Future of the Web
HTML is the underlying core that holds the Internet together and it is about to get a power boost as web browsers start to roll out HTML5. For developers it means a whole new world of capabilities, while for users it means they can look forward to a new generation of web applications that will be more powerful than ever before.
We look at some of the major features of HTML5.
Local file access
Local file access is likely to be at the heart of future web applications. This new capability allows web-based applications to access and manage files stored on a local hard disk. This means that users won’t have to upload files to a remote server before being able to manipulate them. For example, a photo management application could be used to manipulate an image stored locally, or even view thumbnails, without needing to upload the image first. The potential in this is significant as it paves the way for web applications to behave the same way as desktop-based applications and makes browsers more like an application platform than simply a web viewer.
Offline storage
Offline storage is a lot like Google’s Gears except without needing a plugin. Gears first introduced the idea of storing data locally so that applications could continue to work even when disconnected from the network. Offline storage is also like seriously beefed-up cookies, with significantly more storage space. This means that anything from user details to email can be stored locally and used by web applications.
Video and audio
One of the major benefits of HTML5 is native video and audio streaming support. Multimedia on the web is growing exponentially but to date web sites have had to use tools such as Flash to embed videos in their sites. The new video and audio specifications in HTML5 can completely bypass the need for Flash to display multimedia. Instead, developers can embed video and audio directly into their pages as native elements. Users will benefit from a number of playback enhancements while developers will benefit from the ease of implementation. Right now native video and audio embedding is in its early stages of development but is already showing promise.
Geolocation
Location-aware web applications are the next big thing. Naturally there will be some privacy concerns but, if managed right, the geolocation capabilities of HTML5 open up a whole new world for users and developers. The HTML5 geolocation capabilities mean that all browsers will be able to identify a user’s location. Previously geolocation capabilities were specific to particular browsers and plugins. HTML5 will be able to find your location and use it to do things such as customise search results and directories based on that, tag image uploads with geographic data or provide directions from your current location to a destination.
At its core HTML5 provides new capabilities for developers to build more intelligent, persistent web applications that will give users access to a new range of online tools.
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