Klaus said:
Google aquired On2 last year. I would guess that Google will release their codecs to the public under a liberal FLOSS-license (probably Apache) and most modern Browsers integrate them. Google needs an open web, they don't want to exclude Firefox from YouTube. My guess is, they chose h.264 because it's already on their servers and they will be switching to an On2-codec eventually.
Google
tried to acquire On2 last year but
their first offer was turned down.
February, 17th 2010 the On2 stock holders will be
voting upon a sweetened offer by Google.
This vote will have a major effect upon the
future of Internet video.
OGG is based upon On2's ancient VP3 codec.
Flash .flv is based upon On2's VP6 codec.
The latest version of On2's codec is VP8
which when encoded at similar bitrates
makes h.264 look like crap.
So basically it is likely to go like this.
Google finishes the purchase of On2, upgrades
OGG to VP8 ,and open sources it.
This would make OGG like HTML an open specification
that anyone can use without locensing or
patent concerns, thus sending H.264 patent pool
members like Microsoft to the showers along with
the aspirations of Rupert Murdoch and others to
gain a media lock on Internet video.
This February ,17th vote by On2 stock holders
will be a pivital point for the Internet.
Assuming the vote goes through, not only
will Internet video become standardized
upon a license free specification, but
HTML 5 will take off like wildfire.
Adobe Flash will start to fade away from
the Internet just as it has already
been banned from Apple devices like
the iPhone and iPad.
Arcade quality games are already appearing
written entirely in HTML5, with such games
demonstrating just about if not every
ability of flash, with but this video
standards issue needing some resolution.
A failure in the On2 acquisition by Google
would likely stall HTML5 in some regards
and cause some major havoc for open-source browsers
like Mozilla , who producing a FREE browser
can't be expected to cough up $5 million a year
to the patent pool members like Microsoft.
With a name like Google backing VP8, chip makers
will be motivated to implement the codec in hardware
which will make it even faster. On2's existing
involvement in the mobile device video space
will make the standard spread like wildfire.
This will speed the integration of TV/Internet in
general and help bring down the cost of
TV's , mobile devices and just about anything
else that currently is saddled with the costs
of paying the h.264 patent pool members tolls
Heres hoping the On2 stock holders go for it!!!
.
