TRAI : Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report for the Quarter ending June 2010

Source : TRAI

• Overall Teledensity @ 57% - Urban @ 128% & Rural @ 26%
• 60+% of adds from urban areas largely due to to the multi-SIM phenomenon
• GSM ARPU down y-o-y by 34% to INR 122 (US$2.7)/mth 
• GSM MoU down to 401 min/mth from 410 in the previous qtr
• CDMA ARPU down 3% q-o-q to INR 74 (US$1.6)/mth
• CDMA MoU down to 299 min/mth from 307 in the previous qtr

Airtel digital TV goes mobile with Multi TV Direct-to-bus satellite TV

First it was Dish TV offering similar services on Kingfisher flights and now Airtel on buses.


Bharti Airtel Press Release

• Airtel digital TV, is the first DTH player in the country to venture into multi TV screen Mobile Vehicle DTH solution

New Delhi/Jaipur, October 19, 2010 : Airtel digital TV, the DTH service from Bharti Airtel, has now come up with a way for people to enjoy live TV on the move, redefining in-bus entertainment. Airtel digital TV is the first DTH player in the country to venture into multi TV screen Mobile Vehicle DTH solution with installation of its connections in RSTC Super Luxury Volvo buses plying on Delhi – Jaipur Highway. Inside the RSTC Super Luxury Volvo buses Airtel digital TV offers high quality pictures, smooth and uninterrupted programming, and a huge range of 70 channels to choose from. An evolved form of wireless TV, satellite TV in the bus is a big step towards mobile entertainment. Moreover in this multi TV screen Mobile Vehicle DTH solution, each passenger can watch their respective choice of programmes and change it according to their wish. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sugato Banerji, Chief Marketing Officer, DTH Services - Bharti Airtel, said “Airtel digital TV is recognized for creating world class products for its consumers. This initiative of launching mobile vehicle DTH solution is just another step in the direction of delivering delight to its end users. It will pave the way for redefining entertainment while traveling. Since our launch, we have remained at the forefront of technology by offering customers PVR services, remote recording facility and HD which have radically changed the way its pay TV subscribers watch television. These technological advancements have enhanced Bharti Airtel’s reputation as a pioneering force in the DTH sector." He further added, "Time spent in ground transport is increasing across India as road networks improve and as traffic density in urban areas increases. Airtel has always been at the forefront of continually enhancing customer experience and we saw this travel time and instance opportunity as a potential category to expand our DTH services to." Airtel digital TV offers its services on a multi TV screen environment using a mobile signal tracking antenna from Raysat For offering this service Airtel has appointed Integrated Consultancy Services as its System Integrator and service is aimed at targeting State Transports, Private luxury bus operators, SUVs etc. As part of this service and with this multi TV screen integration every seat in the bus has individual DTH connection and each passenger has the facility to watch his own channel of choice out of the bouquet offered. Airtel digital TV – the DTH service from Bharti Airtel – has 3.8 million customers and is one of the leading national level DTH service in the country which offers its customers MPEG 4 with DVBS 2 – currently the most advanced digital broadcasting technologies available in the world after HD broadcasting. Additionally, Airtel digital TV was the first to bring many firsts to the DTH segment in India including a Universal Remote which operates both the Set Top Box and TV set as well as several unique Interactive Applications. Airtel digital TV recorder was the first to offer the capability to record live television, anytime, anywhere and recently added HD services to its portfolio. Users can also update themselves on the latest stock news. All this is backed by 24x7 customer care. Airtel digital TV launched its services in October 2008.

Bharti Airtel Broadband learning services

Airtel Broadband launches learning services @ http://www.learnnext.com/airtel/index.htm


Pricing INR 99 (US$2)/mth or INR 199 (US$4)/qrtly


Most DTH services providers today also offer educational content.


Tremendous potential + willingness to pay for education content/services over any medium in my opinion.

