Developer Software

Marketing departments abscond with 'HTML5'

Apple's launch of Safari 5 made it final: the marketing people have snatched the term "HTML5" away from the developers.

HTML5 is the next version of the Hypertext Markup Language standard for creating Web pages. The standard has lain fallow for a decade, but passionate, persistent developers resuscitated it with new features ranging from built-in video to 2D graphics.

But there's a reason a minority of the population knows how to program: it's complicated. So it's no surprise that when it comes time to pitch a product, the marketing folks step in with the tasteful packaging to make it all comprehensible.

In Apple's case, it was an HTML5 demo page. There have been plenty of such pages before, and there will be plenty more to come, but few in the tech world are up to the caliber of Apple's marketing staff. Apple's HTML5 demos offer swirling iPods, tasteful typographic technology, elaborately transforming photos, and other eye candy.

Hackles raised Apple lending its marketing might sounds like a dream come true for developers who'd spent years struggling to make the case for HTML5, right? Umm, not so much.

Apple's programmers with the WebKit browser engine project that underlies Safari have been among the HTML5 allies, but Apple's marketing staff evidently are less collegial. Apple's site blocked other browsers, with the following message:

You'll need to download Safari to view this demo.

This demo was designed with the latest Web standards supported by Safari. If you'd like to experience this demo, simply download Safari. It's free for Mac and PC, and it only takes a few minutes.

It doesn't quite say that other browsers don't support HTML5, but it most definitely is a marketing pitch for Safari.

It should come as no surprise to see Apple touting its products, but the way it did so raised hackles. … Read more

Adobe's AIR 2: Faster, with better HTML

Adobe Systems on Thursday released AIR 2, upgrading the features and aspirations for the software foundation.

AIR is a programming foundation that lets a Net application run on a variety of computing platforms--Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and, significantly, forthcoming Google Android mobile phones now as well. The software can run standalone programs written either with Adobe's Flash technology or, courtesy of a built-in WebKit browser engine, with HTML and JavaScript, too. AIR applications run on their own, though, not within a browser.

Adobe has had some significant successes with AIR. It is installed on "nearly 300 … Read more

AppBackr brings a cash advance to iPhone devs

AppBackr, which launches in invite only beta on Tuesday, is one of the most interesting investment projects to come up in the last few years if only for its premise. It plans to offer iPhone app developers a way to get an advance paid by investors who buy into future sales, then stand to make a profit on their investment; that is, if they get in early, and the app sells.

Those are some pretty big ifs, though the bootstrapped alternative means waiting until the sales come in before ever seeing a return on what could be months of work. On top of this, there's promotion through blogs and publications--or PR agencies that can do that work for them.

What AppBackr is trying to do is roll those two extra steps of financing and promotion into a single service, while at the same time giving developers with little or no money a way to get a cash advance in exchange for some of the eventual profits.

Here's how it works: 1. Developers pay a $25 fee (per month, the first of which is waived) to list their app in AppBackr's marketplace. 2. Developers sign up with Apple as a developer (if they haven't already), then share their iTunes Connect account credentials with AppBackr so it can keep track of sales. 3. AppBackr creates a bank account for that developer, where they can funnel revenue from app sales. 4. A developer can sell lots of their sales to investors who buy them wholesale and at a discount. 5. As soon as a buyer purchases that lot, the developer gets that money in advance to actually build the app. 6. When the app sells through each lot of sales, that buyer of the lot gets paid more than they invested. How much depends on at what stage they invested.

There are obviously quite a few more details in how this works, the primary one being how much a developer and investor stand to make after Apple and AppBackr take a cut. Developers can get a 25-cent advance (out of a 69-cent cut of a 99-cent purchase), then another 11 cents when it sells. In turn, buyers can earn a 53-cent cut of either a 45- or 35-cent investment--something that is determined on whether they poured money into the app ahead of, or after its release (respectively). AppBackr also takes a 10-cent cut of the 69 cents both before it's sold, then either 5- or 2-cent post-transaction fee depending on the whether buyers invested in it before or after it went to market.

But what happens if an invested-in app simply does not sell, or even make it past Apple's sometimes stringent reviews process?

