HTML 5 video problem solved?

I know there was lots of talk about the HTML 5 video element which originally was meant to support the Free and Open video codec and architecture Theora/Ogg Vorbis. But that got written out of the standard specs and each next generation browser went there own way. So from memory, Firefox 3.5 supports Ogg/Theora, Opera supports Ogg/Theora, Safari/Webkit supports Mpeg4/H.264 and Google Chrome supports both Ogg/Theora and Mpeg4/H.264. Anyway, Google just recently bought On2 which could be a interesting move if they decide to open source or free up the VP7 codec (just incase you didn't know VP3 was the base for Ogg/Theora). On2 have always said there codec is more efficient that H.264 and one of the things which always gets thrown at Theora is the lack of efficiency against modern codecs like H.264. To be honest, anything like Xvid or better works for me, but I get the point. So could this latest move finally unite the likes of Mozilla and Safari? Maybe unite against Adobe's Flash and Microsoft's Silverlight platforms? Actually being open would really be a stake in the heart of these closed technologies. Oh by the way did anyone see the HTML5 timed media example from BBC RAD?

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Author: Ianforrester

Senior firestarter at BBC R&D, emergent technology expert and serial social geek event organiser. Can be found at cubicgarden@mas.to, cubicgarden@twit.social and cubicgarden@blacktwitter.io