Notes from the second W3C Web+TV workshop

I've now spent two days in Berlin at Fraunhofer FOKUS for the second W3C Web+TV workshop. For me, this is an eye-opener. Bringing the Web and TV world together is not without struggle, although at a distance it looks so easy.

Web technologies in your TV has been around for some 10 years, mostly unnoticed by the end-user. There are some real attempts at bridging this from most of the major manufacturers and obviously the GoogleTV platform that is first being delivered by Sony.

The workshop addressed many different areas from basic use cases, adaptive streaming, content protection to accessibility discussions.

There was much discussion about the "second screen" or actually any other screen but the TV set itself. Most of these presentations revolved around how these other screens could be synced with the content being displayed on the main TV set. In practice, letting the broadcaster ensure that you get an inclusive experience related to the programming you are watching at the moment.

The second screen is also being viewed as the remote control going forwards. What I liked very much was the open discussion about API:s, allowing web (or other) applications to start controlling your TV experience. When put into practice it would potentially enable web services like tv.nu to change the channel on your set.

Given the number of business models and the way the TV manufacturers are developing their products, I am starting to believe that the TV industry, as a whole, will very quickly adopt HTML5 as their platform of choice. Many already has. In doing so being a quick driver of the adoption of web widgets, device API:s, web notifications and so on.

The problem at hand here is that the TV industry likes very stable specs since a TV set will not get more than a few software updates and that is only to fix critical bugs.

Once there, the web as a platform for your TV is a very promising one where the services and applications for your TV will be in a position to evolve as quickly as the developer wants them to. Adhering to a web platform also, somewhat at least, removes fragmentation issues as everyone is set on one platform.

A lot of suggestions for new features and API:s that look encouraging; multi-track support, trick-modes, recording, downloading, home networking (device and service discovery), real-time communications.

A fundamental question is how the user will react to having the web and TV merged. The TV audience is used to a TV that always works, is stable and does not prod you with strange messages. I am wondering if the tolerance for configuring things (such as privacy, security questions) when presented to the user through the TV will change as we move towards smarter TV:s.

All in all, it looks like we have a very interesting future ahead, coming soon to a TV near you. If you are interested I urge you to join the W3C Web and TV Interest Group.

The webinos research project

Web in OS.

Brings the Web closer to your operating system, is one way of interpreting the name of the EU funded research project with the name Webinos.

There has actually been quite much written about the project lately, for instance by the BBC, since the news got out that the project got its funding and is now kicked-off.

My feeling was that, to a large extent media picked this up as, yet another apps platform. This is not quite the case. Webinos is about solving problems that the Web is struggling with today.

The research project is set to push technology beyond its current state in a number of areas, from how we merge web technologies with native platforms to how we deal with identities and fundamentally making your device a part of the cloud.

Being a research project it has a very hands on side as well in that all the ideas and inspiration that is thrown in now at the start will end up in open source code.

The project brings together industry experts from manufacturers to academia in a great mix that I believe can really make a change.

Being part of the cloud

There is an endless flood of data covering the volumes of smartphones that will be on the market by the end of this year and what the market potential is actually like. One thing is for certain, the smarter phones are eating up market share at the cost of the feature phones.

Some platforms are performing better than others (nielsenwire). Some platforms attract more developers than others (Appcelerator), which is a key indicator for where innovation will happen.

Troed Sångberg wrote, about a year ago, about the fact that the new form factor of some devices and the software architecture of these devices actually made them into Mobile Internet Devices. As in, the Internet is the primary use-case, making a phone call is just another application.

As such, they became your window to the Internet. You expect an all-in experience when you interact with the web using these devices, if something does not work you think that there is something wrong with your device. Here we can, at length, go into the options manufacturers have in terms of including technology but we can also talk about the options that service (web) developers have. But I will not. 

In short, there is still much to be wanted in terms of a truly great mobile web experience.

What is more interesting is that we are now at the point where we can expect these devices to transform into not only being a window to the Internet but being a fully embraced node in the cloud. 

You carry around a device today that is a truly converged technological phenomena with audio, video, cameras and connectivity at your fingertips.

There are developments in standards (W3C) where specifications like Powerbox are being discussed and evolved. This is one way of, in a generic kind of way, connecting resources to the Web. When such technologies have established themselves in our devices we will see services building on the fact that they can get access to your local resources be it your microphone, camera or your brand new stress sensor. 

Another initiative, within the EU FP7 research program, called Webinos, aims at evolving the current state-of-the art in web technologies and introduce any missing pieces to truly make the web the platform of choice for services and applications. A web, where you as an individual is at the center.

As your device is gradually transforming into a local network of sensors, some of which will reside in your clothing and others built into accessories such as your glasses, the mobile device will be the focal point of connectivity ensuring that your resources can be included in the cloud.

When this connectivity is in place we can truly start to talk about the next generation of context awareness, with services that truly augment your life and perhaps also makes you rather than the device smarter.

