standards

The Web is the next vanguard for 3D graphics, but programmers who want to embrace the new dimension next year will have to place a bet on one of two competing technologies: Flash or WebGL.

For years, Adobe Systems' Flash software has been the way to bring graphical games like Crush the Castle, Bloons, Desktop Tower Defense, or Stunt Bike Pro to the Web.

But at the same time, Web standards advocates have toiled to build such technology into the Web itself and not rely on the proprietary and sometimes insecure Flash Player plug-in. That work following in Adobe's … Read more

Turning 20 next month, the World Wide Web has become a ubiquitous part of our lives. But the freedom and open nature of the Web that we sometimes take for granted are threatened, according to its creator.

In a long article published yesterday in Scientific American, Tim Berners-Lee writes that the Web as we know it is affected by elements that have "begun to chip away at its principles."

He points a finger at social-networking sites that he says are "walling off information posted by users from the rest of the Web." Though he acknowledges that … Read more

The Web, ever more sophisticated, is feeble as a publication medium when it's compared to what can be done with layout software such as Adobe Systems' InDesign. But that's beginning to change.

The change is significant: digital publishing is moving to the Web, but the array of new devices such as iPads and Kindles pose a challenge. Should those overseeing the designs create native applications for those devices or Web pages that will work on just about any device? For the latter to be a competitive option, the Web has to match up better.

A foundation for change was built with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), a standard for Web page formatting that's now growing in significance and power. One big element here is support for the @font-face technology and the related Web Open Font Format, which together are letting Web developers specify downloadable fonts and use online font repositories such as TypeKit for a more polished, customized look.

A new phase is under way now, though. Firefox browser developer Mozilla has begun work on CSS features to permit higher-end font controls, Mozilla developer John Daggett said yesterday in a blog post.

Among the controls are the following:

• Ligatures, which can replace combinations of letters with fancier or more readable replacements, a classic example being a specific glyph for "fi" to keep the top of the f from bumping into the dot of the i. … Read more

CNET did not review the Sony Handycam DCR-SX63, but we did review the DCR-SR68, which is very similar.

The main differences between the SX63 and SR68 are storage capacity and type. The SX63 stores video to 16GB of internal flash memory as well as Memory Stick Pro Duo and SD/SDHC/SDXC cards. The SR68 records to an 80GB hard drive, but can store to Memory Stick Pro Duo and SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, too.

The SR68 is slightly bigger and heavier than the SX63, but there are otherwise no differences between the two models. They have the same lens, … Read more

CNET did not review the Sony Handycam DCR-SX44, but we did review the DCR-SR68, which is very similar.

The main differences between the SX44 and SR68 are storage capacity and type. The SX44 stores video to 4GB of internal flash memory as well as Memory Stick Pro Duo and SD/SDHC/SDXC cards. The SR68 records to an 80GB hard drive, but can store to Memory Stick Pro Duo and SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, too.

The SR68 is slightly bigger and heavier than the SX44, but there are otherwise no differences between the two models. They have the same lens, … Read more

The World Wide Web Consortium is griping about this week's premature judgments regarding which browser best complies with the HTML5 standard and is asking for help to improve its tests.

Philippe Le Hegaret, who oversees HTML5 and other standards at the W3C, today chastised those who concluded from tests done so far that Internet Explorer 9 is leading the race to support the new Web page technology. The W3C has added 135 new HTML5 compliance checks in the last month, bringing the total to 232, but that's nowhere near enough, he said.

"It seems that people are … Read more

The IEEE is stepping up its involvement in energy-related technologies with its latest working groups.

The engineering organization announced today the creation of a standards efforts for grid storage and another for measuring greenhouse gas reductions from renewable energy and energy-efficient products.

The grid storage effort, part of the IEEE's P2030 smart grid interoperability working group, will create guidelines for defining the technical interfaces between energy storage systems, such as communications to other smart-grid equipment.

The effort, expected to take about two years, will focus on hybrid storage systems that combine different technologies, such as batteries, ultracapacitors, and flywheels. … Read more

Adobe today announced the latest version of its Acrobat suite of products.

Set to hit the market in the next 30 days, the new Reader X and Acrobat X products are promising tighter security, better collaboration, and easier PDF reading.

The free Adobe Reader X will offer a new Protected Mode to sandbox, or isolate, JavaScript code, 3D rendering, and image parsing in order to better secure PDFs. Adobe has seen an increasing number of security holes in its PDF technology over the past few years, creating trouble for the many people who use the ubiquitous file format. The company … Read more

OSLO, Norway--With extensions coming to Opera 11, the Norwegian browser maker says it's time to consider making the technology a standard for all browsers.

That's because Opera 11 extensions will use the same collection of Web page technologies--HTML for page contents, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for formatting, JavaScript for processing--as extensions in Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari 5, and Mozilla Firefox's upcoming Jetpack. The approach generally makes it easier for at least lightweight extensions, and browser technologies handle the interface.

"We think extensions are ripe for standardization," Håkon Wium Lie, Opera Software'… Read more