We're starting to see more and more applications come out that take advantage of the HTML5 standard now supported by all the major browsers, but more work must be done to get all browsers in sync with its features.
For example, Salesforce.com -- which already has native, downloadable apps for the major mobile devices -- is currently working on browser-based HTML5 alternatives that require no downloads. Microsoft is reported to be working on an HTML5 version of Skype. SAP has become a big advocate for HTML5 in the mobile space, with a series of partnership announcements with HTML5 vendors.
One company that serves as an example of the benefits of HTML5 conversion is Ericom Software Inc., a New Jersey-based vendor of virtual desktops, whose CEO, Eran Heyman, spoke with me recently and described his firm's experience.
Ericom already had standard, native clients available for all major platforms. But over the past year, it has been offering and expanding the browser-based, HTML5 version of its software. The reason? HTML5 offers almost all the interactivity and graphics capabilities of traditional desktop software, capabilities that had previously only been available on the Web through Flash.
For Ericom, or for any corporation that distributes software to its employees or customers, HTML5 offers the following benefits:
No downloads required. Typically, users or IT staffers install software on desktops, laptops, and any other devices. This "native client" software runs faster than browser-based applications. As a result, some software, like video editing or CAD-CAM applications, will probably remain on the desktop for the foreseeable future. But with HTML5 and improved connectivity, more and more applications will run in the browser without any discernible difference. And when it comes to software, all the company has to do is point the employee to a URL -- there's nothing to install or upgrade.
Easier integration. Heyman told me that integrating Web-based applications is an order of magnitude easier than integrating native applications. "What can take days with native clients can take just minutes with the Web clients." And it's easy to embed the browser-based software into corporate portals by adding a link or a frame.
Easier networking. SSL VPNs -- secure virtual private networks based on the Secure Sockets Layer protocol -- can be used with both native clients and Web-based software. But opening communication tunnels to multiple types of devices can be tricky and can require support. Web access, however, is easy and automatic. Similarly, Web traffic can be easily routed through networking and security interfaces and network proxies.
Device independence. HTML5 applications run on all major browsers and mobile devices. As new devices and operating systems appear, they will also support HTML5. Companies that rely on HTML5 for their applications will not have to worry about writing new clients for every new device that their employees or customers use.
One big problem with HTML5 development, however, and which may be hindering the technology's adoption in some firms, is the fact that each browser is implementing HTML5 in pieces, and at different rates.
Take, for example, HTML5's Canvas feature, which allows Web developers to add interactive graphics to their Web pages with Javascript. Today, according to at least one source, 73 percent of users around the world have browsers that support Canvas. The rest are mostly using older versions of Internet Explorer.
Similarly, HTML5's WebGL feature is great at displaying 3D graphics but is not yet supported by Internet Explorer. In addition, WebGL requires that users have up-to-date video drivers, which may not be the case with many older corporate machines. So if your company plans on embedding interactive 3D charts into its Web applications, you should wait awhile and stick with 2D charts instead. There's plenty that you can do with perspective, shadows, and other graphical effects to spice up otherwise flat charts and graphs.
There is a useful link here that will help you find out which HTML5 features you can use now, based on your browser.
Enterprises developing applications for internal use will have an easier time deploying HTML5 apps, since they know which browsers their employees are using and can stick to features that are already supported.
--Maria Korolov is president of Trombly International, an editorial services company that provides coverage of emerging technologies and markets. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years.
In banking, the idea of a downloaded app rather than an html web UI is an attractive one, particularly for more complex business banking needs.
But, it's not necessarily more secure than a remotely hosted html-5 UI: Our team did an in-depth security analysis of a hypothetical connected banking app a couple of years ago, and this revealed some serious and challenging issues - there are man-in-the-middle exposures (and real incidents) as well as the possibility that a criminal syndicate will target the installed app with a specific trojan. It would make a juicy target.
