FP: RIM could ride HTML 5 back to app relevance

[the_sleuth]

Another mythbuster: App World has over 40,000 apps and growing each day...

RIM could ride HTML5 back to app relevance | FP Tech Desk | Financial Post

A new Web programming language is taking the developer community by storm and Research In Motion Ltd. is poised to benefit.

Despite the fifth revision of the hypertext markup language (HTML5) still being a work in progress, more than three quarters (79%) of the 1,200 software developers surveyed by Evans Data Corp. over the past two months are either writing in HTML5 already or plan to do so, the market research firm said Thursday.

More than half of respondents (58%) in the Asia-Pacific region and 43% of those in North America said they currently code using the new standard.

That is good news for Canada’s BlackBerry maker, as Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM could leverage its long-standing support for the standard to catch up to the more robust app ecosystems offered by its competitors.

RIM is placing a big bet on HTML5. Developers looking to build applications for the company’s BlackBerry PlayBook or the company’s forthcoming BlackBerry 10 software can use HTML5 technology to create games and software.

“HTML5 continues to be a primary focus for the BlackBerry platform,” Chris Smith, RIM vice president of handheld application platform and tools, said in an emailed statement to the Financial Post.

“It is an important component of our next-generation BlackBerry 10 developer platform and our developers are taking advantage of the power of WebWorks and the ability to write apps for both our smartphones and the BlackBerry PlayBook.”

What makes HTML5 so attractive to developers, particularly those writing applications for mobile platforms, is the ability to create a Website with the same level of functionality and visual appeal as an app designed specifically for a given operating system.

Instead of creating different versions of the same app to run on Apple Inc.’s iOS, Google Inc.’s Android or RIM’s BlackBerry OS, developers can write one HTML5 app capable of running on virtually any mobile device with an advanced Web browser.

As major content publishers such as the United Kingdom’s Financial Times enjoy great success from their own HTML5 initiatives, RIM has already recognized the need to capitalize quickly on the growing trend. The company purchased tinyHippos Inc. last March, maker of an app testing tool called Ripple designed specifically for HTML5-based programs.

“We have a rich HTML5 platform, and we are actively contributing to the community to ensure we have all the latest code and the latest standards,” George Staikos, RIM’s vice president of Web technologies, said in a presentation at the company’s latest developer conference (DevCon), held in Florida last October.

“We are actually leading the way to ensure we have the best implementations for this platform.”

While the coming software update for RIM’s PlayBook tablet has given new hope to some BlackBerry fans, Mike Abramsky of RBC Capital Markets notes the 50,000 apps currently available on BlackBerry App World “still significantly lag” the more than 500,000 offered rival app stores run by Apple and Google. The analyst warned clients Thursday that RIM’s app ecosystem is still “not fully competitive.”

RIM has recently redoubled its efforts to woo developers back onto the BlackBerry bandwagon, though with International Data Corp. expecting 90% of all smartphones and tablets to support HTML5 by next year as the new language continues to be the preference of coders, those efforts may soon no longer be necessary.

[Economist101]

Originally Posted by the_sleuth

Another mythbuster: App World has over 40,000 apps and growing each day...

And the myth "busted" is what exactly?

[anthogag]

The outcome is everyone has access to the same apps...I see this being a great benefit for RIM and the playbook and BB10 phones

[Dapper37]

Originally Posted by Economist101

And the myth "busted" is what exactly?

You know. the myth that the fanbois like to scream at the top of their lungs!! BB has no apps, you know!

[sf49ers]

in 2 years all the content providers will be selling their service offerings via HTML5 per say amazon, netflix, nook, magazines, music etc for 2 reasons

1) to skip paying any money to the app market owners per say Apple etc
2) eventually web is going to win the war, it doesn't really matter which OS you are running as everything will be standardized and will be seamless to the end user. It is not just the browser I am talking about but the whole OS will leverage the full potential of the web.

[Economist101]

Originally Posted by sf49ers

in 2 years all the content providers will be selling their service offerings via HTML5 per say amazon, netflix, nook, magazines, music etc for 2 reasons

1) to skip paying any money to the app market owners per say Apple etc
2) eventually web is going to win the war, it doesn't really matter which OS you are running as everything will be standardized and will be seamless to the end user. It is not just the browser I am talking about but the whole OS will leverage the full potential of the web.

That's not a bad prediction, but it won't happen within 2 years.

