Netflix Is The Latest To Talk The HTML5 Talk
May 20, 2010 at 00:40 AM EDT
As we all know, the battle between Flash and HTML5 for the future of online video is raging. But what about that other plugin some sites use for video? You know, the one made by Microsoft -- Silverlight? A new posting tonight may call that platform's future in video into question as well. Because arguably their most important client is looking to jump on the HTML5 video bandwagon: Netflix. A post tonight by Adrian Cockcroft (as noticed by the blog Hacking Netflix ), Netflix's Director of Web Engineering, indicates the company's intention to embrace HTML5 going forward. The move is apparently spurred on by Netflix's move to Amazon's cloud, which will require a re-architecting of the codebase, Cockcroft notes. So what better time to start supporting the latest technologies? " One of these is HTML5, which is raising the bar for cross browser support for advanced user interface features, and is now supported by a large and rapidly growing percentage of the visitors to netflix.com. In addition many TV based devices now embed webkit, which is the HTML5 compatible technology that underpins the Safari and Chrome browsers ," Cockcroft writes.