Google announced the WebM project

[FlyingLemons]

I've been keeping an eye on Google since it acquired the On2 Corporation - I've been wondering if it would do what I think it would do. It turns out I was right.

It's announced the WebM project - an attempt to develop a free, open source web video codec that can be used by all browser makers without the fear of patents that's kept Mozilla from adopting H.264 for Firefox and kept the HTML5 video market fragmented.

It's interesting, and with Google behind it (and no doubt adopting it for YouTube), I'm sure it's going to do quite well.

 

[Arrqh]

It's been rumored for a while that they'd open up VP8, and here we are. They've already got Firefox and Opera behind them, Chrome/Chromium and YouTube will get it of course, and Adobe's also going to be implementing it into Flash. So now it's, oddly enough, Apple and Microsoft together vs. everyone else...

 

[FlyingLemons]

It looks like this thing is going to end up supported more widely than h.264 if Google play their cards right. And just imagine what it'll do to the iPad if suddenly, all sites use this rather than the technologies Apple wants them to use?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I would love Google forever if they gave us a patent-unencumbered, royalty-free video codec to standardize on. Sweet Jesus.

 

[Arrqh]

Big long Ars analysis: http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/05/google-opens-vp8-codec-aims-to-nuke-h264-with-webm.ars

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Great article. Thanks, Arrqh.

I doubt Google will go so far as to indemnify users of WebM from submarine patent litigation, though it would certainly earn them a lot of praise and positive press.