Mozilla building free web video format to challenge Apple, Microsoft and Adobe

Mountain View (CA) - The Mozilla Foundation, the group who gave us the Firefox browser, is working to open one of the only remaining proprietary niches of the web; they are going after online video standards. The group announced they will issue a $100,000 grant, compliments of the Wikimedia Foundation, in an attempt to develop an open-source Internet video standard - free to all.


Currently the standards for embedding videos on the web are controlled by companies which own them privately - like Apple's QuickTime, Adobe's Flash, Microsoft's media player formats and Real Networks. These companies charge a licensing fee to the content creators and server software which utilizes their formats.

Web video is a huge, growing trend, however the proprietary nature of video formats causes stress and tension and may actually hinder its growth because of the financial constraints. For users to be able to view a Flash video, for example, a separate plug-in must be downloaded for their web browser. And unfortunately, the proprietary software is complex, and isn't suitable for use on all devices.

In fact, many mobile phones and set-top boxes connected to televisions are not capable of displaying Flash. The iPhone is not capable of supporting Flash video because Apple feels the program doesn't properly perform. And even though Adobe is currently creating a mobile-ready version of Flash, it hasn't been released for all operating systems yet.. Source; http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41226/140/

Doesn't sound good with so many formats around. I'd prefer Google take over.

I prefer the same

Currently,There is no way Mozilla Can Beat Google in videos especially You Tube Videos[owned by google] except for some exceptions in browsing. But It appears to be good marketing strategy to expand themselves as apple,microsoft,adobe,real media networks,google and so many are expanding themselves to continue to stay in today's market. Its Mozilla's one step forward in their self expansion & evolution.