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 »
YouTube comes to the Wii, thanks to Google’s WebM video codec
YouTube launched on the Wii Thursday, and the app is powered by Google’s open WebM video codec. This makes the Wii app the biggest WebM deployment in the world, and gives Google a chance to show off what WebM is capable of. 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 »
Video files keep growing like kudzu
In 2007, online video was a straightforward affair: You put a video online; you made it short; and you hoped for the best. But today, due to a growing number of video codecs and connected devices, publishers need to produce an ever-increasing number of video files. 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 »
Samsung, LG & Cisco Throw Their Support Behind WebM
Google’s open video format WebM has some new backers, with companies like Cisco, LG and Samsung joining a cross-licensing initiative to insure themselves against patent-related litigation. However, the need for such an initiative also shows how serious Google has to take any threats of patent lawsuits. Read more »
All YouTube Video Uploads Now in WebM
Any new video uploaded to YouTube will be automatically encoded in WebM, the open-source video format that’s backed by Google, Mozilla and others. YouTube has also been busy transcoding its back catalog and has now around 30 percent of all videos available in WebM. Read more »
Google Hearts Firefox 4 for WebM Video Support
Firefox 4 is clocking huge download numbers ever since it was released yesterday, and that’s good news for Google’s open video format WebM: The new version of Firefox supports WebM HTML5 video playback, bringing the total market share of browsers with WebM support to 50 percent. Read more »
DOJ Investigates MPEG LA’s WebM Patent Pool
The Department of Justice and the California State Attorney are looking into MPEG LA’s formation of a patent pool for Google’s WebM video format. Regulators are trying to figure out whether the patent pool is meant to stifle competition for the established video format H.264. 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 »
Chrome Dropping H.264 Support Is Irrelevant — Here’s Why
Dropping H.264 may be beneficial for Google in several ways, but the move will have little effect on the broader online video market. Ubiquitous Flash usage and lack of hardware support means WebM has a long way to go before it’s a viable alternative to H.264. Read more »
Why WebM Will Raise Costs for YouTube — And Everyone Else
There are many strategic reasons why Google might have dropped support for H.264, but lowering costs for YouTube isn’t one of them. The decision will only add cost and complexity for the video site, which now just has yet another video format to support. Read more »
Flash Still Rules in Chrome’s WebM-Only World
Google’s backing of its own open source video codec at the expense of H.264 has many open advocates cheering. But with H.264 widely supported already, the result will actually be more use of the proprietary Flash player for delivery of Web video, not less. Read more »
Google’s Chrome Backs WebM, Drops Support for H.264
Google is making a big push behind its open source video codec, announcing today on the Chromium blog that its web browser will soon do away with support for H.264. With existing support from Firefox and Opera, that could tip the scales in favor of WebM. Read more »
Android’s Gingerbread Brings WebM to Mobile Phones
Android users will finally be able to play video encoded with the open source WebM video format: Google’s new Android 2.3 Gingerbread release adds WebM support to the platform. However, it may take until long after the holiday season until the Gingerbread man arrives on handsets. Read more »
80% of YouTube Videos Now Available In WebM
Most of the videos that are watched every day on YouTube are now available in Google’s WebM open source video format, according to WebM’s product manager, WebM also has seen an increased adoption in the hardware space, with first devices coming out early next year, Read more »
Ogg Theora Founder Launches Digital Media Show
Christopher “Monty” Montgomery, better know as the lead developer of the open video format Ogg Theora, released a video that dubs itself a digital media primer for geeks today. The video is going to kick-start a monthly series that aims to make technical subjects understandable. Read more »
MPEG LA: H.264 Streaming Will Be Free Forever
MPEG LA is announcing today that it will continue to offer a royalty-free license for the H.264 video codec for video sites that offer free video streams to consumers “during the entire life of this (l)icense.” In other words: H.264 streaming will be free forever. Read more »
The NewTeeVee Guide to Playing WebM Video
Google open sourced its WebM video format in May, and more and more applications as well as video vendors are starting to support the new format. However, how do you actually play back WebM videos? This handy little guide tells you all you need to know. Read more »
WebM Is Coming to Live Streaming
This week’s GUADEC conference in The Hague is the first event ever to be live streamed in the new open source WebM video codec. The livestream is hosted by Flumotion, and the company’s CTO Thomas Vander Stichele believes that WebM could become mainstream soon. Read more »
Winamp Adds WebM Support
WebM, Google’s new royalty-free, open source video codec, launched with a formidable list of partners — but support for the format continues to grow as new partners come on board. The latest to join is Winamp, which added support for WebM in its latest media player. Read more »
FFmpeg Goes WebM, Enabling VP8 for Boxee & Co.
FFmpeg released a new version 0.6 with support for Google’s open source WebM video codec this week. FFmpeg is a suite of tools and libraries that is an important backbone of many well-known video players, transcoding applications and even TV platforms like Boxee, VLC and MPlayer. Read more »
Vid-Biz: Hulu Subscriptions, World Cup 3-D, WebM in Firefox
Today on the Net: More rumors about Hulu’s subscription and mobile device plans emerge, Mozilla commits to adding WebM support in the next version of Firefox and AT&T U-verse adds ESPN 3-D ahead of the World Cup, making it the third affiliate to do so. Read more »
Google Adding WebM Support to Chrome
Google first introduced its WebM Project a few weeks ago at its I/O developers conference, launching the royalty free, open source video format with support from Firefox and Opera web browsers. But notably missing from the list of supporting applications was Google’s own Chrome browser. Read more »
Intel Could Add WebM Hardware Acceleration
Intel could add Google’s WebM to the list of video formats that have hardware acceleration built into its processors for consumer electronics devices. But that support won’t come in time for the first generation of Google TV products to leverage it. Read more »
New VLC Version Supports WebM, H.264 Hardware Decoding
Want to play videos encoded with WebM, the new video format that Google open sourced at its developers conference last week? Well, look no further: The new version of VLC supports WebM playback. Another feature included in the new release is hardware decoding for H.264 videos. 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 »
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 »
