Google starts using HTML5 and WebM for premium content
Some Chromebook owners are getting their Google Play video rentals in WebM, thanks to new HTML5 video security. And Google is already working hard on a next-generation video codec. Read more »
4 out of 5 videos are encoded in H.264
A full 80 percent of videos are encoded in H.264, according to new data from MeFeedia. The latest figures show just how far the industry has come in adopting the H.264 video format as the de facto standard for video encoding. Read more »
Ice Cream Sandwich supports WebM streaming, MKVs
Google’s new Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android will natively play WebM video streams and MKV files. However, don’t expect your Android handset to support all those files you downloaded from The Pirate Bay any time soon; the new codec support largely targets developers. Read more »
Skype goes VP8, embraces open video codec
Any video call between users of Skype’s newest Windows client automatically uses Google’s open video codec VP8. Being embraced by a company that’s soon part of Microsoft is a big boost for Google’s open video strategy, and it could quell potential fears of patent lawsuits. Read more »
MPEG LA ready to escalate codec war against Google, WebM
H.264 license holder MPEG LA says it’s ready to step up the fight against Google’s open-source WebM format. After threatening to form a patent pool to use against WebM, the group now says it has identified 12 companies with patents essential to the VP8 standard. Read more »
H.264 is still winning the codec war
H.264 remains the dominant force in online video, as the video codec now accounts for more than two-thirds of online video, according to a blog post by MeFeedia. Meanwhile, Google’s WebM format has yet to gain any significant traction after being released a year ago. Read more »
The technology behind Google+ Hangouts
Google’s new Hangouts video chat service is one of the most interesting features of its Google+ project. A look behind the tech curtain reveals that Google has big plans for Hangouts, using cutting edge technology to make it run natively on a wide range of devices. Read more »
Patent Fight Ahead: MPEG LA Is Gunning for WebM
Licensing outlet MPEG LA has announced that it is forming a patent pool for VP8, the codec at the core of Google’s open source video format WebM. Google’s response? Bring it on. It’s time to “put up or shut up,” as one WebM supporter put it. Read more »
Are Plug-ins the Future of Web Video?
Microsoft reiterated its support behind H.264-encoded video this morning, announcing that it is releasing plugins to deliver video in that format to Firefox and Chrome browsers. But while they might quell some short-term concerns about delivering HTML5 video, plug-ins won’t solve the larger problems facing the industry. Read more »
Brightcove President: WebM Will Overtake H.264 in 1-2 Years
Google’s new open source video format WebM will become more popular than H.264 in one to two years, Brightcove’s President and COO David Mendels predicts. One of the first major websites to try out WebM for its web videos could be the New York Times. Read more »
Miro Launches First VP8 Video Converter
Miro has introduced the first tool designed to convert files to the just-released VP8 video format. The release of Miro Video Converter 2.0 will leverage Google’s new open video format, which was announced as part of its WebM Project earlier this week. Read more »
MPEG LA Threatens Google’s VP8 With Patent Pool License
Google made waves earlier this week by releasing its VP8 codec under an open source, royalty free license, providing an open, high quality alternative to H.264 and Ogg Theora. But if MPEG LA gets its way, the codec might not remain free for long. Read more »
The Unanswered Questions About Google TV
Google and its partners Sony, Logitech and Intel plan to launch first Google TV devices this fall, but it’s still unclear how much of the web users will actually be able to access with it, and what kind of ads they’re going to see in the future. Read more »
Video Interview: Why Hardware Support for WebM Matters
MIPS is one of more than a dozen hardware companies that was mentioned during Google’s announcement of its open source WebM video project. MIPS Director of Strategic Marketing Kevin Kitagawa told us why his company is supporting WebM and its open source video codec VP8. Read more »
Microsoft: On Second Thought, We’ll Support VP8 After All
Microsoft said it would support Google’s newly released, open source VP8 video codec in the next version of its web browser, Internet Explorer 9, contradicting some earlier statements that claimed it would only allow HTML5 video playback via H.264. Read more »
Theora Founder: WebM Project Is ‘Wonderful’
Theora’s Monty Montgomery is excited about Google’s announcement to open source VP8 with its WebM Project, but doesn’t believe it will kill Theora in the near future. Other open source and open video advocates are stoked as well, but some caution about possible patent lawsuits. Read more »
Google’s Partners Will Drive WebM Adoption
Google roll out of its open source WebM Project will offer a high-quality video codec to compete with industry incumbent H.264, but it will be relying on a long list of software, hardware and encoding partners including Adobe and ARM to help push the format forward. Read more »
Google Open Sourcing VP8 as Part of WebM Project
Google announced today that it’s open sourcing it’s VP8 video codec as part of a new project called WebM. The move is supported by Mozilla, Opera and Chrome, as well as Adobe and virtually all leading encoding and video platform vendors. Read more »
Zencoder Excited About Open Source VP8
Cloud encoding service provider Zencoder wants to support VP8 as soon as absolutely possible, and the company is excited about Google’s plans to open source the video codec at this week’s Google i/O developer conference in San Francisco. However, don’t count H.264 out just yet. Read more »
Is Sorenson Media Betting on VP8 Video?
