It runs entirely in the browser, reads in SWF binaries, unzips them (in native JS), extracts images and embedded audio and turns them in to base64 encoded data:uris, then stitches the vector graphics back together as animated SVG." While it works fine with simple animated banner ads (uh, huzzah!?), we found that Smokescreened Flash content like video and games was impossibly slow when tested on our iPhone 3G. Still, it's a start for this soon to be open sourced Flash player written in JavaScript. Check the video after the break for a demonstration or give it a go for yourselves by browsing over to the appropriate source link below.
HTML5: seriously, it's not just for video
In a way, HTML5 has been reduced to a buzzword. You hear a lot of noise about how great it is for video, and how the web standard is an alternative to Flash content, but you don't see a whole lot of examples of that. We thought we'd take a moment and round up some of the cooler, more exciting instances of HTML5 online -- sites and experiments that go way beyond just playing someone's home movies. We're talking 8-bit gaming, some really crazy video effects, and a handful of incredibly interesting ways designers are maximizing the potential of the everyone's favorite new toy. Check out the links below, and prepare to readjust your expectations of HTML5. Note: Your best experiences for the links below will be in Chrome or Safari. You can get some of this working in Firefox, but as Chris Ziegler just remarked, "It's mega slow." These will absolutely blow your mind. Mr.doob's Chrome experiments -- Ball Pool and Google Gravity. Here's a roundup of experiments from Ben Joffe, including a rudimentary 3D shooter, a 3D functions plotter, and an HTML5 color picker. Some of my personal favorites, KesieV's Akihabara game room. The Legend of Sadness is where it's at. Exploding, real-time video. WPilot -- a multiplayer shooter. Like Asteroids meets Quake. A giant, color-cycling canvas. Weirdly addictive to play with. 3D molecules. 'Nuff said. Mega Man intro. In HTML5. If you guys have suggestions or examples you'd like to show off, let us know in comments!
NBC and Time Warner inform Apple they'll be sticking to Flash, thank you very much
When the iPad bandwagon was launched in late January, ABC and Netflix quickly jumped onboard with tailor-made apps, while CBS and others started transitioning their content to HTML5-compliant formats, all in the name of not being left behind by the revolution. As it turns out, however, some content providers will be letting this ride pass them by, at least for the moment. The New York Post today reports that big media heavyweights Time Warner and NBC Universal have turned their noses up at the iPad's high entry demands and will be sticking to what works: Sources said several large media companies, including Time Warner and NBC Universal, told Apple they won't retool their extensive video libraries to accommodate the iPad, arguing that such a reformatting would be expensive and not worth it because Flash dominates the Web. According to the NYP article, these conglomerates have been emboldened by the forthcoming arrival of competing tablets from the likes of Dell and HP, and will be seeking their fortunes in the mobile space atop Adobe's winged stallion of web domination that we commonly know as Flash. This is a decision sure to end in tears -- we just don't know who'll be doing the crying when it all shakes out.
Google Chrome hits version 5, brings stability to Mac and Linux
You've been biding your time, enduring the evils of Firefox, Safari, Opera and perhaps even Internet Explorer (dare we speak its name), slowly summoning your courage to give Google's alternative a try. Well, kiddo, we've got good news and bad. The good news is that if your box lovingly depicts fruit or a well-dressed penguin, you'll no longer get short shrift: Chrome 5 is out of beta and stable across Mac and Linux for the first time, with browser sync and a host of new HTML5 functionality to boot. The bad news is that Chrome has some quirks of its own... but hey, let's not spoil the experience -- no matter what platform you try it on, the WebKit browser is definitely speedy. Those flyin' french fries aren't just for show.
Aussie newspaper selling out ads for 1st iPad edition
The Australian is busy prepping its iPad app, which will deliver issues of the newspaper to subscribers. Thus far, signing up subscribers has gone well; 3 months worth of ads have also been sold, including to big names like IBM and Toyota. The paper has created an ad package that includes 3 months' worth of category exclusivity on the iPad version, plus spots in the physical paper and online. Developers hope to have video as part of the app at launch, if not very shortly thereafter. One challenge identified by managing editor Grant Holloway has been converting ads from Flash to HTML5. According to Holloway, "...the iPad won't play Flash and a lot of online ads use Flash, so there are a lot of people who are going to have to become very familiar with HTML5. If they've got their head around it, they'll be able to do cool stuff -- better than anything they can do online." It's not exactly clear what he means by 'online,' but he's excited! Call it novelty, but I've read more newspaper articles since buying my iPad than I have in who knows how long. Earlier this week I saw that my hometown paper has hired a development firm to create an iPad delivery system. Now that I live so far away, I can't get the Scranton Times, but I still like to know what's going on. An iPad version would fit the bill nicely. Expect The Australian's app to cost $4.99 per month at launch as "an introductory price." The cost will be reconsidered when version 2 is released. [Via iPad Watcher]
Clicker.tv brings streaming internet video to your TV's browser; it has a web browser right?
