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Safari tip: Force HTML5 video to open instead of Flash
As more people get fed up with the poor performance and security flaws of Adobe's Flash Player, they are uninstalling the Flash plug-in from their computers. The problem is that even if a site offers up HTML5 video as an alternative to Flash, trying to get to it from Safari on a Mac will pop up the little blue LEGO block. Mac users can now take advantage of the fact that Mobile Safari in iOS doesn't support Flash in any way, by changing the desktop user agent. A browser feature that was first widely used to get websites to serve up non-standard HTML optimized for Internet Explorer, Mac Safari 5 users can change their user agent settings by enabling the Developer menu through Preferences > Advanced. From the Developer menu, the user agent can be changed so that the browser looks like Mobile Safari 3.2.2 on the iPad, which will force sites to feed HTML5 video streams if they are available. There are, of course, some caveats. Unlike some other browsers, changing the Safari user agent only persists for the current browser window instance. Additional browser windows or restarting the browser gets you back to the original agent. John Gruber of Daring Fireball, who originally figured all of this out, provides a Terminal command that will permanently change the user agent, but since that can break other functionality, the temporary route is recommended. For sites that only serve Flash video, users can still go Flash-free in Safari by opening the site in Google Chrome, which features its own built-in Flash player. [via Mac OS X Hints]
Opera gets serious about TV widget content, releases CDK
Norwegian software company Opera first waded into the TV app game when they released an SDK for widgets back in 2008. Now they've taken another serious step by releasing the Opera Devices Content Development Kit to help HTML, CSS, XML, and Javascript savvy developers create content using technologies they're already versed in. For those who don't live and breathe in The Matrix, Opera's hope is to lower the barriers of entry for bringing online content into the living room, since the software eliminates the need for physical devices to test on. It also supports W3C, HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV), OIPF, and CEA-2014 specifications -- meaning it's capable of running on a wide range of hardware from variety of manufacturers. For more details read the PR after the break or watch Opera's video from 2009 on the subject, which unfortunately isn't on par with its previous potato boiling jabs at Google. Still, learning about "Oprah's" new widgets makes it definitely worth a watch.
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.
Chrome for Mac out of beta
Google has taken the "beta" adjective off of the Chrome for Mac browser, signifying that it's ready for primetime. The beta was originally released last December. Google Mac says it's ready for a stable release, and that the browser "provides not only the stability, performance, and polish that every Mac user expects, but also a seamless native Mac application experience that Mac users will feel instantly at home with." Additionally, the new release allows for full-screen mode (by hitting Command + Shift + F) and will synchronize bookmarks across computers (something I currently have to rely on Xmarks for in Firefox). And since it's Chrome, the update also adds speed bonuses and brings the HTML5 magic, including drag and drop file transfers for those sites that support the feature. Google also notes that support for a baked-in version of Flash Player will be present in future releases of the browser. It's a little buggy right now (heh), but they're aiming to have it ready and out by Flash 10.1. You can still install and use the current version of Flash, if you want to. [via TechCrunch]
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.
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!
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.
Google tweaks Gmail's HTML5 web app to better utilize iPad screen space
It's still not a true Gmail app (sigh), but it's a step in the right direction, we suppose. Google has today announced that it has released an experimental user interface for the iPad built on the Gmail for mobile HTML5 web app, but unlike the iPhone and Android versions, this one has been retooled a bit to best take advantage of those extra pixels. iPad Gmailers will find a two-pane view with their conversations on the left and messages on the right, and while it's not exactly revolutionary, it's certainly better than what we're being forced to use on existing smartphones (and their comparatively minuscule displays). The company's openly asking for feedback once your iPad lands, and we couldn't help but notice that it pointed to the fact that Google is still the default search engine embedded into Safari. Who knows -- maybe Steve and Eric really were talking about butterflies and buttercups the other day.
