Even though many sites use Flash-based video and animation in their content and advertising, Apple has been adamant about not allowing Flash on its popular iPhone, iPod touch, or the upcoming iPad. But the new HTML5, with its expanded interactive multimedia capabilities, took another step Monday toward being a viable alternative as Brightcove, an online video platform, announced a framework for “video experiences” specifically for HTML5 devices.
Called the Brightcove Experience for HTML5, the offering is free to existing customers and available in 42 countries. CEO Jeremy Allaire said the solution, specifically intended for Apple devices, “fills the gap between the current playback capabilities of the emerging standard” of HTML5 and “what our customers need to operate successful online video businesses.”
Which Video Technology?
The framework offers support for intelligent device detection, playlist rendering, and H.264 video playback. Device detection means the framework will automatically switch between the Flash and HTML5 player templates, depending on the device.
The company said it will enlarge the platform later this year to include customization and branding of the player, advertising, analytics, social sharing, and other Brightcove functions.
Companies already working with Brightcove’s HTML5 framework to create iPad-compatible sites include The New York Times and Time magazine. Some companies, such as CBS and YouTube, are already experimenting with their own HTML5 video player, if the site detects that a user is visiting on an iPad.
But while HTML5 is an open standard, the H.264 encoding used for video on the iPad is under patent protection. Some members of the open-source community are promoting the use of HTML5 with an open-source compression-decompression technology called Ogg Theora, but that codec has been criticized for quality.
‘Not the Panacea’
Al Hilwa, program director at industry research firm IDC, said that, until some other issues are resolved, solutions such as Brightcove’s “are…