LinkedIn (LNKD) and Box.net's HTML5 apps, meanwhile, use the technology for different reasons. While Amazon's Cloud Reader seems intent on becoming the primary web app for Kindle users, LinkedIn's is merely supposed to complement apps developed for Android and iOS. In other words, users who don't own either type of device will still get functionality that approximates the native app. Same goes for Box.net's new web-based offering. Although the Palo Alto-based cloud storage provider uses some HTML5 coding in its main site, it didn't fully embrace the Web technology until more recently thanks to a new wave of engineers. "We probably could have supported it a year ago," says Box.net CEO Aaron Levie. He says HTML5's increasingly powerful tools blur the lines between Web and cloud, desktop and client-like functionality.
That doesn't mean the technology doesn't face obstacles. HTML5 apps are often limited when compared with their native counterparts. In LinkedIn's case, the feature sets are similar but the user interface is noticeably less flashy. Some mobile device's assets, like the camera, remain off-limits to HTML5. "Generally, there are certain areas where native is going to do better for you, like media photos and pictures," explains Joff Redfern, LinkedIn's mobile product head. "It's sometimes a little harder to get at via HTML5. Other areas, like say, 'infinite lists' that scroll with dates that continue on and on, are handled a lot more gracefully in native code." Box.net's Levie admits certain programming tasks are still difficult to achieve in HTML, like getting the iPhone and iPad's built-in Safari browser to allow file uploads.
Another problem is distribution. Apple's App Store and Google's Android Marketplace are partly popular because they keep the barriers to entry low for native apps. Currently, there aren't many equivalent web app stores besides Google's fledgling Chrome app store. And, consumers don't have an awareness of HTML5, the way they might of the Amazon, Apple or Google brands.
What's certain is that HTML5 will likely play a pivotal role as companies position themselves vis-a-vis each others' devices and marketplaces. It may take years before new HTML5 apps tackle more rigorous tasks that process lots of data, like video editing for instance. In the mean time, more and more major firms are likely to find the technology's flexibility and low costs too tantalizing to resist.