As many had hoped and expected, Google announced that their video codec will be released under a BSD-style open source license. The format that they will distribute will be called WebM and will combine the following technologies:
VP8, the video codec that Google obtained when the acquired On2 Technologies, the original creators of the Theora video format.
Vorbis audio codec, popular in the Ogg Vorbis format, a higher-quality Mp3 alternative
A container format based on Matroska
Naturally, Google Chrome will support this out of the box, and Mozilla and Opera have agreed to support it as well, all in line with their plans to support an open standard for HTML5 video. Furthermore, Microsoft has indicated that they will at least allow users to install the codec for use, even if it does not ship with their Internet Explorer browser.
Absent from the list of supporters, however, is Apple, which still maintains the H.264 format is the way of the future. By producing their own format, however, it almost certainly means that Google will use it on YouTube, rather than H.264. Adobe has even agreed to support it in Flash. The WebM blog also mentions numerous other supporters, including Nvidia, Logitech, Skype, Texas Instruments, and AMD.
This is the latest twist in the HTML5 saga that seemed to be swaying in Apples favor. With Googles long reach on the Web and the open license of the format, Google can push it to all corners of the globe without legal or technological difficulty. Todays move by Google may well be the deciding one in this battle for video supremacy.
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Tags: BSD-style open source, Google, Theora video format, video codec