When Clicker launched last fall it seemed like just another me-too streaming video aggregator, but we'll have to give it another look after it's followed up its Boxee integration by showing off the HTML5-built Clicker.tv site at Google I/O today. Designed as a "ten-foot" experience for TV screens it can be perused via mouse and keyboard or just a remote, bringing Clicker's index of video including network TV, webisodes and web-only content, plus premium sources like Amazon VOD and iTunes. It's currently in beta, but if leaning back and browsing from the couch is your thing -- or on the off chance someone launches a Google TV with Intel processor, support for all those streaming codecs we love and a QWERTY remote from Logitech tomorrow -- it could be worth bookmarking.
Hulu on the iPad? Think app, not portal
Watching TV on the iPad is a pleasure. More and more providers are coming on board, too, like ABC and CBS. Many of us are eager for a mobile solution from Hulu. Back in January, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar told Gigaom, "We will embrace any device...We are very big believers in mobile and we don't think about (just) one device only." Then in April, The New York Times reported that a Hulu app was in development without giving any details. This week, Eugene Wei, vice president of product at Hulu, discussed HTML 5 on the company's blog in an aside to the introduction of Hulu's new UI. The short version of his message is that Hulu can't implement it for now. "[HTML 5] doesn't yet meet all of our customers' needs," Wei writes. He goes on to note that the Hulu player does more than just stream video; it must also report statistics to advertisers, secure the company's content, communicate buffer information and more -- tasks that Flash is simply better at performing. At least for now. "Not all video sites have these needs," he adds, "but for our business these are all important and often contractual requirements." Compare these statements with the rumors of a forthcoming solution for the iPad and we can assume that an app much like the ABC player is likely. The ABC player, which I love, streams ad-supported episodes of the network's daytime and prime time shows for free. Rumors suggest that Hulu will introduce a paid subscription with their app; some suggest that it will run customers between 9 and 10 dollars a month. Good luck with that, Hulu. TV on the ultra-portable iPad is one of its selling points. I'm so accustomed to seeing ads interspersed with programming that I don't mind it on my mobile devices. But asking me to pay for something I've already paid for (cable bill) is silly. Here's hoping Hulu reconsiders. [via Business Insider, H/T to Switched]
Hulu says HTML5 'doesn't yet meet all of our customers' needs'
As you may be aware, Hulu rolled out an updated version of its video player today, but what you may not have noticed is that the company also took advantage of the occasion to briefly talk about HTML5. In a post on the Hulu blog (which has curiously since been pulled, though it remains in the RSS feed), Hulu's VP of Product Eugene Wei took a moment for an "aside on HTML5," in which he said that while Hulu continues to monitor developments on HTML5, "as of now it doesn't yet meet all of our customers' needs." Wei further goes on to note that Hulu's player doesn't just stream video, that it also must do things like secure the content, handle reporting for advertisers, and do "dozens of other things that aren't necessarily visible to the end user" -- all of which are critically important for Hulu and often part of contractual requirements. Of course, Wei also notes that it's possible that HTML5 will one day meet those needs, but it doesn't look like a switch is coming anytime soon.
Adobe to Apple: We love you, but...
The Apple/Adobe cage match continues with a new campaign from Adobe. We first noticed it on Engadget this morning. It begins with the simple statement "We [heart] Apple" and goes on to say, "We love Flash and HTML 5. We love our 3 million developers. We love authoring code only once. We love all platforms and devices." It then describes what Adobe doesn't love, including "...anybody taking away our freedom to choose what you create, how you create it and what you experience on the web." After clicking through the ad, the user is brought to a page entitled "We [heart] choice" which features a letter from Adobe's founders, Chuck Geschke and John Warnock. Some choice passages include: "If the web fragments into closed systems, if companies put content and applications behind walls, some indeed may thrive - but their success will come at the expense of the very creativity and innovation that has made the Internet a revolutionary force...We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company - no matter how big or how creative - should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web." In Adobe's view, Apple is telling developers "it's my way or the highway." Apple, on the other hand, believes that Adobe is clinging out outdated, proprietary tools. The fervor began when the original iPhone failed to support Flash (both the iPhone and iPad still don't) and the gloves came off when Steve Jobs published his "thoughts on Flash." Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen responded in a matter of hours, and the public bickering has continued since. In addition to the web ad, Adobe also has a full page ad in the Washington Post today. Their opinions are so diametrically opposed, it's hard to see how this conflict will come to a resolution. Thanks to reader Jeff Gates for his independent tip on this story!