Microsoft shows off Internet Explorer 9: says 'yes' to HTML5, 'no' to Windows XP
Microsoft is having a good old time at MIX10, showing off all sorts of new things. New things like... Internet Explorer 9, which has just been previewed at the developer event, and here's what we've gleaned about it so far. First off, as expected it will support HTML5 video, boast a new Microsoft JavaScript engine which is codenamed "Chakra," and it'll support new-fangled web technologies like CSS3 and SVG2. Microsoft says one of its main goals with IE9 is to provide a faster browsing experience -- always good news -- though they don't have things cranked quite as high as the competition just yet (remember, this is still early). Preliminary ACID3 tests on the preview show the IE9 scores a 55/100, up from IE8's dismal 20/100 -- a huge leap forward no doubt, but still a far cry from the Chrome, Opera, and Safari scores of 100. In both PCMag's and ZDNet's SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark test, the preview performed competitively as well. Microsoft has also confirmed that IE9 will not support Windows XP, but the preview Microsoft is showing off plays nice with Vista SP2 and higher, meaning the shipping version will probably do the same. No shockers there, really. Microsoft's also made the first developer preview of Internet Explorer 9 available for download today -- hit the source link to check that out. Full press release is after the break. Update: Chrome, Opera, and Safari do indeed score 100/100 in ACID3 testing, not "nearly" as previously stated. Thanks commenters for pointing out the obvious.
Google halts development of Gears, makes room for HTML 5
Well, we've known for a while that Google was throwing considerable weight behind HTML 5, and that one of the purposes of the markup language is to do away with plug-ins for Internet apps, so it makes sense that eventually Gears would go the way of the Dodo. But so soon? Linus Upson, the man in charge of both the Chrome browser and Chrome OS engineering teams, has announced that the company is done developing the software. "We are not driving forward in any meaningful way [on Gears]," the man said in an interview with PC Magazine. "We are continuing to maintain it, so that applications will continue to work; we don't want to break anything out there." If you listen to this guy, it sounds like this was the plan, all along: "When we started the Gears project, three years ago... we did it because we couldn't get the browser vendors interested in building offline applications." He then details the mind trick: Google ships Gears, and suddenly browser vendors are "very interested in adding capabilities to build offline applications," paving the way for the capabilities in the next version of HTML. Clever, Google. In the same interview, Upson stated the company's plans to move all its apps to standards-based HTML 5 APIs. Now that it's convinced the world that it wants -- nay, needs -- rich Internet applications, we hope that the company will promise to use its powers of persuasion for good, and not for evil.
No need for an app with Sig Alert's maps
As TUAW's own Steve Sande noted, one of the neat features of Safari on iPhone OS 3.0 is its ability to leverage the HTML 5 geolocation API. One of the more prominent web-based services to use geolocation is Google's Latitude, which allows one to see where their friends are located and what they're currently up to. Whereas Latitude provides you updates on where your friends are and what they're up to, Sigalert.com provides you updates on what's holding up all the traffic at your current location (for California and Arizona only) as well as when you should be expecting it to loosen up. During a recent weekend afternoon drive from Los Angeles to San Diego, I was stuck in heavy traffic -- unusually heavy considering the day and time I was traveling. Sure, I could have relied on dedicated apps, such as iPhone's built-in map app or MapQuest 4 Mobile, to see exactly where the traffic would loosen up, but I wanted to know exactly what was causing the traffic. So I turned to sigalert.com instead.
iPhone 101: Clear local Safari storage to resolve Gmail issues
There's no denying it: locally caching messages in Gmail on the iPhone (via the storage capability in HTML 5, similar to Google Gears) is fun and good for you, especially if you don't connect to your Gmail via IMAP in the regular iPhone Mail application. Unfortunately, if the local copy of your mail gets funky, things can become difficult and much less fun.John F. sent in this handy tip for resolving issues with cached Gmail; his suggestion is a quick dive into the iPhone's Settings app, then navigating to the Safari preferences to clear out the local database that stores the cached mail. You may have to wait a bit the next time you connect to Gmail in Mobile Safari as the messages are re-downloaded, but any wacky cruft should be gone. While you're in there, take a look at some of the other settings options; you may discover choices you never knew you had.
