HTML5 is going to revolutionize the web, but not just yet. W3C have announced that the full release date for HTML5 will be expected by 2014, so you’ve got a few more years to have an experiment if you haven’t done so already. To give you an idea of what you’re missing out on and to show the potential that HTML5 has for advanced, compliant and accessible web design, here are 5 exceptional examples of HTML5 website. Say goodbye to Flash….
1 | Ben The Bodyguard
Ben the Bodyguard is a slick scrolling website that features a suave Frenchman, reminiscent of Jean Reno, hell-bent on keeping the data on your iPhone secure. As you scroll vertically down the page, Ben walks through a rather rough neighborhood; he discusses the potential pitfalls of losing your phone. Featuring some slick animation and a fancy jQuery box activated by clicking on neon rooftop signs, the site does an excellent job at promoting Nerd Communications iPhone Security App.
Simon Foster puts a modern spin on the infographic by representing what’s left of his record collection as an HTML5 and CSS 3 infographic. For the Record is by no means as fancy as Ben the Bodyguard, but is does show very well how HTML5 and CSS3 can be used hand-in-hand to replaces images with code. Simple code with a slick look, that’s what we like!
The Wilderness Downtown is an interactive music video website for the Arcade Fire’s song ‘We Used To Wait’ and it is insane. The site first asks you to type in the name of the town you grew up in. The site then starts to play the music video in a number of different pop-up windows pulling in elements from Google Earth and utilizing HTML5 to incorporate visuals over the top of the images supplied by Google Earth. You can also manipulate the direction of the birds flying around on the homepage with your mouse, which is a nice touch.
For the gamers among us, Agent 008 Ball offers the user the ability to play a rather precise game of billiards through their browser. Created by Pixel Labs, the site utilizes the canvas element, which can be used to render graphs, game graphics, and other visual element in real time. Developed alongside Microsoft, Agent 008 Ball was created to show off the advanced features in the new IE9 browser.
20 things I learned is an interactive book created by the Google Chrome team to help explain to users how the web works. The site uses HTML5 effectively to display the book like as an interactive eBook with the user having the ability to scroll through the pages by clicking and dragging their mouse from one page to the next. For best results, view this site in Google Chrome.
Alex is a web developer and SEO working across a number of different clients. He loves swimming in Above ground pools and treating them with swimming pool chemicals. You can find him on Twitter @harvey1dash8.
MindFlash let us create in the easiest way online training and courses just selecting any existing documents we already have, like Word files, presentations, PDF, or even videos.
In the training we can include also quiz questions for the “students”, and MindFlash will also automate the process of creating the quiz, saving the answers and generating reports about the results. Here’s a short demo about how to use it:
The free version can invite up to 10 users, and for certain there kind of educational tools can simplify a lot of work and still provide some interesting ways to teach and share knowledge.
Wallaby is the tool which can end much of the supremacy defined by Adobe Flash. It will allow developers to re-use most of the elements from their projects and transforming those easily in HTML5. Here’s a demo.
Wallaby exports from an Adobe Flash project some key elements like graphics, masks and animations into a HTML file:
This tool won’t export all of the elements, but it will for sure automate a lot of the process developers can perform to achieve their animations to work with, for example, iPhones and iPads.
The interesting about this, is that Adobe posted this information in their blog. Cheers to that.
The NY Times published recently a surprising event that took place in Adobe’s offices. A secret CEO’s meeting, Steve Ballmer from Microsoft and Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen, where they discussed the possibility about a possible merge and Microsoft taking over Adobe’s company.
Both of these technology monsters share a common enemy: Apple. Microsoft never had the chance to enter the mobile world and Adobe’s is struggling for not be forgotten since Apple decided they were not going to support Flash in their iOS (iPhones and iPads operating systems). And these are two big reasons for unifying and beat the same dragon.
NY Times also gives some details about this meeting, even though there’s nothing official, here are some of the topics of the meeting that took a little more than an hour: Adobe’s possible acquisition by Microsoft and possibilities for Microsoft’s Silverlight and Adobe’s Flash can co exist in the same operating system.
Specialists said that this acquisition could cost Microsoft 15 billion dollars.
What do you think? Can you see these two fighting against Apple?