We are now moving from carrying a window to the Internet to a reflection of you in the cloud.

The HTML5 discussion at the web 2.0 expo

During the expo over the last couple of days it has been evident that there is a fundamental change going on. There have been so many words written about HTML5 vs. Flash. This is not about Steve vs. Adobe.
It is fundamentaly about being open.

My favorite example right now is the investment that Scribd has done in their platform to go from Flash to HTML5. They basically ditched a $3 million investment in Flash technology for an idea that they did not really know if it would work.

At the core, and this is important, is the fact that they realised that they had put all their content into an application platform. Being dependant on a particular runtime was not a dependency they wanted to have.

As a real bonus was the fact that they got mobile access for free.

You can then go on and argue about what Adobe should and should not do... I'll leave that to others.
Most people here, when asked, put their money on HTML5. Still, there are some companies such as Tiny Speck that base their innovation on Flash. It will be very interesting to follow their game, Glitch.

Web 2.0 Expo - take aways from Tuesday May 4:th

First day at the #w2e has been very good. It is hard to choose from all the very good tracks but I have tried to stayed tuned to the strategy track. There are so many things to pick up on but I will just quickly give my thinking on the general theme.


Mobile is not an additional strategy, it is the strategy. What strikes me is all the examples of companies that just do not get it, as in they do not have a site designed for mobile. Not even Apple. Similarly, companies seem to not look at device types. This strikes me as odd coming from a mobile operator in a previous life, where it was all about identifying the device.


Think about simplicity when thinking about mobile design. But as Jason Grigsby (@grigs) said, this does not equal dumb. Do not take away core functions just because you are trying to make the mobile site simpler.


I learnt a bit about API:s today. Not much news in that session but still very important. If you do not have an API you are missing the whole trend where data is king. Your API is how you will be selling through to your customers. Somewhere in the realm of 80% of traffic will come from beyond the browser.


API:s are the glue that binds mobile, social and cloud. It is a mechanism where you can get people, not on your payroll, to carry your experience and product to consumers. This is key to understand, because of the exponential change rate we are in, it is impossible to plan. The market is constantly changing. In order to make this happen, make sure you are re-mixable, look at your adjacents.


Being an advocate of open standards I got a very good insight into OAuth 2.0 and the upgrade that has been done to the protocol. It shows great promise and is already adopted by Facebook and Twitter (@anywhere) basically because it is so simple to get started for any developer.


The keynotes where of great standard. Loved the TED presentation and how it has evolved from conference to a platform for sharing ideas. Completely embraces crowd sourcing, free and open.


Last but not least, smule, have to love them. Impressive demonstration of their products and research.

HP buys Palm

So, HP buys Palm. I think this interesting in many ways. For one thing it will help us people that believe in the web as a the platform. 


If you intend to get serious about making mobile internet devices and you do not want to give up control to, say, Google then the Palm WebOS is a good bet and may prove to be a winning strategy for HP.


The trend is clear in that the web application model is evolving by the minute. There is a huge amount of activity going on in W3C and in the buzzing communities around on the web.


With the WebOS, HP is very well positioned in this landscape. Not only do they get a web savvy architecture built from the ground up to cater for performant web applications they also have a very powerful developer environment in Ares 1.0.


I think this was a good buy for HP and I think it will only help to speed up the evolution of the web platform.

Enablers vs. Web

Whenever I hear the term 'enabler' I think of telecom and the overwhelming number of enablers that have been defined over time. There is the location enabler, messaging enabler and presence enabler and the list goes on.

What most often fails to happen is the applied use of these enablers for anyone but the operator that have put them in place. This has obviously changed over the last couple of years with developer programs (such as Orange Partner), general openness and competition. Still, enablers are standardized components designed to fit into an operator service architecture and if you are lucky to actually work across operators in a roaming fashion.

Adding more enablers would, in theory, get you more functionality, more developers and more innovative services. This rarely happens. It rarely happens because the enablers tend to only work with data hosted, or owned if you like, by the operator.

Now, the other model is the Web way of doing things. The rough consensus and running code, beta, previews, launch quicker than ever paradigm. This model is also different in that is based on de-centralization. Each added service is a new opportunity.

The way things are added to the Web today is by, more or less, first understanding that you need to be accessible, you need to have an API that others can build on, interact with and link to their service. The Web of Data that this enables is as important as the service you can see and touch with your browser.

The API is generally not standardized because it is not needed. In comparison, anything that gets added to an operator network needs standards by definition so that you can source the component from multiple suppliers, secure a low price and be sure that it talks to all the systems already in place.

The Web model promotes something else that is key - I get to choose which service to use, how they link and what they share (as far as my data is concerned).

I think that in the race we are in, the Web model will prevail and continuing to standardize enablers is a waste of valuable time and resources that can be better spent on other things.