Google Acquisition Could Move HTML 5 Ahead
By David Worthington | Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Google’s $106.5 million acquisition of video technology maker On2 Technologies today could signal that it intends to make technology freely available for the next version of HTML, someday eliminating the need for plug-ins such as Flash for video playback on the Web.
On2 Technologies is best known for its VP7 and VP8 video codecs. The codecs could be used to enable seamless video playback within HTML 5 compatible Web browsers such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.5, Opera, and Safari.
HTML 5 is an upcoming version of the HTML standard that has support for audio, graphics and video, as well as interactive document editing. It is incomplete, and has been implemented in browsers in a piecemeal fashion.
HTML is the lingua franca of the Web, but the Web had changed a great deal since HTML 4 was published in December 1997. Industry powerhouses have been plugging away at the HTML 5 draft specification ever since.
The scope of the next-generation Web protocol is very ambitious, and not surprisingly, it has not been without controversy. HTML 5 includes a video element to enable playback without requiring any additional plug-ins or software, and the HTML 5 working group has been split over what uniform video codec should be used.
The working group’s inability to move beyond the impasse has threatened the inclusion of the video element in HTML 5. One camp (that includes Apple and Google) has supported H.264, a codec that requires implementers to pay patent licensing royalties. Others, including Mozilla and Opera, favor Ogg Theora, an open source solution.
Google has already incorporated elements of HTML 5 into its Chrome Web browser, and has begun to utilize it in its Web applications. It has also been experimenting with an HTML 5 edition of YoutTube—sans Flash.
“Today video is an essential part of the Web experience, and we believe high-quality video compression technology should be a part of the Web platform,” said Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management at Google, in a prepared statement. “We are committed to innovation in video quality on the Web, and we believe that On2’s team and technology will help us further that goal.”
HTML is obviously a part of the company’s long term technology plan, and ushering it along by releasing the On2 codecs into the public domain would be compatible with that goal.
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August 6th, 2009 at 5:48 am[…] Google Acquisition Could Move HTML 5 Ahead (Technologizer)Google’s $106.5 million acquisition of video technology maker On2 Technologies today could signal that it intends to make technology freely available for the next version of HTML, someday eliminating the need for plug-ins such as Flash for video playback on the Web. […]
August 5th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I'm a big fan of H.264 and HTML 5, and I'd like to see CPU-sucking junk, like Flash and Silverlight consigned to the Elephant's graveyard. Go Google! I also think this integrates well with Google's ownership of YouTube.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Both Flash and Silverlight can do much more than video playback…
August 5th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
I agree. HTML5 is the future (now). I hate plug-ins. Mobile and web apps are where it’s at!
Prediction:
Within 5-10 years you won’t have desktop computer anymore. What you will have is an always on, internet aware mobile device that slips in a docking station within your monitor. Like the Palm Pre/WebOS but more advanced.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
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the On2 software could be useful (also) to develop a new (Wii/PS3/Xbox-KILLER) Online Gaming Platform, as predicted and explained four days ago in my GoOS blog: http://ow.ly/iScX
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August 6th, 2009 at 6:29 am
This might be a foolish comment but if i have uploaded numerous family videos to YouTube. 5 years from now i want to view them…. I presume they will be accessible even if i have to download and old plug-in? My point being is (yes i have back up of family videos) but I want to be able to go to my digital scrap book 5 years from now or 15 years from now to view videos, pics, etc… i dont want to have re-upload all these old videos so they can be viewable in a new browser.
August 6th, 2009 at 10:51 am
“This might be a foolish comment but if i have uploaded numerous family videos to YouTube. 5 years from now i want to view them…. I presume they will be accessible even if i have to download and old plug-in?”
My guess: highly likely.