Google-Adobe Flash partnership could heat up browser competition

Google's partnership this week with Adobe Systems, which has the Flash Player being bundled with the Google Chrome browser, has the potential to take relatively vigorous competition in the browser market to an even more-heated level, an IDC analyst said in a bulletin this week.

The Google-Adobe move  has produced mixed reactions, with some questioning Google's commitment to Web standards like HTML5, since Flash Player is a proprietary plug-in for rich Internet applications. But IDC analyst Al Hilwa sees broader implications and calls the partnership a win for Adobe.
  "The consequences of this announcement may affect how PCs, smartphones, and a slew of next-generation content consumption devices like tablet computers evolve as platforms for applications," Hilwa said. "Browsers are not just gateways to the Internet, but they also present a platform for developing and deploying user applications."  more.............

Google Engineers Recreate Quake II In HTML5

While Apple's decision to exclude Flash technology from its iPad may have content creators fretting about the lack of designer-friendly HTML5 authoring tools, the company's ally-turned-rival, Google, has proven at least that HTML5 Web apps are capable of delivering computationally demanding graphics. In a blog post on Thursday -- one of the few that day from Google that wasn't an April Fool's joke -- developer programs engineer Chris Ramsdale revealed the existence of an HTML5 port of id Software's Quake II engine. It's the product of Google's 20% time policy, which allows Google engineers to spend 1/5 of their work hours on projects outside the scope of their formal job descriptions. more......

Cisco Brings WebEx to the Apple iPad

Cisco is offering a free WebEx online meeting application for the App Store for Apple’s iPad, which goes on sale April 3. Through the WebEx App, users will be able to participate in online meetings created through the Cisco technology.

Cisco Systems is bringing its WebEx collaboration offering to Apple’s iPad.

When Apple’s tablet goes on sale April 3, owners will be able to download Cisco’s WebEx Meeting Center app, enabling them to participate in online meetings.

The move April 2 is the latest by Cisco to enable business people to use its collaboration technology on the device of their choice, according to Debra Chrapaty, senior vice president and general manager of the vendor’s Collaboration Software Group.  more.......

Flash 10.1 vs HTML5 on Nexus One: Adobe still ahead

We can’t say we were that impressed by our experience of Flash 10.1 on the Google Nexus One, but it looks like fettled versions of the code are performing more successfully.  Adobe Flash evangelist Michaël Chaize has been running some comparison benchmarks between Flash 10.1 and HTML5 video on his Nexus One, and it turns out Flash is “much faster”.

    
Chaize’s tests build on previous work by The Man In Blue, who looked at Flash 10.1 versus HTML5 performance when viewed in desktop browsers.  They too found that the Adobe technology was faster.
Still, the end messages is that performance is very dependent on the person doing the programming.  Chaize points out that Flash developers need to be careful with their AS3 optimization, while “knowing HTML doesn’t mean that you’ll become a HTML5 expert. I guess you’ll also have to take care of code optimization.”   more.......