One of the biggest negatives that those who dis the upcoming Apple iPad with is the lack of Flash capability. The iPad, like the iPhone and iPod, won’t be able to show Flash video or animations. While this may certainly be an issue with many users, developers can be happy knowing that there is a video option that could save the day.
Brightcove issued a press release and lengthy blog post on the subject of Flash video and HTML5. The company has been working with HTML5 video capabilities for some time and has technology capable of converting Flash video to HTML5 for embed. More or less, anyway. It’s still in its infancy, but it’s in workable form.
Most videos from those already using the Brightcove technology will show up on the iPad via HTML5 video, according to TechCrunch. Usually it will open a Quicktime player on an iPhone and it works on the Android platform as well.
Of course, the technology is still under development, but Brightcove’s CEO, Jeremy Allaire, is confident that they’ll have full parity with Flash by the end of this year. iPad integration into Brightcove has already been added and audience metrics and other things that Brightcove is known for are being worked on right now and expected to roll out over the next year.
Those with an iPhone can see how this works on that platform and get an understanding of how this will likely work on the iPad as well. Currently, large outlets like the New York Times and Time Magazine are already using Brightcove for their video rendering, so expect HTML5 to get more popular with time. According to TechCrunch, both Ooyala and YouTube are working on HTML5 integration too.