Last month’s launch of the iPad marked a period of excitement in which seemingly every online video vendor announced its support for the Apple tablet. And just as there were a string of vendor announcements around the iPad launch, as companies like Brightcove, Encoding.com, mDialog and […] Read more »
Is Brightcove the Next Flash?
It was just a few years ago that Adobe’s Flash revolutionized video publishing by enabling media companies to reach a vast number of consumers with a plugin that ensured a consistent rich media experience across multiple operating systems and browsers. Now, Brightcove might be at the […] Read more »
Microsoft on VP8 for HTML5: Never Say Never
Microsoft’s IE blog has published a follow-up to Friday’s post about Internet Explorer exclusively supporting H.264 for HTML5 video, answering many questions raised by commenters and debunking some misconceptions. Here’s the gist: Microsoft will continue to support Flash, as well as Silverlight, for video playback. The […] Read more »
Microsoft Nixes Support for VP8 — Before It’s Even Released
On Microsoft’s IE blog this morning, Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for Internet Explorer, reiterated his support for HTML5 and H.264 as the codec of choice for web video shown through the next generation of its web browser, IE9. On first blush, Microsoft’s backing H.264 in the […] Read more »
Weekend Poll: With VP8 Open Source, Who Will Lose Out?
Our posts about Google open sourcing its VP8 video codec have provoked a lot of discussion on NewTeeVee and across the web this week. There seem to be many different opinions out there on what this actually means. Will VP8 become the codec of choice on […] Read more »
Could an Open Source VP8 Overtake H.264?
With the news that Google plans to open source On2′s VP8 codec next month, there’s been a lot of talk about whether or not it can emerge as the “one codec to rule them all,” as my colleague Stacey Higginbotham tweeted just a few days ago. […] Read more »
Did Google Just Kill Ogg Theora?
Ever since we broke the news earlier this week that Google is going to open source its VP8 video codec at its Google i/O event next month, speculations have been abounded as to what this means for Ogg Theora, the video codec of choice of open […] Read more »
Google TV: Another Reason Open Sourcing VP8 Matters
Google’s decision to open source On2 Technology’s VP8 video codec at its Google I/O developer conference next month is not only a huge boon for HTML5 web video and a blow against Adobe’s Flash. It’s also clearly aimed at optimizing video playback on a number of […] Read more »
Google to Open-source VP8 for HTML5 Video
Google will soon make its VP8 video codec open source, we’ve learned from multiple sources. The company is scheduled to officially announce the release at its Google I/O developers conference next month, a source with knowledge of the announcement said. And with that release, Mozilla — […] Read more »
FSF Urges Google to Kill Flash
Turns out we’re not the only ones speculating about what Google might do with ON2 Technologies, the video encoding company it finally acquired late last week after months of negotiations with shareholders. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has published an open letter to Google this weekend, […] Read more »