Adobe targets Apple in ad campaign launched today, publishes open letter from founders
If you're reading Engadget today (and let's be honest, you're reading it right now), then you might have noticed that Adobe has launched a pretty full-force campaign to call out Apple on its anti-Flash mission. If you don't know what we're talking about, it's the advertisements that start with "We [heart] Apple." Along with the web ads, the company has also snagged a full page in today's Washington Post to address the battle in which the two companies have been engaged. All of this links back to a new statement from Adobe, as well as an open letter from founders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock ("Our thoughts on open markets"), addressing Apple's recent spate of clear and direct attacks against the company and its products. Most of the reading should sound familiar to those of us who've been following the saga, but here are a few choice quotes from the duo: We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company - no matter how big or how creative - should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web. When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe's business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end - and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors. We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web - the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time. In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody - and everybody, but certainly not a single company. So, it's clear this issue isn't going to die out any time soon, and it's also clear that Adobe is going to go to great lengths to defend and protect its cash-cow. Of course, if they really want this message to hit home to the core iPad and iPhone users out there, they're going to need to run that ad in HTML5. Note: As you should know, the ad sales and editorial teams at Engadget are separate entities, so this campaign was as much a surprise to us as it probably is to you!
CBS will roll out HTML5 compliant portal for iPad
Watching TV on an iPad is a joy. Prop it up, plug in some speakers, turn it on its side and sit back. You can carry it with you as you move about and the epic battery life permits episode after episode. The only drawback right now is the lack of content (I'm looking at you, Hulu). Fortunately, networks like CBS are keen to get on board. This week, CBS VP Anthony Soohoo described his company's plans to create an iPad-compatible portal in an interview with NewTeeVee (video after the break). For now, Soohoo explains, full episodes of Survivor and clips from selected shows are available in HTML5. The network are taking what they learn in getting those shows out to bring their other titles to the HTML5 standard, and expect to achieve full content parity in time for the fall premieres. While ABC is using an app to distribute shows to the iPad, Soohoo confirms that the network does not have plans for a dedicated app just now, and will focus on a HTML5 portal instead. For me, the money quote comes at the beginning of the interview, when Soohoo says, "At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you watch content on television, on your mobile device or on your PC." That's exactly right. Who cares if I buy a record vs. a CD vs. a digital file? I'm still consuming the content. Soohoo even notes that the iPad's multi-touch capabilities offer unique advertising options. It's nice to see a "suit" who gets it. [Via MacRumors]
Mozilla shares tentative vision for Firefox 4
Our first glimpse of Firefox 4 was limited to a few tasteful mockups; this time, Mozilla's main man Mike Beltzner has revealed the company's plans for its next generation web browser in its entirety. While exact features and dates are sketchy, his presentation reveals Mozilla would like to hold the Firefox 4 beta in June, before unleashing a CSS3, partially HTML5 compliant web browser with multitouch support, background updates, geolocation, Firefox Sync (aka Mozilla Weave) and a greatly streamlined UI this holiday season. The presentation has "PLANS MIGHT CHANGE" written all over it in large red letters, so trust us when we say none of this is for sure, but we like the direction Firefox is going and we'll be happy to see more. Video presentation at our source link, full slideshow after the break.
CBS suits up, promises iPad-friendly HTML5 video for all content by this Fall
Visit CBS.com from your iPad right now and all you'll get is a full episode of Survivor and clips from various other shows. By the start of the Fall season, however, CBS Interactive SVP Anthony Soohoo is promising content parity between its Flash-based website and HTML5-compliant iPad portal. While on the subject, he also notes that the video strategy will be entirely web-based, with no plans for an app à la ABC Player. Flash isn't being subjected to a veritable slapsgiving, however, as it'll remain the desktop technology of choice. Soohoo notes HTML5's toolset for measurement and encryption isn't quite at the same level yet. Full video interview after the break, and iPad users? This fall, expect something quite legen -- oh, you know where we're going with this, but still we'll pause for dramatic effect -- dary.
