AllThingsD » HTML 5

Hulu Plays Along With Apple's New Rules. Who's Next?

Peter Kafka — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:48:28 +0000

Apple’s new subscription rules could have posed a problem for services like Hulu. But when Steve Jobs changed his mind earlier this month, life got a lot easier.

Here’s the old version of the Hulu Plus subscription app for the iPad:

And here’s the new version, built to comply with Apple edicts that kick in at the end of the month:

Easy, right? All Hulu had to do was strip out the link that sent potential subscribers to its Web site, because Apple’s new rule will ban “apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app.”

That means that the app can no longer function as an effective advertising tool for the video service, which is a bummer for Hulu (which is owned by Comcast’s NBC, Disney’s ABC and News Corp.’s Fox; News Corp. also owns this Web site). It’d be quite useful to offer a smattering of free content on the app, then encourage users who want more stuff to click through to Hulu.com to pony up $8 a month.

But that’s much better than the previous choice Apple offered app developers that wanted to sell access to content: Use Apple’s in-house purchase system — and give Apple 30 percent of all sales that flow from that — or don’t do it at all.

Lots of developers have no problem using Apple’s system, which gives them access to a customer base of 225 million people. But others won’t want to give up that much revenue.

So now we’ll see how other content companies that currently use external links in their apps decide to play it over the next couple weeks.

My hunch is that digital video and music companies like Netflix and Rhapsody will follow Hulu’s lead and drop their “buy” buttons. The New York Times has already said it would work with Apple’s rules, but that was back when it announced its paywall/subscription plan in March, when it had a different set of options. I asked Times officials about their plans 10 days ago, and they declined to comment.

Also not commenting: The Wall Street Journal — which again, like this Web site, is owned by News Corp. The Journal hasn’t said a peep about its Apple subscription plans, which seems a bit odd, given that News Corp. and Apple rolled out the first iteration of Apple’s subscription offering, via The Daily, back in February.

Rival business daily the Financial Times, meanwhile, has quite clearly signaled what it plans to do: It has built an HTML5 Web app so it can control every part of the subscription process itself.

Then there’s Amazon, which seems to be one of the clear targets of Apple’s revised rules – note that they specifically rule out the use of a “buy” button that goes to a Web site to purchase a digital book. Hard to believe that Amazon will get rid of its Kindle iOS apps altogether, since they’re a key feature of the Kindle ecosystem. But dropping the app’s “buy” button will be a real drag for the bookseller, too.

Codec Capers: Google Drops H.264 Support in Chrome

John Paczkowski — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:42:33 +0000

Here’s one way to spur adoption of your new video codec. End your browser’s support for a widely used rival codec.

That’s what Google did today, announcing that its Chrome browser will ship without native support for H.264, the video specification on which the Web is arguably standardized (certainly it’s the one prefered by folks like Apple and Microsoft). Instead it will support WebM, Google’s open-source, royalty-free codec, and Theora, another open compression developed by the Xiph.org Foundation.

“We are changing Chrome’s HTML5 video support to make it consistent with the codecs already supported by the open Chromium project,” Google said in a post to the Chromium blog. “Specifically, we are supporting the WebM (VP8) and Theora video codecs, and will consider adding support for other high-quality open codecs in the future. Though H.264 plays an important role in video, as our goal is to enable open innovation, support for the codec will be removed and our resources directed towards completely open codec technologies.”

A ballsy move on Google’s part and one that will certainly spark off the video codec contretemps once more. Sadly, it’s going to make the the HTML 5 transition even more messy than it already is. Right now, video can be encoded in H.264 and served up to pretty much any browser or mobile platform–using a Flash wrapper if necessary. But once Google ends support for H.264, video producers will have to encode their content a second time to play natively in Chrome.

Which seems unfortunate. Particularly because Google is billing its decision as a move to free, open standards and away from proprietary ones like H.264 that must be licensed. By ending support for H.264, Google is actually encumbering video producers with additional costs. Said SmugMug CEO Don MacAskill, “I’m left with two choices: Gulp and double my costs on an unknown tech, or return to Flash as primary solution. Ugh. Thanks, Google.”

But Flash isn’t free and open standard, either. If Google’s goal is to “enable open innovation” shouldn’t it be dumping Flash from Chrome as well? Evidently, that’s not part of the master plan which includes Adobe as a WebM partner …

PREVIOUSLY:

Google’s “Royalty-Free” WebM Video May Not Be Royalty-Free for Long

Google Open Sources VP8 Video Codec. Will Apple, Microsoft and Intel Use It?

Facebook Checks In to the World of Locations

Walter S. Mossberg — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:31:03 +0000

The 800-pound gorilla of social networks, Facebook, is jumping into the location game.

On Wednesday, it announced a new, optional service for its 500 million members called Places, which allows you to check in to various places you go, and share that information with your Facebook friends, complete with maps and comments and the Facebook thumbs-up “like” feature.

[ See post to watch video ]

I’ve been testing the new service, and found it easy to use and reliable, with mostly logical privacy controls, an issue on which Facebook has been bruised in the past.

Companies began to build location-based social networks shortly after smartphones began to include social-networking apps and the ability to pinpoint your location.

These services let you and your network “friends” know if you were in the same area, so you could get together. They also let merchants entice you with coupons or ads. All you had to do was use your smartphone to “check in” an establishment.

These location-based networks, notably Foursquare, have grown fast. Especially in a recession, many users appreciate offers to save money. There also is money to be made by the merchants.

But these networks are controversial. Though most have privacy controls, they are accused of eroding privacy by allowing others to know exactly where you are at any time. They also raise issues about giving such information to merchants.

Fourquare also has turned off some potential users with a big overlay of game-like features, like earning points and badges for visiting places, and even the ability to become the “mayor” of, say, a bar you frequent.

On the Facebook app, you initially can check in to Places only if you have Apple’s iPhone, though you can use a site at touch.facebook.com via your browser on other phones and laptops that can track your location and support HTML 5 technology.

Facebook Places on the iPhone.

In the past week or so, my colleague Katherine Boehret and I have used Facebook Places to check in with iPhones around our home base of Washington, D.C., at stores, bars, restaurants and even our office. I also was able to check in, or “tag,” other Facebook members with me, like my visiting son and daughter-in-law. All of these tests went well, but I was surprised by one odd thing: I could check myself into nearby places even if I wasn’t there.

At each location, Places lets you see your friends and other Facebook members (even if they’re not your friends), who are nearby, a feature called “People Here Now.”

Minors are excluded from seeing anyone except their friends. We couldn’t test this “Here Now” feature because, in the pre-release stage, there weren’t enough people with the new service to be nearby.

These check-ins were posted on our Facebook pages (though, for this test, they could only be seen by the handful of others with pre-release access to the service), and people could comment.

One reason Facebook has launched Places, surely, is to compete with location-based services like Foursquare and Gowalla. Those services already can link up with Facebook and tap its huge member base, a potential threat to the larger social network.

Facebook says it is adding Places merely to enrich the social experience it already provides. The company says its users already post status messages that say things like: “at Starbucks in Harvard Square with Susan and Jeff.” Now, they can tap a new Places icon in the Facebook app on their iPhones and do this more easily, complete with a map. “We’re just building a new way for people to share that information in an engaging way,” says one Facebook official.

Facebook says it isn’t monetizing the service, at least not at first, but may consider ways for companies to make use of the data “down the line.”

Users won’t receive ads or offers, at least initially. But if a merchant already has a Facebook page, some will be able to display your check-ins from the start, though visible only to your friends. Facebook says it has no plans to add game-like features to Places, though third-party developers might.

In addition to testing Places around town, I paid close attention to its privacy features, to judge how much control Facebook is offering users over who gets to see where they are. My conclusion is that the controls are decent, but could be a bit better. You can control how public your Places information is on Facebook’s privacy settings screen, in the Sharing section. The default for Places is “Friends Only,” unless you expressed a preference to share things with everyone. That’s a good thing, in my view. You can change this to broaden it to, say, friends of friends, or even everyone. Or, you can limit it, so that, for instance, only certain people can see your location, or certain people can’t.

Facebook also allows you to bar others from checking you in, and lets you hide yourself from others’ “Here Now” listings, though you can’t customize this latter setting by, say, allowing only some people to know you’re nearby.

In my tests, these settings worked fine. But I wished a couple of other settings were available. For example, you can’t keep check-in notices off your Facebook page, unless you broadly block other kinds of status updates. And you can’t block merchants from including your check-ins at their establishments on their Facebook pages. Also, while Places omits some annoying aspects of its competitors, like the game features, it’s more stripped down and leaves out some attractive features others include. Foursquare has a feature that lets you leave suggestions about a location. And Gowalla has a “trips” feature that lets users string together places they’ve been into recommended tours.

Overall, I found Places a good enhancement to Facebook and one that will likely make the booming social network even more attractive to some.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos at walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

Liveblog From Apple iPhone OS Event in Cupertino

Drake Martinet — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:30:59 +0000

What do you do when you’ve just stepped out on a limb and released a new class of computer that you’re calling both magical and amazing but that runs on software designed over three years ago for entirely different hardware?

If you are Apple (AAPL), you sound the trumpets and assemble the techie press at your Cupertino HQ as soon as possible to preview the new operating system you hope will bring even more powerful magic to your latest creation.

As soon as possible was this morning, and AllThingsD‘s Drake Martinet was there to liveblog the event, which announced, among other things, iPad sales of more than 450,000, a new app-based mobile advertising platform, and long-awaited multitasking functionality for the iPhone operating system. The liveblog is below.

9:11 am: We’ve arrived at Apple’s Town Hall at Cupertino HQ. The electricity John Paczkowski described in his liveblog from the iPad event is missing today.

9:57 am: Just walked in. Room is pretty full. Empty stage, with the standard Apple setup: Apple logo backdrop for the slideshow. Music a la an iPod commercial playing in the auditorium.

10:00 am: Voice on the loudspeakers: “Please turn your electronic devices to silent, we are about to begin.”

10:03 am: Steve Jobs takes the stage and gets down to it. “The next generation of the most advanced mobile operating system in the world.”

10:04 am: Jobs opens with a quote from Walt Mossberg’s review. Says he will get to OS 4, but first, shares some iPad numbers. As of today, he says, Apple has sold 450,000 iPads, 300,000 on the first day. Over 600,000 iBooks downloaded as of today. And I Pad apps? Jobs says that 3.5 million have been downloaded so far.

10:06 am: Jobs says, “When you create something, you really have butterflies when you create things and put them out into the world. We are feeling really good about this.”

He then moves on to the App Store. Users have downloaded 4.5 billion apps as of today. Jobs is now showcasing some screenshots of apps.

10:09 am: Jobs is running through media apps.
Now, he’s getting to the iPhone.

10:10 am: Says Apple has just won its third J.D. Power award for the iphone.

“What is the real measure of usage? iPhone has a 64 percent browser share; everyone else together is half of the iPhone,” says Jobs.

85 million iPhones and iPod touches sold to date.

10:12 am: Now the subject is iPhone OS 4.

Developers can now access the calender, photo library, SMS, full map overlays. In total, they will have access to 1500 APIs. There are over 100 new user features.

10:13 am: Users will be able to change home screen wallpaper, use a spell checker, tap to focus video, create playlists.

10:14 am: Jobs says there will be multitasking.

“We weren’t the first to this party, but we will be the best,” he says, with a nod to Google’s (GOOG) Android.

10:15 am: Jobs demos multitasking. No exposed interface. The active window lifts vertically and a slider of all the apps running appears.

10:17 am: Jobs shows that multitasking takes you back to the exact place in the app where you were when you left, including games.

“That, is our multitasking UI. We’ve been using it a lot and it really changes the way you use the iPhone.”

10:19 am: Jobs leaves and Scott Forstall, Senior VP of Software, takes the stage.

He’s here to talk about the nitty-gritty.

Seven mutlitasking services will be available to developers.

First: Background audio.

10:21 am: Forstall introduces Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, who is talking about how his streaming radio service will make use of background audio.

Basically, users will now be able to use Pandora or other background audio apps just as they can use the iPod function.

He showcases how users will be able to buy songs from iTunes while Pandora is still playing the song.

10:24 am: Forstall retakes the stage.

“Next service is VoIP,” he says.

“Now, when you’re on the iPhone, you can run Skype in the background.”

10:26 am: David Ponsford of Skype comes onstage.

Skype now can run in the background and receive calls when you are using other apps.

He switches to Yelp while still in Skype call.

10:28 am: Forstall back now; he says the next major change is background location data.

He uses TomTom as an example. TomTom can be getting location data while you are listening music.

“There’s another class of application that wants to use your location all the time, but isn’t used while you are plugged in.”

The new OS will use less accurate cell towers (which uses less power) when doing background location features in social networking apps.

There will be a new icon on the taskbar showing that there are background apps currently using their locations.

10:32 am: Next feature up: Push notifications.

Now there will be “local notifications.” These will come from the apps themselves, rather than from outside servers.

10:33 am: Now talking about task completion.

Forstall says task completion will allow apps to complete tasks, like photo uploads, in the background.

He finishes with “fast app switching.”

“The app moves into a quiescent state in the background and uses no CPU power.”

10:34 am: Jobs retakes the stage to talk about the next major push.

Says there will be App folders.

10:35 am: “We came up with a really beautiful implementation of folders.”

The process of creating folders seems pretty easy. Just drag apps on top of each other and a folder is created.

Folders can then be dragged around like apps.

10:37 am: Jobs now shows us what the wallpaper selection function looks like. Feels like a mix of iPad and OS X.

His wallpaper now matches his pants.

Now, with folders, uses could store over 5,000 apps on their phones.

10:39 am: Jobs moves on to the next new feature, the unified inbox.

Multiple accounts feeding to one mail inbox.

“We’ve also added the ability to organize by thread, so you can follow conversations much easier.”

“And, open attachments. Now you can download an attachment and open it with an app from the App Store.”

10:41 am: Number four is iBooks. Jobs says Apple is adding iBooks to the iPhone, just like the iPad.

“Its a delightful e-book reader, and you can buy the books once and read them anywhere.”

They will wirelessly synch your current page between devices.

Also, free Winnie the Pooh, just as on the iPad.

10:43 am: Forstall retakes the stage to talk about enterprise.

10:43 am: The new OS allows encryption of email and data inside apps.

OS 4 will allow for mobile device management.

Also big for enterprise: Wireless app distribution. “A company can wirelessly distribute apps from its own servers to iPhones anywhere in the world.

Also adding SSL VPN from both Cisco (CSCO) and Juniper Networks (JNPR).

10:45 am: Now talking about something called, “Game Center.” This is the gaming push analysts were predicting.

OS 4 will have a social gaming portal that allows friends to invite you to play games, or will match make you with opponents.

10:47 am: Jobs retakes the stage. “It’s called iAd.”

10:47 am: “There are lots of apps in the App Store for free.”

“Developers are starting to put ads into apps, but we think most of these really suck.”

Jobs says, “On desktops, search is where its at. That hasn’t happened on mobile. On mobile, apps are where it’s at.”

10:49 am: “This is a pretty serious opportunity, says Jobs.

He says this could open over one billion impressions per day.

“What we want to do with iAds, we want to deliver interactivity and emotion.”

The ads keep you in your app, versus getting “yanked out of your app” like before.

“Because iAd is in the OS itself, we have figured out how to deliver that ad.”

Apple will sell and distribute the ads.

Apple will give developers 60 percent of iAd revenue.

10:53 am: Jobs demos ads, starts with a “Toy Story 3″ ad. Says he’s seen the movie, which comes out in June. Crowd laughs.

He adds that, “it’s all done in HTML5, by the way.” More laughter at his point because the audience is well aware that Jobs is not a fan of Adobe’s (ADBE) Flash.

10:55 am: The ad Jobs is showing is really more like a mini app, with streaming video, interactivity, a game, posters, background wallpapers and ability to buy app right from the iAd.

“Users like free stuff.”

“Have you ever seen an ad like this? Anything even close?”

10:57 am: Next up, Jobs shows an ad for Nike, reiterating that these ads were created by Apple “just because we really like these brands.”

He showcases how iAds have access to location and the accelerometer. No word on whether that location data the iAd gets is user-selectable.

11:00 am: “iAd is built into the OS, and the developer will get the majority of the revenue.”

Jobs goes into review mode.

11:01 am: A developer preview will be released today.

Jobs says Apple will release the new OS in summer.

OS 4 will be for 3GS and third-gen iPod touch.

Older devices will get some upgrades, but hardware won’t allow all features like multitasking.

OS 4 wont make it to the iPad till the fall.

11:04 am: Jobs thanks everyone, and leaves the stage.
Lights up, music back on, press starts milling.

11:06 am: Takeaways:

There are obvious concerns about what multitasking will do to battery life, though Jobs emphasized that Apple has figured out a way to offer multitasking without using too much more battery.

Job’s didn’t get into specifics on how.

Forstall emphasized that implementing the new features was easy for developers, saying things like, “they added this [feature] in a single afternoon.”

11:09 am: Now Jobs, Forstall and Phil Schiller take the stage for a Q&A.

There’s a question about multitasking using more AT&T (T) data. Jobs says that it won’t be a big deal, adding that multitasking doesn’t up the amount of use.

He emphasizes that video is the big data draw, and you don’t use more than one video at a time.

11:11 am: Question about whether there will be an approval process for iAds as there is for the App Store?

Jobs pauses, “I’m not sure its going to be any more than a light touch.”

11:13 am: Question about development of iAds.
Job: “No development environment for iAds, just HTML5.”

11:14 am: Jobs says, “So far the ads haven’t been rich enough to warrant a world class ad agency. For the first time, they can bring their storytelling skills. I think this can be a whole new avenue for the advertising industry, because for the first time you can take advantage of the skills of an add agency in the digital world.”

11:16 am: Schiller has yet to take a question.

11:17 am: Question about widgets and glance-able information. Jobs says, “Anything’s possible.”

11:18 am: Of OS 4′s way to switch apps, called “fast-app switching,” Jobs says, “Our competitors are tripping all over themselves to copy it.”

11:20 am: Jobs on iAd: “iPhone customers are among the most desirable demographics in all of advertising.

Schiller gets a word in edgewise: “On the phone, you have apps that help you do things. That becomes the customer’s way into information. Ads attached to those are potentially more interesting than ads just attached to search. “

Jobs: “This is the first time in history that this has ever existed. We have all these apps and a friction-free way to deliver them right to the phone. This has never existed before on PCs, still doesn’t.”

Jobs: “We tried to buy a company named AdMob, but Google came in and snatched them from us. So we bought Quattro, and they are teaching us we are making ads that are different than anything I’ve ever seen.”

11:24 am: Jobs: “This is not a get-rich-quick scheme for Apple. This is to help our developers survive.”

11:29 am: Question about running unsigned apps. Jobs shuts it down saying that there is a porn app store for Android, and Apple doesn’t want to go there.

11:30 am: Jobs brings up Walt Mossberg again, saying how impressed he is with how fast people are “getting it” with the iPad.

Schiller reiterates that the speed of adoption of the iPad, especially with the developers, has been incredible.

11:32 am: Jobs, continuing on the iPad: “If our competitors ever release a device like the iPad, they will be hoping for 3,500 apps in a year. We have that in the first week.”

11:34 am: Jobs, on the App Store: “I’m now seeing an infrastructure being developed through other mediums (blogs, etc.) that help with app discoverability.” This is in response to a question about the app store getting crowded and dense.

11:36 am: This question comes up: “How do you close an app?”

11:39 am: Jobs: “on the iPad, if you saw a stylus, they blew it. On this, if you see a task manager, they blew it.”

He doesn’t really answer, saying you never really have to close an app. Doesn’t elaborate.

11:41 am: Packing up, Q&A over.

More iPad Coverage »

Is This a Preview of the iPad App Store?

Peter Kafka — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 01:55:45 +0000

Those of you who pre-ordered iPads should be getting them in less than a week. And this is purportedly what you’ll see when you visit the iPad App store. From MacStories:

Browsing the iPad App Store: A Video [By @viticci] from Federico Viticci on Vimeo.

If you’re impatient, here’s the summary of the 90-second video: It shows a bunch of iPad-specific apps.

Beyond that, there’s not much to say other than the fact that Yahoo (YHOO) and Reuters appear to be the only two media companies that have a spot in iTunes’ coveted “new and noteworthy” showcase. But given that we don’t know if this video is current (or even real), it’s hard to imbue any of this with much meaning.

I do have a request for iPad leakers, though: If you have access to a review copy, could you let us know which Web sites Apple (AAPL) has pre-bookmarked for reviews? Because that may tell us something.

Here’s why: A Web publisher tells me that Apple approached this source’s company this winter and encouraged it to prep its site for the device. That is: Lots of HTML5, no Adobe (ADBE) Flash. In return, the publisher is supposed to get a boost from Apple via endorsements like pre-installed bookmarks and the like. Thanks in advance for your help.

Motorola's DEVOUR: WINR or LOZR?

John Paczkowski — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:59:47 +0000

Verizon this morning copped to what the blogosphere has been jawing about for weeks now: Motorola’s Devour is to be the wireless carrier’s next Android handset. Arriving at market next month, the Devour seems a lower-cost alternative to the Droid, though Verizon (VZ) hasn’t yet named a price for it.

Certainly, the specs, below, for the Devour suggest it will cost significantly less than the $200 Droid commands when tethered to a two-year wireless contract.

Android 1.6 (Donut) with MotoBlur, a Motorola (MOT) service that essentially corrals Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Picasa, GMail and MS Exchange activity into a single feed and presents them on your phone
3.1-inch touchscreen at 320×480
Horizontal slider keyboard
3-megapixel camera
EVDO Rev. A
Wi-Fi b/g
aGPS
Bluetooth with A2DP
HTML 5-compatible Webkit browser
MicroSD card up to 16GB

As I said, Verizon has not disclosed the price for Devour, but $99 sounds about right to me, especially if the company is looking to pit this thing against Apple’s (AAPL) low-end iPhone 3G.

Mozilla Foundation Announces Your New Default Browser

John Paczkowski — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:30:48 +0000

After four beta versions and nearly as many release candidates, Firefox 3.5 is finally here.

This latest version of the browser offers a number of new features. Among them: Private browsing, location-aware surfing, support for emerging HTML 5 standards such as plug-in-free video and audio playing, and better JavaScript performance. It’s that last improvement that’s most noteworthy since Mozilla claims that Firefox 3.5 is twice as fast as Firefox 3, and an astonishing 10 times faster than Firefox 2.0.

Nice features, all of them, and ones that certainly reflect the goal of Firefox’s creators at the Mozilla Foundation: To upgrade the Web. “What we’re actually trying to do,” Mozilla Chairman Mitchell Baker said at our D7 conference in May (see video highlights below), “…is improve the Web itself….Our main goal is to make more capabilities available, and right now, the browser is the main delivery mechanism….We’re trying to be the delivery mechanism upon which others build innovations.”

And upon which Firefox builds market share. Though it is currently the world’s second-leading browser, with a 22.5 percent share of the global Web browser market, Firefox faces some formidable competition these days from Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and now Mozilla partner Google (GOOG), which is bearing down upon it with its latest “don’t-be-evil” bulldozer, Chrome.

[ See post to watch video ]

China Delays Filtering Initiative

John Paczkowski — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:00:52 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]