Chrome dev build adds WebM video support
updated 12:50 pm EDT, Fri June 4, 2010
Chrome on all platforms gets Google video codec
Google on Friday began seeding the first developer versions of Chrome with WebM video built-in. The download lets the open codec work for HTML5 video on Linux, Macs and Windows PCs. Other changes include key bug fixes after coming out of sleep and, on Macs, the option of using the Tab key to cycle through only form fields or links.
The format promises a more universal and potentially less legally complicated alternative to H.264 or Ogg Theora. Both formats either require a license or aren't likely to be implemented across multiple platforms.
Whether or not this is true has been called into question, however, as Apple and MPEG-LA have questioned the patent-free claims surrounding WebM. Google has insisted that it checked the VP8 video format used for WebM before creating its standard.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 1999
Wow
Playback of 720p WebM content on YouTube is incredibly choppy on both my MacBook Pro and Windows gaming rig, especially when I try to go fullscreen. 1080p is even worse. This is not exactly a great way to launch a new video standard. Step 1, get it working well; step 2, release to the public.