Google, Microsoft, and Netflix have put forward a proposal that could add a level of copy protection to HTML5 audio and video. Encrypted Media Extensions would let apps on the web and elsewhere use keys to control who has access to a given media stream. It would allow any format that would work in HTML5 as long as the format itself can support some kind of key or bit.
Apple may be intentionally delaying the creation of a formal standard for how touchscreen devices interact with web content, claims Haavard, one of the developers behind the Opera web browser. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is currently at work on the standard, known as the Touch Events Specification. Apple, though, has allegedly submitted "invalid or irrelevant" patent claims in a way that is holding up the specification's progress.
Saturday was a special occasion for the Internet as it represented the 20th anniversary for the World Wide Web. CERN scientist Tim Berners-Lee put forward plans on August 6, 1991 for Mesh, a system that would link documents to each other over the Internet. The proposal included now-commonplace concepts like hypertext, or the typical web link, as well as the possibility of linking directly to media online.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) this weekend put out a call for prior art that might invalidate two Apple patents potentially keeping the web from using the concepts as standards. The W3C's Patent Advisory Group is hoping to make Apple either give a royalty-free license for the patents, which cover widget security and safe distribution, or else lose control of the patents so that they can be used royalty-free.
The W3C standards group today put out a draft of a standard for using touchscreen devices on the web. Touch Events would have a page react depending on conditions unique to the mouse-free environment, such as whether or or more fingers are in contact with the screen, dragging across the screen or entering a certain part of the page. The format can also factor in the width of the contact point, such as a hand, and can work with pressure-sensitive touchscreens.
The World Wide Web Consortium, the body that regulates and publishes the specifications of the HTML standard, is warning web content producers that the HTML5 is "not yet ready for production" and that the W3C will likely make further significant changes to the specification to increase interoperability. Philippe Le Hegaret, interaction domain leader responsible for the HTML and SVG spec, added that they expect it to be feature-complete in mid-2011.
Adobe today ramped up a Freedom of Choice ad campaign criticizing Apple for its attitude toward Flash. The ads claim that Adobe love Apple but quickly turn to claim that the iPhone maker is "taking away your freedom" by denying the ability to see Flash on its devices. Promos are appearing not only online but in a full-page ad for the Thursday issue of the Washington Post, all of which lead to a letter from Adobe's founders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock.
Internet Explorer 9 may get a beta release with a heavy HTML5 emphasis at Microsoft's MIX 2010 developer conference in mid-March, according to escaped details. Hinting that IE9 will have comprehensive support for HTML5 is a scheduled briefing at MIX 2010 titled "HTML5 Now: The Future of Web Markup Today." Opera Software’s Molly Holzschlag will present the party and has said to expect Microsoft to bring browser storage and other HTML5 features.