Airtel makes learning Mathematics and Science Easy and Fun with 'LearnNext'

• A complete computer based interactive CBSE Study module for Airtel broadband customers • Affordably priced, LearnNext is available @ Rs.99 for a Monthly Pack OR a Quarterly Pack for Rs.199 New Delhi, October 27, 2010 : Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, has further expanded its bouquet of value added services for its broadband users with the launch of ‘LearnNext’ - an eLearning website. Students studying in Class VI to X will find that learning CBSE Mathematics and Science is much easier and more fun with this computer based interactive education application. This product is set to revolutionize the study approach of CBSE students (towards mathematics and science) who would find it easier to get all the relevant references together along with their text books. LearnNext will make the students self-sufficient and reduce their dependency on tuitions. Benefits from LearnNext • Animations and audio-visual components covering entire course for the class / subject • Examples and experiments make the lessons come alive • Aids in understanding complicated concepts • Helps in being better prepared for exams • Solved NCERT Exercises • 250+ lessons explained with audio-visual course content • Tests at Lesson, Chapter and Syllabus level • Study planning to schedule lessons, tests and revision • Auto-renewal based service to avoid user discomfort According to Mr. Girish Mehta, CMO- Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel, “Students will find our computer based interactive education application very useful as it will definitely reduce their dependency on tuitions. Innovative and affordable study solutions, created by LearnNext and provided by us to our broadband customers, will definitely help students in enhancing their analytical and logical skills.” LearnNext offers Audio-Visual medium of instruction where anyone can have offline access and dynamic upgrade through internet, which means parents can save money as compared to private tuitions. Students would also get NCERT solved exercises FREE with proper study planner/calendar feature. The application has an integrated Performance Evaluator that keeps track of the student’s progress. Besides by being part of the LearnNext Community, members can share views, exchange ideas, post questions, get answers, give feedback and more, making it all the more unique and interesting. 'LearnNext' is an application developed by Next Education India Private Limited, an E-Learning company creating innovative & student friendly learning products.

LearnNext brings all the concepts in your CBSE Maths and Science syllabi life through audio - visual learning. Learn with fun on your home computer or laptop. Specifically designed with the learner in mind and presented in an interesting manner. Covers the latest CBSE Class VI to X Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and Mathematics syllabi. Offers the convenience and ability of learning at any place and any time without an Internet connection. High quality content, designed and produced by eminent experts with specialised domain knowledge. Over 250 lessons explained with audio-visual course content, solved examples and experiments. Revision tests at the end of every lesson with key and explanation. An 'Ask the Teacher' feature for personalised doubt clarification. Lessons Tests, Chapter Tests and Model Tests for subject to prepare you better for the exams. Besides being cost-effective, saves the student time, energy and effort, a vital advantage in this age of competition.

No Internet connection required 100% compliant with CBSE and CCE Free virtual library and lab Free Study Planner Over 5000 practice questions Performance tracker

Bharti Airtel to unleash Broadband Revolution in India – To launch 3G in 2010

The India 3G battle is about to start in royal earnest starting from next week. It'll be an interesting and hard fought battle given the investments, multiplicity of operators & long wait !


Bharti Airtel Press Release

• Set to lead the next phase of India’s telecom success story by introducing a new range of services in areas of Mobile Commerce, Health and Entertainment • Airtel in advanced stage of discussion to offer all India coverage