AppBackr creator Trevor Cornwell, who CNET spoke with last week, says much of the success of the program revolves around commitment. "We've created an agreement between the buyer and the seller," Cornwell said. "Look at something like Craigslist transitioning into a marketplace like eBay. On eBay, you look for buyers--in this case developers who have a good track record. We are solving a problem for a group where there's been no simple function to be able to do that." … Read more

Chrome gets Google's new video tech

The developer's build of Google's Chrome browser now includes WebM, the open-source and royalty-free video technology that allows browsers to use cutting-edge streaming-video features without publishers paying a dime.

In the new Chrome dev released Thursday for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Google has baked in support for the VP8- and Ogg Vorbis-powered, next-generation WebM codec.

The developer's build of Chrome is now the third major browser to support WebM, along with versions of Firefox and Opera that are still in development. Chromium, the open-source fountainhead of Chrome, added rudimentary support in mid-May. Google has yet to indicate … Read more

Google open-sources My Tracks GPS Android app

Google has released the source code for an an Android phone GPS program called My Tracks, which lets people record where they've been, log journeys in Google Docs, and post their trip maps online.

"You can expect My Tracks to become better than ever with the contributions we hope it will receive from other developers, and also that many applications which work side-by-side with My Tracks will be written," Google engineer Rodrigo Damazio said in an e-mail list posting Friday. "For instance, one could easily build an application for tracking fitness activities, geocaching, aviation, and so … Read more

Adobe hastens release of HTML5 developer tool

Even as opposition mounts against Adobe Systems' Flash technology, the company is showing Wednesday it's working hard to ensure it's not the only arrow in its Web programming quiver.

At the Google I/O conference, Adobe Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch is expected to announce the release of an HTML5 update to Adobe's Dreamweaver tool for creating Web sites. HTML5, a still-developing revision to the Web page standard, is a key part of the threat to Flash, but Adobe is indicating it's willing to embrace the alternative.

Adobe has been telegraphing its interest in HTML5 and … Read more

Google coding tool advances cloud computing

Google has released a programming tool to help move its Native Client project--and more broadly, its cloud-computing ambitions--from abstract idea to practical reality.

The new Native Client software developer kit, though only a developer preview version, is designed to make it easier for programmers to use the Net giant's browser-boosting Native Client technology.

"The Native Client SDK preview...includes just the basics you need to get started writing an app in minutes," Google programmer David Springer said Wednesday in a blog post announcing the SDK, a week before the developer-oriented Google I/O conference. "We'll … Read more

Cash cow out of the barn: Adobe shipping CS5

The official debut was two weeks ago, and now Adobe Systems is actually delivering its Creative Suite 5 software to customers.

The CS5 software spans a broad range of uses--image editing in Photoshop and Photoshop Extended, video editing in Premiere Pro, Flash application creation in Flash Pro, Web page design in Dreamweaver, and more. New to the suite is Flash Catalyst, geared to let designers without much programming experience convert application mock-ups created in Illustrator or Photoshop into working Flash applications.

Adobe sells these programs alone or packages them up into suites tailored for various market segments. At the … Read more

White House Web site releases custom Drupal code

Six months after announcing it would employ the open-source software Drupal to manage and publish its content, the White House Web site has contributed some custom code to the project.

Dave Cole, a senior adviser to the CIO of the Executive Office of the President and the person responsible for managing WhiteHouse.gov, said Wednesday that the administration is contributing four modules it created for the president's revamped Web site.

"This code is available for anyone to review, use, or modify," Cole wrote in a blog announcing the contribution. "We're excited to see how developers … Read more

Photoshop CS5 tries advancing photo frontier

Two years ago, Adobe Systems thought the only big change coming with Photoshop CS5 would be the complete overhaul needed to build a 64-bit Mac version. With the unveiling of the software Monday, though, it's clear Adobe far exceeded that low expectation.

Photoshop CS5 brings a number of high-profile features for photographers, artists, and the broader designer market that uses the software. It's just one of numerous changes among the Creative Suite 5 packages Adobe is unveiling at a Monday event, but it's one of Adobe's highest-profile programs. So without further ado, here's what's … Read more