Tag Archive: HTML5

YouTube Mobile undergoes its biggest redesign yet

Posted Jul.07, 2010 under Google

Google revealed today perhaps the biggest update yet for the YouTube mobile website since it first became available in 2007, bringing improvements such as HTML5 support and a revamped user interface.

According to Google, the mobile website, which offers a way for those on mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone or Google’s Nexus One the opportunity to view YouTube videos without using native applications, has seen exponential growth (160% in the past year in fact), and now streams more than 100 million videos per day to users across the globe (roughly the same amount as the desktop version of YouTube was receiving when Google acquired it in 2006).

With mobile consumption continuing to grow strongly, the YouTube team has made every effort to improve the usability and speed of the newly designed web app with this latest update, which is only available at this stage for iOS and Android devices. Based primarily around touch-screen devices, YouTube Mobile is now faster than ever before, with a much more visually impressive and user friendly interface that represents its also newly redesigned desktop counterpart. Long-awaited functions such as the ability to “favorite,” “like” or “unlike” videos, and create video playlists from the mobile website, are now available, while a new ”home screen” view, similar in looks to that of the Facebook for iPhone and LinkedIn for iPhone applications, allows quick access to places around the YouTube Mobile site such as favorites, playlists, and subscriptions.

Videos on the HTML5 capable site will be of higher quality than even the native YouTube iPhone application, which is still using a streaming format designed for second generation Edge networks. Through the new mobile site, you can also watch better quality videos by toggling a new “HQ” option, which is toggled on by default.

The team at YouTube is making every effort possible to convert users from native apps to the new site, prompting new visitors on the iPhone to install the web app on the home screen and making it clear that the mobile site will be updated with support for new features before native apps get that support(in particular, the iPhone YouTube app which Apple has full development control over – not Google).

YouTube’s new mobile site will be rolling out over the course of the day in English only, with support for additional languages to be made available in the coming months.

View: Source

Tags: , ,
3 Comments

Why YouTube will continue to use Flash instead of HTML5

Posted Jul.03, 2010 under Google

The worlds biggest video website has been trying to implement a Flash-free player for some time now, even opening an experimental HTML5 player, but expressed their concerns with the new player earlier this week.

All the major browsers are working on making the switch to HTML5 later this year, including Microsoft with Internet Explorer 9. Google’s Android phone and Windows Phone 7 mobile browsers and operating systems will support Flash. Even Apple’s Safari 5 will be HTML5 compliant, but their mobile browser, found on the iPhone, iPod, and iPad products, will not support Flash.

However, YouTube has noted some concerns with the HTML5 video tag as a replacement for the traditional Flash Player. First, not all browsers have agreed on a codec standard, and with users uploading 24 hours worth of video every minute to YouTube, it’s important that they support the minimal amount of available codecs.

Currently Google, Opera, and Mozilla are supporting WebM VP8, which would highly benefit the HTML5 video codec. VP8 is an open-sourced video streaming media project by Google which operates under a BSD-style royalty-free license. Microsoft and Apple will be sticking with the H.264 standard, but Microsoft said Internet Explorer 9 will also allow users to install WebM if they wish.

Until all the browsers can agree on a video encoding format, YouTube said it will still stick with H.264, which it has been using since 2007.

HTML5 also has problems performing robust video streaming, and when streaming live videos, it’s important to have full control over buffering and video quality controls. DRM-protection is also important to YouTube, so they can offer services like YouTube Rentals, which requires making sure videos are not copied and redistributed around the web without the owners consent.

If anyone has actually tried using the HTML5 player, there is a significant difference between the Flash version of the site and the HTML5 player. One noticeable difference between the two players is the delay when selecting a certain part of a video. The HTML5 video seems to have a 1-2 second delay, wile the Flash player is almost instant.