New Delhi, October 25, 2010 : Bharti Airtel, which has been at the forefront of the mobile revolution in India, today said that it will launch its 3G services before the end of 2010, to usher in broadband data revolution in the country. Airtel, the largest mobile services provider in India, will offer customers the widest 3G network in India. Airtel successfully bid for 3G spectrum in 13 telecom circles across India and is rolling out state-of-the-art networks in these geographies. These 13 telecom circles also constitute 68% of Airtel’s revenue market share. This includes key metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, which account for 21% of all data traffic in the country and are expected to have the strongest uptake of 3G services. Airtel is also in advanced discussions with other quality operators to offer 3G services to its customers across the country. This will not only ensure seamless roaming, but also offer 3G broadband to its entire customer base in India. Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, CEO – India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel said, “3G services will mark the beginning of the next phase of India’s telecom growth story and elevate India’s telecom sector at par with most advanced telecom markets in the world. 3G services have the potential to transform the lives of millions of Indians by taking a variety of life enhancing services on high speed broadband to the remotest corners and bridge the digital divide. In addition, 3G services will have a strong multiplier effect on economic growth and bring in enhanced efficiencies. It will be Airtel’s endeavor to lead India’s journey on the information superhighway with world-class 3G services.” Bharti will be deploying high speed HSPA networks provided by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network and Huawei. The High Speed Packet Access network will be the best in world in terms of technology and will enable high peak user throughputs. Airtel's 3G services will usher in a new era of unique life style enabling products. Along with meeting the growing demand of high speed surfing and wireless entertainment, Airtel will introduce a suite of products in areas such as mobile commerce and mobile health. In 2006, Bharti became the first Indian operator to launch 3G services when it started 3G operations in Seychelles. Currently, Bharti Group is successfully running 3G broadband services in four countries - Sri Lanka, Jersey, Guernsey and Seychelles. For India, Bharti will also draw significantly from the expertise of its partner Singtel, who offers one of the world’s most advanced 3G networks in Singapore, Australia, Philippines and Indonesia.

Now, epic Ramayana to be aired on radio

Huge opportunity also to leverage the same, religious discourses, darshans, etc. via apps, voice portals and now video portals with 3G.


Abhilasha Ojha, Mint
Aug 30, 2010



Radio listeners will be able to tune in to an adaptation of the epic Ramayana, featuring Bollywood stars such as Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher and Om Puri, among a raft of special programmes for the festival season.





“Fever Radio Ramayana” will be broadcast by Fever 104 FM from mid-September—running over 120 episodes for 24 weeks. The drama will be aired for 15 minutes at 7am from Monday through Friday. The week’s episodes will be rerun on Saturdays and Sundays at 9am.
“The radio adaptation of the epic has been attempted for the first time and we see it as an important property for the channel,” said S. Keerthivasan, business head (radio and events), HT Media Ltd. Radio channel Fever 104 is part of HT Media, which also publishes Mint.


Gaurav Sharma, chief programming officer, (radio and events), HT Media, called it the “theatre of the mind”.


“Scripting alone took us three months and we fine-tuned our drafts several times,” he said.
More than 200 voices have been used for the project; most of them are in-house talent or theatre artistes. While Shah is the voice of Raavan, Kher and Puri are the voices of Dashrath (Ram’s father) and Kaal (time) respectively.


An interactive teaser campaign kicks off on Monday, with Puri quizzing listeners from a bank of more than 500 questions related to the epic, collated by the Fever 104 team.
Other radio channels are also planning special programmes for the season. Red FM, for instance, has hired some Gujarati poets to compose 9-10 songs for the Navratri festival in October.


“These songs will be in tune with our positioning as a young and vibrant radio station,” said Nisha Narayanan, senior vicepresident (projects and programming), Red FM.
Big FM has tied up with Nitin Desai Studios to create “eco-friendly Ganesha” with newspapers donated by listeners for Ganesh Chaturthi, which will be celebrated on 11 September.
For Navratri, the channel is roping in fashion designers and chefs to discuss fashion and food. It will also do a live broadcast of the aarti, or a special prayer, at the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu during Navratri. “We have created customised entertainment properties to go with the spirit of the season,” said Soumen Ghosh Choudhury, business head, 92.7 Big FM, a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.


Media buyers said Radio Ramayana was different from the lot. “It is an example of lateral programming on radio and a fantastic property,” said Prasanth Kumar, managing partner, GroupM (South Asia). GroupM is the world’s leading full-service media investment management company.


