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(Phys.org) —Mozilla and Los Angeles-based graphics software company OTOY have announced ORBX.js, a downloadable HD codec written in JavaScript and WebGL, that will let major browsers such as Firefox, IE10, Chrome, Safari, and Opera run video and rendering apps like Autodesk without the need for plug-ins. Is there a day to come when end users can access high definition content that is format-agnostic? In tech jargon, it is tempting for company promoters to exaggerate an announcement as "game-changing," but the May 3 news on the codec could be a game changer in a number of ways. PRBX.js will deliver movies and "cloud" gaming in a browser window using web standard-based technologies. It lets developers stream desktop apps for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X on to any browser including mobile browsers. As important, there will be no need for plug-ins such as Flash, Silverlight, or QuickTime for running videos in the browser.
Read more at: phys.org...
Originally posted by Iwinder
One happy firefox user here, but I am very ignorant on the tech side so I am posting this to see what comes my way via this thread....
Much appreciated your thread is.
S&F
Waiting in the wings for the techo stuff and hopefully in layman's terms:-)
Regards, Iwinder
How does the OTOY technology get installed on the end user’s machines? If a user views OTOY content on a system without the OTOY runtime (i.e. it is a virgin machine), OTOY will then install itself almost instantly through a stub mechanism (usually between 30-100k ) that is downloaded just once (with no more than one click required by the user to install).
Users on thin machines (i.e. old cell phones), that cannot support the native client, would instead be routed to a virtual session of the application, hosted by an available node on the P2P network that scales the content for the thin device in real time.
On a system where the native OTOY client is installed, the runtime renders the content seamlessly within the host application (as an overlay, palette, embedded frame, etc.). The user never has to quit an application, restart the machine, leave a web page, or do anything other than click ‘OK’. All further updates to the engine are handled transparently.
Originally posted by InFriNiTee
The only risk could be that there has been some recent news about the security of java. The only question I would have is this: Is there a possibility that using a _javascript player could introduce security threats?
I guess the only way to be sure is to run your firefox in a sandbox if you're using windows, only if your antivirus software allows that option. If you're running linux, make sure that firefox is protected by app-armor for linux. Just to be on the safe side.
I think this is a fantastic announcement. Flash has been good for many years, but it is far outdated in my opinion. I do hope that the company that is doing this and teaming up with Mozilla will stay up to date with security patches. As long as they do that, it sounds like it will be far superior to Flash.
The biggest thing I dislike is when I am watching a long clip on a website, and Flash decides to crash. That forces a page refresh, and you have to find your spot in the video you were watching from the beginning. Hopefully this will be more stable than the alternative(s).
What's interesting about this is that it is P2P based. It sounds like it could be far more efficient than the current technology . I just wanted to link that part of the white paper to show ATS how it installs. What's interesting is that I'm understanding that this will work on any application including IE, web phones, etc. It could be a game changer.
Originally posted by spacedoubt
reply to post by XPLodER
Ok buddy, that was NOT non-techie.
but it was an awesome description nontheless.
OTOY founder and CEO Jules Urbach noted that they had found a way to provide a full PC experience through use of HTML5 and JavaScript without having to touch H.264, Flash, Java, or Google Native Client. He said, "We expect HTML5 to replace legacy operating systems on desktops, TVs, consoles and mobile devices."
Read more at: phys.org...
Originally posted by InFriNiTee
I'm starting to wonder in looking at everything this company is producing in the last 3 years, and I'm thinking this might be kind of like the next Microsoft or something like that. Any chance that this is being publicly traded yet? I searched, and came up with nothing. If it isn't public and it does go public, this will be a big part of the next tech boom.
Originally posted by Bleeeeep
reply to post by XPLodER
Are they saying they have found a way to convert oop into binary on the fly? Or did they actually port almost all syntax to java? If the former... Wow. That's... I can't even.
edit: Nevermind, I read the OP too fast. I wasn't sure of what WebGL was so I assumed they had made a miracle. lol
Even still... good job, and good luck to the webgl team. It is such a good idea, that it seems like someone should have came out with it a long time ago - But it is a bit questionable to do this to others' work, syntax, codec. Just saying.
For those who do not understand computers well... What they're doing is putting the computing workload onto servers and then using _javascript/webgl to render images and audio in a users web browser.
oh and to further clarify, this will not do away with actionscript programming (flash programming) and the alike, it will only do away with the rendering of actionscript, and the alike, through their rendering plugins.edit on 5/6/2013 by Bleeeeep because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by XPLodER
i think mozilla might have beaten you to it,
it sounds like they are now working together.
it looks like there are a couple of companies that are on the same path
the company with the fastest transport will ultimately have the most efficient codec,
it will be interesting to see who can provide the most compact transport,
and the most efficient use of a transport codec,
there can be a transport delivery and encoding scheme that is mutually defined,
this will allow for much less "overhead" in the codec
xploder
I always thought firefox was the best, but out of the box (download) this will make firefox a preferred browser among those who haven't tried it. It will open up a lot of new ways to use the web. 1080p that actually plays properly all the time? Video games live? Awesome. And so much more..thanks for sharing the thread.
Originally posted by Bleeeeep
reply to post by XPLodER
The decode and process of their newly created code, not of the original code. The original code would be decoded and processed by "the cloud" (servers).
They would basically be running the programs and sending you the audio/visual part after their servers had done all the heavy computing. If done well, people would be able to play/use high resource based programs with only a very basic computer. The downside is that you would have to always be online to do anything and online means anything you do is able to be seen.
Originally posted by InFriNiTee
Originally posted by XPLodER
i think mozilla might have beaten you to it,
it sounds like they are now working together.
it looks like there are a couple of companies that are on the same path
the company with the fastest transport will ultimately have the most efficient codec,
it will be interesting to see who can provide the most compact transport,
and the most efficient use of a transport codec,
there can be a transport delivery and encoding scheme that is mutually defined,
this will allow for much less "overhead" in the codec
xploder
I always thought firefox was the best, but out of the box (download) this will make firefox a preferred browser among those who haven't tried it. It will open up a lot of new ways to use the web. 1080p that actually plays properly all the time? Video games live? Awesome. And so much more..thanks for sharing the thread.