On the comparison below is the HTML5 player (left) and the Flash version of the player (right), running on Chrome 6.0.447.0 running Flash 10.1.53.64, on a Windows 7 x64 Ultimate edition installation. There is a significant difference in terms of loading time and video quality, both of which Flash has the advantage.

Another important feature for YouTube is embedding videos on external websites. Although HTML5 allows for sandboxing and message-passing functions for things like captions, annotations and advertising, Flash is still the tool most sites use for embedded content.

Lastly, HTML5 does not support webcam and microphone access. Thousands of videos are uploaded daily using YouTube’s built-in video recording software that uses the users webcam and microphone to record, something that would be impossible to do without Flash.

As HTML5 is still in development and definitely still requires a lot more work, it may be some time yet before users and major websites ditch Flash for HTML5.

View: Source

Tags: , ,
Leave a Comment

IE9 Platform Preview 3 with HTML5 video support due today

Posted Jun.23, 2010 under Microsoft

Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 9 platform preview 3 later today according to sources familiar with the software giants plans.

The updated platform preview code will include support for the HTML5 video tag. Earlier this month Microsoft demonstrated IE9 vs Safari 5 and we strongly expect the company to push out a number of updated HTML5 tests on its test drive site later today.

Microsoft originally unveiled Internet Explorer 9 at PDC 2009. IE 9 will take advantage of the power of the GPU for all page rendering and developers can exploit this using CSS, DHTML and javascript. A new JS engine (codenamed Chakra) will also be built into Internet Explorer 9 with greater interoperability and standards support all round. Features such as rounded corner CSS support will be built in. In January, we revealed that Microsoft is planning to enhance tabbed browsing in IE9. According to a software patent, the Quick Tabs feature in Internet Explorer is likely to be enhanced with better functionality and greater tab management options.

Microsoft is also planning broader support for HTML5 in Internet Explorer 9 through its new script engine. Microsoft recently performed W3C Web Standards tests on IE9, including HTML5, SVG 1.1 2nd edition, CSS3 media queries, CSS3 borders & backgrounds, CSS3 selectors, DOM level 3 core, DOM level 3 events and DOM level 2 style. Microsoft, with the help of W3C, performed a total of 192 tests on a variety of browsers. Internet Explorer 9 scored 100% in all eight tests, while every other browser, except Firefox in DOM level 2 style tests, didn’t score perfect in any of the test categories.

Microsoft originally began scouting for Internet Explorer 9 beta testers in March. In an email to testers, Justin Saint Clair – Program Manager of Internet Explorer invited testers to join a “select group of IE9 Tech Feedback participants.” Neowin understands that Microsoft will introduce a beta of Internet Explorer 9 in August. Today’s Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 3 will be available at Microsoft’s IE Test Drive site later today.

View: Source

Tags: , ,
Leave a Comment

Apple launches HTML5 developers website

Posted Jun.05, 2010 under Apple/Mac

It’s no secret that Apple has a chip on its shoulder when it comes to Adobe’s Flash and Apple has taken another step forward by launching a full blown support page for developers.  Apple has now provided a support site for developers who are looking to support HTML 5 and the information can be found at www.apple.com/html5 or http://developer.apple.com/safaridemos/ (if you dont have Safari installed).

Apple, specifically Steve Jobs, has been on a crusade to remove Flash as a web standard ever since the launch of the iPad.  Currently none of Apple’s mobile products support Flash and instead favor HTML5.  Because of the lack of Flash support, Steve Jobs published his “Thoughts on Flash” to give his reasoning for moving towards more open standards.

The new site shows off many of the new features of HTML5 and offers resources on how web developers can utilize the new standard on their own web pages.  Apple is pushing HTML5 explicitly as it is supported by their devices and circumvents their need for Flash.

Adobe has responded to Steve Jobs open letter on Flash but at the end of the day, Apple will not support the format.  Regardless of why Apple isn’t supporting Flash, it’s clear that they are pushing HTML5 and want Flash to vanish into history.

View: Source

Tags: ,
Leave a Comment

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner