SI HTML5 demo shows Flash not needed to demo

Sports Illustrated during its time onstage at the Google I/O conference showed one of the first examples of an entirely HTML5-based magazine. The demo much more closely followed the layout of a print publication but used the new web standard to provide advanced features that would previously have required Flash or AIR. It brought not just embedded, plugin-free video but dynamic transitions, print-like fonts, and a pop-up navigation bar.

A contextual circle menu would allow for sharing through social networks or for jumping to related articles; Google comes into play with a Buzz widget to follow the thread of conversation about a story.

When the HTML5 version would arrive isn't known.

The demo creates a further setback for Adobe as it has tried to persuade the industry that Flash is necessary for the future of a rich web. The SI format, which may spread to other Time Inc. publications, would not only obviate the need for a Flash-based framework but would eliminate complaints about rewriting native apps by making the content viewable in any modern web browser. Both Android and iPhone OS devices are largely ready, and both BlackBerry 6.0 and Nokia's Symbian^3 devices should have updated WebKit engines in the future.

By Electronista Staff