WWDC 2010 sells out in only 8 days
If you want to go to WWDC 2010 and haven't signed up yet, it's already too late. All passes for Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, which runs June 7 - 11 at San Francisco's Moscone Center, were sold as of yesterday. The annual conference caters to Mac OS X and iPhone OS developers. Apple has been less than subtle about demonstrating that the mobile OS has become the favored child in the family, though. It is expected that iPhone OS 4 will headline the event, with tracks on multitasking of iPhone and iPad apps, working with the iAd in-app advertising solution, and taking advantage of the 100+ new features in the mobile operating system. Sessions on coding for Mac OS X, HTML5 local storage, and network applications are also expected to be popular among developers. As in past years, many Apple watchers expect that the next generation iPhone will be introduced at the show. By announcing the dates for WWDC 2010 a little more than a month before the show, Apple had already received criticism from developers who complained that they would not have time to make flight and hotel reservations. What's up for next year? "Hi ... we're having WWDC next week. Can you come?" [via AppleInsider]
Adobe decries Apple's 'walled garden,' yet pledges 'best tools' for HTML5
Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch says Flash works just fine on the Apple iPhone, thank you very much -- and he thinks that's exactly why Apple keeps on denying it access. Speaking at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, he explained his belief that by eliminating Flash, Cupertino is forcing developers to build apps natively for iPhone OS rather than one of Adobe's cross-platform solutions, and thus creating a "walled garden" of applications that users must flock to an iDevice to be able to use. Lynch compared Apple's control over development formats to 19th century railroad lines that competed for customers by using differently sized rails, and pledged that Adobe would not be part of such a competition. "It's not HTML vs. Flash -- they've been co-existing for over a decade," he said, adding, "We're going to try and make the best tools in the world for HTML5." So, what do you think about that, Steve?
Microsoft embracing HTML5 / H.264 for IE 9
Shortly after Steve Jobs delivered his "Thoughts on Flash" missive to the world last week, Microsoft's general manager for the Internet Explorer browser mentioned that the huge software company is putting its muscle behind the H.264 standard for HTML5 video content. Apple, of course, has been promoting the H.264 standard for video content in HTML5 as a replacement for Flash-based video content. Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for Internet Explorer, stated last week in a blog posting that the "future of the web is HTML5." He noted that the HTML5 specification does not specify a particular format, and that "H.264 is an excellent format." The bottom line? "In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video only." Hachamovitch followed up on his original post today with a much more complete explanation of Microsoft's reasoning for selecting the H.264 codec over competing emerging standards. The comments from Hachamovitch also noted that most web video is currently Flash-based, and although Microsoft and Adobe are working together on Flash, there are issues with security, performance, and reliability with Adobe's player. It appears that Microsoft is planning for a future that is less dominated by Adobe Flash, and one that is more in line with the standards-based approach that Jobs and Apple are embracing. [via MacRumors]
Microsoft weighs in: 'the future of the web is HTML5'
Where Steve Jobs leads, Microsoft follows -- how's that for shaking up the hornet's nest? It's said in jest, of course, but we've just come across a post from the General Manager for Internet Explorer, Dean Hachamovitch, and the perspective expressed by him on the subject of web content delivery broadly agrees with the essay penned by Jobs yesterday on the very same subject. Echoing the Apple CEO's words, Hachamovitch describes HTML5 as "the future of the web," praising it for allowing content to be played without the need for plug-ins and with native hardware acceleration (in both Windows 7 and Mac OS X). He goes on to identify H.264 as the best video codec for the job -- so much so that it'll be the only one supported in IE9's HTML5 implementation -- before turning to the dreaded subject of Flash. This is where it gets good, because he literally repeats one of Jobs' six pillars of Flash hate: "reliability, security, and performance" are not as good as Microsoft would like them. Where Hachamovitch diverges from Apple's messiah, however, is in describing Flash as an important part of "a good consumer experience on today's web," primarily because it's difficult for the typical consumer to access Flash-free content. Still, it's got to be depressing for Adobe's crew when the best thing either of the two biggest players in tech has to say about your wares is that they're ubiquitous. Wonder how Shantanu Narayen is gonna try and spin this one. P.S. : it's notable that in multiple paragraphs of discussing "the future," Microsoft's IE general fails to once mention the fabled Silverlight, itself a rich media browser plug-in. Given Silverlight's featured role in the Windows Phone 7 infrastructure and other things like Netflix, we doubt it's on the outs, but there are sure to be some sour faces greeting Hachamovitch this morning. [Thanks, KnifeX4]
Skyfire 2.0 beta now ready to set Android ablaze
We've been seeing mobile browsers steadily raising their game lately, so it was inevitable that Skyfire would look to shock and awe us with its first release for the Android platform. Version 2.0 introduces a brand new SkyBar -- which ironically sits at the bottom of the screen -- providing users with a trifecta of new features. Firstly, the Video link serves as a workaround for those pesky "your phone ain't got no Flash" missives by doing server-side conversions of Flash video into universally comprehensible formats like HTML5. If implemented well, this should be a major coup for the company, particularly in light of a potential iPhone release as well. There's also a streamlined sharing feature for social networks, and an Explore function that suggests internet content on the basis of what's currently on display. We'll be testing out the usefulness of these shortly -- for now, hit the source link to get your own Skyfire going. Update: Check out our hands-on preview of the new browser right here. Hint: it's pretty awesome. %Gallery-92020%
