Something in the last 18 months kicked the HTML5 adoption machine into overdrive. Maybe it was tech giants Apple and Microsoft joining hands and dubbing it the future of the web. Maybe it was Google's launch of the Chrome Web Store, with its focus on HTML5, last December. Maybe it was the HTML5-friendly iPad's meteoric sales. Whatever it was, a recent wave of consumer-facing web apps from Amazon, Box.net and LinkedIn confirm that this much-hyped language has business' blessing.
HTML5 is the latest version of the Web's bedrock markup language, HTML. But it has come to stand for much more than the average, slow-gestating technical standard. HTML5 is also shorthand for a set of features and capabilities intended to make web sites behave more like conventional desktop applications, incorporating video, complex interactions and data as well as greater compatibility with new devices like smartphones and tablets. In development since the early-2000s, HTML5 was rocketed into the mainstream in April last year when Apple (AAPL) boss Steve Jobs issued a public missive deriding Adobe's (ADBE) Flash and anointing HTML5 as the web's future. Now, companies are turning to it to cut down on costs that can soar when developing simultaneously for Apple's iOS and Google's (GOOG) Android as well as to circumvent the headaches of varying app stores.
Indeed, adoption has soared. A recent survey from video search engine MeFeedia showed that at least 69% of web video is now available for playback via HTML5. Last December, that number was 54%; in January 2010, months before the iPad became a hit, it was 10%. "Developers out there are getting better at supporting all of HTML5's more critical features, which is why we're seeing more publishers building the actual experiences they want using web technologies," says Faruk Ates, a creative design and web consultant who worked at Apple for three years.
Amazon's (AMZN) Cloud Reader made waves when it was announced a few weeks ago. While it has a polished user interface and offline reading capability, it's still rough around the edges with limited web browser support and a lack of notable features Kindle e-reader users already take for granted, including text highlighting, notes and full-screen reading. Still, that hasn't stopped user from kicking the tires. Amazon would not disclose numbers, but a spokesperson told Fortune that its Cloud Reader had the best first week of any Kindle app to date. The company says missing features will be folded into future updates.
