Google just released a new developer version of Chrome. This is the first official version of Chrome with support for the new WebM open video standard. Google introduced WebM at its annual developers conference last month, but until now, support for WebM was only available in Chromium, the open-source project behind Chrome, as well as in special builds of Opera and Firefox.
The WebM project aims to provide online video providers with a royalty free alternative to the H.264 video codec. H.264 has become the de facto standard for high-quality online video and Apple uses it to display videos on the iPad and iPhone. Adobe supports it in its Flash player. As online video continues to move away from Flash and towards HTML5, however, developers need a free and open alternative to H.264. H.264 is currently available for free and owned by the MPEG LA consortium, but this group will likely start to charge royalty fees in the near future.
To counter this threat, Google acquired On2 Technologies last year. On2’s VP8 codec forms the basis of the WebM project. It is worth noting that Google itself has remained relatively neutral in the current discussion around HTML5 and Flash. Indeed, Google plans to ship an optimized version of Flash with every Chrome install.
Give it a Try
If you want to see WebM in action, here are instructions for how to find and watch YouTube videos in this format. You also have to make sure that you are using a developer version of Chrome. Instructions for how to switch between the stable, beta and developer channels are available here.