[sf49ers]

Originally Posted by Economist101

That's not a bad prediction, but it won't happen within 2 years.

2 years may not be far fetched based on the momentum HTML 5 is getting. For example: here are few of the major ones already released or still in the works.

http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-n...on-investment/

TeleNav launches browser-based turn-by-turn GPS navigation using HTML 5 -- Engadget

Amazon adds HTML5

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

How Netflix uses WebKit and HTML5 for TV devices — Online Video News

HTML 5 may not kill native apps completely, but cross-platform digital content is the future. No App Store guidelines to follow, and no subscription fees to abide by and the content providers are moving fast on this.

[belfastdispatcher]

Originally Posted by sf49ers

2 years may not be far fetched based on the momentum HTML 5 is getting. For example: here are few of the major ones already released or still in the works.

Popular Digital Newstand Zinio Lands a 20 Million Investment | Good E-Reader - ebook Reader and Tablet PC News

TeleNav launches browser-based turn-by-turn GPS navigation using HTML 5 -- Engadget

Amazon adds HTML5

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

How Netflix uses WebKit and HTML5 for TV devices — Online Video News

HTML 5 may not kill native apps completely, but cross-platform digital content is the future. No App Store guidelines to follow, and no subscription fees to abide by and the content providers are moving fast on this.

That's what I've been saying all along and with the amount of tabs BB07 can have open it has an extra advantage. Thousands of weather apps no longer needed, AccuWeather.com is all I need.

I might just keep them all open all day to see how it affects the phone, so far runs as normal.

[BB.David]

What about apps that people want instant push notifications? Facebook, Twitter, sports score alerts (ESPN, Score Mobile, etc.), breaking news (AP, CNN, etc.), IM clients, etc.?

Many times "just use the browser" doesn't cut it.

[belfastdispatcher]

Originally Posted by BB.David

What about apps that people want instant push notifications? Facebook, Twitter, sports score alerts (ESPN, Score Mobile, etc.), breaking news (AP, CNN, etc.), IM clients, etc.?

Many times "just use the browser" doesn't cut it.

Blackberry browser has browser push, accuwether used to push the weather and was delivered in the messages folder as browser message/link

It's never going to replace all apps but the way I look at it, a developer has nothing to gain from keeping their app platform specific.

[gravymonster]

I was all excited I realized the Facebook Touch site had Words With Friends I noticed yesterday. But it kept crashing my 9810's browser so it was a no-go. I thought I finally had a way to shut a bunch of people up...

[berry4life99]

I often wonder: with half a million apps, how many of those do the same thing? How many do it efficiently? How many are designed innovatively at cost, and how many are done cut-rate for free?

The numbers lie, in this case. I'm not suggesting that App World doesn't have that problem, but with fewer apps, it's easier to spot where there's a need and target an app there.

When you have 2000 apps that do ONE THING it's hard for a developer to make a name for themselves. New developers who code with HTML5 will have a better chance of getting recognition with AppWorld once the hardware's in place.

I know, I know, "years from now when everyone's on the next thing"...

Apps are a part of our daily lives, but they shouldn't be the only reason to buy a mobile device, if you ask me.

[Economist101]

Originally Posted by berry4life99

I often wonder: with half a million apps, how many of those do the same thing? How many do it efficiently? How many are designed innovatively at cost, and how many are done cut-rate for free?

The numbers lie, in this case. I'm not suggesting that App World doesn't have that problem, but with fewer apps, it's easier to spot where there's a need and target an app there.

Apple users said the same thing about Windows in the 90s ("so many apps, how many do the same thing"). Yet 15 years later, Windows is still on top.

Also, remember that if indeed developers were targeting the smaller App World, there would probably be more apps there. In other words, the perceived advantage from being smaller (which is that it's easier to standout) can only erode over time, and thus it's hard to wager much on it.

[sosumi11]

Originally Posted by anthogag

The outcome is everyone has access to the same apps...I see this being a great benefit for RIM and the playbook and BB10 phones

What happened to the "whole web" and Flash?

Let's go back two years ago:

Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all open standards. Apple’s mobile devices all ship with high performance, low power implementations of these open standards. HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee, of which Apple is a member.

Steve Jobs
April, 2010

[undone]

Originally Posted by sosumi11

What happened to the "whole web" and Flash?

Let's go back two years ago:

That was more him pushing the market because he had the power to change it. Today? I doubt Apple could dictate the same. The market is not even relatively the same.

Oh and he HATED Flash.