There's no easy answer to that latter issue - aside from up to date anti-virus, which is difficult to verify on a customer's machine - the only recourse was 'multi-quadrant' app verification. Essentially, the application has to be sufficiently modular that the separate parts (the quadrants - notionally 4) are able to continually verify that the other parts have not been compromised.
It wasn't a sure thing, and a determined hacker will be able to get around it, given enough time and resources. We went with a web-based corporate banking site, and not an app, for this reason.
Yes, but why would this make companies avoid deploying HTML 5 apps?
Are you talking about spoofed sites that collect user names and passwords? This is already a problem -- especially for the large banking sites -- and they're taking steps to address the issue. HTML 5 might make it easier for hackers to do this, but it's nothing new.
And whether your company uses HTML 5 or not will have no impact on this -- I'm assuming that the company itself isn't going to be making malicious websites. The security problems are going to come from users accessing weirdo sites. So even if your bank avoids HTML 5 altogether, their users will still be accessing HTML 5 sites elsewhere.
My point is that users are going to pick downloadable apps or web-based apps based on convenience, not based on security. Because well, that's what users do.
And for regular websites, HTML 5 will allow designers to jazz them up a bit.
So I would expect the low-level HTML 5 fuctionality -- the graphics controls -- to spread very quickly once browsers support them.
Or are you saying that browser developers will wait to roll out the new features because of security concerns? That's a good thing -- I hope that as many potential security holes are plugged as possible before the features get widely adopted.
Make sure you have the latest AV and everything will be OK. Really?
And you missed my point. An app is downloaded once. You visit sites multiple times, increasing the chance that a malicious website can be injected into the systems DNS.
Are you talking about security issues for the end user, or for the company that set up the app for its employees and customers?
If the security issues are for the end user then, from an enterprise standpoint, it's not really relevant -- other than making sure their employees have the latest anti-virus on their desktops.
You're alwayas going to have an arms race with technology and security -- each new improvement in functionality brings potential security issues, crooks take advatange of them, they get closed up, and meanwhile antivirus systems earn their pay by keeping things safe -- and now, browser-makers are getting into the game as well, offering security warnings about unsafe sites.
And, over time, users have gotten to know which sites are likely to be criminal -- the spam, illegal download, porn kind of sites. The dark corners of the Internet you enter at your own risk - and carrying plenty of protection.
If the threat is to the company -- new possibilities for SQL injection attacks, for example -- then that's a more serious issue and will delay the spread of HTML 5. So far, however, the risks have all seemed to be on the user side.
And the thing is, the users aren't even going to know if they're on an HTML 5 site or not. I mean, it's just Javascript. Some browsers will support it. Smart developers will write code so that it degrades gracefully.
Other than keeping their anti-virus and browser up to date, I don't see anything here that users can do, or any reason why this will slow the growth of HTML 5. After all, reputable companies aren't going to slow down the pace of HTML 5 deployments because other people, somewhere else, are using those tools for evil.
Downloading an app is a risk, but that's a one-time event. Using an app via a web browser introduces all sorts of possibilities for the bad guys. Not good.
HTML5 sounds really cool, but I'm sure once it's widespread, security issues will knock the shine right off of it. I'm not really looking forward to my browser doubling the virus protection scans needed for my computer...
Thanks for this interesting update, Maria! Just happened to see this article on cloud services performing HTML5 conversions -- another take on the topic of moving to HTML5.
The caniuse.com pages seem pretty complete and the variations possible for html5 almost seems daunting to get every browser now and in the future to work similarly. I don't envy those out there trying their best to get into compliance with all the features!
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I don't wear a watch. I haven't worn one years. If I'm carrying a phone -- any phone -- I always know what time it is and don't have to worry about time zones or daylight savings time. And I don't want to have an iPod or an iPhone that I can wear on my wrist. Again: Why? If I want to sport one while jogging, there are plenty of bands you can already buy that do that.
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