Basabdatta Chowdhuri, CEO of Madison Media, an arm of marketing communications group Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd, said radio was a “snacking” medium. “Grasping the attention of listeners, that too for an epic, might be a challenge.”


Mona Jain, chief operating officer with VivaKi Exchange, earlier known as IMX India Media Exchange, a media investment unit formed in 2007, said Radio Ramayana could attract ads of religious products, such as incense sticks.


Radio 104 FM executives did not discuss potential advertisers.


The broadcaster has readied 20 hours of video footage on the making of the show, which includes recordings and script-reading sessions with Shah, Puri and Kher.
It is also working on a Kannada version of Radio Ramayana for listeners in Bangalore, said Sharma.

Indian Need Drives Global Innovation For IBM

Good initiative aimed at inclusion of the larger mass into the eRevolution ! On a separate but somewhat related topic - Voice portals (which form part of the VAS services offering from most Indian operators today) are witnessing significant uptake in lesser developed areas of the country where access to internet and avenues of entertainment in general are limited


Oct. 25 2010, Forbes

In India, a lack of Internet access and an abundance of cell phone helped IBM realize that the next billion people would probably get a chance to access the world wide web if they could do it via a cell phone.

India has some 545 million cell phones and a measly 80 million Internet users. The high illiteracy rates in India means that a lot of people, including in urban areas, will not be able to use the Internet. IBM, in an experiment on cloud computing, developed a technology called the Spoken Web which allows people to create and navigate websites by voice, opening up a whole new world of opportunities for the vast number of illiterate people in India, and other developing countries. The technology creates VoiceSites that are analogous to Websites. So a URL is replaced by a phone number that users can dial, hyperlinks are replaced by voice options and the networking protocol–the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol–is replaced by the Hyper Speech Transfer Protocol.

This need was identified in India. Navi Radjou, executive director of the Centre for India & Global Business at Cambridge University, calls this Indovation. “In the next five years there will be a conversion in the market place as the western markets are going through austerity and recession, they will move away from want based consumption to need based consumption,” he predicts. This doesn’t mean you want cheap stuff but just better value out of it. And while the West may not have all the solutions, a lot of the “need” will be identified in the emerging markets, including India, and the product will then be developed globally. “A lot of innovation in India is demand driven,” he says.

Like the spoken web. Guruduth Banavar, chief technology officer at IBM’s Global Public Sector, launched the spoken web about 3.5 years ago as an exploratory research project. At the time he was based in India as the director of the research lab and he and his colleagues had been thinking about how to connect the next billion with the world wide web considering the fact that 80% of the world’s population doesn’t have a PC. But, they realized that nearly 4 billion people have mobile phones. This was also the time of the telecom revolution in India and other parts of the developing world, he recalls.

The idea is to let small entrepreneurs like plumbers and electricians, who wouldn’t typically have access to computers or know how to build websites, create voice sites. These are hosted on regular computer servers and can act as portals through which users can find out basic things like the price of a vegetable or how to get better yield from cows or if an electrician (whose voice site they have gone to) is available for a specific job on a specific day. But instead of typing in a web address, the user dials a phone number. Then, with a combination of voice commands and buttons on his cell phone, he navigates through a spoken list of options. In its most basic form a user can call up a plumber’s voice site, hear about the variety of jobs he can perform, his working hours and his current open slots and book what he needs, by following the recorded prompts.

The project was started in India but is now being piloted in Africa and some Asean countries as well, says Banavar.

The Music Industry & Online Piracy by Numbers

Google launched music search service in India

Interesting move by Google though integrating music with Search particularly for India was but obvious. Challenge however remains in scaling this - (i) For streaming to go mass market and that too on the mobile will in my opinion take 2-3 years more at the minimum, and (ii) Getting on board additional partners to broaden the content availability (which currently is  limited) given the business model is going to be challenging

By AMOL SHARMA, WSJ

October 22, 2010

NEW DELHI—Google Inc. launched a music service in India to help users search for legal online streams and downloads, a move aimed at combating rampant digital piracy that has held back the country's entertainment industry.