In the last couple of years, Lindsay Lohan did not appear in the papers or in TV because of her acting talent or a lovely personality (?); her personal life with thousands of scandals around it did the entire job. And why not having a game about the latest news around here? Lindsay Goes To Prison, the game.
The game developed in flash is based on the recent news about the Lindsay: Her life in jail after a few drugs abuse. The game is pretty simple: You are Lindsay, you need smokes and there’ll be several other prisoners trying to stop you.
The Apple vs Adobe round is far from getting to the end, and with the iPad sensation all around us, people is paying a little more attention; meaning that they are also buying a little bit more. Shirt Woot also is taking advantage with this cool T-Shirt “Poison Apple”.
The only thing for certain is that the solution must appear for the final user, and not transform this in a fight of interests where we, as users, are the only ones giving up quality and usability with our devices and computers.
Smokescreen is a new product from RevShock new mobile ad startup based in Austin and San Francisco, which can lead to a revolutionary concept: Convert Flash into HTML5 directly without using any plugin or having to re tool any code.
The software in charge of getting this done has not been released, but here are some of the facts:
Flash without the plugin: Smokescreen will be in charge of converting Flash objects into JavaScript/HTML5.
No need to re tool: Flash is automatically regenerated without having to learn any new tools to do that.
Open source license: Will be released as open source.
No specific dates about the release.
Can you imagine the impact this can make into the iPad’s fresh market?
“Many people still want to use their existing Adobe tools for developing ads, and retooling to support a single platform seems silly. As an ad network, we believe that dynamic, interactive ads are much more fun than boring static ads and thus, we were faced with two options: live in a dark, desolate world of boring mobile ads or do something about it”, the guys say about their new vision.
Are you having doubts on which is the next phone you are getting? Finally we have a, nice and simple, comparison for the two most promising mobile devices in the market.
Just one image will explain you everything you need
Mike Chambers, one of the most important persons inside Adobe and Flash development, posted about the iPhone compatibility. They are suspending indefinitely the development of Flash to work with iPhone.
Not only that, Chambers also says that they are going to focus their attention in the Android platform: “Personally, I am going to shift all of my mobile focus from iPhone to Android based devices (I am particularly interested in the Android based tablets coming out this year) and not focus on the iPhone stuff as much anymore.”
Adobe is definitely not happy regarding the treatment they’ve received from Apple, and Mike also has some comments about it:
“However, as developers for the iPhone have learned, if you want to develop for the iPhone you have to be prepared for Apple to reject or restrict your development at any time, and for seemingly any reason. “
“I think that the closed system that Apple is trying to create isbad for the industry, developers and ultimately consumers, and that is not something that I want to actively promote.”
“There have already been a couple of developers who have moved their Flash based content from the iPhone to Flash on Android (couple of examples below) and I expect that this is a trend we will be seeing more and more of.”
Clear enough?
Apple’s going to focus in HTML5, that’s probably the main reason of this dispute; but in the meanwhile I guess we are going to have to get use to those blue legos.
Nothing has changed the way we watched TV more than TiVo has. When the TiVo was first released it was truly revolutionary for the viewing audience. Time controlled TV; no longer were we to be enslaved by the powers that be and their scheduling practices. Even if we were watching something scheduled, we could record on another channel. The many iterations of TiVo over the years has seen increased offerings and versatility, but now with the release of the Premiere, we might see a new era for the TiVo…or will we?
The new TiVo Premiere ($300) takes full advantage of the many new HDTV models and their ability to connect to the internet. By accessing the internet TiVo can now not only surf the digital channels, but also content across sites like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, On Demand, and Blockbuster. The new standard version of the Premiere can record up to 45 hours of HD quality content. The larger version of the Premiere XL ($500) can record a whopping 150 hours of HD quality content.
The new interface for this TiVo is built on the Adobe Flash platform. You know Flash, the one Apple is so afraid of. Is this any good? Will this crash on us constantly? It’ll be interesting to see how things work out, but this TiVo is a heavy contender for in-home set top boxes.
Not only that, Chambers also says that they are going to focus their attention in the Android platform: “Personally, I am going to shift all of my mobile focus from iPhone to Android based devices (I am particularly interested in the Android based tablets coming out this year) and not focus on the iPhone stuff as much anymore.”