The U.S. tech giant partnered with three digital music providers who together have the rights to hundreds of thousands of Indian tracks, from Bollywood hits to Indian classical tunes. Google made the service available Friday and will eventually integrate it into its main search bar, according to people familiar with the matter.

When Web users in India type a song into Google's search bar, the top links in response would be from Google's partners, including India's largest music label, Saregama India Ltd., New York-based media company Saavn, and Web portal In.com. Clicking on a link will launch a pop-up music player where the requested content will be streamed for free, the people said.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Google had plans to launch the service.

Google India did not respond to requests for comment.

Demand for music has long been robust in India, where it is featured heavily in films, weddings and religious functions. Global interest in Indian music has increased in recent years as it has gotten greater exposure through films such as Oscar-winner "Slumdog Millionaire." But piracy, in the form of knock-off CDs and dozens of websites peddling illegal downloads, has stunted the Indian market, analysts say. Total Indian music industry revenue was about $165 million in 2009, a fraction of the $26.4 billion spent on recorded music globally, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

View Full Image

Screengrab of the Google India music search homepage.

Google hopes the new initiative will help labels fight piracy by directing Internet users to legitimate content downloads at the top of search results, the people familiar with the matter said. Google launched a similar service in the U.S. last fall with MySpace and La La Media Inc.'s Lala.com. (News Corp. owns MySpace and The Wall Street Journal. Apple Inc. acquired Lala.com earlier this year and shut it down.)

Google is also eager to build up broadband usage in India and sees music—which is the subject of a large percentage of searches in the country—as one key to jumpstarting growth, the people familiar with the matter said. The company, which generates revenue through online ads, doesn't intend to earn revenue directly from the Indian music service, at least in the near term, the people said.

Distributing media over the Web poses some challenges in India. There are still only about 81 million Internet users in a nation of 1.2 billion people, though growth has been steep in recent years. And many Web connections are low-bandwidth.

The companies partnering with Google hope the deal will bring an influx of traffic to their websites, which users will be able to click through to from Google's search results, the people familiar with the matter said. They will be able to make money off the service by showing ads and potentially offering paid downloads to users.

Saregama believes partnering with Google will give a big lift to the company's recently-launched Web portal, which gives users access to 94,000 tracks from its catalog of Indian music, a person familiar with the company's thinking said.

Saavn distributes digital music via iTunes and other services and recently developed its own music search portal that covers a catalog of about 250,000 songs and gets 8,000 unique visitors per day. Saavn allows marketers to display banner ads and is considering audio ads between songs as well as video ads.

Vinodh Bhat, co-founder and chief executive of Saavn, declined to comment on whether the firm is partnering with Google but said Saavn sees India as a music market that's poised to boom and attract brands.

"The online ad market in India is small now, but it's going to ramp up considerably as Web usage increases," he said. "Broadband access is already growing at a good clip." Marketers will be much more likely to attach their brands to music services they know are legitimate, Mr. Bhat said.

Some Western media companies hope to sustain the heightened interest in Indian music globally by creating more global hits like "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire. In July, Universal Music partnered with New York-based Desi Hits! Inc. to launch a label that will produce music by Indians and those with South Asian roots for a worldwide audience.

Despite piracy, India's domestic music market is expected to grow to $590 million by 2014, according to PwC, and much of the growth is likely to come from the wireless industry. Sales of ringtones and songs to the nation's 670 million cellphone users already make up 30% of overall music industry sales.

Interesting Phone Ad in yesterday's Times of India

Interesting - Android “like” User Interface + integration of Google services (till date we have seen handsets sourced from China integrating disparate apps from smaller entities e.g. Nimbuzz)
       

India Telecoms Update @ Aug10

Source : Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

• Overall telephony base reaches 706 Mn taking overall teledensity to 60%
• 18 Mn wireless additions during the month taking the overall wireless base to 671 Mn
• Service provider-wise share of incremental wireless additions in August (top 10): Vodafone (12.7%), BSNL (12.4%), Uninor (12.2%), Tata (11.5%), Bharti Airtel (11.2%), Reliance (11.2%), IDEA (10.9%), Aircel (8.9%), Videocon (4.9%), Sistema (2.9%)
• Of the wireless adds in August, Metros contributed 11%, Categroy A circles (34%), Category B Circles (42%) and Category C circles (14%) 
• Service provider-wise cumulative wireless market share end August (top 5): Bharti Airtel (21.1%), Reliance (17.2%), Vodafone (17%),  Tata (11.5%), BSNL (11.3%)
• Wireleine base continued to decline and was at 36 Mn 
• Broadband (>256 kbps) subscriber base inched up to 10 Mn

Breathing new life into apps with an in-app purchase

In-app purchase is definitely the way forward with respect to broader monetization of apps and particularly important in cost conscious emerging markets as it helps lower the entry barrier for premium content


Russell Berry, Mobile Apps Briefing
12 October 2010


An in-app purchase enables developers a way of charging users for content and consumables through their existing mobile app. The user never leaves the application, and all the handling, accounting and billing is taken care of by the same mechanism as purchasing an application.

Whilst it presents an opportunity for businesses and developers to create a recurring revenue stream, you do need to carefully think about your payment platform.

iPhone apps

With the iPhone, you have the means to sell more apps and content to your users after the original purchase from within your app residing on their iPhone. The users are charged for content and consumables through their existing iTunes Account with Apple acting as payment processor (for a 30 percent cut).  In the In App Purchase system, Apple are not responsible for delivering the additional content, they simply approve and handle the payment.

It's worth keeping in mind that the In App Purchase on the iPhone is only available from within paid apps. So if you have a free app in the iTunes store, you’ll have to think about a pricing strategy which is effectively giving users the chance to try your app for minimal investment, enabling them to see and play with it before being hit with further costs to upgrade or enable more features.

Android apps

Android is like Linux; it’s open-source, it’s free. Many have been excited about Android being an open-source platform, as it has enabled carriers to work with handset makers, dictating the feature set and, as a result, revitalising the revenue stream. They can promote their favourite apps, content, and services sales.

However, Android Market continues to pose major headaches for developers looking to distribute and bill for premium applications. Until recently, developers in only nine countries were able to offer paid apps via Android Market, and paid apps were available in just 14 of the 46 countries that the storefront served. Also, consumers must first register for a Google Checkout account in order to download paid Android applications, except in locations where operator billing is available.

Despite these challenges, I believe these issues will soon be resolved as Android Market continues to grow.

Where it’s all going…

The next generation of mobile phones will have specially-made SIM cards featuring an ‘app’ for mobile shopping payments.

Users follow simple on-screen instructions either to pre-load their mobile with funds, like a pay-as-you-go phone, or link the app directly to a bank account.

To purchase something the cashier swipes your mobile over the terminal. A beep registers the sale and users get the message ‘Accepted’ - or ‘Declined’ if the account is already maxed out.

Exciting stuff, but it certainly adds a new worry to accidently leaving your phone in the pub.

Sony opens registration for Google TV developers

TV is definitely the next frontier for apps. Its going to revolutionize the way we consume TV


Justin Marden

Ooctober 13, 2010

Sony is now accepting registration for developers who want to get in on their Sony Internet TV. Also known as the NSX-46GT1, the Sony Internet TV is the first HDTV to incorporate the much-anticipated Google TV, which we first reported on back in May. This is big news for Google TV fans, because it means that developers can soon begin making their own killer apps for the Sony Internet TV, and of course, later Google TV devices. I'm sure we'll all be jumping from TV shows to web pages and back on our TVs in no time.

For any developers that want to register, check out the Sony Internet TV registration page. 

Amazon adds barcode scanning to iOS app

Not rocket science but definitely innovative

CNET reports that Amazon has updated its iOS mobile app to include a barcode scanner feature, so that customers can scan the code on a product using the integrated camera, and then use this to search against the online retailer’s database. While Amazon is not the first to offer such a function, the size of the company’s existing customer base gives a potentially massive user base for the technology.  

Nimbuzz hits 150M downloads milestone

Mobile Apps Briefing  14 October 2010

Mobile VoIP aggregator Nimbuzz announced it has surpassed 3.65 billion mobile voice minutes and 150 million downloads of its application since launch in May 2008. The firm – a competitor to the likes of Skype - said that 50 percent of downloads were made from its own website, while also claiming to be "one of the best performing applications in the popular [Nokia] Ovi and GetJar application stores."  

Why HTML5 Web Apps Are Going to Rock Your World

As technologies like HTML5, CSS3, SVG and WebGL start to become more mainstream, not only will the web apps we already use become more useful, but we should also see developers building web apps that do things that previously could have only been done by desktop applications. It’s an exciting time to be working on the web, both for the developers of web apps, who have a plethora of new technologies and techniques to experiment with, and for users of those apps.


By Simon Mackie, GigaOM Oct. 13, 2010

Last week, I went to the Future of Web Appsconference in London. It’s an event that’s primarily targeted at developers, and much of the discussion was focused on newer web technologies and techniques, such as HTML5, CSS3 and geolocation. As a non-developer, what I found most exciting about the conference was that it offered me some insight into how the web apps we use will change as these new technologies become more widely available and developers figure out how to use them.

The presentation that really brought home the potential of these next-generation web technologies for me was by Brad Neuberg, a developer who used to work at Google . Neuberg’s talk had the theme of “Small pieces, loosely joined,” and showed how technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, SVG,Canvas and WebGL can be used together to create stunning applications within the browser. The centerpiece of his presentation was the slide deck. It wasn’t a standard PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, but rather, a jaw-dropping, browser-based, 3-D slide demo, built using the very tools that Neuberg was talking about,. Neuberg could slickly navigate between the various slides in the presentation at will, and many “slides” contained a live demo of the technologies discussed. While these technologies are impressive on their own, Neuberg’s demo showed that the way they can be easily combined in the browser will lead to real innovation in web apps over the next few years.

READY FOR PRIME TIME?

It’s unlikely that we’ll see all of these technologies being used to their fullest potential for a little while yet, because they aren’t yet fully supported by all of the browsers. However, the various browser manufacturers seem to be racing each other to incorporate support as quickly as possible. Even Microsoft , lambasted for its poor support of web standards in previous versions of Internet Explorer, has upped its game with the release of a beta of IE9that has decent HTML5 and CSS3 support. It won’t be long before many of these technologies are widely available, and developers can start using them in web apps; indeed, Neuberg mentioned that both Firefox 4 and Chrome betas would soon support the technology used in his slide demo.

IT’S NOT JUST THE FLASHY STUFF

At the moment, many HTML5/CSS3 apps are flashy demos that show off the potential of these technologies, but while Canvas and SVG demos look cool, many of the most useful bits of HTML5 do stuff that’s mainly “under the hood.” For instance, these are tools that do things like enable geolocation. Because some aspects of these technologies are already available in many browsers, we’re starting to see them used in some web apps. Google hasalready started incorporating some HTML5 features into its web apps, for example, as has Facebook. While Facebook’s and Google’s use of HTML5 isn’t visually impressive like Neuberg’s slide demo, these companies are making their existing apps better by enabling innovative features like geolocation and drag-and-drop.

As technologies like HTML5, CSS3, SVG and WebGL start to become more mainstream, not only will the web apps we already use become more useful, but we should also see developers building web apps that do things that previously could have only been done by desktop applications. It’s an exciting time to be working on the web, both for the developers of web apps, who have a plethora of new technologies and techniques to experiment with, and for users of those apps.